Gaming Japanese: Learn Japanese with Pokémon!

Hello, friends! How are your Japanese studies going? For those of you in self-study, you've probably found that sometimes practice can be hard to come by, especially if you don't know any friends studying Japanese (or at least not as seriously as you).

So I'm going to start a feature on this blog that deals with my favorite self-study practice method: playing games! Now, playing games is not going to help you practice your speaking skills (well, most of the time, at least), but it will help you practice your reading, listening, and comprehension! Pretty much everything except speaking (you'll have to talk to yourself or your game if you want to practice that while gaming, ahaha).

Anyway, I want to start off with a game I recommended to my classmates when we were beginners in college. I went into my university studies already knowing how to read and write both kana scripts and a small handful of kanji. But a lot of students were only vaguely familiar with it or even trying to read and write it for the very first time. Since I already had a couple of Japanese games for my Game Boy, I decided to loan one to my classmate (who later became my friend and roommate) to help him practice his reading and recognizing the kana. It really helped him a lot, and he started bringing it to class and everyone was talking about it and getting their own copies.

This game is ポケットモンスター poketto monsutaa. "Pocket Monsters," or better known as "Pokémon" in the west.

Why Pokémon? Pokémon is a children's game, which means that it's written at a kids' reading level. The game does not use ANY kanji, and there are spaces between the words. This makes it easy to see where words begin and end, and you don't have to look up any kanji. The game is also heavily text-based, so there are words on the screen all the time. This means you're constantly looking at kana, and often you need to read it to get by.

The game is also easy and simple enough that even if you don't understand the words or grammar, you can still push yourself through the game without knowing what you're doing (Especially if you've played before in English). This way you're just practicing reading kana and recognizing which is which. In a way, it's like flashcards, but disguised as a game.

Then when you get a better vocabulary and grammar, you can revisit the game and actually understand what they're saying without having to worry about kanji you haven't learned yet.

The best thing to do when playing this kind of game is to try to read every character aloud as you play. Even if you don't know what you're saying, remember you're just practicing recognizing characters. I think the best practice really comes from reading words you know, but in the beginning, you won't really know that many words. You can also practice by reading the words in the game, then using a dictionary to look the words up. Even if you don't remember the words you're looking up, you can still see if you're reading them right this way. If you use Jim Breen's, you'll be able to catch when you're looking up conjugated words (which wouldn't appear in a normal dictionary).

Right now, the seven newest versions of the game for the DS that are easy to find in-stock in stores include (with links to where you can buy them):

Pokémon Black
Pokémon White
Pokémon Heart Gold
Pokémon Soul Silver
Pokémon Diamond
Pokémon Pearl
Pokémon Platinum


Of course, you might not be wanting to shell away $50 for a new game for your DSi unless you're a big fan already. You can try finding them on e-bay as well, though beware of getting fakes that may not even work, may be in Chinese, etc. You can often find older Japanese versions for cheap on there (but it's really easy to run into Chinese versions and fakes claiming to be official Japanese copies).

You can also look around in nearby stores if you live in an area where Japanese games might be sold. When I lived in Columbus, Ohio, there was a game store by the Japanese restaurant Akai Hana that sold Japanese games.

Also, if you are visiting Japan or know someone living in Japan, Japanese used game stores will easily have these games, and they will be much cheaper than buying online. Plus, Japanese used condition is very good. Unlike in the US where used game stores are full of beat up games with scratches often missing their box and manual, Japanese used games are in like-new condition with all their components, sometimes even re-wrapped in plastic. It's like getting a new game for a cheaper price!

Your last option to buy Japanese games if you can't buy online or go to Japan is to try at anime and game conventions. Especially the bigger ones you will find game vendors. But even at smaller ones, it seems that games are sold sometimes. If you visit these kinds of events normally, you can go to the dealer's room and try to find some games. Pokémon is popular, so there's a good chance you'll find it if they are selling games. If you don't normally go to these places, note that you often have to buy an event ticket just to get into the room with the shops (which will usually run you a good deal of money unless you pre-order). Also note that games tend to be VERY expensive at these events. I remember going to one and seeing Legendary Starfy 2 for $70, when I bought it at Play-Asia.com for $15 while it was on sale (they're always having sales and stuff). I remember I asked the guy at the booth why everything was so expensive, and he said "This is the cheapest you can find it." I told him about shopping online and he said I was lying O_o I guess they just really want you to buy the games at a high price there. It makes sense, since if they don't sell them, they lose a LOT of money from buying them themselves.

Anyway, if you do get your hands on a Pocket Monsters game from Japan, have fun playing it and use it to study well :) It can really help you practice Japanese before you get a high reading level. Some other games like this include the Mother series and ChoroQ HG series.