The American Who Became a J-Pop Star | Talking With Nicholas Edwards (Nyk)
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- Опубліковано 10 чер 2021
- Go here to give me your advice: mattvsjapan.site/survey
I had the pleasure of interviewing Nicholas Edward, AKA Nyk (@nykchanneru), one of the most impressive foreign speakers of Japanese I've ever seen. Not to mention a professional singer in Japan! Talking to Nyk has motivated me to step my own Japanese game up; hope you feel the same!
**Nyk**
👉 Channel: / @nykchanneru
👉 Twitter: / nyk_jpn
**MY LINKS**
👉 Newsletter: www.mattvsjapan.com
👉 Website: refold.link/matt
👉 Twitter: / mattvsjapan
👉 Instagram: / mattvsjapan_ - Розваги
Go here to give me your advice! www.mattvsjapan.site/survey
@Henry Pinkney I'm looking to make some Japanese related content for the next couple months, so this survey is really for Japanese learners!
Would be cool if you could add timestamps for specific questions, topics
@@mattvsjapan I've participated in survey, but why there is no "what type of content you would like to see" and/or "what topic of learning Japanese, you're interested the most"? XD
(not like "you need to make requested type of content", but as a general question)
I'm not sure if it has any validity but I've been pondering whether or not some of USA high schools offers a fairly effective and well balanced Japanese language education as it seems that there are some very impressive Japanese language learners specifically from USA.
Maybe coincidence or perhaps Americans are on social media/more visible and are therefore represented to a larger extent than other nations language learners to the public thus skewing the perception as such.
@@folkejhn8257 Lol. It could sound more or less valid, or something like this, if most of them wasn't telling that they've learned through immersing and this kind of stuff, while not really liking US Japanese language education. XD
And there is another detail: there was a video from one guy exactly on this channel, who's "N1 and not fluent". XD
"Maybe coincidence or perhaps Americans are on social media/more visible and are therefore represented to a larger extent than other nations language learners to the public thus skewing the perception as such." - but I bet that's the case. At least, in this situation. And/or lots of learners from other countries just don't speak much about their knowledge of language.
I am shocked you found that Kim possible clip lolol
What why? Is it not a google search away?
I am certain that I watched the whole thing, but somehow missed it lol. Thanks for doing the interview! What are YOUR thoughts on pitch accent?
I can also still remember this scene from a time I didn't even know what こんにちは means.
@@jnnschnll9008 same 1 minute ago until I put it into google translate
@@gogl0l386 it’s literally the first video that comes up when you google “konnichiwa kim possible”. ua-cam.com/video/MNe2OtIzBdk/v-deo.html
Native Japanese here. I guess he immersed so much he even started looking a bit like a Japanese... He could pass himself off as a hafu in Japan no problem! 😅 Impressive!
Right? he's completely renounced his westerness, dude looks completely Japanese.
That’s a natural consequence of immersion lol, haven’t you noticed Matt’s eyes have become more anime like with every video
@@thebrokenmystic879 😂😂
@@thebrokenmystic879 Right... 😂
@@thebrokenmystic879 😂😂
I never thought it was possible for a foreigner to be thinking in Japanese and trying to translate into English. Not just on a level of knowing a Japanese word and not being able to come up with the English equivalent quickly but it looks like even his talking style is more used to Japanese than English. I want to get to that level of speaking with no problem and this guy gives me a lot of motivation
This is the comment i was looking for 笑
You will achieve what you set your mind to
Well this even happens if you don't speak your second language well but still use it all the time. It's just the lack of practice of your native language so I guess your brain prioritizes the one you use all the time over your native one you almost never use
That happens to me all the time and I’m just barely fluent from my perspective
But it could also be that I was bilingual as a kid (Spanish and English) so my Japanese my not necessarily be that good (not like his for sure)
It happens to me with english and spanish (my native tongue). Sometimes when I talk in spanish I think first of the english word. Before I was talking about something and I almostsaid comfortable instead of the spanish word (cómodo).
