Nihongo Creator Chris Vasselli on How To Learn Japanese Through Anime, Manga & Harry Potter

Topics

In the interview, we discuss:

• How a love of anime, manga, and Japanese video games led Chris to learn Japanese.

• Chris’ tips for learning Japanese through gaming.

• The importance of learning from authentic content.

• Good sources of comprehensible Japanese listening and reading input.

• How stories and narratives help increase enjoyment and improve memory.

• How to use a VPN (Virtual Private Network) to access Japan-only content.

• The tricky issue of referring to one’s spouse in Japan for same-sex marriages (同性結婚).

• Why you shouldn’t fear the Japanese writing system and how best to learn it.

• Why you should ditch “rote learning” and instead acquire languages in a fun, natural, contextual way.

• How to overcome the fear of speaking Japanese and break out of your “input bubble.”

• How to practice speaking Japanese anywhere in the world.

• How to use the Nihongo app to read authentic content and create contextual, personally meaningful flashcards.

• Why taking Japanese classes or moving to Japan are both advantages but not mandatory conditions for learning Japanese.

Concepts, People & Resources Mentioned

• Manga (漫画, “Japanese comic books”)

• Stephen Krashen

• Comprehensible input

• Chris’ Nihongo dictionary app

• ディズニープラス (Japanese version of Disney+)

• VPNs (Virtual Private Networks)

• Amazon Prime Video

• Ideo-phonetic (a.k.a. phono-semantic) compounds

• Semantic transparency / opacity

• Wanikani

• Jōyō kanji (常用漢字)

• Furigana (振り仮名)

• italki: Get $10 in free credits when you sign up for tutoring

• OCR (Optical Character Recognition)

• Using video games to Study Japanese

Connect with Chris

• Chris' app: Nihongo-App.com

• Chris' Blog: Blog.Nihongo-App.com