Have you ever wanted to learn Japanese? Have you tried studying but feel like you aren’t getting anywhere?
In So to Speak, you use context clues to guess the meaning of what you see and hear. Unlike other games and tools, meanings aren’t revealed immediately. Every word is its own puzzle – to proceed, you must connect it to nearby objects or text with the same meaning. For example, you can drag a Japanese sign for “entrance” onto an actual building entrance located nearby or the English word “entrance” in the game’s description of the entrance.
Learning Made Fun with So To Speak
I have always had a deep passion for languages and the beauty of how words can connect to create new meanings and expressions. When I studied German for my GCSEs, I was captivated by the intricate way the language formed sentences and ideas. It sparked a curiosity within me to explore other languages and cultures.
Japanese has always intrigued me, but I have felt daunted by its complexity. However, what if, perhaps, learning a language as intricate as Japanese could bring me joy and fulfilment? The idea of embracing the challenge with a sense of fun and curiosity is truly exciting.
Words and Phrases
So to Speak teaches Japanese using the Kanji alphabet. Something I had discovered during my research into the Japanese language is that there are four main writing systems – Hiragana, Katakana, Romaji and Kanji. Hiragana and Katakana are phonetic alphabets, and Kanji is based on ideograms and certain words’ meanings.
As a newbie to learning Japanese, I must confess that I was unsure about which writing form to focus on. However, I am excited about the idea of making language learning enjoyable through games, so the specific writing style didn’t concern me at this stage. I am open to exploring different methods and approaches that will make my learning journey more engaging and fulfilling.
In this game, you will encounter a variety of puzzles that are filled with words and glyphs for you to decipher. As you progress through each level and fill up your dictionary, you will gain a deeper understanding of the meaning behind these puzzles.
Completing words and phrases is an easy and enjoyable task. You simply need to drag and drop the English word, Japanese word, or glyph onto the yellow bubbles. Each level presents a specific number of phrases or words that need to be completed in order to progress.
How Do I Say That?
So to Speak also offers pronunciation alongside the words and glyphs, so you know exactly how to pronounce the words that you are learning. I found this invaluable in my learning because, as we all know, sometimes the way a word is written and how it is pronounced do not align.
I believe the full game will come with over 300 words and phrases to learn. I’m not entirely sure how many the demo includes, but at the time of writing this I had completed upwards of 15 levels.
Final Thoughts
So to Speak is a promising game that makes learning Japanese fun and accessible to everyone. As a new learner of Japanese, I can’t attest to its full accuracy (although my research does suggest that it is mostly accurate from the small amount of research I have done), but I enjoyed my time learning what the Japanese language has to offer through a fun and interactive environment.
So to Speak has a planned release date of 2024, but no release date has been given. However, you can still download the demo from Steam here, where you can also wishlist the full game.
Do you like our content? Support LadiesGamers on Patreon!
Check out our Tiers and Benefits and join us.