I want to learn Japanese to watch anime! Tips?

[kbghost]

Hellooo! First time poster, so don't massacre me If this has been asked a million times, sorry!

So I've been researching how to learn Japanese to watch anime without subtitles, but haven't found any useful answers. People say things like "go live in Japan for a year" or "find a Japanese friend to talk to everyday", but these aren't exactly things I can get at the grocery store. Then there are responses like, "Learning Japanese for anime is stupid" or "People who learn Japanese to watch anime are the first to give up." Overall not helpful or encouraging stuff. So I have some questions.

1. Have you ever tried to learn Japanese for anime before?
2. If so, what was your experience with that? What worked? What didn't work? Why?
3. How much did it cost/time? I don't have that much money, I don't know if I can afford an expensive solution.
4. What anime did you try this for? I want to do it for Naruto. Would this be easier or harder than for the anime you tried it for?
5. If you never done this, is there a place you can suggest to help me find out how to learn Japanese for anime?

Going to spend the week researching this. I'll post up the results of my research later for people who have the same question.

 

[letianchen]

Get a textbook. I remember playing GTA san andreas when learning english and my vocabulary consisted of "ghetto talk" before I learned any useful conversation lmao. Couldnt understand jack sht. Best way is to get a good vocabulary, if you dont kno the word chances are you wont recognize it when it is spoken. Read books and listen to stuff with jpnese subs. Your not going to understand anime any time soon, living in the country is probably the fastest, but I would think eventually you would be able to understand a lot of an actual show.

Basically forget your idea of watching anime and learn from textbooks and such, eventually you will get to a point where you can watch it but its not a road that can be obtained so easily, I reccomend instead of researching get a book and start learning. Pretty sure alot of people give up. Ive been learningfor a bit over a year and I cant understand too much from anime ( not that I have been studying ALOT) but still you have to be realistic..

 

[SomeCallMeChris]

If you intend to learn Japanese -only- to watch anime and to avoid the written language, then you're pretty much going to have to chart your own course. If you also intend to read manga, there are many others like you and you may want to start with books called 'Japanese the Manga Way'. Or not. Genki is probably better and comes with an accompanying CD (-only- buy the edition that includes the CD).

It will take you at least 2 years to be able to watch anime smoothly, but if you also learn to read, then you might be able to follow Japanese anime with Japanese subtitles in 1 year. Unless you're one of the most motivated learners out there, and keep at it with substantial daily effort, actual results will probably be 2x - 3x more years than that. (Assuming you don't spend any years in Japan, of course, which could change things.)

Anyway, there's no real difference between learning Japanese to watch anime and ... learning Japanese, period.

However, for anyone interested in listening comprehension, I always recommend Erin's challenge. It's free and great practice. It's a great supplement to a textbook, but does not replace one.

WEB版「エリンが挑戦！にほんごできます。」サイト閉鎖と新サイトのご案内 | WEB版 エリンが挑戦！にほんごできます。

 

[letianchen]

I think it depends on the anime though obviously, I've watched a whole episode of kimi no iru machi without subs understanding everything. But I cant understand stuff like shineki no kyojin or death note since theyre using terms to explain a military or logical reasoning situations

 

[kbghost]

really fantastic advice. Thanks everyone. I been asking the same question around different parts of the internet and I am getting the feeling that eveyrone is saying the same thing. A little bit doused in cold water as most predict 2 years of hard studies before you can even expect to watch anime, but good to know the expectations from people who have walked the path.

 

[puccaluv]

Hellooo! First time poster, so don't massacre me If this has been asked a million times, sorry!

So I've been researching how to learn Japanese to watch anime without subtitles, but haven't found any useful answers. People say things like "go live in Japan for a year" or "find a Japanese friend to talk to everyday", but these aren't exactly things I can get at the grocery store. Then there are responses like, "Learning Japanese for anime is stupid" or "People who learn Japanese to watch anime are the first to give up." Overall not helpful or encouraging stuff. So I have some questions.

1. Have you ever tried to learn Japanese for anime before?
2. If so, what was your experience with that? What worked? What didn't work? Why?
3. How much did it cost/time? I don't have that much money, I don't know if I can afford an expensive solution.
4. What anime did you try this for? I want to do it for Naruto. Would this be easier or harder than for the anime you tried it for?
5. If you never done this, is there a place you can suggest to help me find out how to learn Japanese for anime?

Going to spend the week researching this. I'll post up the results of my research later for people who have the same question.

Hello!

