Learning Japanese Through Gaming

Many people think that games are a waste of time, especially for kids, but they can offer learning opportunities when they’re designed in the right way. We’ve already seen Primo teach coding to preschoolers, and now Koe is a JRPG that requires players to learn different kanji symbols in order to progress through the game.

Players use these cards during battles, but in order to use them effectively they need to know what they mean. The game implements communicative language teaching techniques that help each character and its meaning stick, so that users are able to remember that ? means ‘sword’ and not something different. They can also take advantage of more battle options by combining cards to form creative attacks.

Players learn everyday verbs and nouns as well as some common phrases as they traverse through the game, giving them a basic understanding of Japanese.

Indie RPG teaches players Japanese [Springwise]