Learn Japanese with me -> bit.ly/3ID8FCr

I certainly have the worst Japanese, but I'm also the most jōzu

I think, with Dogen, he intentionally speaks more carefully/articulately so it's easier understood by people learning Japanese, which are his primary audience.

Joey's exposure is not only through his mother, but also his Japanese relatives and several accumulated months of work-stays in Japan even before finally moving there for his channel. At age 16 he also passed the JLPT N1 level. He does know Keigo perfectly, so if he's not applying it in certain interviews it seems more like a semi-conscious choice (to keep the 'cool persona' up or if the setting is more layed back I guess). Also for Dogen and Matt, it's two completely different kind of videos you compared. Matt's video is one based on freely speeking while to bring a point across, while Dogen's is a scripted video in which he deliberately speaks overly articulated and slow for his audience (Japanese learners) and comedic effect. You'd have to find a video where he speaks naturally to another Japanese person to really make a judgement on his Japanese.

Dogen's comedy simultaneously only works when delivered in Japanese, but also often requires presentation in English for the full effect even when not directly about being someone who speaks Japanese as a second language like a lot of it is, specifically because of how much of his comedy is targeted at English speakers learning Japanese. One of his best videos is "Japanese In 10 Years", and it wouldn't work in any other language, because the joke is predicated on the way he's actually using the language itself. Hell, in this video, he uses a clip of Dogen subtitled "Yes, another addition to my slave army", but the *joke* is that what he actually said was "Yosh, getto da ze!", the catchphrase the main character of Pokemon says when he captures another Pokemon (to add to his slave army). The joke doesn't work without both the Japanese and English elements. Same with "Dante's Inferno" ("Pachinko-ten") and "Chocolate, if you please" ("atatatata tatata ta zuukyn", the refrain of Gimme Chocolate by Baby Metal).

The part you were talking about Joey having no accent, I had to chuckle a bit when I remembered that Japanese people thought that you Yuta-san were a foreigner trying to speak Japanese in a previous video...

Joey seems like he knows a lot about the language because of his upringing, but you can tell he prefers to be casual about it.

Three of them inspire Japanese language learners a lot for sure and actually we Japanese get lots of inspiration from them too! I’ll make more efforts to be able to speak native-like English 😆💓

I'll give Dougen the prize solely because he focuses on humor. It takes quite a lot of ability and linguistic knowledge to pull off humor in a foreign language.

I used to really respect and look up to Matt, he was the sole reason I was able to find out about AJATT, Stephen Krashen, etc. I'd love to be proven wrong but the marketing of Project Uproot has all the hallmark signs of being a complete and utter scam (telling you there's problem, not explaining his solution, creating false scarcity, time pressure, huge asking price, etc). To top it all off, he's deleting any comments on his videos expressing any concern about it, confirming either that it is in fact a scam or, that he has an incredibly fragile ego. It's really disappointing to say the least

Cant deny the fact that Dogen sounds coolest

Dogen is my go to source whenever I need motivation. I'm currently studying japanese as my third language, and whenever I watch one of his videos, I just get this desire to understand the jokes, instantly making me motivated again. I love this guy

Can we take a moment to appreciate, how good yuta looks in that pink shirt.

Joeyさんの日本語は日本人と同じ発音だと思います。MattさんとDogenさんの日本語は非常に素晴らしいですが、日本人ではないことは分かります。

As weird as it may sound, Dogen has been a huge influence on me. Any time I'm struggling I use the fact that I just want to understand his comedy as encouragement.

that's right! their Japanese is native level the way they speak Japanese is exactly how we speak .if I hear their Japanese without knowing who they are, I would think they are Japanese.I found their channel recently and I was so surprised it too! this is really interesting video thank you for sharing yuta san😊

I really love how unexpectedly into anime yuta is lmao I love the subtle monogatari reference at 4:30 as well

One thing to take into account about matt and dogen is the difference between their scripted and unscripted videos. in this video you've taken a scripted video (dogen) and compared it to an unscripted one (matt) and used that to come to the conclusion that matt's speech is slightly more natural, but in actuality their speaking style in their scripted videos is about the same and it's likely that dogen only sounds that way in his videos and streams and is more natural in person. I imagine the exaggerated and highly enunciated way they speak in scripted videos is to ensure that the target audience (English speakers) can catch everything they're saying.