I think you can learn Japanese through anime but it will take some time as other posters have mentioned.
I started watching anime a few years ago regularly and what I started doing recently is note down words ( in romanji- English alphabet) that are frequent in the anime I'm watching.
For example, when you watch and episode of Naruto, watch it with subtitles first and note down some words you think are important/ regular/ frequent. Then watch the anime again once you have memorized the words. They don't have to be many at first. Try to memorize 10-20.
Then watch the anime again without subtitles. RAW anime will help your listening and understanding skills once you link some words to meaning.
I live in Japan now and am teaching English here. I have acquired some strategies that help ,y listening and understanding ability but speaking is different. It needs practice. So if you want to learn Japanese in order to understand the anime you're watching, then it's possible to do for free. If you want to speak the language smoothly, you'll need to practice speaking.

By the way, I love Naruto!!!
BEST of luck and I hope you do your best!

 

[SomeCallMeChris]

I think it depends on the anime though obviously, I've watched a whole episode of kimi no iru machi without subs understanding everything. But I cant understand stuff like shineki no kyojin or death note since theyre using terms to explain a military or logical reasoning situations

Yes ... Tari-tari, Kobato, and Kotoura-san also are all easy to follow with anyone that has a good foundation.

Shingeki no Kyojin and Death Note both have a bunch of specific terms, it's true, but the Shingeki no Kyojin terms will help in other military and/or fighting anime, and the terms in Death Note are all useful for any mystery/police procedural.

If you read the manga first, though, you can learn all the words before ever looking at the anime ... but of course you'll already know the plot, so this only really works if you are a 'read the book first' kind of person anyway.

 

[Tamayo]

Incoming wall of text.

"find a Japanese friend to talk to everyday", but these aren't exactly things I can get at the grocery store.

Actually, finding a Japanese person to talk to on a regular basis is pretty easy. If you are interested in making a Japanese friend for this purpose, head on over to Japan Guide, where they have a wonderful website section totally dedicated to contacting and interacting with people in other countries. As soon as you load up the page, you'll see that there are plenty of filters to determine the age, gender, country and even interests of the people you'd like to reach out to.

I've found a few friends on there, and our Skype sessions were of colossal help to me in my endeavors in learning Japanese. Keep in mind, most of the Japanese on that site are also looking for penpals and they want to learn/improve their English. Be sure you pick someone with similar interests, as it'll make for better conversations. Making friends in Japan is probably much easier than you think!

Then there are responses like, "Learning Japanese for anime is stupid"

I truly don't mean to discourage you, but that's actually true for most people. The reason is that learning Japanese -- or any language, for that matter -- is a huge undertaking, and that is something that very few people with this goal understand. It's one thing to want to be able to communicate with people in essential situations like in restaurants, stores, etc., but it's an entirely different beast when we're talking about fluency.

Like I said, I'm not trying to discourage you, but to keep yourself from being disappointed, you do need to realize that learning Japanese is a pretty big project, and will take a couple years of diligent practice at the very least, if you're persistent. Language learning is a difficult, tedious process and requires a lot of patience. By all means, if you are serious about this, then you need to go for it and never doubt yourself.

Have you ever tried to learn Japanese for anime before?

No. I've been studying Japanese for about a year now with the intent of going there and being able to communicate with people instead of just having a regular tourist experience. Depending on what I find there after a few visits, I may decide to live there. I do enjoy anime and playing Japanese games, so learning Japanese has been a very rewarding experience for me.

If so, what was your experience with that? What worked? What didn't work? Why?

My experience with learning Japanese has been bumpy and challenging, though very rewarding whenever I make a "breakthrough" and understand more. What works is diligence and patience. There will be times when you feel like you've hit a "wall", and you can't possibly wrap your head around certain concepts, or perhaps a complex pronunciation for certain words or phrases. Even though those times can feel really desperate and discouraging, you need to press through it and keep practicing, no matter how difficult it may be to recall the words and the grammar rules. It absolutely, positively WILL pay off to keep trying even when it gets incredibly challenging, and trust me, it will.

What didn't work was thinking that I could get away with practicing once a week and being lazy about my learning. When you're trying to learn Japanese, you need to constantly try to apply what you know in real life. You can't just pick up fluency if the only time you use it is when you're sitting at your desk formally learning. When you see a car, think 車 instead. When you think of "I", think 私 instead. The words, the phrases and the concepts will stick if you try to put them to practice in your head while you go about your day. For example, I used to struggle a lot with numbers, so I committed to ONLY reading my clock out loud and in Japanese whenever I had the privacy to do so. It helped a lot.

How much did it cost/time? I don't have that much money, I don't know if I can afford an expensive solution.

At the moment, the best tool I've used for learning spoken Japanese has been Pimsleur's Japanese Lessons. They are pretty pricey, but I feel that they are a perfect start for anyone who is looking to learn Japanese in a structured way that will teach you important words and phrases, and show you how to put them to use in practice. Pay a visit to the Japanese Language Learning Resource List on this site to check out other alternatives suggested by our members here in JRef. The prices and usefulness vary a lot.

 

[letianchen]

Yes ... Tari-tari, Kobato, and Kotoura-san also are all easy to follow with anyone that has a good foundation.

