Learning JP from otome games

[Watera]

I learnt hiragana and katakana and i feel lost how to study Japanese language through otome games , i tried playing ken ga kimi and but i gave up quickly
I learnt English language by playing otome games and i want to do the same for Japanese language
recommend me a otome game that will help me with my learning

 

[blackflag]

Ken ga Kimi is a massive jump in difficulty, its one of the harder VNS to read in Japanese.

I would recommend looking at the pins and joining the JP learning server there. Its for immersion learning. You have to get over the hurdle of Katakana/Hiragana and now start learning vocab, usually through repetition and study like with ANKI.
kaishi1.5k has the base 1500 words of the language which will help you understand a large majority of modern games.
this is fundamental.

 

[tf_charge]

Not specifically otome games, but jpdb is good for that since it lists a variety of Japanese media in terms of difficulty level (visual novels included), along with its own built-in SRS learning system with pre-made decks.

I also like Anacreon DJT's long list of VNs, and LinLinLavender's list dedicated to otome games.

 

[blackflag]

Not specifically otome games, but jpdb is good for that since it lists a variety of Japanese media in terms of difficulty level (visual novels included), along with its own built-in SRS learning system with pre-made decks.

I also like Anacreon DJT's long list of VNs, and LinLinLavender's list dedicated to otome games.

An updated version and maintained database with user submissions is also https://jiten.moe/
Jiten allows you to add decks make Anki formanted cards from it and then track your learning process of those decks with cool graphs etc.

 

[blackflag]

The website bases difficulty off of uncommon words, kanji frequency, sentence complexity etc.

 

[tf_charge]

An updated version and maintained database with user submissions is also https://jiten.moe/
Jiten allows you to add decks make Anki formanted cards from it and then track your learning process of those decks with cool graphs etc.

Woah, an updated and maintained version of jpdb? Sweet, I didn't know such a thing existed! Thanks for sharing, this will be really useful.

 

[blackflag]

Woah, an updated and maintained version of jpdb? Sweet, I didn't know such a thing existed! Thanks for sharing, this will be really useful.

It also integrates with other learning tools like GameSentenceMiner and other things.

 

[eishishuu]

I think LunaTranslator is also helpful.

 

[tf_charge]

I think LunaTranslator is also helpful.

LunaTranslator doesn't get mentioned enough. I'm still seeing many guides and people recommending Textractor or even older methods but LunaTranslator is just straight up better than them (esp. with Textractor's increasingly outdated compatibility).

 

[Beannie]

Second GameSentenceMiner and choosing begginer level otome game. In general, high school themes and slice of life should be the most approachable. Depends on if you are fine with emulation, but brothers conflict or psychicemotion6 are the most beginner friendly (from my experience). If you need a bit more spice, than Diabolik Lovers series is also great to start with

 

[osako]

An updated version and maintained database with user submissions is also https://jiten.moe/
Jiten allows you to add decks make Anki formanted cards from it and then track your learning process of those decks with cool graphs etc.

this is amazing and just what I needed to get back to studying Japanese thank you! The quality and quantity of JP learning resources is unmatched, I found it so hard to find similar resources for other languages.

 

[blackflag]

this is amazing and just what I needed to get back to studying Japanese thank you! The quality and quantity of JP learning resources is unmatched, I found it so hard to find similar resources for other languages.

Other languages just need to be more geeky.

 

[Deleted member 258555]

Otome are generally on the easy side, just don't try bl until you have finished at least one simple vn

 

[Koni]

Yes, I was already studying Japanese by myself, and otome games really strengthened my learning since I could practice while enjoying the story ^^

 

[Vemony]

I also started playing otome games in japanese almost as soon as I finished learning hiragana and katakana. I found it easier when I also studied the japanese core 2k on Anki before each play session!
I think I wanted to start with Jakou no lyla , which I gave up really early , as it's on the more difficult side. Then I moved onto KLAP!, and had a pretty good time there ^^ that was hard too at the beginning, as I was slow at reading with just the hiraganas too, but I could finally feel some accomplishment with a few sentences pretty fast! ~
Then it was just trial and error of me studying premade decks or the ones I made on anki/migaku/jpdb, and getting obsessed over a game to push me through playing it.
I started playing slow damage quite early as well, as I just really wanted to play it in japanese, becaue I didnt like the localization, and it took a long time, but I learned a LOT from it ^^.
Now I study pretty much the same way. I'm fixated in playing through Tokyo Satsujinki, and when I dont understand something I use yominija's OCR (Mainly this, because I can't really textract from my switch screen, when I play otoges, so I just stick to OCR for everything now) to check the words, and from there I use migaku (or used to use Anki, with yomitan, and a clipboard inserter) to make cards, then ShareX to ad custom sentence audio and picture.

