Putting some "fun" into studying

[usagi]

What do you all use to add a little fun to your learning process? (Apart from giving yourself some well-deserved treats maybe!!!)

Apart from podcasts, I have bought some j-doramas with subtitles, which are quite challenging but really fun and a bunch of bilingual books. I have also been sneeking up to Japanese people whenever I see any, to try to understand what they are saying!!!! Shame on me... I know! Don´t worry, I´m not really a stalker!!!!


How about you? Does anyone use games to practise Kanjis? Do you read childrens books? I´d love to hear what you do

Have a great weekend everyone and take care

[Outkast]

I look at children books and younger manga for informal reading practice. For fun with audio, I watch anime without subtitles, usually for at least forty minutes to an hour a session. It's kind of like a crappy version of total-immersion and you get to see how people of different genders and status handle their speaking.

[usagi]

Outkast-san!

Great ideas, but how do you manage without the sub-titles? I tried some j-doramas without the subtitles to get an idea of normal j-tv and I was quite lost

I like childrens books, too.

Take care

[Liz21]

Ha, ha, Usagi-san!
(Ms. Rabbit?)
I liked the part about sneaking up on Japanese people and trying to hear what they are saying. I have tried that, too but I never get to hear anything!! I guess I'm not good at sneaking.

As to a fun thing, try this website for learning kanji!

http://www.japanese-kanji.com/

Ganbatte kudasai!

[Belton]

I like anime and Japanese movies. Japanese language movies seem to be all I watch these days. However without subtitles I can be very lost. I do sometimes re-watch without titles and since I already know the story I find it easier to follow. The few discs I have with Japanese subtitles can help as well if I pause to read. But that's starting to be work.

Music is easier. I get the sounds and rhythms to an extent but most of the lyrics just wash over me. As time goes on I can pick out more and more.

Liz-sans post reminded me of this. Which makes me laugh, and I learnt something.
http://www.apa-apa.net/~aiueaoi/

[Liz21]

Belton-san,
Thanks for that link! http://www.apa-apa.net/~aiueaoi/

It's so cute and it is fun to learn a few new words that way! [/quote]

[usagi]

Liz-san, Belton -san,

Thanks for the fun web-sites! I thought they were kawaii and I just watched my first japanese movie "Waterboys" yesterday. It was really funny, you should watch it if you haven´t done so yet. However, I would have been completely lost without the sub-titles.

Music is an excellent idea, too. I haven´t heard anything to date. Where do I start? Any recommendations?


Thank you all for the inspiration and have fun learning.

[Belton]

There's a thread about music here.
http://www.japanesepod101.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=138

and some about J Rock and J Pop around.

I must check out the Yoshida Brothers but iTunes store UK doesn't have them (what's the point of an internet store if I can't easily buy things from Japan or US, bakanaRingo )

I like the Urufulus. No idea what most of their songs are about but I like their energy. !

I have some links here. (sorry can remember my own url but haven't time to chase direct links at the moment.)
http://www.shiawase.co.uk/listening/music.html#ulfuls

[tenchibo]

J-Doramas are by far one of my favorite. I am not a big anime fan, but J-Doramas are really quite entertaining (much more so than many american shows, I have to say). The nice part about Japanese Dramas is you can really pick up a lot of Japanese and common phrases. It seems like in many (not all) Animes I have seen, the Japanese is commonly very casual, I mean it depends on the situation, but I find doramas to be alot more helpful. Another thing is that alot of dramas reveal alot about Japanese culture. Animes can be more fantasy related where as many of the doramas I have seen are either love stories or comedies that reveal quite a bit about Japanese culture.

These are some dramas I reccomend ::

- Gokusen 1/2
- Hana Yori Dango
- Ichi Littoru no Namida (One Litre of Tears)
- GTO (Great Teacher Onizuka)
- Joou no Kyoushitsu (Queen of the Classroom)
- Hotaru no Haka (also an amazing Anime, this is more of a movie than a drama) (Grave of the Fireflies)
- Byakuyakou (Journey Under a Midnight Sun)
- Sekai no chuushin de, ai wo sakebu
- Hottoman 1/2 (Hotman 1/2)

There's quite a bit there. But they were all very good. If you are even a little bit sentimental, expect to cry after watching Ichi Littoru no Namida. It's also really fun to translate doramas once your Japanese comes along, or to do it with a friend who can help.

For reviews and synapsis information, as well as a TOP 50 list, you can visit www.jdorama.com . It's an excellent site to find out more about the actors/actresses and the drama itself. Hope this is of any use! =)

[Jason]

My only reservation about recommending music for this is that the lyrics can sometimes be hard to understand if they blend into the music too much or aren't pronounced clearly. That being said, everyone should be out listening to the pillows.

I also highly recommend Hana Yori Dango as well as Densha Otoko.

[Liz21]

Tenchibo-san,
Your post about Jdorama was interesting. I'm so ignorant Are these available somewhere? I know they are on Japanese TV, which I can't get.

[Belton]

Liz - san

I'm so ignorant Are these available somewhere? I know they are on Japanese TV, which I can't get.

They are fan-subbed in the dark underbelly of the Internet!

The most accessible place I've found is www.YouTube.com . However the fansubs aren't really legal and YouTube I think tries to weed them out. But They seem to be the only way to get English subtitled versions. Get them while they're hot!
If you search for a title or just for JDrama you gets loads of hits.
I'm sure they exist as bit-torrents but that dark underbelly I don't know about.

Fansubbing is a strange and interesting phenomenon. It's a lot of work to translate and subtitle a program. And they do it for fun not profit. Most have a code that stops them posting as soon as something is licensed in US or an English market. I don't think any studio has gone after anyone yet but....

[Liz21]

Belton-san,
Thanks This is all truly amazing!! Who knew!!

[Belton]

My only reservation about recommending music for this is that the lyrics can sometimes be hard to understand if they blend into the music too much or aren't pronounced clearly.

That's essentially the problem with any for-Japanese-people material. It's hard to understand!!!! So (for me) I learn most with material for learners. It's usually simpler, clearer has backup and explanations. But generally I reach saturation point after an hour or so and nothing further is going in and of course I want to dive right in there with all the cool Japanese stuff!

So I find music the most accessible.
Even when I don't understand (often) I just enjoy the tune and can listen for ages with just the songs washing over me. Although it seems that Japanese are just as much into the International market (U2, Beatles, Robbie Williams, Madonna) it's great to be able to recognise some Japanese songs and maybe just maybe join in (badly) at Karaoke.

After a presentation for class, learning a song is probably the single longest piece of spoken Japanese I have done.

And I've even picked up the odd phrase or word from songs.
ワクワク、ゴロゴロデラデラ、いちゃいちゃ、(I like 擬態語［ぎたいご］擬音語［ぎおんご］onomatopoeia ) and am still finding new words and phrases in songs that I recognise.

[Liz21]

Tenchibo-san and Belton-san,
I am so hooked on Hana Yori Dango! Thanks so much for telling me about jdorama on youtube! Fantastic fun! But, I bit the bullet, Belton-san, and I downloaded my first BitTorrent Hana Yori Dango episode. Thanks to Jason's help, I'm watching a fantastically beautiful picture here on my computer.
Thanks so much for teaching me these great new things!!!!!!

I'm going to use tenchibo-san's list of jdoramas for future reference. . . more fun ahead!!
I enjoy hearing the informal dialogue. I can understand it a little, thanks to the English subs.

Thanks again.