What are the Practical Uses for Japanese?

[The_World_Ends_With_You]

Hi Everyone! This is my first post, so be kind. I'm going to ask a question that some of you may find offensive, but I feel that it's one worth asking.

What are the practical uses of Japanese? I've bee absolutely fascinated with Japanese culture since I was young. When I got older and began studying the language in my free time, I fell in love with the sound of the words. The way they came of the tongue always felt so good to me! Of course, like many people anime was what attracted me to the culture initially, but even if anime didn't exist, I would still love it. Just thinking about tatami mats, sliding paper doors, green tea, and endless mountains thrills me! I genuinely have fun learning about the culture.

The problem is that I found myself investing a great deal of time in studying Japanese, and when you find yourself spending a lot of time on something, you have to quetion if you're spending it wisely. After I read this article I grew really concerned:

http://www.japantoday.com/category/opinions/view/why-you-shouldnt-learn-japanese

I used to study Spanish but it was absolutely miserable. I couldn't roll my tongue to save my life. I watched several YouTube videos on the topic, and tried my hardest, spraying saliva everywhere in the process. But to be frank, my tongue just doesn't move that way. Most importantly though, I've never felt the connection to the culture that I feel with Japanese.

I just panic at the thought of spending ten years studying Japanese, and only being able to use it to understand the Pokemon anime without subtitles. :/ So, what do you guys do with your Japanese language skills?

(Sorry for double post! I didn't know where to put it so I placed it under two categories. Feel free to delete the other one under culture! ありがとございます！)

[Trinitywarrior1]

Well I listen to random Youtube videos that are in Japanese. I also watch anime and listen to Japanese music. I plan on living in Japan within the next five years. So I use my Japanese listening and reading skills everyday. I also just say stuff in Japanese everyday throughout the day so I get practice speaking Japanese.
I guess what you are saying is does Japanese have any common practical uses here in America, right? Well to be honest you are not going to use it very much here in America practically. The best practical use you could have would be working in a Japanese restaurant and using it to talk to the owner, who I assume would be Japanese.
Now before you lose hope do not worry. For starters just learning Japanese and about the culture is already amazing. Second save up to go to Japan or attempt to move there. Now you may be thinking how can I do that I do not have enough money to do that. Well I plan to live there in five years and at the moment I have no job, no car, and I am studying to take my real estate test to become a real estate agent. So believe me in that you have to have a goal and stick with so you do not get down. I wrote that I would live in Japan in five years on a piece of paper and stuck it to my door where I see it every day.
Also you could find someone to talk with in Japanese or you could find someone to write in Japanese with. If you want someone to talk to about Japan, Japanese, or anything else I would be happy to talk to you. I know that sometimes there seems like there are not many people to talk to about Japanese stuff.

[Trinitywarrior1]

Hi Everyone! This is my first post, so be kind. I'm going to ask a question that some of you may find offensive, but I feel that it's one worth asking.

What are the practical uses of Japanese? I've bee absolutely fascinated with Japanese culture since I was young. When I got older and began studying the language in my free time, I fell in love with the sound of the words. The way they came of the tongue always felt so good to me! Of course, like many people anime was what attracted me to the culture initially, but even if anime didn't exist, I would still love it. Just thinking about tatami mats, sliding paper doors, green tea, and endless mountains thrills me! I genuinely have fun learning about the culture.

The problem is that I found myself investing a great deal of time in studying Japanese, and when you find yourself spending a lot of time on something, you have to quetion if you're spending it wisely. After I read this article I grew really concerned:

http://www.japantoday.com/category/opinions/view/why-you-shouldnt-learn-japanese

I used to study Spanish but it was absolutely miserable. I couldn't roll my tongue to save my life. I watched several YouTube videos on the topic, and tried my hardest, spraying saliva everywhere in the process. But to be frank, my tongue just doesn't move that way. Most importantly though, I've never felt the connection to the culture that I feel with Japanese.

I just panic at the thought of spending ten years studying Japanese, and only being able to use it to understand the Pokemon anime without subtitles. :/ So, what do you guys do with your Japanese language skills?

(Sorry for double post! I didn't know where to put it so I placed it under two categories. Feel free to delete the other one under culture! ありがとございます！)

Lol I thought I hit the quote button, but I did not. This time I got it.

[Murius]

I only care about being able to read manga and novels. It has been a few long years before I was able to do that and it will be a few more long ones before I reach the level where I can read everything I want but now the going is easy since I can enjoy what I like most: actually reading.

So my practical use is obvious, I can read books that won't ever be available in europe and I pay for these at 1/8th of the translated price if by chance there ever is a translation (even then releases are 5-10 years late...).

As for the article I agree it takes a lot of dedication so you need a good reason to learn Japanese. I am reading 4/6 hours a day, often it goes well, sometimes it's hell. The first two years, reading 3 pages in a row each day felt like running a marathon, so yes it would have been easy to give up.

