Weird question maybe...

[laz]

Hey all, I just had a quick question that might be strange to some. I studied Japanese a few years in high school and I'm starting to study it again now. I've heard people say that you will pick up the language a lot quicker if you were able to stay in Japan for a while, one of my mates did this and she definitely learned a lot.

Anyway, enough babbling, my question is, as I'm not able to visit Japan anytime soon, would it help to rent out some dvd movies/tv shows that are in japanese and watch them to listen to native speakers? Or would it be a waste of time?

Thanks

[Airth]

I've heard people say that you will pick up the language a lot quicker if you were able to stay in Japan for a while, one of my mates did this and she definitely learned a lot.

my question is, as I'm not able to visit Japan anytime soon, would it help to rent out some dvd movies/tv shows that are in japanese and watch them to listen to native speakers? Or would it be a waste of time?

In no way is it a waste of time. Learning a language is all about exposure. Ideally that would mean being in the country and immersing/battering yourself with Japanese at least 12 hours a day; forcing yourself to get into uncomfortable situations, struggling, fighting, screaming... you get the idea.

Well, you can't do that so you've get to get exposure from as many ways and means as possible. Movies and TV shows are one of those ways. At least you'll get a feel for the way the language is used to communicate rather than the way it's presented in textbooks or even by JPod101. I'd recommended recording the soundtrack and listening back to it again and again without worrying about comprehension. I remember when I first came to Japan and would watch TV every day without having a clue what was going on. To be honest, I find most Japanese TV to be tedious in the extreme so it was a kind of torture, but it did have a positive effect on my listening, reading, and speaking skills.

I don't really think movies are necessarily the best things to use though. They are, of course, scripted and fail to provide you with a 'real' experience. You would probably find more benefit in Podcasts of discussions/conversations between native speakers. There is plenty of material out there if you search for it. JPod101 is an excellent resource, but I'm also a firm believer in making use of real world material to learn from.

Anyway, I wish you the very best of luck. If you stick with it, you'll master it. Simple!

[Elfunko]

Go to d-addicts or some of the anime sites. If renting movies or downloading shows is the best you can do then you better damn well do it! When I first started I didn't want to speak at all, I just wanted to be able to hear and understand. And I'll tell you, for 6 hours inclass time a week I spent probably 3-6 hours at home watching dramas, movies, etc. And that allowed me to hear not only Japanese in context, but see those situations that are in your grammar book in a real life setting. For me personally I like a good storyline with subtitles so I can enjoy everything. Then as you get more comfortable with the subjects, language, hearing, etc you can learn to simple listen to the speakers rather than read the subtitles. But this is definately the way to go.

Also, if you have the balls, get a conversation partner. I gotta say Japanese students are everywhere, even up in my grandpas hick town in Oregon where me and my Japanese girlfriend thought we'd never find em. But we did find em (they stick out like a soar thumb). Practice your Japanese with them and learn to communicate with meaning. However, this is a rather tall order, and I myself didn't have the courage to overcome the fear of speaking for the first 1.5 years of my study. But the sooner you overcome this fear, the sooner you will learn the language. You better believe now that I know the best ways to learn and teach languages for my next language I will be speaking and learning meaning/context from day 1. Well, thats gonna be Spanish (we have a history together) and Korean, and I already do make a (limited) effort to communicate. I'll tell you the difference in technique though, one is a slow molasses speed gain of knowledge through rote study, the other a speeding truck that rams meaning and context into your skull wether you like it or not (if you don't you'll quit).... I lost my train of thought.

[Elfunko]

Orange Days, GTO, Gokusen, Taihou Shichauzo, Samurai Chanploo, and Love and Fight are the tv shows I got downloaded right now. Also Hanabi, but I can't get hte subtitles to work so thats a tough one to get through. Read some reviews, do a little research, and find yourself some awesome free tv shows.

[Garyuchin]

I haven't had much success with Japanese film (as in programmes with actors) as learning material, but there are often differences from one person to another in what works best.

Eyeing overflowing shelves of anime series and a burgeoning manga collection in the lounge room.... Hmmm: waste of time, certainly , waste of money, indubitibly , worth all of it .

Problems associated with watching Japanese programmes:
characters often do not speak standard.

Spent weeks trying to track something with a like sound to "ushi" meaning tasty. Then I found out that Iwataken dialect sounds "o" as "uu" and tends to suppress "i" after "o." oishii it was. (I have never forgotten the Japanese word for cow.)

Likewise "a" can sound as the "ar" of "war" - By the time I encountered eddoben for the first time, I understood just enough Japanese to not be thrown by "desh kar," (desu ka) but I still tripped over the "war" type sound for "ha," mistaking it for the elegant "wo."

Japanese is a rapid fire language. Recording pieces of soundtrack that are of interest and then slowing them down to 15% speed using a program that doesn't distort the sounds in the process, you actually get to hear all the syllables instead of just a few. That is an annoyingly time consuming process but well worth the effort (and extra money.)

After a time, I took up buying manga and anime for the same series. That way I get to actually examine forms and grammar while listening to the sounds of what I am reading. Problem: Anime often does not use the associated Manga as a script, so there are variations. For Ichigo 100% there is not enough confluence to make the exercise worthwhile. However, DearS almost can be said to use the Manga as the script.
Finding a nice online Japanese bookshop for mail order is a must - second hand manga can be had for around $5 - $8 including postage.

Theme songs make for a good jump off point in study. Aa Megamisama, Nana (!), Mahoromatic, Full Metal Panic, Infinite Ryvius, and songs within Nadeshiko (the contest for captain's post, in particular Ruri's song.) are worth learning. Songs increase vocabulary word count in double quick time. Downside: grammatical constructs are often unlike spoken Japanese. (same occurs in English.)

For learning Japanese from anime, look for target age groups around 10 - 12. Language tends to use simpler grammar, more clearly enunciated speech, closer to Standard pronunciation than anime targetting older ages. There are a surprising number of very interesting stories, and stories that are interesting in their own right don't put you to sleep while you are trying to study. s.

[Tiduas]

I only use Anime (other then watching ofcourse) to see if i can understand. Not trying to learn so much from it, just using it to see how far my understanding capabilitys can reach.
And that's becuase i have heard thousands of thousands people saying that they aren't using proper language in there. So there's no idea to study whole meanings, only words and such (that i look up and see if they are correct).

[lonna_senpai]

I watch alot of anime also and it helps me pick out words. Also they sometimes repeat the same phrase over and over. I learned "Mondai nai" "No problem" from BLEACH because one character says it every episode. Liston to music too. It might not let you pick up many words but you also get used to how the language sounds so it doesn't seem so wierd.

If you learn phrases repeat them to yourself when the situation arises that you would have to use it in Japan. If you eat something good think "Oishii!" "Delicous!". Small things like this have helped me.