The feeling of Japanese people holding back because of a language barrier and wanting to get good enough for people to not hold back is something I can really relate to.
His comment about learning feelings instead of words for random objects that could be pointed at, was absolutely profound and a fantastic bit of learning knowledge for anyone!
I wonder if this is only possible for people who have synesthesia
@@Bemenhorst What he's saying is that it's useful to learn words which describe intangible concepts like feelings and emotions, because without words it's rather difficult to articulate such concepts.
I have been doing this since day one coupled with mental imagery rather than translation, because it was intuitive to me. My progress seems to be more rapid than anyone I can see.
Nyk is INSANE!!!!!!!!!!!! I also came to Japan willy-nilly but I didn't have some sort of strong plan outlined, I just ended up finding a teaching gig. SO FUCKING SICK to follow your dream in a foreign country and MAKE IT. INSANE. DUDE IS A LEGEND. ABSOLUTE LEGEND.
Thank you for making this video.
People who know Nyk in Japan may be pleased to hear he's speaking English.
Because he always speaks Japanese and it's really fluently, so many of them(including me) sometimes suspect
that he is actually Japanese and can't speak English.
Seriously, Nick looks like a Japanese guy who tries to look like an American...except that he's American. I'm confused! Anyway great interview & thanks guys! Got a lot of study motivation for my Japanese studies
exactly! I come here a lot for motivation and usually it's granted.
No he doesn't lmfao its literally just the hair.
When you get really good at Japanese, you physically and biologically become Japanese
@日本語 @Michael Margono He's 'just' an American guy trying to look a little more Japanese. And that's just basic marketing specific to the country he's in. He's not gonna dress up/look like a middle eastern guy when he's performing in Japan. Pretty logical.
@@Tconl Jesus, thankyou. Why are there so many brain dead people trying to learn Japanese.
I'm a big fan of ニックちゃんねる and am feeling strange to see Nick speaking English so fluently. lol
You're a good interviewer Matt. These conversations are great! Super interesting!
Matt always matches his t shirt with the led lights
It says a lot how basically everyone I've seen who reached really high levels of fluency essentially just says "I found something I really liked, that I need X language to enjoy, and so I just did it.. a *lot* ".
Even just Europeans I know who got to a near-native level of English playing games or watching TV in English, Dogen, Kaz and the other 4 guys Matt has interviewed now too. Its all pretty much the same story.
By far English is the most easiest to learn through immersion just cause of the enormous amount of media that English presents naturally if you spend any time on the internet. All the way from games to interesting story books and even allmost all of the famous UA-cam channels
Silhouette Fg.
English is difficult for Japanese. An American UA-camr said American distinguished cards and cars easily.
But it's the same to us. That's the reason why there are so many English conversation schools in Japan.
My motivations are japanese otome games LOL. so i do that a lot too.
@@coconutpineapple2489 I advice you to find youtube channels that talks about subjects you enjoy, eg if you like playing games, watch english youtube channel that plays your favorite game. By far easiest way to immerse is to find english medias or things that you actually enjoy. That way you focus more on the enjoyment of being able to consume that media, and then with enough time, you will naturally start to get the language. It will definitely take time at the beginning, but do commit yourself eg 1 hours of english media a day or such. More the better :)
@Trash Tier Waifu yup agreed :)
me: oh! I've got an email from Matt!
Survey: Rate your Japanese level
me: native desu...
Thank you for this great video. I enjoyed it very much. I'm a big fan of Nyk. His Japanese is really incredible!
There is no subtitles, so it's hard for me to understand whole interview. I'll try to hard to listen his English again and again. It is definitely good practice for me!😊
I'll be happy if you have Nyk as a guest again.
If you open the description you can see "show transcript" and that might help you. :)
The 銀河英雄伝説 part is so relatable, I'm watching it right now and there is SO MUCH vocabulary, I've made 80 flashcards in a single episode.
