How to Learn Japanese with Songs

[@ThatJapaneseManYuta]

Learn Japanese with Yuta: bit.ly/3TKTo8h

[@elad5889]

I listen to j pop everyday for 2 years now, that's actually one of the main reasons I started learning Japanese (amongst many other reasons). I now remember the lyrics of about 600 songs perfectly and by reading the lyrics for every single song it helped me a great deal with learning kanji And above all of that I learned many grammar points i had no idea even existed so yeh i recommend listen to japanese music at any chance you get

[@jame254]

Same! It helps

[@jrosse12]

same i started learning japanese because I was so into jpop

[@user-yc3fw6vq5n]

600 songs!? I have a terrible memory for songs. Songs in English as a native English speaker. So that sounds humanly impossible to me 😂🤣 amazing

[@elad5889]

@@user-yc3fw6vq5n when you listen to your favorite music hours a day for years you can remember even a 1000

[@J-W_Grimbeek]

Your dedication is hella impressive. I've collected so many songs over the years that I want to learn the lyrics to, Japanese and not, but I never come around to it. So to actually have a full 300 memorised sounds crazy, well done dude

[@majibento]

Ever since Spotify enabled live lyrics I’ve been learning a lot more kanji 🤩

[@mokisan]

Can you share your jpop out Japanese lyrics?

[@RyuAkutagawa]

same!!!

[@amethystskeels3788]

Love this idea. I've mostly just used KZbin so far but Spotify probably has tons! Any recommendations?

[@muhammadhaiqal7075]

Thanks to this method I realised there a lot more of sentence with harder kanji level but commonly used in song that I could understand and read until I realised I'm stuck with kunyomi or onyomi😂😢

[@kekswaffel207]

Now you have a monthly limit on lyrics, if you don't have premium ._.

[@igodreamer7096]

9:21 "Yuta's album debut when?" Jokes aside, thanks for some free lessons there, Yuta man. Japanese can be very confusing at first, with all the rules and patterns, but surely has a clean method for it. And your explanation it's easy to follow. Thanks again and keep up the good work! XD

[@alid3479]

I was surprised that he's good at singing :O

[@dranktf]

No, not a joke. I need a Yuta album right now.

[@user-yc3fw6vq5n]

Yuta has a surprisingly nice singing voice . . !

[@user-yc3fw6vq5n]

@@dranktf Exactly. That Japanese singer Yuta.

[@huckpo283]

bro got a great voice on god

[@Webberjo]

That feeling when you learn a Japanese word and can suddenly start hearing it in Japanese songs.

[@SpinningTurtle66]

Lol I have this every time I learn a new word, it’s so great when sentences start to feel less like a long jumble of sounds as you begin to pick out individual words

[@illumify99]

The song Hatachi No Koi by Lamp has a repeated lyric saying "あなたが好きです"(Anata ga sukidesu) and I was like "I know what that means"

[@Kim._..]

Fr 😭

[@CLOUDCLOVER3]

It makes me more motivated. Love that feeling tbh

[@some_dude2218]

@@SpinningTurtle66This is the most relatable thing ever

[@_JustMonika]

So from what I understand (which is not a lot), Japanese people don't use 君 or あなた because they prefer using the person's name instead: みずきさんの車 instead of あなたの車 (your car, when talking about Mizuki's car). So I think we see a lot of these words in songs because they're not talking about one person specifically, kinda like the English equivalent of "I wish I could be with you" instead of "I wish I could be with Jane".