[adelholtz_499460]

Hi

i think that it doesn't really matter if smth you learn has any practical use if you do it for fun or have smth in mind you want to reach.
If you think its worth the time you are investing. Its worth it.
In school i had to learn Latin, French, Spanish and English.
I never came into a situation in my whole life where i did need Latin. Being able to speak French or Spanish is nice but it never gave me any practical advantages either. I just don't need it in daily life.
With English this is a totally different story cause i have to use it every day.
If you want to learn a language only for the purpose of being of practical use than you should maybe learn: Chinese or Russian.

I am learning Japanese simply because i find it interesting. Its a hobby for me and as long as learning Japanese is giving me fun i intend to go on with it.

So...what i am trying to say is: you learn so much stupid unnecessary things in life in school in university and so on and no one ever questions this. Why does it matter to you if you have any practical use for a language you seem to be learning for fun?

And of course, when you apply for a job and you can say you have proficiency in Japanese and other languages its never a bad thing

[Trinitywarrior1]

Hi

i think that it doesn't really matter if smth you learn has any practical use if you do it for fun or have smth in mind you want to reach.
If you think its worth the time you are investing. Its worth it.
In school i had to learn Latin, French, Spanish and English.
I never came into a situation in my whole life where i did need Latin. Being able to speak French or Spanish is nice but it never gave me any practical advantages either. I just don't need it in daily life.
With English this is a totally different story cause i have to use it every day.
If you want to learn a language only for the purpose of being of practical use than you should maybe learn: Chinese or Russian.

I am learning Japanese simply because i find it interesting. Its a hobby for me and as long as learning Japanese is giving me fun i intend to go on with it.

So...what i am trying to say is: you learn so much stupid unnecessary things in life in school in university and so on and no one ever questions this. Why does it matter to you if you have any practical use for a language you seem to be learning for fun?

And of course, when you apply for a job and you can say you have proficiency in Japanese and other languages its never a bad thing

Totally agree! if you want to learn it and it is fun then that is the best reward there is.

[rayman.the.one.and.only1_498570]

　　　　　　　　　Any knowledge is only as practical as you make it out to be. If you want to be able to use Japanese than start a blog, find people who speak Japanese online and chat with them, heck you could even start a YouTube channel and share what you learned with other people trying to learn Japanese, you could start a YouTube channel teaching Japanese people who want to learn English the possibilities are endless! If you want to use Japanese there are opportunities all over the place....don't let a blog post that is someone's opinion stop you from learning Japanese.

[patrick_harnett]

There are a lot of reasons not to learn Japanese. Shortly after I started I read a god article that said Chinese would be better because so many more people speak Chinese. However, it does depend on your own reasons and motivations. Certainly it is not an easy task, and will take you a long time. For myself, these are my reasons for investing thousands of hours to become barely proficient:

1: I am stubborn and I like the complexity of the language and making the small links and discoveries of how it works along the way.
2: I had never learned a language before, and working in another country where I could only speak one showed what a disadvantage I was at, so I found one I could learn.
3: I was visiting Japan reasonably frequently (as a tourist) and as the travels progressed, and you get away from the main cities, English dries up really quickly. People that tell you all train stations have English signs haven't been very far. Also, ordering food (reading a menu) is pretty important.
4: Over the years we have made some good friends in Japan and their English ranges from fluent to none. Being able to talk to them and have fun is one of the true pleasures of our trips.

and finally

5: We love Japan so much we made a tour company to take people there. So a few years of practice has allowed me to make it a job and I now need to learn a whole lot more

Patrick
JapanCustomTours.co.nz

[ninjalin888]

I agree with everyones comments on here. The practical uses of learning Japanese, or any other language for that matter are endless.
I'm learning Japanese purely because I love Japan. I know I won't ever live in Japan to utilise the language in more depth, but that won't stop me from spending time on learning a language that I enjoy.

Other than the really obvious practical use for if you want to live and work in Japan, the practical uses for me are the some below.

1) Visiting Japan and using the language makes the experience so much more enjoyable as well as satisfying that you can understand what the locals are saying.
2) Making friends and communicating to them via LINE or email. That's pretty much how I've managed to build nice friendships with people in Japan. Not random strangers, but people who remain as long term friends. (And a lot of the time they want to improve or learn English). It's also fun to meet up with them in Japan once the relationship has been established.
3) Reading and writing blogs. I originally created my blog is about London for Japanese people who can't read English.
4) Listening to Japanese radio (via Tune In Radio. Especially Ban Ban radio in Hyogo)
5) Watching anime, and watching anything in Japanese. Japanese TV always seems so amusing to me.
6) Booking hotels in Japan!! When you want to look on the Japanese web site to check availability instead of relying on crappy travel websites that won't necessarily know when the hotel months are open.
7) Buying things from Amazon.co.jp for my friends in Japan.
Playing computer games that are in Japanese language.

I hope you can look past someones opinion on why not to learn Japanese. As with every article, opinion and thought, you should only take it with a pinch of salt and follow your own passion.