I am not a Japanese person, so I cannot speak for how good they are but I find it hard to believe that Matt could possibly have more speaking experience than a guy who is married to a Japanese woman and has been living in Japan for 10+ years. Dogen literally uses Japanese every day

Yuta san, could you make a video about the claims by Matt and his business partner Ken Cannon that if you don't have a perfect pronunciation, no Japanese person will take you seriously and actually speak to you as an equal? Is pitch accent THAT important? They're trying to sell a very expensive course using these statements.

Oooo would love to see a part 2!...D_D

I FRICKEN LOVE YOUR VIDEOS FOR REAL THEY ARE INCREDIBLE

i've been watching your channel for almost seven years and the way you've started inserting anime into your content more and more over the past couple years has been really amusing. i definitely enjoy hearing about your taste in anime

your english is so good, im just so stunned every time. no japanese youtuber (well, those that didnt grow up over seas that is) can even touches u

Such a cultured man Really, how could you be more likeable than by making Monogatari references?

Yuta-san has been looking very good lately. The hairstyle and the short beard really suit him well!

They're all great, and so are you Yuta.

I used to really like Matt, but you should comment on how shady he’s gotten recently with trying to scam people on his secret “method” and the leaked video of him talking about people viewing him as a god and wanting to target rich and gullible “whales.”

I think Dogen’s videos are just more scripted which is why they sound less natural.

Can we get a Yuta t-shirt that says "I will teach you the kind of Japanese that real life Japanese people actually speak today, which can be different from the type of Japanese that apps and textbooks teach you"

I haven't watched this video, but I'm expecting a banger plug for Learn Japanese with Yuta.

Joey has straight up taught elders in his company geexplus about obscure kanji structures that they never even heard of. 40+ year old Japanese salary men were learning from him lol.

Scripted or not, Yuta's 英語 is seriously上手ですね Edit: I didn't mean to be condescending. It's a reference from Dōgen videos

Good work

First of all: nobody is better than Nagatoro. Second: great video!

Dogen actually made a video about that he does 20-30 takes per line in his videos and chooses the one that he feels the best about and goes for a specific style

Can you make a review on Mackenyu’s Japanese over the years? Please! People say he still has an accent, but I’m foreign so for me he sounds like a native. I’d like to know what you think about his Japanese as a Japanese native speaker :)

Matt's Japanese is of course better than many foreigners. But at the same there are so many foreigners that speak Japanese much better than him, that aren't using scam tactics to try and sell an extremely overpriced course. He either tries to portray himself or others portray as him some kind of expert, when he is not. Perhaps this is his doing, or perhaps this is the result of trying to fit a persona. No one knows but him. Instead of this one example of Matt's Japanese in the video, if you actually watch his stuff you can find a lot where his phrasing is.. awkward, even to a learner's ear. I like Yuta, love the work he does, and I'm even subscribed to his premium course which I think is worth the price contrary to what some other learners think. The timing of this video compared to the situation with Matt's content and the current opinion on him in the Japanese learning community, and also that Matt's section doesn't have a "but..." is really hard to overlook.

Bruh can we get a "Who speaks better English? for Japanese KZfaqrs? Yuta and Sora the Troll would make good candidates.

Ueno was a great show. Yuta is a man of taste, I see.

I have been learning Japanese for 4-5 years but my speaking is still very basic (JLPT4). Listening is what I think is the most proficient. English is my second language, while Japanese, Mandarin and Spanish are my third to fifth ones. It’s very hard these days to make only one thing to the perfection. Since I live in Japan, my Japanese has been judged by the Japanese people whose Japanese is their first language. Also, I don’t have any other international people to practice my Japanese with. Japanese is a very niche language which gives me a unique learning experience than English, Mandarin and Spanish which are quite mass.