80 cards in a 23 minutes episode? Damn dude, I can't even imagine your tolerance to ambiguity.
Iui
@@p.hhenry4454 Sounds to me like they _don't_ have a tolerance to ambiguity.
When I read my first light Novel in Chinese (Welcome to the NHK) I sat on my ass, on Anki, making cards and reviewing the chapters for 8 hours a day. I completely understand both your pain and your commitment.
@@furretar6484 Kinda of, I like to make flashcards during the weekends and just chill and watch during weekdays. So yeah, I don't have when I'm making flashcards.
This kind of confirms my personal theory that songs are useful in building fluency.
The greatest part about them is that once you've learned the meaning of the lyrics they have a natural built in srs, since unlike tv shows a song can be entertaining for at least 15 repeats or more(and at least for me you start by listening it very often and than you spaced it out as times go on), so you don't have to add those words to your deck, you just have to listen to that song when you feel like it.
Yeah exactly, actually Aussieman mentioned this in one of his videos iirc so you might want to check him out(if you haven't yet)
edit) also wouldn't you actually still need to do srs with the words you don't know in the song, just for a few days? Seeing their translation once isn't usually enough to actually remember their meaning when you're listening to the song(well at least for me. I used to read through the entire lyrics once and then use yomichan to add the words I didn't know into a deck and then review those for about a week
I'm becoming more and more proud of being a native of Portland, OR... I learned a lot from this video, as someone interested in show business in Japan. Thank you both so much!
Each interview you upload is priceless, thanks so much Matt and thank you Nick!
Super interesting interview, didn't even realize I watched the whole thing until it was over. Nyk is cool!
Really appreciate the effort put into editing here. And of course the interview was great.
I love these interviews. Started learning Japanese a while back just because I liked anime and it was always something I wanted to do. Been following for a while but these interviews bridge the gap between purely learning a skill and improving competency and developing a pathway for language to enrich your life. Never really gave it much conscious thought before but this interview really sparked the interest of learning more about my chosen career through my target language. I can’t wait to see where that takes me!
Damn Nyk is a chad amongst chads when it comes to Japanese learners who've made it.
a true fanboy ascendant
Because it goes beyond the language learning, he literally went to Japan without a visa one day after graduating high school, ended up on tv and then got a freaking visa from a talent agency; that's literally unthinkable! lol
@@hanyuu8672 word
Survey completed!! Happy to help you out in any way, as you've been one of my #1 biggest helps in learning.
Super inspirational. Matt did such a fantastic job asking questions
A very awesome and insightful interview! I too learned a lot from this. Thanks Matt and Nyk!
Thank you for sharing this interview! This really inspires me to push my japanese learning and finding media that i can enjoy immersing in
Thank you for the long and interesting interview. I liked your interview😊
I just went to grad school in Oregon (from the East Coast), and the students there have far more opportunities than anyone I knew back home for studying Japanese. For example, of the colleges in my state only one state school had Japanese (very few high schools), while when I was in Oregon, many students had been studying since kindergarten or high school.
I really enjoyed this one, Nicholas is inspiring and his way of just going for what interested him about the language resonates with me
The passion you guy have for Japanese language I have for English
Just finished watching the whole thing and I can say this interview is gold. Thank you both Matt for the interview and Nicolas for sharing your story.
Nicholas* didn't wanna edit the comment lol.
Every language student should watch to hear the discussion about the language learning process. Really great conversation and thought provoking.
I'm Japanese. I watched his video, I've never seen a foreigner who is so good at Japanese without flattery.
It's native Japanese rather than good at it.
He has a rich vocabulary and doesn't make any mistakes in his choice.
I was surprised that he is studying pitch of pronunciation.
"Kind of had...Hmm, not kind of... I don't know why I'm qualifying everything. I'm too used to speaking Japanese and pretending I don't know what I'm talking about." That made me laugh, and it's a great bit of insight into the cultural side of learning a language.
