Do you know what a Vtuber is?

A few years ago, I had a friend tell me about Vtubers. The word "Vtuber" means "virtual Youtuber" but also includes other platforms where people stream videos. One person draws a character, then another person rigs the character to move, and then the streamer uses a motion-capture camera to stream videos as their character! For many people, this is a great way to make videos while keeping their identity and real faces private. What's more, just a few months ago I discovered a Japanese Vtuber who would teach her viewers Japanese once a week! I was amazed!

I started to watch her videos each week, and while the lessons were mostly for beginners, I liked the idea of having language lessons mixed with video game streams in English or Japanese and other types of videos. The viewers were able to practice their Japanese with eachother in the chatbox and fluent Japanese speakers would join to support their favourite streamer and help answer all the questions everyone had. What a creative way to mix entertainment and education! I would certainly love to try it.

The picture shows me trying to make a simple character. A melon. (^_^)

What do you think? Do you like watching streamers? Have you ever watched a Vtuber?

Vocabulary・単語

platform - プラットフォーム・ステージ・床－the website or company used to upload videos; a raised floor or stage used by speakers so that they can be seen by their viewers  

stream/streamer - ストリーム - to transmit or recieve over the internet in a continuous flow, a person who makes a video online in real time (live)

character - （登場）人物・人格 - a persona in a story

rig - リギング - to connect movement to a model using software or a program

motion-capture camera - モーションキャプチャーカメラ - a camera that can record or "capture" motion

identity - 氏名 - the true nature of a person; the real name, face and/or address of a person

chatbox - チャトボックス・会話 - the text box used to talk to people online

entertainment - エンターテインメント・娯楽 - the things people consume to have fun or be entertained; providing or being given amusement or enjoyment