Is it possible to learn Japanese through playing games with Japanese game scripts?

[Peter_20]

I've just mastered the Hiragana, and I know some signs for Katakana as well.
A while ago I opened up the Japanese version of Final Fantasy 4, and while I didn't understand much at all, I still think I could pick up some words.
This would in theory allow me to learn words and successfully build up my vocabulary; if one word sounds a bit similar to English, I can guess what it means, and understand the rest of the sentence better.
And so on.
I managed to pick up the words "heishi", "hikuteigan", "yoshi", "suuin" and "ankokukishi"; and Cecil was obviously named "Seshiru".

I actually think this is a little bit like moving over to Japan.
If you're ambitious enough, I think it's possible to pick up words here and there and improve your skills.

[Roto13]

Do you really want to sound like a video game character?

[Peter_20]

Do you really want to sound like a video game character?I never said that, I just said that you very likely will pick up some half-guessed words and slowly develop if you often play Japanese games.

[Azure Chrysanthemum]

Not really, no.

[KentaRawr!]

Perhaps not in entirely text based games. However, all knowledge can be inferred, so theoretically, yes, you could. But you may find you'd learn better if you were to continue studying Japanese from a book, displaying what words mean to you. Or, when you have a guess for as to what words mean, you could keep a Japanese-English Dictionary with you, and check your work with it. Then, later, study from the text-book you are issued. That is THE most effective way I could imagine learning a language.

[Nifleheim7]

Yes,i think the combination of text and image can help a lot as long as you continue to study from proper books or from whatever it is that you study.
Manga and anime can also help.

With that said,i always believed that if someone wants to REALLY learn a foreign language he/she should move to that place.

[Vincent, Thunder God]

Only in spirit Peter.

If I were to watch my favourite ScummVM games with no sound, only subs, or my favourite comedy films with no audio, my memories would invent audio to go along.

Thus your own mind supplants meaning to subtitles in a different language, though your memories supply memories of it in English.

[Necronopticous]

The short answer is "no." The longer answer is "don't kid yourself."

[Karellen]

I would say it's about as likely as learning to program in BASIC through playing Ultima.

[Proxy]

It's possible.
The likely hood of it on the otherhand.

[Tasura]

いいえ。

[KoShiatar]

You won't learn Japanese this way, but you can improve it. However, it won't do you any good if you don't learn grammar. You won't find forms like "yurusaretai" in a dictionary.

[Mo-Nercy]

I learn Japanese in a classroom environment and I find it impossible. :D

Knowing hiragana and some katakana symbols isn't going to really help you if you don't recognise any kanji. And although there are quite a few words in Japanese that are derived from the English language, there's nowhere near enough to give you any clues as to the true meaning of any particular phrase.

Also, some aspects of Japanese grammar makes my head explode.

[Tallulah]

I learnt a few extra tidbits of French when I played FFVIII in French, but only because I had been studying it for six years. Plus I had an awesome bilingual dictionary.

I guess it would help you to recognise the forms of written Japanese language, and you would learn some colloquial phrases peculiar to Japan. But no, you certainly couldn't learn Japanese from scratch from video games alone.

[ReloadPsi]

If you're ever going to use a video game to attempt to improve on ANY language, I strongly advise you spend a long frickin' time mastering the basics first (I'd been learning German for about five years before I started to seriously switch my games into it). After that, the grammatical structure of the sentences will make it obvious what's being said, as well as teach you some new things, and ultimately give you a comprehensive "how to" on forming sentences.

Switching the language to Spanish without knowing Spanish is never gonna help though.


I learnt a few extra tidbits of French when I played FFVIII in French, but only because I had been studying it for six years. Plus I had an awesome bilingual dictionary.

Best re-translation ever, purely because Quistis had a whip named "Totally S.M." and there was an item called "9-inch Nail" which was described as a "claw from an industrial monster". Rinoa's name was "Linoa" which made sense because apparently it's meant to be a transliteration of "Lenore" anyway, Quezacotl got a name that fit (Golgotha, which made more sense, still not as much as Garuda though) and they also got the Griever (Cronos) story right. Bloody awesome.

[Maxico]

Learning Japanese to import games and read manga is pretty much the worst reason to learn a language ever.

Also, no, if watching cartoons and playing video games really was the fast track to learning a new language, alot of people would be out of jobs.

[Peegee]

You can read hiragana and katakana, but you won't know what you are reading unless you know the words. That's about as far as you'll get.

It's like being able to read english using phonics, but lacking vocabulary.