You should get in touch with Oriental Pearl, who also speaks Chinese, or even Cathy Cat, who's another polyglot

Good comparison video.

Your Japanese English accent is more entertaining than a native accent Yuta so don't think your English speaking is bad👍

Dogen recognized that his natural speech (even in english) is not as "eloquent" as others. In his unscripted videos he struggles to express his ideas (makes me empathise because i'm in the same boat lol), even though you can tell he has a very large vocabulary and knowledge. On the other hand, Matt is very fast to convey precise ideas and Joey has a distinctly comedic timing. What i'm trying to say is that there's some people that have an overall better communication/social skill in different aspects. I'm not saying that Dogen is a bad communicator, he has specialized in scripting and reciting and he's amazing at it. But Matt and Joey have a different set of skills which gives them a more "natural" vibe. In his defense, the unscripted videos or streams of Dogen are almost always alone speaking to the camera which is completely different to speaking to people.

Would absolutely love to see you compare khatzumoto too

Great video! A fan all of their content really

Yuta had me rewind a lot because I was laughing at the anime jokes

I love Ueno-san but I wasn't expecting it to be mentioned

As much as I like this channel, there's a reason why I don't really follow people like them. I only observe this behavior in the Japanese learning community for some reason, but some people treat learning it as a contest, trying to dogpile each other to see who the best non-native is, and who can outperform the "champion". There are so many non-natives of for instance English and Spanish, very rarely do learners gain media attention and natives lose their minds. Natives of either usually just give a nonchalant reaction like "oh cool, you speak it well", whereas non-native Japanese speakers are viewed as gods among men. Some find this inspiring, but I honestly think it sends the wrong message to learners and ruins the spirit of the language learning community. It's not a contest nor a performance, yet it develops that mindset in others thinking it's okay and that's how it is when it's actually toxic. You can speak a language well and still not get along with others. If you're boring or otherwise unpleasant to be around, most people like myself would be out of there fast, in which case proficiency doesn't really matter now does it? Have a life outside learning a language if you truly want natives to like you because they don't owe you anything.

I believe Dogen has mentioned he writes (or used to?) scripts for his videos, and that his pronunciation is better in videos than in real life (feel free to fact check me. I believe I heard him say that in a video 2 years ago?) Still very impressive nonetheless. I grew up learning English and have been in the States for 10 years, and I still write more eloquently than I speak.

Good video

No cap. That clip with Matt is from a supermarket that is near me. I had to do a double take since I was like wtf I've been here. FYI its an Uwajimaya in Oregon.

I'm curious what other Japanese people think of their Japanese too. Maybe a street interview?

Y que tal está su español, Don Yuta? Ha seguido practicando?

Wouldn't Joey class as being 'well spoken' as he has more vocabulary than majority of the average natives.

He has said so many brave things

I see, Yuta is a man of culture as well. The anime opinions I agree, especially with Takagi san.

i feel like you could use yuta's side profile as the chad reaction image from the virgin vs chad memes, my man's head is cut from marble lmao

“Private research in his room” 🤣😂

That's a nice surprise, didn't think Yuta would bring up Ueno san as an anime reference.

4:38 is that a reference to Nisio Isin's monogatari series?

😲 interesting all of them acquired the language differently.

Yuta wants to get noticed so hard LOL

anime references in this video are pure gold change my mind

Your English is great btw Yuta

"Why Takagi-san is better than Nagatoro-san" Sorry, Yuta, but my loyalty prevents me from watching any more after that atrocious statement

@4:36 This reminds me of a quote from Hanekawa from Monogatari. "I don't know everything, I just know what I know". lol

*I WAS NOT EXPECTING WHAT THE PERSON HE WAS INTERVIEWING WAS WEARING*

4:49 Me turning my phone then realising💀💀💀💀

Other foreigner friends from Malaysia, China that I had met speaks very good Japanese too.. although they are Asian but still not Japanese too .. perhaps Yuta San can consider doing some video about Malaysian or Chinese living in Japan too :) thank you

But would you be making that Takagi > Nagatoro argument in Japanese with English subtitles or...?

