{"id":106488,"date":"2023-12-08T02:22:23","date_gmt":"2023-12-08T07:22:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/learn\/learn-japanese-in-the-car\/"},"modified":"2025-02-26T03:58:33","modified_gmt":"2025-02-26T08:58:33","slug":"learn-japanese-in-the-car","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/japanese\/learn-japanese-in-the-car\/","title":{"rendered":"18 Fun Ideas to Learn Japanese in the Car"},"content":{"rendered":"

Whether you commute to work or school, go on frequent road trips or you simply have to drive a lot to get anywhere, time on the road can add up and cut into the time you could be doing something else\u2014like studying Japanese<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Fortunately, there are a myriad of ways to learn Japanese while driving. They mostly involve plugging in Japanese audio lessons to your car’s sound system, but you can also play games that are safe to do while on the road\u2014especially if you have fellow learners or native speakers with you.<\/p>\n

At any rate, you can learn new things, practice what you already know and ensure that commuting time doesn’t turn into wasted time with the resources below.<\/p>\n

[fluentu-toc]<\/p>\n

1. Pimsleur<\/a>\"pimsleur\"<\/a><\/h2>\n

Pimsleur is a bestselling audio course for beginner to intermediate levels. Essentially, the program teaches you Japanese phrases<\/a> by allowing you to shadow<\/a> them at a natural pace. The phrases gradually increase in difficulty and complexity, but it’s done in a very intuitive way.<\/p>\n

You can download their app to your iOS<\/a> or Android<\/a> device, and start blasting out those valuable audio lessons on the go. If you need more information on this program, check out our Pimsleur review<\/a>.<\/p>\n

2. Drive Time Japanese<\/a>\"Drive<\/a><\/h2>\n

If your car still has a CD player, you can use this program that’s specifically designed to be used while driving.<\/p>\n

Created by language experts, this program is aimed at beginners. There’s roughly about an hour’s worth of lessons on each of the four CDs. That means if your trip is at least an hour long, this is a perfect companion.<\/p>\n

But you’re not just going to be shadowing conversations. You’ll also be treated to a ton of exercises, explanations on the phrases used in the program and more.<\/p>\n

If you’re having trouble following along with the audio, no problem\u2014they have a handy guide book to help you out with the bits that may be too difficult to understand. Just make sure you’re not reading and driving at the same time!<\/p>\n

3. JapanesePod101<\/a>\"japanesepod101\"<\/a><\/h2>\n

This program is ideal for beginner, intermediate and advanced learners alike. It features both audio and video material made by professional teachers, and it\u2019s one of the most prolific and consistent language sites in the game.<\/p>\n

JapanesePod101 will teach you grammar<\/a>, vocabulary, everyday conversations, real-life situations and culture<\/a>. So, basically, you\u2019ve got all your bases covered!<\/p>\n

Also, if you want to learn more about JapanesePod101, read this review<\/a>.<\/p>\n

4. Learn Japanese Pod<\/a>\"learn-japanese-pod-app\"<\/a><\/h2>\n

Learn Japanese Pod may be “young” compared to many other podcasts but it’s worth a try no matter what level you are in your studies.<\/p>\n

Not only will it teach you the finer points of the Japanese language, but you’ll also pick up cool cultural tidbits like the best places to see in Kyoto<\/a>, the hosts’ favorite anime<\/a> and interviews with various people who live or have lived in Japan.<\/p>\n

You can download the podcast’s free app to your iOS<\/a> or Android<\/a> device, or listen to it wherever else you get your podcasts<\/a>.<\/p>\n

5. Utada Hikaru<\/a><\/h2>\n

Genre: <\/strong>pop, contemporary, R&B<\/p>\n

If you’re going to improve your Japanese, might as well do it the fun way\u2014like listening to music<\/a>!<\/p>\n

Take Utada Hikaru, for example. She may not be the first J-Pop singer, but she’s probably one of the most well-known artists (if not the <\/em>most well-known artist) in the genre. She’s been active since 1996<\/a>, so you won’t have a shortage of songs to listen to from her.<\/p>\n

Here’s a video sample of one of her most well-loved songs, “First Love,” which is short, sweet and has relatively simple vocabulary as you can see on her official Spotify track<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/lite-youtube><\/p>\n

6. Bump of Chicken<\/a><\/h2>\n

Genre: <\/strong>alternative rock<\/p>\n

As funny as their name sounds, they’re actually one of the longest-running bands that are still active in Japan, tracing their beginnings as far back as 1994<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I recommend their song \u5929\u4f53\u89b3\u6e2c<\/a> (\u3066\u3093\u305f\u3044 \u304b\u3093\u305d\u304f) \u2014 “Star Gazing” in particular, because the lyrics have a good mixture of easy and intermediate vocabulary. Plus, it’s just a great song!<\/p>\n

<\/lite-youtube><\/p>\n

7. Mr Children<\/a><\/h2>\n

Genre: <\/strong>pop rock, power pop<\/p>\n

More affectionately known as \u30df\u30b9\u30c1\u30eb (\u307f\u3059\u3061\u308b) by their fans, this band kicked off way back in 1989<\/a>\u2014and they’re still going strong!<\/p>\n

