Switching the language in Pocket Camp to Japanese is simple, all you need to do is head into the settings. Of course there’s a little more to it than that so let’s take a deeper dive into the benefits of playing games for solo study and some problems you might run in to.

Before you run to download and change the language right away, I recommend that you start the game and play for a day in your native language before making the transition. At the start of the game, there are a lot of explanations and screens to get through so it’s a good idea to understand how to play before you focus on Japanese.

How to turn your Animal Crossing Pocket Camp language to Japanese.

First you need to download the game from the app store if you haven’t already.

1. Open the app on your device.
2. On the home screen, open the menu in the top left corner.
3. Scroll down to where it says “Language” and press the one that is currently selected.
4. Scroll to the bottom of the list to see “日本語” and select it.
5. Look at the confirmation screen and press the “change” button.
6. Wait for the game to reload to the title screen.
7. Congratulations, you can now play Animal Crossing in Japanese!

If you every need to change the language back to English:

1. Head to the main menu again.
2. Find the option that says “言語” (language).
3. Select your desired language.
4. Press “変更する” at the confirmation screen.
5. Reload the game and you’re good to go!

Why play Pocket Camp in Japanese?

Well the most obvious reason is: because it’s freaking fun!

Animal Crossing is long running franchise with a huge following and Pocket Camp is the first mobile game in the series. In Pocket Camp, you are the manager of a campsite and you visit the areas around your site and do favours for animals. Your aim is to convince them to come live in your campsite. You can decorate it however you like and there are a lot of challenges and goals to obtain more furniture and the like.

The basic game is free to play but you can also buy Leaf tickets with real money to finish crafting things more quickly or make special items.

The reason I love playing Pocket Camp in Japanese is that the mechanics are extremely simple so I can focus on unfamiliar words and grammar. 

You can pick up the basics of playing Pocket Camp in about 20 minutes when using in your own language. Once you understand the concept you can spend your time interacting with animals and enjoying the game. The language that the villagers use in Pocket Camp is fun and interesting. There are a lot of different personalities so you can see how phrases are used in different scenarios.

Even if you plan to skip a lot of the more repetitive villager dialog, it’s still a fantastic way to learn useful vocabulary. Take a look around the menu and you’ll see a lot of words that come up often. Even just understanding the phrasing for agreeing or opting out of something in the app is good to know.

How much Japanese do I need to know to play?

Unless you have a lot of experience playing Pocket Camp in English and plan to ignore all of the dialogue then you will need at least an N5 level of reading comprehension. The game is aimed at younger people but it uses kanji with no furigana. You will need to know hiragana, katakana and a range of kanji.

Grammar will also be important so you can understand the context of what’s happening. The game contains a lot of contractions, made up words and onomatopoeia so it’s important to be able to understand the contexts.

Of course you can absolutely just skip the reading and find your way with trial and error, but that won’t help you learn much Japanese!

If you aren’t quite ready to jump in yet, you might like to read about using Clozemaster to improve your reading comprehension.

Common problems you might come across while playing.

Don’t expect to power through and collect everything like you would in English.
Playing in another language and trying to understand every sentence is hard work. You are probably not at similar reading speed to your native language so you are going to be slower at doing anything and understanding what’s going on in game. While Pocket Camp isn’t crazy text heavy outside of villager interactions, there can still be a lot to get through. So if your aim is farming bells, collecting Leaf tickets or being a completionist you might prefer to stick to your own language.

Dialogue skipping from boredom or frustration.
Even in English, chatting to the animals in Pocket Camp can get super repetitive. When you don’t fully understand what they’re saying, there’s the temptation to just tap through to get to the parts you do know. Doing this will progress the game faster but it won’t help you learn Japanese so try to avoid the temptation.

Not being able to find what you need.
The menu systems in Pocket Camp can be a bit crazy when you’re doing challenges. Most of them don’t have much text but there’s eventually going to be a time when you want to change a setting and can’t find it. Luckily the app is set out the same way in all languages so you can always google what you need and find a guide. Alternatively you can just

switch between languages until you get what you need then head to Japanese again.

Overestimating your language skills

This is a tough one because the answer is unfortunately just to study more! It’s easy when you’re just starting out in Japanese to want to jump into a game immediately. Until you have a good level of reading comprehension it’s not a good idea to play a game like this because it will end in frustration when you have to look up every second word. Games are much more enjoyable when it doesn’t take 20min to get through the title screens! The plus side is that you have something to work towards and that’s great motivation.

The best parts of AC:PC in Japanese

Here are my favorite parts of playing with the language changed to Japanese:

Everyone has different names!
Did you know that in Japan, Isabelle’s name is Shizue (しずえ)? Most of the animals have different name

s in the Japanese version and it’s so fun to see who’s who if you’re a long time fan of the series!

Making friends in JapanOf course you can’t actually talk to each other… but you can certainly help each other out in the game! I’m hopeful that eventually they will add a way to talk or leave messages for our friends in game.

Finding fun grammar examples.
The dialogue in Animal Crossing has always been quite funny. It’s full of conversation that you wouldn’t find in a regular textbook. Things tend to be very casual so it’s a great way to expand your understanding of different kinds of Japanese. Of course you probably wouldn’t talk like your animals do in real life but it’s fun anyway!

Conclusions

Playing Animal Crossing Pocket Camp in Japanese is a fantastic way to supplement your regular self study sessions. When you’re studying alone you need to find as many ways as possible to keep your motivation up. Playing games that you enjoy in your native language is a fantastic way to do that! Pocket Camp is particularly good because the interactions are simple and the gameplay is easy.

If you are a fan of the Animal Crossing franchise then I would definitely recommend giving Pocket Camp a try in Japanese and seeing if you enjoy the mobile mechanics.

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