My main method of learning Japanese is by reading Visual Novels.

These are kinda like a game and kinda like a novel.

To give you a rundown:

• Every bit of text is spelt out on the screen
• It is usually fully voiced by Japanese natives
• The game does not continue until you click next. Feel free to spend as long as you want reading this.
• You can go back and read any sentence you want, and replay the audio as much as you want.

As such, visual novels are pretty good for learning!

How I used to read visual novels

I use a lot of tech to read visual novels, so pls google these terms if you get lost!

• Open Anki
  • With Anki Connect addon
• Open visual novel
• Use a text-hooking program like Textractor to hook into the visual novel to grab the text
• Open a text-hooking program in Chrome
• Text in the visual novel automatically goes to a web page
• Use Yomitan as my dictionary to look up words
• Put words into Anki as I find them
• use Sharex to re-record the audio and take a screenshot for Anki

Once I find a word I want to mine, it takes me around 10 seconds to put it into Anki.

My new method

I use this a lot:

GitHub - bpwhelan/GameSentenceMiner: An All-in-One immersion toolkit for learning Languages through games and other visual media.

An All-in-One immersion toolkit for learning Languages through games and other visual media. - bpwhelan/GameSentenceMiner

GitHubbpwhelan

• Anki
  • With anki connect addon
• Open game sentence miner
• open visual novel
• Hook game sentence miner into visual novel
• Open texthooking webpage
• Find word I want to mine with Yomitan
• Click "mine"
• Game sentence miner automatically adds screenshot + audio without me needing to do anything

Now I save 10 seconds per word!

Grammar

Primarily I use grammar dictionaries in Yomitan to look up grammar:

GitHub - aiko-tanaka/Grammar-Dictionaries

Contribute to aiko-tanaka/Grammar-Dictionaries development by creating an account on GitHub.

GitHubaiko-tanaka

But if that doesn't work, I go to AI (specifically Kagi Assistant) and ask it to help break down a sentence.

My prompt is this:

You will be given a Japanese text, and your job is to break down the text into its vocab and grammar components, clearly explaining the translation and how the sentence is formed in Japanese to mean that translation. If you come across a grammar point, search the internet for that grammar point and link back to it. You will respond in English, apart from the original japanese words and vocab used.

Make sure to search the internet for grammar explanations, you have access to the best grammar guides in the world.

Also, the user is a japanese learner. use literal translations. They already have a sense of what the sentence is, they are looking to improve their knowledge of translating Japanese into English.

Please try to link to https://bunpro.jp/, and at the end of your paragraph post all links in an orderly fashion.

In Kagi I give it permission to only search Bunpro, and the model is Kimi K2 (its fast and it works)

So my input would be:

もうだいぶ時間経っちまったよな

And Kagi Assistant replies with:

Original Japanese Text:
もうだいぶ時間経っちまったよな

Vocabulary Breakdown

もう

Adverb meaning "already" or "by now".

Literal Translation: "already."

だいぶ

Adverb meaning "quite a lot / considerably / a good deal"¹.

Literal Translation: "quite a bit."

時間 (じかん, jikan)

Noun meaning "time".

Literal Translation: "time."

経っちまった (たっちまった, tacchimatta)

Colloquial contraction of 経ってしまった (たってしまった, tatte shimatta).

Grammar Points:

経つ (たつ, tatsu) is an intransitive verb meaning "to pass (time)".

～てしまう (JLPT N4) - Bunpro Link

Function: Expresses completion, often with regret or surprise.

Contraction:

てしまう → ちまう (even more casual)

でしまう → じまう (even more casual)

Literal Translation: "time has already passed (and I’m a bit surprised / regretful)."

よな (yona)

Sentence-ending particle combining よ (yo, emphasis) + な (na, seeking agreement / reflection).

Literal Translation: "huh?" / "right?" / "don’t you think?"

Grammar Explanation

時間が経つ (じかんがたつ, jikan ga tatsu)

Standard phrase meaning "time passes".

Note: The が (ga) marking the subject is dropped in casual speech.

～てしまう (～ちまう)

Colloquial male speech, shortened form of てしまう.

Effect: Adds regret / resignation / surprise at how much time has passed.

よな (yona)

Tone: Casual male speech, seeking shared recognition ("huh?").

Full Sentence Translation

もうだいぶ時間経っちまったよな
Literal Translation: "Already quite a lot of time has passed, huh?"
Natural Translation: "Man, it’s really been a while, hasn’t it?"

かなり (JLPT N3) | Bunpro

The AI searches the web and gives me Bunpro links.

Bunpro is a website to learn Japanese grammar with flashcards.

I take this bunpro link, I open it and I add that specific piece of grammar to my flashcard deck so I can study it.

This way I study grammar I see in visual novels, it helps me remember because I see them all the time and it provides immediate benefit to me.

Of course learning all the grammar would be best, but no reason why I can't just learn it over time by reading a lot :)