To start with, you can try one of their gentler songs \u304f\u308b\u307f<\/a>, which (like my last song recommendation) is easy enough to understand for beginners (particularly those who’ve already begun to study kanji<\/a>), but has enough intermediate vocabulary to challenge you.<\/p>\n

<\/lite-youtube><\/p>\n

8. “Shamisen Song Collection”<\/a>\"Japanese<\/a><\/h2>\n

The \u4e09\u5473\u7dda (\u3057\u3083\u307f\u305b\u3093) \u2014 shamisen<\/a> is a traditional Japanese instrument that’s like a three-stringed banjo. It’s usually played by striking the strings with a bachi<\/a>.<\/p>\n

If you like the idea of listening to hours of traditional Japanese music, pop this one in your car’s CD player (again, if your car still has one of these). Sometimes, the \u4e09\u5473\u7dda may be accompanied by trained singers, which can be a real treat!<\/p>\n

9. “\u7ae5\u8b21\u5927\u5168\u96c6”<\/a> (\u3069\u3046\u3088\u3046 \u3060\u3044\u305c\u3093\u3057\u3085\u3046) \u2014 Nursery Rhymes Complete Works\"nursery<\/a><\/h2>\n

If you’re a complete beginner to Japanese and have a hard time following fast-paced songs, don’t be shy about starting with Japanese nursery rhymes. After all, that’s how children start to pick up their native language\u2014so why can’t adults do the same?<\/p>\n

Besides, as you can see from the pictures on the CD cover, some of these nursery rhymes are actually Japanese adaptations of their Western counterparts. That means the meaning of each nursery rhyme may already be familiar to you, making it easier to follow along and just pay attention to the way the Japanese words are strung together.<\/p>\n

10. “\u8d64\u3061\u3083\u3093\u306e\u305f\u3081\u306e\u7ae5\u8b21”<\/a> (\u3042\u304b\u3061\u3083\u3093\u306e \u305f\u3081\u306e \u3069\u3046\u3088\u3046) \u2014 Nursery Rhymes for Babies\"AKACHAN<\/a><\/h2>\n

Whether you have an actual \u8d64\u3061\u3083\u3093 (\u3042\u304b\u3061\u3083\u3093) \u2014 baby or not, this is an even more basic version of \u7ae5\u8b21\u5927\u5168\u96c6.<\/p>\n

Because this is aimed at babies, the vocabulary is extremely simple. You may feel silly at the idea of sounding out words like an infant would\u2014but if you think about it, you’re still at the “baby” stages of learning Japanese. So listening to something like this for the sake of learning isn’t anything to be ashamed of!<\/p>\n

11. LibriVox<\/a>\"librivox\"<\/a><\/h2>\n

Audiobooks are good for advanced learners who want pure, authentic language input and also enjoy a story\u2014and LibriVox is one of the most well-known repositories of audiobooks in any language.<\/p>\n

The best part? LibriVox’s audiobooks are all available for free, making them perfect for people with tight budgets. In fact, here are some recommendations for audiobooks in Japanese<\/a>\u2014most of them are from LibriVox, but a few are from other sources.<\/p>\n

12. Audible<\/a>\"audible\"<\/a><\/h2>\n

The one downside of legal, open-source audiobook sites like LibriVox is that they hardly have any contemporary Japanese books. If you prefer something more modern (and, let’s be honest, easier to understand), and you have extra room in your budget for one more monthly subscription, Audible might be right up your alley.<\/p>\n

Plus, you can download their app<\/a> to your smartphone or any other compatible device, making it a snap to connect your Audible device to your car’s sound system.<\/p>\n

13. Travel with a Native Speaker or Fellow Learner<\/h2>\n

Suggest a road trip with someone from Japan or someone else who’s studying Japanese. That way, you can use some of the driving time to speak with them. Make sure you actually want to spend time with them, too!<\/p>\n

Also, you can play the games in the following sections with your travel companion.<\/p>\n

14. I Spy<\/h2>\n

Number of people:<\/strong>\u00a0Two or more.<\/p>\n

Rules:<\/strong> One person sees\u2014ahem, spies\u2014something and gives the first letter. The other person (or people) have to try and guess what they’re spying.<\/p>\n

In Japanese:<\/strong> There are two ways you can play this game in Japanese. You can stick to the original style and only give the first letter (when romanized<\/a>). For example, \u7a7a (\u305d\u3089) \u2014 sky would begin with “S.” Alternatively, you can use the first Japanese character of the word when written in kana. Hence, \u7a7a could begin with \u305d.<\/p>\n

15. 20 Questions<\/h2>\n

Number of people:<\/strong> Ideally two, but more can join in.<\/p>\n

Rules:<\/strong> One person thinks of something (it can be anything\u2014countries, everyday items, abstract nouns, etc.). The others must ask questions to narrow down what the answer might be. Usually, they have to guess within 20 questions, but the game can go on longer.<\/p>\n

In Japanese:<\/strong> This game gives you the opportunity to learn new words as well as practice asking and answering questions<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Some useful vocabulary for this game:<\/p>\n