The whole 'you can always point at a trashcan, but not your feelings' put into words one of the biggest hurdles I feel I have to overcome to truly become confident when speaking Japanese. I've always just had the idea that I should read more books, however I haven't really been able to pick up the habit of reading as I'm not really interested in it even in my native language.
However I do love music, but I've always listened to Japanese songs the same way as I have English songs, just vibing to them without necessarily caring about the lyrics. After actually going through and writing down the lyrics of some songs I enjoy I feel like I might just have unlocked both a new passion and understanding for Japanese music, but also a key in building a stronger repertoire that I can use when expressing feelings.
Thank you both for such an enlightening interview!
Thank you Matt for making this video.
I don’t know how many times I have watched it.
I like Nick so much and I know his journey well. also I am learning English so it’s really good at listening practice for me.
Really appreciate you!! Love your channel too.
Cool to see another guy who started learning Japanese because of music. Turns out I'm not the only one 🙃
I've been thinking about the connection between language learning and music. Maybe an interest in music and especially singing can make you notice and integrate the sounds of a foreign language faster. Maybe that's part of the reason why Nyk sounds so close to a native speaker.
it would make sense that people with musical ability would also be good at reproducing the sounds of a language
I know for sure that there are studies that show that people with musical abilities can fake foreign accents in their native language better. I don't think it's a reach to say that this also extends to learning a second language.
I gained sooooo much of my American pronunciation via singing A LOT. I am utilizing it in my target language now too of just using singing as a language tool.
Happy 100k, matt!!!! Deserved!
I JOINED YOUR CHANNEL TODAY AND YOU ARE SIMPLY INCREDIBLE, KEEP UP THE EXCELLENT JOB
My (Japanese) girlfriend introduced me to Nyk's channel and said he has zero accent. Sounds just like a Japanese person.
Funny coincidence! I was already watching Nyk-Channel sometimes for immersion!
What a fantastic interview/person/story/set of tips!
I’m Japanese living in Japan, and in terms of speaking, Nyk has by far the most impressive Japanese skills as a foreigner to the point where it would feel rude to say his English is “jouzu” - because he speaks so much like a native. It’s amazing how even his intonation is on point. I wouldn’t be able to tell he wasn’t a native Japanese speaker. So impressive.
Thank You! By far Nyk has been one of the most impressive japanese speakers I have found (I have checked with plenty of japanese people) and I always wanted to know more about his journey
Great interview!
this guy is seriously good
Hey Matt, I'm a beginner Acatter. I just wanted to thank you for your videos
Great videos! Keep the good work.
Great interview. Very impressive guy.
I totally saw him on TV in those contests years ago and am just realizing now who he is, haha. Great success story!
I love Nick's videos!
Nyk is VERY impressive!
You two are amazing
Man, it was awesome to see his journey.
My favourite UA-camr
ニックが英語喋ってんのに、もはや違和感を感じるw
*your stupid but in Japanese language*
Wow, yesterday I was thinking how cool it would be if you two had a talk
great video as usual.
Fantastic interview, what an interesting guy.
I notice the same issue "translating"... I do this in Korean where I have trouble quickly expressing a thought in Korean into English, which is my native language. I understand the Korean words or expressions but quickly interpreting them in English is problematic for me. My Japanese is so rudimentary that this isn't an issue yet, but I anticipate this occurring there, too...
It's very solid advice here, though - immerse, immerse, immerse. It's solid and proven to help. The other thing he said that I completely loved was that you're going to see much better results if you actually enjoy whatever you're doing to immerse yourself in the new language.
I remember stumbling on Nick’s channel a while ago and wondering about his Japanese journey (maybe he grew up in Japan? I didn’t know - he sounds really good). Interesting interview.
