Welcome to our visual novel titled “Hello, Japan!”

Due to the limited grammar and vocabulary introduced to novice students, creating reading materials to entertain and motivate them is challenging. Therefore, we have decided to utilize visual novel games to create reading materials that the Japanese learners at the very novice level can read for fun.

This visual novel has been used in the Japanese Language Program at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Our preliminary research suggests that this visual novel can greatly motivate students to read due to its gameful aspect, and they feel that it is very useful in improving their reading skills and cultural competency. Also, unlike other reading materials at the novice level, this visual novel can encourage students to develop guessing skills from context. For details of our research, please see this proceeding (pp.214-226, Japanese-only).

This visual novels is designed as supplementary material for the textbook「TOBIRA 1: Beginning Japanese」but we believe that students can read this visual novel along with other major 1st-year Japanese textbooks as well.

The following chart is a guide that outlines which grammatical expressions correspond with which chapters of the Hello Japan Visual Novel.

There may be words/phrases that students don’t know yet, but these were included deliberately to help develop their guessing skills.

Hello Japan Chapter	Core Concepts
Chapter 1 "New Friends"	Greetings X は Y です/じゃないです Basic Question Sentences Particles「の」「も」
Chapter 2 "Let's Join a Tennis Club!"	Verb Non-past Affirmative and Negative Particles「で(location)」「に(time)」「は(topic)」 Frequency Adverbs Invitation ～ませんか
Chapter 3 "Fun Weekend"	X があります/います Location Words Verb Past Affirmative and Negative Particle「と」
Chapter 4 "Trip During Golden Week"	Adjectives in Non-past and Past Verb て-form Request 〜てください Permission ～てもいいですか Prohibition ～てはいけません

Technical Approach

We utilize the “choices” mechanic to hide multiple choice questions. Students are able to choose the correct vocabulary, conjugation, or grammar structure, given the context provided in the game.

Students are also required to type out more involved answers through a short answer field. We can drive home the difference between certain grammar patterns, or focus on difficult spellings. Students sometimes could not produce the correct answer despite unlimited retries, so after a set number of incorrect answers, the game system takes over, and the main character suddenly remembers the correct answer. Prior to that, we anticipate common mistakes, and the main character’s internal monologue can suggest potential corrections based on the given answer.

This strategy promotes the development of adaptive strategies, even beyond the scope of the student’s ability, to navigate real-life scenarios that students would encounter when experiencing a different culture. Students acquire cultural competence and confidence, which is so vital to intercultural communication.

In Conclusion

We would be honored if you introduced our visual novel to your students as a supplement to their readings.

Although visual novels have not been actively used “professionally” in language instruction, we believe they are an innovative approach to language instruction and reading engagement, and we believe it shows immense promise for our field. Not only can the simple text format improve reading skills, the multimedia aspect increases retention and engagement. Furthermore, more advanced learners can benefit as well, through longer conversations and topics that require a higher level of comprehension.

Please contact us if you want more information or are interested in material development using visual novels.