[@zezus001]

i think japanese tend to avoid pronouns in general

[@Fikri_A777]

Kimi is also a rather rude way to say "you", it's okay if used between friend, while anata has double meaning of "darling" and "you" while it is indeed a polite way to say "you", and the other reasons are just like you said, Japanese prefer on using the other person's name, or even drop the pronouns as long the context understood. For example saying "Are you okay?" Can be shortened into just "okay?" As the context obviously asking about the other person, you won't ask about your own condition. (So instead of "Anata wa genki desu ka" it become "genki (desu ka) ?") Even the "desu ka" part which implied that you are asking the other person can be dropped as long as you raised the pitch of the last syllable, so instead of high.low, it become high.high. Japanese really like to make their conversation as concise as possible lol

[@joshdaniels2363]

One thing I find really challenging about trying to pick up Japanese from songs is that it's more like poetry, and it's much harder to figure out where one thought ends and the next thought begins. Even in English, it's not always perfectly clear from whether two phrases are meant to be two separate ideas, or two pieces of the same idea!

[@joshdaniels2363]

And the more complex the sentence structure gets, the harder it gets to follow. (For example, is what I'm hearing an independent clause, or is it just an adjectival clause that's modifying something else?) I almost feel like I have to diagram the sentences before I fully get it.

[@xxzavier42]

@@joshdaniels2363 I know youre talking about learning through just listening, however, if your trying to understand better maybe you could read lyrics while listening, thats what I do at least. While your reading, you can identify characters you know

[@mfaizsyahmi]

Yuta's choice of songs proves that he's a cultured man.

[@based9930]

most of those were terrible, even by japanese standards.

[@noam300896]

@@based9930 not Aimyon tho.

[@jasonfanclub4267]

@@based9930 also not kenshi

[@LemonJongie23]

I knew he was gonna use Lemon for his anata example and I was not disappointed in the absolute slightest 😂😂

[@BioGenx2b]

This is one of my favorite ways to learn Japanese. Not only do I associate my emotions with the music itself, especially as I translate and begin to better understand the message and underlying themes, but I can routinely play back the music in my head to remember words or phrases that I might otherwise struggle to remember. 24時間Cinderella taught me 素直(すなお), for instance. Such a great method!

[@jialin7]

I LOVE YOU 届けようきっとYOU LOVE ME

[@zacharoooooo]

Yuta-sensei singing is something we needed but never knew 😂

[@АнастасіяМихтонюк-м2ж]

While I used to watch a lot of anime in the past, it was actually the music that really sparked my interest in learning Japanese!

[@yoku651]

Music was what inspired my to learn Japanese in the first place. I started by learning how Japanese is pronounced by following along with romaji. It took me a long time to realize that Japanese R and English R are not the same sounds. Then I also realized that i and u vowels were "dropped" (devoiced) sometimes. It made learning Hiragana and Katakana way easier, and my Japanese professor commended me on my pronunciation.

[@HeavenlyEchoVirus]

Baka Mitai started my Japanese language journey and it’s crazy how useful songs are in learning vocabulary and the usage of words.

[@jammydoughnuts]

I love learning Japanese through music. It’s so satisfying when I find myself finally being able to understand some part of the lyrics. Even if it’s just a few lines or one single phrase, it’s highly encouraging! Every time I listen to 人生は夢だらけ (one of my favourite Japanese songs) by 林檎椎名 I find myself understanding a little more and it’s awesome.

[@J-W_Grimbeek]

Thank you so much for this video. My first real experience with Japanese was when I started watching an anime a friend recommended (MonMusu, he was a very cultured friend) and thought the opening song slapped, so I decided to learn the lyrics to the song despite knowing 0 Japanese. It helped me familiarise Japanese spelling and pronunciation conventions really quickly, like how the i in しshi or the u in くku sometimes get dropped, how weird んn can sound sometimes, and how the Japanese r sounds. It made it much easier when I started to actually learn the language, and now years later I can re-listen to these songs, and realise that I can now _understand_ those lyrics I learned back then

[@mokisan]

How did you start learning Japanese? I mean did you take coaching or did you learn yourself?

[@OrangeC7]

2:32 Excellent maneuver to avoid explaining は then and there, "also this is uh... also a particle"

[@alam5055]

I've learned most of the japanese that I know through songs. It comes very naturally for me to pick up words, inflections or sentence structures that are often repeated and used. And it's also easier to memorize them than during traditional learning, since it's easy to memorize song lyrics even in foreign languages. Traditional learning feels like hard work, meanwhile listening to songs, looking up lyrics and their translations is so fun and effortless.