Shingeki no Kyojin and Death Note both have a bunch of specific terms, it's true, but the Shingeki no Kyojin terms will help in other military and/or fighting anime, and the terms in Death Note are all useful for any mystery/police procedural.

If you read the manga first, though, you can learn all the words before ever looking at the anime ... but of course you'll already know the plot, so this only really works if you are a 'read the book first' kind of person anyway.

It would be nice if someone made anqi cards of like deathnote or something. Ive done so for the first episode of shingeki and I can finally understand it all lol.

 

[kbghost]

there's some really fantastic advice and thoughts from everyone. just want to reiterate how grateful I am for the responses.

 

[kbghost]

As promised, here's the result of my research of asking around

1. Difference between learning Japanese to fluency and for anime is no difference. Consider Naruto the anime, subject ranges from wars, politics, relationships. There are way too many feelings. It's too broad to be isolated, so expect to reach fluency level before understanding Naruto
2. At a minimum, expect 2+ years of hard work if you want to comprehend anime. There are people who've studied 5 years of Japanese and live in the country and still only understands 50% of TV. Expect longer, if not motivated
3. Most people quit when learning for anime because desire to learn language is not strong enough. Very hard subject. Need to practice everyday.

Study plan
1. Take classes. Good way to keep you in check with outside help.
2. Genki textbook with CD is most recommended textbook. Japanese the Manga Way book is good for reading Manga
3. Listening at JapanesePod 101. Erin's Challenge is another one.
4. Tae Kim's Guide to Learning Japanese good for grammar
5. Tatoeba displays random sentences in a large list of different languages. The sentences vary in difficulty, so Tatoeba is a great resource for every language learner.
6. Anki to help you study
7. Read as many books as you can. Write journals and find pen pals. Meet Japanese people at Japan-Guide.com

Seeing as how everyone is warning me about the difficulties of learning Japanese, I'm going to think it over and make sure this is the right hobby for me. If I decide to go through with it, I will be sure to update you with my journey. Thanks again!!

 

[Tamayo]

Consider Naruto the anime, subject ranges from wars, politics, relationships. There are way too many feelings. It's too broad to be isolated, so expect to reach fluency level before understanding Naruto

One other thing that I'd like to mention, which I didn't before, is that the Japanese you typically hear in anime is very different from the Japanese you'll learn formally in classes and from the resources we've linked here. There are plenty of exceptions, but you'll generally learn polite Japanese from these resources since most people use them because they want to visit Japan, not to understand anime.

When you're learning for the purpose of going to Japan, the focus is to try not to offend people by using the wrong words in the wrong situation, so you'll learn to speak very formally and polite (A kind of speech which is safe to use in just about any situation). This kind of speech differs wildly from the informal, and even rude way that you hear Japanese spoken to people in anime (spoken to enemies/good friends/etc.). In almost every anime I've seen, there are scenes where people yell at one another, shouting "BAKA" and "AHO!", and a lot of characters in general tend to have a very abrasive personality, and it shows a lot in their speech.

Pimsleur has allowed me to understand Japanese, both formal and informal, but I'd like to reiterate how helpful it would be to make a friend in Japan who you can talk with informally, if possible. As far as I know, Japanese people don't tend to use the "masu" (polite) form of words in every day speech with people they know, and it's certainly even more rare in anime, so getting to speak with a real Japanese person may be more helpful to you in the long run if your goal is to understand anime. Just keep in mind that in general, Japanese in anime is very informal and even rude. I'd also suggest watching some other anime, maybe from the slice of life genre, to get a feel for the polite form of Japanese that you'll learn from most resources. There's quite a bit of polite Japanese in the anime K-On!.

Seeing as how everyone is warning me about the difficulties of learning Japanese, I'm going to think it over and make sure this is the right hobby for me. If I decide to go through with it, I will be sure to update you with my journey. Thanks again!!

I wish you luck with that! I don't know how old you are, but let me tell you, the sooner you get on it, the better! It is a long journey and a big project to learn a new language, and all the knowledge you could ever need for it is yours for the taking (all on the internet these days), so do yourself a favor and never hesitate to exploit every resource to it's fullest extent. Be happy that we don't live in an era where you could only learn from physical books and in language courses. Learning Japanese is a very achievable goal, especially with so many resources at your disposal on the internet. I look forward to seeing you around on these forums if you decide to move forward and pursue fluency in Japanese.

 

[Glenn]

@Tamayo , I appreciate and enjoy your encouraging attitude.

kbghost, I applaud you for your research and earnest attitude in seeking to find the best method for learning the language. I will now answer your original questions to the best of my knowledge and experience.

Have you ever tried to learn Japanese for anime before?

Not for, but from. I pretty much used Dragon Ball Z as my teacher when I was starting out, along with actual college-level classes.

