Learning japanese by watching animes?


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warita200

Tai Youkai
Sempai
Hello guys,

we all watch animes and we all are interested in the japanese language and culture to some extent. And most of us have an ingrained aversion against dubs of any kinds, because lets face it, japanese can really put their heart into voicing the characters. With the english dub I often have the feeling the voice actors have the attitude: "Oh geez, I am voicing a lame cartoon character. I hope my family and friends wont find out..." or maybe it is a question of costs, I dunno. Either way, I love to watch my animes in original, because the quality is much better and also for me listening to japanese is half the fun of an anime.

Now.... I have been watching animes for the past 6 years and I remember how in the beginning I had the aspiration to become fluent in japanse in 2-3 years max. I thought that if I will watch anime on a daily basis, I must learn it quickly. It was an unrealistic ambition. Maybe, just maybe if japanese was an european language, I might have learned it by now, but japanese isnt an european language. It has a completely different structure and logic and without taking any classes, it is impossible to learn from just listening to it.

In the past there used to be a relatively active thread on FTV about learning japanese. Some people where really enthusiastic about wanting to learn japanese and not only took classes at their university, but even learned kanjis. I admired that, I just dont have the patience to learn how to read and write in japanese.

I got into thinking about how proficient you can get from just listening to japanese. Sometimes, I watch my animes raw and I understand 80-90% of the conversations and in other episodes (even in the same anime) I barely know what the hell they are talking about. It really depends on the complexity of the dialogues.


So here are my questions:

1. Do you take any classes or try actively to improve your japanese?
2. Do you try to catch new vocabulary by closely listening to the japanese language while watching animes?
3. How good is your japanese after watching anime for several years? Do you think you will ever reach a level where you wont need subtitles?
4. What are your methods to work on your japanese? Do you use an online dictionary or write down vocabulary?
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5. Do you care at all? I know a few people who dont bother with japanese at all and look at me like I am crazy for trying to learn it. But I think it would be really nice one day to be able to fully concentrate on the plot without having to switch between reading and watching. Also, it may be an ego thing with me. I just want to prove to myself I can do it, but at the same time I feel discouraged from taking classes in japanese, which would of course be the best way to get to where I want to be.

Let me know your thoughts
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QUOTE (warita200 @ Oct 13 2011, 04:24 AM) we all watch animes and we all are interested in the japanese language and culture to some extent. And most of us have an ingrained aversion against dubs of any kinds, because lets face it, japanese can really put their heart into voicing the characters. With the english dub I often have the feeling the voice actors have the attitude: "Oh geez, I am voicing a lame cartoon character. I hope my family and friends wont find out..." or maybe it is a question of costs, I dunno. Either way, I love to watch my animes in original, because the quality is much better and also for me listening to japanese is half the fun of an anime.
lately I exclusively watch anime in its original japanese audio, most english dubs I have heard are horrible voice-overs with very few exceptions than are on-par or a bit better, like Golden Boy from what I remember ^^ ...in the 80s and 90s I enjoyed many mexican dubs as well, they did decent translations from japanese to spanish with talented VOs like Saint Seiya, Sailor Moon, Dragon Ball, Dragon Quest Dai no Daibouken, Ghostsweeper Mikami, Slam Dunk and some others


QUOTE (warita200 @ Oct 13 2011, 04:24 AM)Now.... I have been watching animes for the past 6 years and I remember how in the beginning I had the aspiration to become fluent in japanse in 2-3 years max. I thought that if I will watch anime on a daily basis, I must learn it quickly. It was an unrealistic ambition. Maybe, just maybe if japanese was an european language, I might have learned it by now, but japanese isnt an european language. It has a completely different structure and logic and without taking any classes, it is impossible to learn from just listening to it.

in my case I watched anime with english subs since 1995 I believe, like 16 years but back then I wasn't interested in learning japanese -.- ...years passed and I have been learning and practicing the basics without realizing it, most katakana, some hiragana and a few kanji


QUOTE (warita200 @ Oct 13 2011, 04:24 AM)In the past there used to be a relatively active thread on FTV about learning japanese. Some people where really enthusiastic about wanting to learn japanese and not only took classes at their university, but even learned kanjis. I admired that, I just dont have the patience to learn how to read and write in japanese.

I got into thinking about how proficient you can get from just listening to japanese. Sometimes, I watch my animes raw and I understand 80-90% of the conversations and in other episodes (even in the same anime) I barely know what the hell they are talking about. It really depends on the complexity of the dialogues.

