Chris Vasselli is a programmer, passionate Japanese learner, and the creator of the Nihongo iOS app, my go-to Japanese dictionary and reading tool for authentic Japanese content. We discuss his language learning journey, how to acquire Japanese the fun, natural, immersive way, and why you shouldn’t fear the Japanese writing system.
Topics
- 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 a mandatory condition for learning.
Concepts, People & Resources Mentioned
- Anime (アニメ, “Japanese animation”)
- Manga (漫画, “Japanese comic books”)
- Stephen Krashen
- Comprehensible input
- Final Fantasy VI
- Final Fantasy VII
- JET Programme
- Chris’ Nihongo dictionary app
- LingQ
- Harry Potter books in Japanese
- Japanese first person pronouns: watashi (私), boku (僕), ore (俺), wagahai (我輩), etc.
- Your Name (Kimi no Na Wa, 君の名は)
- ディズニープラス (Japanese version of Disney+)
- ExpressVPN
- Amazon Prime Video
- Japanese kana (仮名, the Japanese syllabic “alphabet”)
- Japanese kanji (漢字, Chinese characters)
- Ideo-phonetic (a.k.a. phono-semantic) compounds
- Semantic transparency / opacity
- Remembering the Kanji by James Heisig
- Wanikani
- Will Smith’s “brick by brick” story
- Jouyou kanji (常用漢字)
- Furigana (振り仮名)
- Master Japanese: How to Learn Japanese through Anywhere Immersion
- Rote learning
- Language input (listening and reading) and output (speaking and writing)
- iTalki
- Using iOS and Siri in Japanese
- OCR (Optical Character Recognition)
- Using Videogames to Study Japanese
Connect with Chris
- Chris’ app: Nihongo-App.com
- Nihongo Blog: Blog.Nihongo-App.com
- Chris on Twitter: @chrisvasselli (Personal), @Nihongo_App (App updates)