[@bleach.for.my.eyes.]

Cool that this works for you so well! Unfortunately I didn't learn a lot of Japanese from listening to songs (yet), but they made me fall in love with the sound of it :)

[@noir371]

It’s actually an excellent way of making vocab stick, because (assuming it’s a song you like) it creates an emotional connection.

[@rachelbartlett9783]

The first song mentioned, by Aimer, I painstakingly learnt to busk, to perform in the Fremantle Markets. A Japanese man who owns a popular food stall there, gave me a listen and thumbs up. That was happifying. And music definitely does help us learn languages. Anyway... Love your videos Yuta. 本当に感謝しています。

[@Att4ni]

I started learning Japanese in April of this year because of the song アスノヨゾラ哨戒班 and used songs to learn hiragana and katakana in less than a week. I've now built my vocabulary so much through songs and it's my main method of immersion most days. Thanks for this video, Yuta san!

[@kenshinchang2707]

Osu! Player????

[@Att4ni]

@@kenshinchang2707 no actually lol

[@mikeoxfat6081]

I learn through music when I don't wanna study my main deck but still wanna learn new vocabulary words

[@noam300896]

Yuta, learning japanese with songs is amazing. Please make more videos!

[@MrLateXD]

Singing is also a good way to see how far you've come. It's a great feeling when you notice you can sing a faster song you couldn't keep up with earlier, all the while being able to think of the correct pronunciation for each kanji on the fly.

[@Xenon53]

I suggest using Musixmatch if you are really into learning Japanese with songs. They have romanized-japanese and translations for all kinds of songs. For example, most YOASOBI's song were translated and all romanization were done automatically. Like this: Gunjou by YOASOBI 嗚呼いつもの様に Aa itsumono youni Ahh, as always 過ぎる日々にあくびが出る Sugi ru hibi niakubiga deru I yawned towards the past さんざめく夜越え今日も Sanzameku yoru koe kyou mo Overcoming the vibrant nights, today 渋谷の街に朝が降る Shibuya no machi ni asa ga furu Morning falls in Shibuya Street again

[@_JustMonika]

While it is a great website to use, just be aware that the automated romanized versions can have a few words wrong, since it doesn't account for context.

[@Xenon53]

@@_JustMonika of course!

[@relaxstaycalm1906]

Jpop back then was one of the reasons i learn japanese

[@rusydihilman3283]

This is exactly what i do for quite a few months already. You can listen to your favourite songs and learning Japanese at the same time lol. My kanji vocabulary also gradually increased from time to time

[@lekjian]

love this collection! pls keep doing them!

[@lvlupproductions2480]

It would have been a nice touch to put the music in the description. Here’s the list for people looking for it. 「カタオモイ」(kataomoi) by Aimer 「君の知らない物語」(Kimi no shiranai monogatari) by Supercell (1st ed of 「化物語」(Bakemonogatari) 「君はロックを聴かない」(kimi wa rokku wo kikanai) by あいみょん (aimyon) 「たばこ」(tabako) by コレサワ (koresawa) 「ハルジオン」(harujion (halzion) by YOASOBI 「Lemon」by 玄師米津 (kenshi yonezu) (ed of 「アンナチュラル」(annachuraru (unnatural)) 「summertime」(also known as 「夏時間」(natsujikan)) by cinnamons (insert song for Clannad After Story. 「secret base 〜君がくれたもの〜」(secret base 〜kimi ga kuretamono〜 by ZONE (ed of 「あの日見た花の名前を僕達はまだ知らない。」(Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day)

[@jame254]

Finally Yuta ends the debate of learning a language through music. Been saying this for the longest time same with anime. Obviously there are more nuanced answers and what anime, manga and music to use for comprehensible input as well as

[@chris2746]

The fact that a pretty good portion of the Japanese music videos have text for the lyrics helps a lot.

