Kiki and Koko are back at it again with a new video! 素敵! 奇跡！In this video, we get a new type of listening comprehension for something that would prove useful– following two lines of dialogue. It’s a bit more advanced than the previous videos, perhaps, but this gives a good goal in which you can work toward.

‘While video immersion is wonderful, it doesn’t give one the opportunity to actually test their skills. One can watch the news in Japanese or listen to a conversation, but without any sort of self accountability, it makes it difficult to actually use properly. This video gives you all of the tools you need for self study. It gives you actual concepts to recall just as if you were having a conversation– Monologues may be one sided, but when it comes to communicating in a dialogue, comprehending what the other person says is obviously critical.

These first two videos are geared towards higher level beginners who aren’t quite ready to listen and comprehend at full speed. This gives the opportunity to hear it once at regular pace, then once more slowly to truly give ones mind a bit of time to understand.

The subtitles on this video are unmatched as there are options to even practise reading hiragana or romaji for those who aren’t quite ready for that. But, if you’re not interested in necessarily learning Japanese, but want to understand the concepts and entertainment, you can turn on regular fully English translated subtitles. And, there are many layers so that repetition will uncover more enjoyment. This video features some hand-crafted jazz and lofi music that you can enjoy along with the new camera visuals. You’ll learn more about Kiki and Koko through these videos and hopefully have some fun.’

(第2話 初会 | Kiki + Koko: Let’s NihonGO!! Vlogs (SUBTITLED))

In this video, we get an entirely new experience with an added member to the SpeRaToBo family: Quizbo™! (Apparently, that’s just how his name is properly spelt– okay, spelled for the Americans) Quizbo™ is a cute li’l AI boyo that seems to be programmed with a Japanese input. He speaks English very well, but his output is only in Japanese phonemes, in which all syllables except for N at the end of a word have two letters. You can find out more about this here: あいうえお LET’S WRITE HIRAGANA!!

I personally really enjoy Quizbo™’s voice and his really earnest tone– You’ll find out in the あいうえお episode, we find that when English is taught in Japan, it is usually taught with Katakana. (Again, this will make more sense after you watch the video) While I support learning Japanese using romaji, I think the same issue happens when English is taught with katakana. The reason why it is learnt this way in Japan and across the proverbial pond would be the same: the learner doesn’t yet know how to read the respective native writing system.

But, at the same time, let’s not be too harsh on anyone who is learning a foreign language. While, as a teacher, I know it’s better to be literate no matter the language; I still think whether or not you choose to learn to read, it’s still enriching and fulfilling to learn a second language. I mean, Has Anyone Really Been Far Even as Decided to Use Even Go Want to do Look More Like? And, if they have, then I don’t want to know.

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‘Nostalgia for an 80s talk show that never existed (tv size)’
(saxophone)
‘ａｆｔｅｒｎｏｏｎ　ｔｅａ’
(piano/drum machine/etc)
‘午前４時工事中/4amUnderConstruction’
(Guitar/drum machine/etc)

All Video Credits attributed to Indigo East