If so, what was your experience with that? What worked? What didn't work? Why?

Hearing Japanese in its native environment spoken and written by native Japanese speakers opened me up to a world of Japanese that I wouldn't have gotten in a class. I learned informal and dialectal speech that probably wouldn't have come (in some cases) outside of living in Japan. The downside is that it somewhat skewed my perception of the language in everyday life, although I was keenly aware that it was highly informal and insulting in most cases. When you're starting out, it can be difficult understanding when what sounds polite is actually polite and when it isn't, although context does play a large role in that.

How much did it cost/time? I don't have that much money, I don't know if I can afford an expensive solution.

This part hardly consumed anything. I was watching videos online and coupling it with the books I had and what I'd read about the language before and what I was learning in class.

What anime did you try this for? I want to do it for Naruto. Would this be easier or harder than for the anime you tried it for?

As stated above, Dragon Ball Z. I can't say that Naruto would be any harder or easier. A lot of it has to do with the context-specific vocabulary that you'll get from the show itself. Dragon Ball 気, 気功法, 魔貫光殺砲, 界王拳, etc. vs. Naruto 螺旋丸, チャクラ, 水遁, 火遁, 口寄せ, etc.... that's up to exposure, I'd say. I may be a bit off the mark here, though. Anyone who disagrees or has other input, feel free to comment.

If you never done this, is there a place you can suggest to help me find out how to learn Japanese for anime?

This forum is awesome. 'Nuff said.

 

[Jlearner400]

Yes, it's possible to learn Japanese through anime. You can increase your listening comprehension from anime. So it can be used as a source of learning.
nime will not teach you the Japanese writing system. I suggest you get started on learning Hiragana and Katakana.

Also, you will need a grasp on the basic grammar of Japanese. As mentioned, anime sometimes uses vulgar or sometimes offensive language. In order to differentiate between the differences you will have to have a grasp of basic Japanese Grammar. I would pick up a copy of a dictionary of Basic Japanese.

On that note, some animes are better to learn from than others. Slice of life animes are good as well as political themed anime. I find that the political themed anime use the accurate grammar structure along with the honorific forms correctly.

Some types anime that would be harder to learn from are the high school theme anime as lots of slang and offensive terms are used.

There's a great website out there called: Learn Japanese Through Anime Learn Japanese Through Anime It provides Japanese& English subs on anime videos. This can really help you out.

I would say I view learning Japanese from anime no different than learning Japanese from dramas.

 

[Toritoribe]

There is no problem to use a well-subbed anime as a learning material, as you explained, but I HIGHLY recommend NOT to use the site you linked. It would confuse learners instead of helping them out, since there are QUITE SO MANY typos and mistranslations there, caused by a lack of listening comprehension skills and understanding of grammar. For instance, only in the fist one minite of Rurouni Kenshin Part 1, I can point out the following terrible mishearing and misunderstanding.

寛永の日照り
Taen no hideri
Kan'ei no hideri

ほんまそろそろ一雨降ってもらわんとかなわんわ
honma sorosoro ichi amefuri tte morawan toka nan wa
honma sorosoro hitoame futte morawan to kanawan wa

雨を乞う人々。
Rains of trouble will soon fall everywhere.
Those who want rain

東京での内務卿暗殺、手を下したのは志々雄一派の瀬田宗次郎
Tokyo de no naimu(home affairs) kyō(today) ansatsu kudashita no wa shishioippa(Shishioippa group) no seta sōjirō.
Tokyo de no naimukyō ansatsu, te wo kudashita no wa Shishio ippa no Seta Sōjirō.

One of Shishio's men, Seta Soujirou, is on the move there.
(This is a free translation. The translator omitted the assassination part.)

"Naimukyō" is one word. "Kyō" means "minister" here, not "today".
"Ippa" is "group", thus, "Shishio ippa" means "Shishio group", not "Shishioippa group".


Grammar section is also terrible.

しゅくだい お しなけらば ならない
Shukudai o shinakeraba naranai.
しゅくだいをしなければならない
Shukudai o shinakereba naranai.

もっと にほんご お れんしゅう しなけらば なりません
Motto Nihongo o renshuu shinakeraba narimasen.
もっとにほんごをれんしゅうしなければなりません
Motto nihongo o renshū shinakereba narimasen.

もっと にほんご れんしゅう しなけれあば ならない
Motto nihongo renshuu shinakereaba naranai
もっとにほんごをれんしゅうしなければならない
Motto nihongo o renshū shinakereba naranai. ("a" is not needed)

まいにち えいご お れんしゅう しなけれあば なりません
Mainichi eigo o renshuu shinakereaba narimasen.
まいにちえいごをれんしゅうしなければなりません
Mainichi eigo o renshū shinakereba narimasen. ("a" is not needed)


Again, you'd better use another site.