[@ItsShaz1]

Interesting video Yuta!

[@theoldfelix]

i've often wondered about pitch accent in songs so i'm really happy you talked about it!!

[@emilypashak9834]

Yuta! I'm so happy to see you posting I thought you retired ☺️ i have so much gratitude for you. Your teaching skills and videos have helped me reach a childhood dream of one day learning Japanese 🍙✨ you are so appreciated senpai! You're the MAN 🤜

[@InterludeSpiral]

Hi Yuta, I subscribed to your basic premium course and I just want to thank you a lot man, I still halfway through, however when I watch anime know yes I do not understand everything but I know if the word is a verb or an adjective, if it is in past, progressive , or present, if it is in keigo or non keigo. Also the people working and correcting our work in the course, I am excited to finish it then hop on the vocabulary course. I feel confident in my studying journey more than ever because the road is clear for me thanks to you, and all I have to do is work hard studying it

[@冴羽獠-u8m]

I listen to a lot of songs in Japanese and not only anime openings because it allows me to have the pronunciation and in addition to learn a lot of kanji and their pronunciation Thanks to this I knew a lot of kanji and their meaning even before learning hiragana. It allowed me to use kanji very quickly and to "fluidify" my texts.

[@AddaeAkono]

I've been listening to Japanese songs as another way to immerse myself in the Japanese language and I've become more fascinated with J-rap songs. Most of the times I'm able to pick out certain words that I know since some of the lyrics stick in your head.

[@mokisan]

Can you share some j rap playlist in Spotify

[@AddaeAkono]

@@mokisan I don't have a playlist dedicated to J-rap. Just listen to random J-rap songs.

[@geakgogkokoge]

this is how i've been doing it for the past 3 years

[@BrendaNaomi]

Thank you for all these tips and information!! I actually decided to start learning Japanese after getting into visual kei. I now follow some channels of bandmembers where they only speak in Japanese. I understand almost nothing but I like to just listen and sometimes I pick up little words and phrases.

[@weasele1]

been watching　you 　ありがとうごじあます。for all you hard work

[@harozen]

Knowledge is power, instant subscribed!

[@muffinberg7960]

9:20 ooh my our man Yuta showing off his auto tune simulating skills. Now I can't help but want to see, Yutaloid (vocaloid). I vote for Yuta's participation as a frontman for Vocaloid.

[@muhammadhaiqal7075]

This channel always remind me of how I like 物語シリーズso much

[@Peachessssss13]

Image people from Japan trying to learn grammar from our rap songs😰

[@Maickellz]

Yuta's singing was beautiful. Also thanks for nice songs, I'm definitely going to check them.

[@MarkusAndersen96]

Aimer, Supercell, Yoasobi, great choices! I love listening to all of them

[@MauveButterfly]

I really liked the format of this video. Fantastic work. It was both educational and entertaining.

[@MomoKun08]

Ngl, I've been learning jp through this method for a long time now. Also helps having something you're truly passionate about that is in jp, in my case is jpop. Having a drive to learn the language is a great way to help you learn and enjoy learning a new language. Love that yuta actually teaches this for free in youtube in a very easy to understand manner.

[@cobrachaos6282]

Wow, one of my favorite Aimer songs as the first one played! Instant like

[@camryds]

shift + right click overwrites the copy restriction as well

[@patrickrobinson317]

Great Video :😀

[@pojepoje4054]

good to see youre doing well. fell off from the Japanese lessons. will pick up sometime in the future when everything settles. thank you

[@leonader9465]

I think it would have been nice if you had mentioned in the video how the written lyrics of songs can be found (which was my main reason for watching this) but I still learned a lot. Thanks!

[@cyanopsia2]

Thanks for the video, Yuta sensei. I listen to a lot of Japanese music, which I think helped me at least a little in learning Japanese. Also, I recently got into a J-Hip-Hop group called Scha Dara Parr. Their songs are basically conversations set to beats. If you wanted to, I'd love to see a video on them. Thanks again for the video

[@WillCMAG]

5:51 I might be an exception to that. To write songs in Japanese is just one of the reasons I'm learning the language.