I like how this dude has made an active effort to be physically expressive like westerners when talking 😂

I swear your anime opinions are some of the most based We'll fight for Takagi supremacy together!

Joey reading kanji dictionary for fan in childhood has same energy as obelix falling inside bowl full of super potion while he was kid

have ANY of the featured Japanese language masters passed the Kanken level 1?

Your English speaking is great. Till you said it, I wouldn't have even thought about it. (your comments 3/4ers into video)

You already did this

the best way to measure a person's language skills (in my opinion) talk to a native speaker on the phone. like, try ordering a pizza or something.

Isn't Joey a native speaker? 🤔

Appreciate the monogatari reference

I believe Animeman actually have 漢字検定3級 or some sort which makes him better Kanji master than I am. And I am native Japanese who have been living outside of Japan for last 15 years, nowadays I have problem reading/writing kanji even some elementary school level kanji...

4:36 sneaky Hanekawa

Your spoken English is quite good.

Not really sure if I‘m in a position to say this as a non-native speaker but listening to Dogen leaves me with next to zero 違和感 whatsoever while Matt, despite being very fluent and pretty much expressing himself the way a native would, still clearly sounds like a foreigner to me

4:08 sheeeeesh my man speakng the facts

It’s true dogen does try hard but he makes a strong effort to “ SOUND “ Japanese

“Tagaki san is better than Nagatoro.” Legend you won yourself a sub.

I feel like Dogen’s way of thinking is very conceptual, so his words tend to be abstract in some sense. What he speaks in his sketches can convey a certain awkwardness, which he turns into humor. Doing this in Japanese is a difficult task because you’re putting together words that have never been spoken by a native Japanese. Even if it’s grammatically correct, it’s hard to tell if it’s “fluent” or not.

4:36 Hanekawa Tsubasa moment

Hold up there, Yuta. What id you *just* Say about Hayase Nagatoro?

3:33 Hasn't Dogen lived in Japan for a while? I'm pretty sure he's spoken more than Matt

Yuta teaching us how to be a real Japanese speaking chad

I lived in Japan when I was a kid. I agree with your assessment. Dogen keeps showing up on my KZfaq feed. His Japanese is not natural at all. That said, you just need to be understood. Regardless of accent, if you can be understood and people can understand you, it’s fine. I have to speak French every day in my job, and I don’t ever worry that I have an American accent.

I knew we couldn’t get through this without a Monogatari reference

I loved Ueno-san!

Really appreciate you making this video. With respect to the three shown here, I prefer Dogen due to his wider variety of content. Matt has a lot of information, however I haven't seen enough videos of him speaking about various subjects (besides language learning) in Japanese in person. I think he would benefit and be humbled by living in Japan for a few years and working alongside Japanese people.

I love dogen’s video, he’s so humorist

Does it truly mattter which foreigner "speaks the best"? The most important thing is that the Japanese spoken is comprehenable and understood well by most natives. Most foreigners will always have an accent to some degree and not be 100% native but that's kind of the thing...they're not native. Hell, all these dudes are white too, so even if their Japanese is 100% like the rest, they still will stand out to someone who will have any sort of gripe with them due to them being 外国人. Maybe is more so to do with the fact that they are all teaching Japanese and we simply are ranking them based on their ability as educators but i don't know. This only occurs in Japanese I've noticed that this level of analyzing is placed this much on those studying it. You never see this "magnifying glass" in most other languages. But as far as money is concerned, go with Dogen. You can learn more focused pitch at a cheaper price or just learn it for free down the road.

Come on Joseph the Animation Man, Please win!