I don't know why I have never taken any japanese class, probably because I don't like to mix school matters with hobbies and other fun stuff or simply by desparation just like you >.< ...rarely I watch raws when there is a series I can't wait until it's subbed, taking the risk of spoiling myself if I don't understand most of it but many times I do and is worth it


QUOTE (warita200 @ Oct 13 2011, 04:24 AM)So here are my questions:

1. Do you take any classes or try actively to improve your japanese?
2. Do you try to catch new vocabulary by closely listening to the japanese language while watching animes?
3. How good is your japanese after watching anime for several years? Do you think you will ever reach a level where you wont need subtitles?
4. What are your methods to work on your japanese? Do you use an online dictionary or write down vocabulary?
5. Do you care at all? I know a few people who dont bother with japanese at all and look at me like I am crazy for trying to learn it. But I think it would be really nice one day to be able to fully concentrate on the plot without having to switch between reading and watching. Also, it may be an ego thing with me. I just want to prove to myself I can do it, but at the same time I feel discouraged from taking classes in japanese, which would of course be the best way to get to where I want to be.

1. Not yet but my improvement comes not only from anime but live action dramas and movies as well
2. Unvoluntarily I do most of the time sometimes I concentrate to understand it, specially what they really say if the translation isn't accurate
3. I don't think so with the japanese level I currently have, I even need english or spanish subtitles to fully understand english audio shows ¬¬
4. nothing like that, I leave my memory do all the work if possible but I tend to compare characters and their meanings
5. I don't really mind, most of the movies I watch while reading subtitles no matter the language they speak originally (except spanish of course) but I would like to fully understand japanese as well, let's hope a matrix-like program grant our wish in a near future
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1. No Ö, well I was going to choose it as a subject but my dad wanted me to do something that "i would use more", surprising since he isn't the asian parent haha, so why is he so strict
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. But it might not have helped when he asked "why do you want to learn this" and I replied (kiddingly) that "I am going to be a ninja"
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(oh awesome a smiley for it). Haha. But thats getting way off track.

2. Well since I haven't really watched a lot of anime and I'm only starting to, I still look mostly at the storyline and such at this point. But maybe next time I'll try as an experiment, haha.

3. Not applicable
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haha. But for the last part, I don't think so.

4. Nothing at all ö

5. Hm, I do think it would be fun learning a new language. But the same time I don't mind the subtitles, unless they are really small haha. So, from the looks of it not very I suppose
 
QUOTE (warita200 @ Oct 13 2011, 03:24 AM)So here are my questions:

1. Do you take any classes or try actively to improve your japanese?
2. Do you try to catch new vocabulary by closely listening to the japanese language while watching animes?
3. How good is your japanese after watching anime for several years? Do you think you will ever reach a level where you wont need subtitles?
4. What are your methods to work on your japanese? Do you use an online dictionary or write down vocabulary?
laugh.gif

5. Do you care at all? I know a few people who dont bother with japanese at all and look at me like I am crazy for trying to learn it. But I think it would be really nice one day to be able to fully concentrate on the plot without having to switch between reading and watching. Also, it may be an ego thing with me. I just want to prove to myself I can do it, but at the same time I feel discouraged from taking classes in japanese, which would of course be the best way to get to where I want to be.

Let me know your thoughts
biggrin.gif

Wow, it's been over 2 years since I was last here.

1. I don't really take classes. I want to but I'm too lazy.
2. Nope.
3. Not good at all. I know a few words and a few phrases but that's about it.
4. I don't work on my Japanese.
5. I actually want to learn Japanese. Not only for anime, but for video games as well. Japanese sounds so cool. Again, I'm too lazy to learn anything else.
 
Heh I didn't known this thread was around for a while here, but I'll give my answers.

1. No since I'm horrible in another language, but I should since I want to understand Moon Runes when I'm playing those eroge or other games that aren't translated yet. Although I know of firends at my Anime Club that do that do get a good understanding of Moon Runes and Moon Speak because of various reasonings.

2. Not exactly but I only use a few Japanese terms on it's own for meme sake at times. Mostly those memes end up in Touhou, like the Baka Fairy Cirno for example. http://oreno.imouto.org/post/show/95638/ci..._-artist-touhou

3. The same as always sinc eI don't watch for the language but for the story itself, and if it's ecchi why do I need to understand a situation other than pantyshots.
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4. Well there is one game that happens to be a dungeon crawler to the point were I write down what item does what after some trial and error. Although I do a rought translation of what said item does.

5. It varries with my mood due to the fact sometimes I think it might be a good idea to know and understand a second language. Although on the other hand when am I going to use it aside from anime and gamming? So it's really a split decision for me.
 
QUOTE (Kid-Wolf @ Oct 24 2011, 08:43 AM) Although on the other hand when am I going to use it aside from anime and gamming? So it's really a split decision for me.
Actually, you made a good point Kid_Wolf. I often ponder the same.

The main obstacle in learning japanese in my opinion is the fact, you need to learn how to read and write and unfortunately, you arent done after mastering the kanas. And I often find myself wondering, if it is worth the trouble, because lets face it, all you need it for is anime and maybe, if you are lucky, a one in your life time trip to Japan.

And that may well be the reason, why I never felt particularly motivated to invest time, energy and money into learning japanese.

On the other hand, anime is my hobby and I am not planning to drop it anytime soon. As such, it boils down to how enthusiastic you are about anime, right?
 