[@KingJH0510]

aside from anime and vtubers, songs are amazing and theyve helped me a lot especially in vocabulary cuz there are a lot of words that are in songs that you just dont hear that often

[@kitsuneliteraria9847]

0:17 I just wanted to point that I am brazilian and I understood!!!! Thak you, Yuta, for this genious touch and for the tips!

[@tranquil_slime870]

I have met nobody who knows 君がくれたもの here in the states, even among other Japanese learner/speakers, so I was quite surprised when it started playing.

[@sarawinardi6745]

I love Aimer!!’

[@JA_0143]

I have been listening to Japanese rock for a year without knowing any Japanese and now that I am learning I can recognize words or phrases. I can read some lyrics, but don’t know what it means so Ill translate it a few time to understand the context of the song.

[@xamified4432]

The thing is, I know a lot of japanese lyrics cos I've been listening to them for over a decade and sing along, but I know so many words and can read hiragana and common kanji, but I NEVER KNOW HOW TO USE THEM IN NORMAL CONVERSATIONS 😭 It's frustrating cos I tried studying textbooks too and followed along yt lessons, but my ADHD literally is hindering me from keeping any of what I learn. idk how but I can understand some lyrics after listening to them, but I feel like I'm only understanding the bare surface of it and not the deeper meanings. Thank you for this recommendation! I'll try your lessons too, but I wish I can communicate with people casually too so I can practice 🥲

[@astyutechick7980]

(Spoilers for Attack on Titan/Shingeki no Kyojin) Shingeki no Kyojin: Attack on Titan The attacking Titan The Attack Titan The way I understand it: with the context of the first season, it was translated to be Attack on Titan. But it was a clever title with different meanings, and with the reveal that it is a story about the attack titan - the translation therefore should be "the Attack Titian". Here, the "no" word has been used in two different ways. "Attack *on* Titan" and "the Titan that (posses the ability to) Attacks". The thing is, I already have a "feeling" of the word "no" and how it can be used - but I'm interested in the nuances that come with this title - so if someone shares any explanations about that, it'll be super cool to read!

[@josueacunauwu]

沈むように溶けてゆくように 二人だけの空が広がる夜に :3

[@Rhekon]

I did this kinda thing a bunch when I was a teen. I listened to more music with lyrics from Japan back then.

[@Yeenstank]

I started to learn Japanese because I wanted to have a better understanding of one of my favorite artists, Kenji Endo (遠藤健司). Having the vinyls looking at the lyrics sheet, taking notes, it helps. Glad to see it's a legit way to learn too.

[@shun0825]

sayonara memories 😍😍😍

[@katriinaetholen4865]

Lovely to hear this as I learned hiragana from the song "Rocket Dive" by hide and finally I learned the whole song by heart (still the only song in the whole world which lyrics I remember). Later, when I have faced the same words when studying, I remember them at once.

[@Rakunya]

Supercell AND hachi? (Kenshi Yohnezu) Years of listening to Vocaloid paying off! I do find songs are a great way to make vocabulary stick, regardless of how useful that vocabulary is. I've learned 夢, 世界, and 逆さま that way as examples. Where it trips me up is when a song has a phrase and I can't figure out the grammar of it. Like ロープ切られさようなら. I know individually that is "rope" and a form of "to cut" and "goodbye", but between a lack of particles and 切られ not showing up in grammar I can find, I'm left guessing that maybe it's in passive form? But otherwise yeah, songs are great.

[@ProwersEdits]

Monogatari reference in the first 20 seconds. You got me

[@JannesDragon]

I'm listining to "kataomoi" a lot lately, nice that you chose it as an example! (: By the way, at the moment you mentioned "言って", I was hoping that you actually use the song as an example haha

[@Eva_Marie_Moon]

Hey Yuta! I've been listening to Japanese music since I was a kid, I love it! Do you like the band Sakanaction? They're my favorite right now. My dream is to be able to go see them in concert in Japan

[@RosavaDo]

I love Aimer!

