Learning Another Language With Video Games

[nintara]

not so much actually playing games per se, but mostly through cutscenes and gameplay videos i found on youtube, since the franchise i was most interested in as a kid (ratchet and clank) was exclusive to consoles i didn't own (other than the psp). i remember that one word that i learned earlier than i would've is "kill". that being said, the language barrier meant that for a long time i got a massively warped and incorrect view of the lore, such as thinking that the ps3 spin-offs were first in the timeline because the proportions (especially on clank) made the characters look younger, and that therefore dr nefarious was good initially before he turned evil.

what really did the heavy lifting though was early 2010s video game youtube, especially peanutbuttergamer, who's videos i don't really seek out anymore, but who i watched religiously as a kid (also smg4 but that barely counts as video game youtube). the only other content on youtube i watched back then was "top 10 boss themes", "all boss themes", and "all bosses" type videos (shoutout to klagmar and his legendary "top 50 final boss themes" series!!) i also branched out a little later with the completionist and game theory. video game yt not only helped me learn english, but was also how i learned anything past the basic info on this medium in general.

 

[Theriise]

In my highschool years, I was dead keen on practicing Japanese any way I could.
Armed with hiragana, Katakana and like one or two Kanji knowledge, I tried the L Death Note escape game. Holy heck the regret was real, L getting upset at you while a bomb goes off is no joke. It's even worse when people are yelling at you in a different language in fancy little Kanjis.
Nowadays I stick to Doraemon teaches hiragana.
(Also I was over the moon when CDRomance has this in eng)

 

[partymembervii]

Has anyone else ever learned, or practiced, another language by playing video games? When I was learning Spanish in school, it was suggested that every student do independent study by watching movies, reading books, or (the classic method) watching hundreds of episodes of telenovelas. While everyone else was watching Disney movies with Spanish dubs, I was playing 'Fantasía Final Seis' on an emulator with the European version. I ended up learning how to read and write far more than I expected from that experience. I also practiced listening by playing Blasphemous with the Spanish dub. Besides, it felt more natural to the game.

Have you ever had an experience like that? Tell us about it.

i changed the language on several of my consoles to spanish when i started learning, its been pretty helpful, though i prefer to play games ive already played as opposed to new games in a new language

 

[ThirteeTooBeets]

I talked about this in another thread, a base in the language helps, but for practice videogames are excellent. I recommend Nintendo games or those meant for younger audiences or "for the whole family", since they don't tend to use difficult conjugations or words, then you eventually scale up on your own.

That what worked for me when learning english but I'm not a teacher so idk if it will work for everyone

 

[Taukyrie]

I talked about this in another thread, a base in the language helps, but for practice videogames are excellent. I recommend Nintendo games or those meant for younger audiences or "for the whole family", since they don't tend to use difficult conjugations or words, then you eventually scale up on your own.

That what worked for me when learning english but I'm not a teacher so idk if it will work for everyone

I remember that a streamer I watch who used to tutor in Japanese did mention that a good way to learn a new language is to play something you know in another language.

Nintendo games I think are perfect for this since they are already in a lot of different languages and a lot of people have played them.

That's why I'd probably sooner say to use like a Mario or Pokemon game than a JP only visual novel to learn Japanese.

 

[MegaHiro91]

As a Danish person I learned English through videogames... since they were all in English save for those for little kids like Hugo or Pixeline. Pokémon was in English, Spyro was in English, Rayman was in English etc etc.

In the same vein I HAVE contemplated many times trying to learn a new language via gaming, but I am too chicken because I know I won't be enjoying the game if I can't understand it. Which I know is a hypocritical statement since I enjoyed them fine as a kid before I learned English.

Post automatically merged: Apr 25, 2025

I remember that a streamer I watch who used to tutor in Japanese did mention that a good way to learn a new language is to play something you know in another language.

Nintendo games I think are perfect for this since they are already in a lot of different languages and a lot of people have played them.

That's why I'd probably sooner say to use like a Mario or Pokemon game than a JP only visual novel to learn Japanese.

A Japanese person on YouTube once said: "Learn Japanese IN Japanese". As in, watch movies and play games in Japanese without ANY kind of help, because most of the time you can guess what they are saying and then eventually your brain will put two and two together.

 

[Viviana Santos]

I ended up learning English thanks to the fact that I watched a lot of English youtubers, as well as playing video games. I remember watching a lot of youtubers like AVGN when I was a kid, and I ended up discovering and learning a lot of English phrases.

 

[Egg (McMuffin) Man]

My native language is English, but I play games almost exclusively in Japanese these days. Some of my favorites are narrative-driven games like nakige of adventure games.

Replaying some of my childhood favorites in Japanese has been a very magical experience. It's quite fascinating how much games are changed or censored during translation, and playing the original version is a much more intimate experience.

 

[ItsMeMounir]

My main language is Arabic and i was able to learn english thanks to video games, i think the first games that started helping me learn it is Super Mario and a lot of NES games and Minecraft and other flash games like super smash flash 2 and super mario bros Z

 

[Lunagirl]

Has anyone else ever learned, or practiced, another language by playing video games? When I was learning Spanish in school, it was suggested that every student do independent study by watching movies, reading books, or (the classic method) watching hundreds of episodes of telenovelas. While everyone else was watching Disney movies with Spanish dubs, I was playing 'Fantasía Final Seis' on an emulator with the European version. I ended up learning how to read and write far more than I expected from that experience. I also practiced listening by playing Blasphemous with the Spanish dub. Besides, it felt more natural to the game.

Have you ever had an experience like that? Tell us about it.

So I've been importing games from japan since I was 15, and it has helped me with my japanese. It's not a complete solution to learning, but it's a big help imo.