最近このチャンネルを発見して、マットのファンになりました！マットはいつもインタビューが上手！！！
Great interview Matt. For the longest time, I’ve been wishing you’d one day do an interview with Joe Inoue. Do you think that’s something that would be interesting to do? He also claims to have gotten to his level of Japanese through tons of anime and manga since he was young. Actually even just chatting with him about his thoughts on learning/teaching/acquiring pitch accent would be really interesting!
He said he spork in Japanese with his parents when he was a child, and he has many second generation Japanese American friends. I assume he learned slang from anime.
@@coconutpineapple2489 Hi Mr Pineapple 🍍 lol can you link the video where Joe said that about talking japanese with his parents? I’d be interested to watch.
He said that in Japanese in the website. I didn't keep the URL. It was interview from famous FM radio DJ who was half American クリスぺプラー.
Very cool !
Really love this interview series, please do with a voice actor or translator?
I would love to hear your thoughts on learning when there are few subtitles available in your target language. If I'm not mistaken someone you interviewed did not use subs for Japanese. Could you explain what that process may look like? What would the srs routine be like? I would love to hear some insight in this as most content I enjoy doesn't have readily available subs in my TL. Btw, excited every time I see another video from you and please keep it up!
100k 🎉 🎉🎉🥳
bro I have been learning japanese for 8 years that dude Is an absoluut monster Insanity
Rain & candy… 😭 ame ame. I miss my friends in japan.
ニックちゃんねるはわりと見てるけど英語喋ってるところ見たことなかったから新鮮だったなｗ
若いうちに日本に来ちゃったからアメリカの常識とか知らないこと多いし、地元に戻るのが逆に大変そうね
Thank you for doing this interesting interview, Matt!
Nice interview. Your Japanese is awesome too.
I'm going to have to justify watching this instead of immersing.
This was helpful, because I get to learn about his experience. Getting rusty in English. Pitch accent issues. Reading issues. Social etiquette issues. Language transfer.
Really, a lot of things that come with learning a language. Very helpful. Definitely worth my time. I don't regret not immersing.
id like to see more japanese being spoken on the channel, whether if its in public or video calls like this video.
I remember when I saw nick for the time in that music show where all the singers are foreigners singing japanese songs he was so brilliant and talented I knew he was going to do it well in japan and I’m happy he is 😺
マットさんが、ニックさんが袋井という地名を口にした時にすぐに画面にその袋井市の場所を具体的に白地図で見せたのがすごくマットさんらしいなと思いました。
どこかの動画で見ましたが、マットさんは確か都内の23区は勿論、市部の名前と位置関係も把握していましたよね。
I remember when wrote in some comment section "There is a guy named Nicholas Edwards , and his Japanese is I think equal to Matt or Dogen or maybe better", and then one Japanese rushed in and said angrily"Excuse me, but Nyk's Japanese is way better than the other two".
Anyway,I'm going to watch this video over and over again and use it as my own English immersion tool.
Damn this was a really good interview.
Was surprised to see Portland in the thumbnail. Hillsboro represent
He has completely adopted their style too. in every way!
Somehow he looks kinda like Japanese male アイドル.
日本人が好きな感じの雰囲気ですね😄
O, here is something you can talk about.
日本人が好きな感じのAmerican clebとか？
ちょっとつきなみかなあ。
This was my initial thought, haha. 雰囲気的に日本のアイドルっぽいよね
I can totally understand that part about not being able to do things that adults have to do in your home country. It's the same for me because I don't have experience living alone or working in my home country. I don't know how to find a place to rent, I don't know how to pay utilities and other stuff, and so on. I only know how to do all this stuff in Japan. Recently, people asked me if I'm not afraid of working in Japan at job interviews at Japanese companies, but I always reply that I would be more afraid in my home country because I don't know anything about it.
Make a video about how to go about learning pitch accent please!
27:15 I asked someone this on this channel before, whether writing Kanji may help it be remembered, and I think they disagreed (or said not necessarily). I was told by my trigonometry and analytical geometry professor that writing things down cements it in your memory better, and that always seemed true for me.
Sure it does. It adds tactile information to your memory of that character. That can only make it easier to remember.