[@eletricsaberman8916]

This video speaks well to me XD. I haven't committed enough to the whole language yet, but i was able to learn a lot of pronunciation and a few words from memorizing anime openings.

[@eletricsaberman8916]

Perhaps most importantly, they're fun

[@MemoGGG16]

Monogatari's reference and ending... It is all I need!

[@山川川山]

これは実践的ですね

[@HeliosEffect]

素直に I LOVE YOU 届けよう きっと YOU LOVE ME！ 伝わるさ

[@gaygoddessnamedmadoka2252]

this could come in handy thank you

[@maia_key]

I'm doing this at the moment with the spotify lyrics feature with japanese songs and COVERS of english songs in japanese!

[@LarsEspen]

I learn songs all the time because i love to sing in japanese since i think i am a god when i. Am able to do it

[@ms.rosilynn]

Spotify has lyrics on a lot of Japanese songs. It even goes line by line!

[@zagrych]

some people I know that pronounce in english exactly like a native, do so because of being in english cover bands. I believe it is definitely one of the best options for pronounciation practice.

[@stucky101]

Song melody v. pitch accent. Song wins every time 😊

[@redfish337]

Songs are good at teaching you important vocabulary like sekaiseifuku.

[@jeffkleist9679]

Yura, you should try the Chage and Aska song Mr. Asia. Almost Every kanji and the matching phonetics are either about being back where you’re cool or fishing. That’d make a great video

[@zeroqp]

You're so cool, Yuta 😄

[@martinm.5466]

You really rock that pink zip hoodie.

[@Galluchh]

Yuta🙇🏻‍♂️❤️🙇🏻‍♂️

[@T3ZZO]

Most of the songs from Back Number are good for beginners because their lyrics are slow and the used lots of different words. mabataki, shiawase and hanataba are good songs

[@thestinger8677]

Like for monogatari reference

[@paulchen8673]

Being an anime fan, I find it to be the easiest and best way to get fluent with hiragana, katakana and kanji.. pick a few slower songs and make a playlist and sing it with lyrics until you can sing it 100% word to word without any shuttering, then gradually go into faster and faster songs...

[@JasonBlair]

Compliments for the choice of Aimer on the first song. 😎

[@yuii2493]

The worst thing about learning Japanese with songs is I could no longer use any Japanese song as a background music to study. Before, I don't understand what it means so even if I sing sing along I can still study but once I know what it means, it makes my mental process into focusing on the lyrics instead of studying.

[@Trainlevel2]

It’s funny that the first song you showed, 片思い, was the first song I started to try to understand the lyrics… その歌が好きですから、よく聞きますよ

[@WhiteObsidian27]

First song I'm learning is Binks Sake from One Piece 😂

[@yono321]

all of those 1 second flashes of Japanese text were way too funny loll I'm so glad I could understand them

[@neggit2063]

I learned a lot of Japanese from Kohh songs, because he's a rapper and thus repeats a lot of words often

[@thijsbergman2424]

Didn't know Yuta had a beautiful singing voice

[@filipatomei]

Only 20 seconds in the Video and already made THE Monogatari reference..........well played Yuta😂

[@xt00thpastee]

You have a pretty good singing voice my friend.

[@michaelirwin7258]

I have tried doing this with my learning journey. I have over 200 songs in my playlist just to listen to Japanese music all day long. The problem I run into is I want to translate these, and I am not able to yet. I am still in the "I heard a word I know" phase.... and "ooo that phrase is something I know"... I still have a long way to go.

[@Dcp0001a]

I think learning via songs is a great idea in theory. However I've been listening and watching loads of Jpop and JRock for a few years and I often just find myself getting into so much AMAZINGLY GOOD music, and music videos, that I lose focus on the notion of learning the language haha ....