If you can push through the ambiguity, and choose an Otoge that youre really interested in I'm sure you can push thru!! But try to find something easier at first still, so you can feel some accomplishement , so that you can continue trying ^^. (Or just be so obsessed with a media that you read it anyway)

 

[blackflag]

I also started playing otome games in japanese almost as soon as I finished learning hiragana and katakana. I found it easier when I also studied the japanese core 2k on Anki before each play session!
I think I wanted to start with Jakou no lyla , which I gave up really early , as it's on the more difficult side. Then I moved onto KLAP!, and had a pretty good time there ^^ that was hard too at the beginning, as I was slow at reading with just the hiraganas too, but I could finally feel some accomplishment with a few sentences pretty fast! ~
Then it was just trial and error of me studying premade decks or the ones I made on anki/migaku/jpdb, and getting obsessed over a game to push me through playing it.
I started playing slow damage quite early as well, as I just really wanted to play it in japanese, becaue I didnt like the localization, and it took a long time, but I learned a LOT from it ^^.
Now I study pretty much the same way. I'm fixated in playing through Tokyo Satsujinki, and when I dont understand something I use yominija's OCR (Mainly this, because I can't really textract from my switch screen, when I play otoges, so I just stick to OCR for everything now) to check the words, and from there I use migaku (or used to use Anki, with yomitan, and a clipboard inserter) to make cards, then ShareX to ad custom sentence audio and picture.

If you can push through the ambiguity, and choose an Otoge that youre really interested in I'm sure you can push thru!! But try to find something easier at first still, so you can feel some accomplishement , so that you can continue trying ^^. (Or just be so obsessed with a media that you read it anyway)

Tools these days are quite advanced for japanese learners! This tool will help read onsite from game sentence miner, shows furigana (it struggles with names, mind you) and with a shift-hover or shift click it will bring up the word you can mine into your ANKI with voice and an image of the spoken line.

 

[Vemony]

Tools these days are quite advanced for japanese learners! This tool will help read onsite from game sentence miner, shows furigana (it struggles with names, mind you) and with a shift-hover or shift click it will bring up the word you can mine into your ANKI with voice and an image of the spoken line.

Ohh!! That actually looks really cool!! What't the name of the tool? I'll try if I like it, and if I can also use it with migaku. Does it have the option to turn off furigana also? >< Because if I see them I tend to rely too much on those, and struggle after they are gone

It's really cool finding all these tools I never knew of here ☆*: .｡. o(≧▽≦)o .｡.:*☆

(Also 9rip helllooo ~)

 

[CigaretteWolf]

novelgame.jp/

I actually really recommend starting off by playing these small free games made by independent creators! Find a genre that appeals to you and you'll see that there's quick 15 min - 2 hour games (which can be 8 hours if you want to be a completionist) which will familiarize you with a whole buncha words. Everyone here has already recommended their own OCR of choice, and I personally use Yomininja which have my imported yomitan dictionaries (you can download them here https://learnjapanese.moe/yomichan/ )

 

[woodypei]

My first Japanese game was Brothers Conflict and I thought it was a good game when I was a beginner.

 

[rorudesu]

Furigana and Built-in Dictionary features in Otome games really helped to learn new terms in Japanese. Can't imagine I could ever finish one whole visual novel without those.

 

[blackflag]

Ohh!! That actually looks really cool!! What't the name of the tool? I'll try if I like it, and if I can also use it with migaku. Does it have the option to turn off furigana also? >< Because if I see them I tend to rely too much on those, and struggle after they are gone

It's really cool finding all these tools I never knew of here ☆*: .｡. o(≧▽≦)o .｡.:*☆

(Also 9rip helllooo ~)

GameSentenceMiner, if you join the discord I can help you set it up! c:

 

[Doglo]

I learnt hiragana and katakana and i feel lost how to study Japanese language through otome games , i tried playing ken ga kimi and but i gave up quickly
I learnt English language by playing otome games and i want to do the same for Japanese language
recommend me a otome game that will help me with my learning

I honestly just wanna thank you for creating this thread OML this has been my biggest struggle man

People who faced this issue recommend just diving deep into it after reaching N5, mainly to understand the listening/speaking aspect the most. I found this application that puts JP subtitles for any video/anime you upload - It's called Miraaa.

Good luck OP! It's a long road but if you already learned English thru otome you'll achieve the same for Jp eventually.

And thanks to all the tips in this thread!

 

[a4015]

It helps a lot to see the words while listening to the voices of the voice actors.

 

[kul321]

I used to use a translator at first, but when I have played so many otome games, I got jlpt n1. Thanks to them, I'm working in Japan now

 

[ryuntsai]

I think that when learning from otome games, it's really important that the game interests you. If you force yourself to read even though you're not interested in the story, then I don't think you'll absorb much.

For example, I really wanted to play Nie no Machi. When it was first released in 2018, there was no localization, but my interest pushed me to start playing it anyway. Even though my progress wasn't very fast and I was reading really slowly lol, in the end I understood most of the dialogue and finished all the routes.

So, take your time, the journey of learning a language, what's important is that you enjoy the progress :)