@@Kojitsu I think I'll start writing out Kanji again then. 頑張って皆
Matt vs. Japan, “language isn’t math.”
ニコラスさんの歌を聴いてると、時には、胸が熱くなり、目が潤んでくる時があります。貴方は歌に 、言葉ひとつひとつに気持ちを込めて歌います、それがこの胸を、心を打つのですね。有難う御座います。自分らしく生きて下さい、何才になられても、心に響く唄をニコラスさんが歌いつずけます様、投句より応援いたしております。
I had a look at your survey and I didn't even have any good answers. I took 2 years of japanese during my undergrad program and except for having a little party trick up my sleeve when I want to bust out some japanese I have no real motivation to keep learning right and yet I am here :)
I wish this interview was in Japanese.
大学で東京に引っ越してきて、関西弁と東京弁の「単語のピッチアクセント」の違いにとても苦労したのを懐かしく思い出しました。日本人でも大変だったのに外国の方ならなおさら大変ですよね。
私はニックがアメリカ人であったことが信じられません。彼の魂は日本人の考え方にとても似ているからです。
でも、彼はアメリカに帰るとアメリカ人に戻るみたいですね。彼が実家に帰った時の、家族との習慣のギャップがとても面白いエピソードとして、彼の動画になってます。
私は、英語ができませんので、翻訳をお願いします😊
ニック才能がありスタイル抜群，美しすぎる18歳で初めて見た時ビックリ‼️しました大好きになりました❤️
Matt, start rolling out a shitload of short videos that touch on different aspects of the Refold process.
#trousers
Read the website
@@davidmiller849 Genius. Reading might be a problem though - I'm prolly not as smart as you X
@@azhivago2296 I’m sorry you don’t know how to read. Good luck with that!
@@davidmiller849 well it's not the end of the world... ;-)
I love Legend of the Galactic Heroes and would love to see this play with Nick in it! I'm still probably too early in my Refold journey to understand much, but I'm still interested. Great interview as always!
I wonder about how much of Nyk's Japanese talent has to do with his musical talent? I feel like a lot of the best second-language learners out there are also of the more musical mind.
Any plans for 100k? maybe a VRchat meetup or something fun like that?
What about a meetup at your mommas basement ? 🤔😏🤝🏼
@@twoblocksdown5464 Blyat
@@Dostendite indeed
@@twoblocksdown5464 I'm down
You could also call Ricardo Cruz, he's a brazilian singer on Jam Project.
Would love to karaoke with this guy
Portland in the house!
I have a question that I've wanted to get answered about the Japanese journey, and the main issue is the social part. How did Matt and other people deal with their social life? Was it ever lonely or was it ever a problem for you personally? It just hits my head because I've met a few people on Refold who worry about these questions, and I personally am seen by other people in my life that I lack drive when really that's not the case. It may seem that I'm locked in my room, but I'm really trying to put in the work to experience a chance to go to another country that would've been impossible otherwise and that I really enjoy this. I'm interested in anyone's thoughts if they get me some feedback.
I think the key is finding what works for you. Everyone is different. If you feel lonely and it's affecting your learning, then go be social! Make some native Japanese or Japanese learner friends online, join language exchanges, find a Japanese study group in your town or something. Heck, maybe even take some traditional language classes on the side.
Oh, if you're worried about you're being perceived by others, then I guess just show them what you're actually doing and explain? If it's an issue where your friends/family are sad because they want to see you more, then I guess decide how much you value the relationship, and if you do care about the relationship then spend some time with them.
Well thats kinda the thing, u need to sit ur room a lot and learn japanese. Iam also one of those people who do not like to sit home all day and learn japanese but rather go out with people,but its the the most effective way there so yeah
I’m Japanese learning English watching your videos :)
Nyk がinterviewに答えていたので見ました！ところどころ聞き取れました。
That KIM POSSIBLE episode YOOOOO. Straight Flashbacks