QUOTE (warita200 @ Oct 25 2011, 02:34 AM) Actually, you made a good point Kid_Wolf. I often ponder the same.

The main obstacle in learning japanese in my opinion is the fact, you need to learn how to read and write and unfortunately, you arent done after mastering the kanas. And I often find myself wondering, if it is worth the trouble, because lets face it, all you need it for is anime and maybe, if you are lucky, a one in your life time trip to Japan.

And that may well be the reason, why I never felt particularly motivated to invest time, energy and money into learning japanese.

On the other hand, anime is my hobby and I am not planning to drop it anytime soon. As such, it boils down to how enthusiastic you are about anime, right?
To me knowledge is always a Treasure to be had. I have instances of things I learned that may have no use in daily life it seems but when "in that moment" you just find yourself to be glad of learning such things.

Either way I am learning japanese since I'd be pretty much be working there. If you love it just do it. Don't think, you only live life once and this is one of the chances for you to learn such things. You'd only be wasting your time if you keep pondering on what the future holds. It doesn't even have to be An A Grade Japanese.
 
QUOTE (lavenderdays @ Oct 24 2011, 08:01 PM) To me knowledge is always a Treasure to be had.
I agree with you there. When you learn something new it will always make your life richer maybe not immediately but sometime in the future or just somewhere random so learning a new language is something one should do if given the opportunity.

I myself can now watch anime pretty much without subs, I say pretty much because I usually don't and I don't know every word that is spoken but I can definitely tell you about what the conversation is about and in some more battle oriented animes I could probably understand everything. I guess it all comes down to how much attention you pay and hours of watching.

I have the option to learn Japanese properly but I will probably learn Chinese instead because of job opportunities and general shift in economic zones. It's a language for the future and a lot of people speak it however if I do get time free I would love to learn Japanese for real, not just because of anime, I like the language!
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Peace!
 
QUOTE (Vicepuma @ Oct 24 2011, 01:30 PM) I myself can now watch anime pretty much without subs, I say pretty much because I usually don't and I don't know every word that is spoken but I can definitely tell you about what the conversation is about and in some more battle oriented animes I could probably understand everything. I guess it all comes down to how much attention you pay and hours of watching.


You guys are right!!! It can never do harm to aquire new knowledge.

@Vicepuma, do I understand it correctly that you learned japanese just from watching anime? I mean, thats what i have been trying for the past 6 years with a somehwat moderate success. Uhmmm, how many years have you watched anime?
 
About 6 years as well. Like I said It's not like I could strike up a conversation with someone that's fluent in Japanese but I'm pretty confident I could make myself understood and that I can understand what is being said, pretty much , or so I would like to think.
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However I don't think it's possible to learn to speak Japanese trough just anime watching. You need practice and someone real to practice with but It's the same with every language. I learned English trough Cartoon Network as a child and then perfected it in school but you need to practice it in real life to be able to use it. That's my opinion...
 
Watching Anime is definitely a plus to understanding Japanese. But I doubt that simply watching anime will get you fluency. Once you understand a few basic rules of Japanese conjugation and couple that with years of anime, your sure to be fluent.

I can say this cause I'm a translator for fansubs. Don't worry about kanji at all unless you want to actually become a Japanese expert. What you should be doing is learning the difference between dictionary form and polite form, the past, present, and future tenses, and the uses for each particle. You can worry about kanji after all that cause 46 hiragana and 46 katakana is enough for basic conversation. Kanji is only necessary in writing, after all (not to mention the thousands there are). You can start learning the kanji through flashcards or something after you learn basic conjugation.

Knowledge of other Asian languages does help a bit since some words are similar such as "kanpai" used in Korean, Chinese, Japanese and others. But that's only a little bit. If you are serious about learning Japanese and keep to watching enough anime every day, you can learn Japanese to the level of verbal fluency at least within 1 year. I actually tried writing a tutorial about learning Japanese some time ago and I surprised myself in how little the tutorial was. Course, I skipped a bit here and there, but I could not think of much more than what will fill 2-3 pages. And as of late, I've been seeing classes on Japanese being more and more readily available at least in the US.
 
QUOTE (truth2belief @ Oct 25 2011, 01:47 AM) What you should be doing is learning the difference between dictionary form and polite form, the past, present, and future tenses, and the uses for each particle. You can worry about kanji after all that cause 46 hiragana and 46 katakana is enough for basic conversation.
I just want to second this. Even though I've studied Japanese a bit, I never found anime helped because it used a lot of informal speech, and as foreigners it's important to learn the formal/polite speech. And if you learn that first, it's easier to learn informal varients later.

I'm in the same boat as you, trying to learn Korean from dramas & kpop. I'm picking up some words but not much else, although I've enjoyed reading the Korean grammar book I bought. That actually has helped a lot, because you start picking up the structure of sentences and can hear it when actors speak. But of course, I studied Japanese previously so the structure of Korean isn't totally alien to me. When I studied Japanese, it was more difficult!
 
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