Organic Japanese with Cure Dolly

    Oh Cure Dolly. Among Japanese language learning channels, and probably among YouTube channels at large, Cure Dolly is something of an oddity. Not long after VTubers first burst onto the scene in late 2016, Cure Dolly was using a digital avatar to put out Japanese language learning content. Like other VTubers, Cure Dolly assumes a character — in this case as a sort of robot to help educate you in Japanese. The model used is that of a semi-realistic young woman, and all dialogue is delivered through a voice changer, so there won't be any native Japanese speech here. The channel is also most likely run by a non-native speaker of Japanese, so keep that in mind!

    It's less and less common for a learning resource to have its own "barrier to entry" so to speak, but Cure Dolly remains. From the presentation through graphics and a voice changer, to the thumbnails and video titles, and even the descriptions given, Organic Japanese with Cure Dolly is very much an "it works for you or it doesn't" scenario. Some online learner reviews describe Cure Dolly's videos as a sort of revelation, commenting that through Cure Dolly's unique delivery and explanations they were finally able to understand a concept that had been troubling them for some time. 

    While they might not work for everyone, a few of their videos seem to be really interesting, such as the grammar explanations for もう and まだ, and some of the more abstract concepts, like the Japanese use of kanji, or on the usage of こと.

    Really, it is an interesting perspective, and might be just the thing you need to shock you into understanding something you're stuck on, despite the weirdness. But take it with a grain of salt; Cure Dolly has a tendency to present their way as the only way, or as a shortcut to some kind of deeper, truer meaning. What's there is a valuable resource, but your mileage may vary.

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