How to Actually Learn Japanese with Netflix

Can you learn a language, specifically Japanese, with Netflix? As with many resources, the answer depends on how you use it. Netflix offers a wide variety of series, films, and documentaries in several languages. For many, in fact, an interest in anime or Japanese pop culture may have sparked a desire to learn the language.

Is it possible to learn a language through Netflix? In this blog post, we’ll show you how to use LingQ to maximize the value of Japanese content on Netflix. LingQ is a platform that enables you to enjoy content you love while effectively (and more efficiently) learning your target language.

How to create LingQ lessons with Japanese Content on Netflix

Learning a language requires a lot of time. Engaging with content that you’re legitimately interested in is important, as you’ll need to spend a lot of time immersed in Japanese. Whether that’s through Japanese podcasts, news, or Netflix.

It’s absolutely possible to learn Japanese through Netflix. The series and films are linguistically rich resources, full of complex sentence structures and valuable cultural references. However, for a Japanese language learner, it may be difficult to reap the full benefits by simply watching Netflix on the couch.

LingQ allows you to convert content on Netflix into interactive language lessons. Through LingQ, you’re no longer just watching an episode of your favourite Japanese series. You’re now actively learning Japanese in a fun way. On LingQ, you now have an interactive transcript, automatic flashcards, a separate audio file, and instant translations. And this can all be done with one click.

LingQ offers a browser extension (available for Chrome, Safari, Edge and Firefox) to automatically create LingQ lessons from whatever web page you’re on. From blog posts to YouTube videos to films on Netflix, LingQ can extract the content and present it with the language learner in mind.

Check out this video tutorial for a step-by-step tutorial on importing Netflix content into LingQ.

What type of content should I be watching on Netflix?

That’s up to you! Success in language learning with Netflix isn’t genre-specific. For any language, the content that most effectively contributes to your language learning success is the content that you find interesting, the content that you enjoy and return to regularly. If you’re a fan of anime, let’s watch and read anime on LingQ. If you’re a fan of documentaries, use LingQ to take a closer look at specific segments of a documentary and understand the content more deeply.

Have no idea where to begin? We’ve compiled a handful of must-watch Japanese films to get you started in your language-immersion journey. From heartwarming dramas to action-packed thrillers, there’s something for everyone.

Suzume

Suzume is a movie about a 17-year-old girl who travels throughout Japan to seal mysterious doors that appear from a supernatural force that has been causing disasters across the country. 

Manhunt

A detective becomes stuck in a game of cat-and-mouse with a suspect who he believes is innocent, as the investigation unfolds, he discovers a much deeper conspiracy. The film explores parts of the Japanese police force and justice system.

Yu Yu Hakusho 

Yu Yu Hakusho follows the story of Yusuke Urameshi, a troubled teenager who gets into a lot of fights. In one incident he dies while trying to protect a child and receives a second chance at life. With this new life he fights demons and other evil spirits as an “Underworld Detective”.

Neon Genesis Evangelion 

This is a highly acclaim anime series known for revolutionizing the anime Mecha genre. Neon Genesis Evangelion is set 15 years after a worldwide catastrophic event and focuses on a group of teenagers who are recruited to navigate giant mechs (giant robots) to fight monstrous beings. 

Alice in Borderland

Alice in Borderland follows the story of Ryohei Arisu and his friends as they find themselves in a parallel universe of Tokyo and are forced to play deadly games to survive. Each of these games challenges their teamwork, their intellect and their will to live. As the stakes grow higher, they must learn to navigate complex psychological battles that push them to question their meaning of survival and humanity. 

Your Lie in April

Kōsei Arima is a 14-year-old piano prodigy. When his mother dies Kōsei loses his ability to hear his music. This all changes when he meets Kaori Miyazono, a passionate violinist who helps him rediscover his love for music. Through their friendship and shared passion for music, Kōsei begins to confront the trauma of his past and accept new possibilities for his future.

First Love

First Love is a Japanese romance and drama movie loosely inspired by the songs “First Love” and ”Katsukoi” by the iconic Japanese singer Hikaru Utada. The story follows a couple who met when they were teenagers and fell in love. They meet again 15 years later to see if they can rekindle their romance. The movie weaves the past and present together, exploring how the memories of youth can shape the characters’ choices in adulthood and their relationships. 

Sword Art Online

This series is based on the novels by Reki Kawahara and follows players who are trapped in a virtual reality MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role-playing game) where dying in the game is to die in real life. The main character, Kirito, is an experienced player trying to escape and developing relationships with other players in the same dilemma along the way. 

Rebooting

Rebooting is a heartwarming series about a 33-year-old woman who gets the chance to relive her life over again. As her second life begins, however, things don’t go the way shew planned.

The Queen of Villains 

The Queen of Villains is a drama that tells the story of Dump Matsumoto, a female wrestler who helped to spark Japan’s women’s pro-wrestling in the 1980s. This movie will give you an insight into the sports and gender dynamics in Japan and highlights the struggles, triumphs and resilience of female athletes in a male-dominated industry.

Chastity High

Chastity High is a teen drama that is set in a high school where students’ hidden romances and secrets are exposed through a mysterious social media account, sparking a lot of chaos and conflict. Chastity High shows the pressures and social dynamics within Japan’s high school system, making it both an educational and entertaining series to watch.

The Grimm Variations

The Grimm Variations is an anime that gives a fresh, reinterpretation of the classic fairy tales written by the Brothers Grimm. Each episode is an adaptation of a different story. How many do you recognize?

Totto-Chan: The Little Girl at the Window

Totto-Chan is a drama series based on the famous autobiographical memoir by Tetsuko Kuroyanagi, which was a best seller in Japan in the ’80s. The character of Totto-chan is a curious little girl who gets expelled from school and enrols into a new school that gives her freedom of expression, encouraging her creativity. 

Can I actually become fluent in Japanese using Netflix?

Netflix can expose you to thousands and thousands of words, phrases, and cultural concepts. This is undoubtedly very valuable. However, passively watching content will only get you so far. Pairing Netflix with LingQ allows you to engage with the material more intentionally. You can learn Japanese through Netflix, but a strategic use of the resource will produce greater results.

Continue to watch Japanese content at your leisure. No time with your target language is a waste. Stream content that you genuinely enjoy watching and enjoy immersing yourself in Japanese.

If you want to learn Japanese through Netflix, relying solely on passive, mass immersion may not be the most effective method. However, you can transform content on Netflix into an engaging, well-designed language lesson to progress more quickly, retain more vocabulary, and understand the content more deeply. Stream an episode of your favourite series. Afterwards, use LingQ’s browser extension to make a lesson out of it. Challenge yourself to read the transcript. Take a closer look at what you missed. Test yourself on colloquial phrases or vocabulary that you find particularly useful.

Like any resource, its effectiveness depends on how you use it. Netflix is already a treasure trove of interesting Japanese content, but LingQ makes the platform a powerful language learning tool that is absolutely capable of guiding you towards fluency.

Concluding Thoughts on Using Netflix as a Language Learning Tool

Can you learn Japanese through Netflix? Incorporating Netflix into your Japanese learning journey can be a fun and enriching experience, but like any tool, its usefulness depends on your ability to tailor it to your needs and preferences. Netflix can supply you with large amounts of immersion in the Japanese language, but your ability to grasp and benefit from this immersion can be enhanced with other resources. With LingQ, transform content on Netflix into a gold mine of contextualized, language learning resources.

Ultimately, Netflix can be more than just entertainment. With the right approach, it becomes a dynamic resource that immerses you in the Japanese language and culture, helping you to steadily advance towards your language learning goals.