Wow, cool numbers and all, but what does that actually mean? Will I become fluent?
Most people would probably consider themselves to be "fluent" before they know 10,000 words. It's enough vocabulary and grammar to get around a majority of conversations and interactions you would have in Japan.
At the same time, even 10,000 words and grammar points will not be enough for you to pick up a newspaper or book and read like it was your native language. You will probably still be at around a late elementary or junior high school reading level.
If the game has success, we might add more vocabulary, but at this time, this is pretty much the scope of our project.
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How am I going to remember all of that?
In addition to the review mechanisms within the game (which we will be detailing in another article later, so please be sure to subscribe to our mailing list), Nihongo Quest will have supplementary Anki flashcards available to help you retain everything that you learn in-game. If you don't know what that means, don't worry, we will also be detailing this in a later article.
What about the JLPT tests?
The games should prepare you pretty well for the JLPT tests. Nihongo Quest will be split into 5 parts. Those five parts will be split up in the following ways:
| Part 1: | Part 2: | Part 3: | Part 4: | Part 5: |
| Kana and Kanji | N5 and N4 | N3 | N2 | N1 |
For N5-N2, Nihongo Quest will probably over-prepare you for the test. For N1, the grammar will be thoroughly explained, but because the vocabulary is actually quite random, it would be almost impossible to cover every single potential word in the game (but we will do our best!)
So if I just play this game I will magically be able to understand Japanese?
The main aim of Nihongo Quest is to take the "grinding" of learning Japanese (such as learning vocabulary and grammar) and turn it into a fun game.
A lot of people will try to sell you that you can learn Japanese "easily" by following "these 10 amazing tricks!" or by just sitting on your couch and watching anime. And while sitting on your couch and watching anime certainly can be a crucial part of learning, the fact of the matter is you need to memorize words and grammar if you want to have any idea what those anime characters are saying.
That's what Nihongo Quest aims to do: take the "boring" parts of memorizing vocabulary and grammar and make them "fun." That way, when you sit on your couch and watch TV, it WILL be a learning experience for you because you actually understand what people are saying. However, as with any Japanese learning method, Nihongo Quest should be supplemented by interaction with native material.
What about speaking?
The game will not directly test speaking, but we will be implementing a system to help you learn to speak. We will go into more details once development of the game reaches stage two.