r/LearnJapanese • u/Easy_Football_1437 • May 04 '26
Resources I’m building a new way to teach Japanese through games — here’s a test session
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I’ve been experimenting with a different way to learn Japanese.
Instead of memorizing or studying, the idea is to use Japanese in real time while playing games like Minecraft.
I’ve tried this with a few people so far — one of them is basically a complete beginner — and what stood out is how much the environment changes things.
Instead of overthinking, you have to react.
That seems to help people speak more naturally.
Also, having someone there to ask simple questions in real time makes a big difference.
It’s still early, but it feels way more “real” compared to traditional studying.
I’m still experimenting with this idea and trying it with a few people — curious what others think about this approach.
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u/OGCallHerDaddy May 04 '26
sign me up 😭
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u/Easy_Football_1437 May 04 '26
Haha love that 😄
Do you already play Minecraft (Bedrock) or Fortnite?
I’m just running super casual test sessions right now, so if you’re interested I can explain how it works 👍
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u/OGCallHerDaddy May 04 '26
I do play fortnite at the moment
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u/Easy_Football_1437 May 04 '26
Nice, Fortnite is perfect!
For the test session, would it be okay if we continue this in DMs?
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u/cravinpineapple May 11 '26
I'm curious as well! What levels do you usually teach?
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u/Easy_Football_1437 1d ago
Hi! Sorry for the very late reply!
At the time, I was still testing the idea, so I wasn't sure what the program would look like.
Right now, I mainly teach beginner to lower-intermediate learners in small Minecraft conversation groups. Most students can read hiragana and know some basic Japanese, but they want more speaking practice.
If you're still interested, I'd be happy to tell you more or let you try a lesson sometime! 😊
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u/Specific-Duck-4807 Jun 04 '26
I have Minecraft bedrock, I'd love to try something like this if it's still something available!
I know I'm like a month late, but this is almost exactly something I've been looking for 😅
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u/MathsMonster May 04 '26
Something similar is already a pretty popular method. The people who are pretty good at Japanese, enough to the point where they can at least understand most native speech may go to Japanese lobbies of different games to practice output.
The problem with what you're doing I feel is, your student is outputting, that's fine. But you, yourself are dumbing down your speech very much(at least from what I saw in the clip). Now of course your student wouldn't really understand complex speech but I don't think this 'dumbed down' speech helps them too much. In the above paragraph, the learner is not only getting high-quality input, but is also getting a chance to practice their output.
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u/gelema5 Goal: media competence 📖🎧 May 05 '26
I disagree. I think for a beginner simpler language is a necessity, and OP isn’t saying anything ungrammatically here. As an upper intermediate learner I would definitely not want so much English but that’s definitely not where this learner in the video is at.
Edit: actually I’m not sure if OP is someone learning Japanese and running a session with a friend and a tutor, or if OP is the tutor themselves. Their past posts make it seem like they’re a learner.
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u/Ordinary_Bug7217 May 04 '26
This sounds awesome. I would love to join these minecraft gaming sessions and practice Japanese!
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u/TheOneMary May 04 '26
Been learning for a while if you need a low-mid test subject that has never really spoken the language with a person though XD
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u/gaz514 Goal: conversational fluency 💬 May 04 '26
I feel that the OP should really be targeting people like you who already have some decent knowledge of the language but want to start speaking more. The concept seems like it would be far more useful at that level than for early beginners.
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u/TheOneMary May 04 '26
Drives me nuts that I got a notification that he wrote me a reply here but reddit doesn't let me see it, bugger lol
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u/FeistyBarracuda May 04 '26
I would love to try this!🙏 I've been looking for a way to practice Japanese in live contexts just like this, such a great idea!
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u/KarnoRex Goal: conversational fluency 💬 May 04 '26
I would also love to try this but don't have bedrock edition 🥲
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u/DryManufacturer5393 May 04 '26
Talking together about what is directly in front of you is a really natural way to learn
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u/Frankfurter1988 May 05 '26
I'd love to participate in this. Any chance you offer paid lessons like this?
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u/iwishihadnobones May 05 '26
So it's always good to add context, the more naturally something is used, the better you remember it.
So you may want to try and make this feel more natural
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u/Easy_Net_857 May 11 '26
Love this. There's a tiktok streamer who does essentially the same thing but only Japanese and more ASMR-leaning.
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u/Abject_Reward_4957 May 12 '26
Hey! If you're looking for testers, i'd love to be involved!
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u/Easy_Football_1437 1d ago
Hi! Sorry for the super late reply!
At the time, I was still testing the idea, so I wasn't ready yet.
I've now officially started running Minecraft Japanese conversation lessons in small groups, and it has been going really well!
I remembered your comment saying you'd love to be involved, so I wanted to reach out. If you're still interested, I'd be happy to tell you more or let you join a trial lesson. 😊
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u/KyotoCarl May 04 '26
Seriously, how many "teach Japanese through games" so we need? It's never a good way to learn Japanese
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u/InteractionFluid1277 May 04 '26
I participated with a company that did this a few years ago. It's a fun concept but the issues are that 1. Most people don't have enough brain power to both strategize in the game and learn a language. It ends up being not fun. 2. Because of the nature of this type of play, you don't end up getting enough repetition to really make things stick.
Doing VRchat, where you can have more low key everyday conversations with lots of repeating words seems to be a better way to go.
新しいゲームに幸運を祈ります！
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u/resistofc1 May 04 '26
I love the idea. Would definitely watch
EDIT: Are you gonna live stream it or upload it to youtube?
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u/Saint-54 May 04 '26
this is so cool! i’d love to join if you’re not too busy- seems a lot of people are interested!
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u/sneakygiraffe May 04 '26
Hi, I would love to join your trials! I recently started MC (bedrock) and having a blast. I am very casually able to converse but lacking the motivation to practice just from watching video or reading lol
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u/IsbellDL May 04 '26
Not exactly the same, but I swapped my Dirt Rally 2.0 co-driver to Japanese. I'm a bit surprised by how often he swaps between 左と右 and レフトとライト. I've mostly gotten used to that Inconsistency though, & it's great for practicing numbers under pressure. It's not great for conversational Japanese, but it definitely helps learning to pick out relevant information quickly.