3 Incredible Facts About Anime
This isn't some fanatics guide to learning Japanese through only relentlessly watching anime, and not doing any work at all, a feat that I have seen attempted, as well as in all cases miserable failure was the result. No, these are some pointers as to the way you can better benefit from watching Japanese popular media, adding to your other studying efforts.
There are mainly two things that watching anime, movies, TV shows as well as theater will let you with, if you have little to no previous knowledge. You guessed it, listening right? Well that's one. And the other is vocabulary. You can learn to pick up grammar as well, but that can have to be after you recognize some core sentence structures.
Take notes of all the recurring words that you do not know. If you see the phrase used repeatedly over 20 minutes, and it is not something restricted to the confines of sci-fi or fantasy, jot it down and memorize it. The thing about a language that makes it difficult to learn from just textbooks and old audio CDs, is that languages don't stay the same. They change with time, and sometimes staying in touch to date with popular media, will be the only way to have an up-to-date vocabulary, short of actually living and breathing the language.
One thing about anime, or movies, or TV shows, is the fact that there can sometimes be a good amount of different dialects in play. If you already have experience from living in Tokyo, or someplace with a relatively neutral accent, you should be fine. But in any other case, paying attention and not mixing up accents is a great idea. Identify where the different characters are from, in anime this is often not possible, but usually if you steer clear of the characters using a whole lot of unique expressions and sentence endings, you should be fine. Checking out some countrywide news may be a good idea, as they are more more likely to speak within the standardized accent. If you're not considering hyojungoć¨?ćş?čŞ?, the standardized accent, but say Kansaiben,é?˘čĽżĺź you can do some research by watching comedians from Kansai, even though you might want to refrain from using all of the expressions you hear.
Speech in anime, or movies for that matter, is often very casual, and omits elements one could have to use in normal or formal speech. On the opposite side of the spectrum, in samurai themed animes or movies, the grammar is riddled with old conjugations, as well as the vocabulary is archaic. If you attempt to be polite by following suit, you could actually end up not being understood, or just make an incredibly weird first impression.
If you have already established some base knowledge of Japanese grammar, you may learn some basic casual speech by studying the form. Or you can identify when particles are increasingly being omitted, then concentrate on the additional parts of the sentence. As you proceed, you realize some parts of Japanese grammar can be learned almost as vocabulary, you learn the specific context through which to use it, and after that you simply expand while you see it used in other situations.
One thing to note is that the subject is usually omitted from Japanese, even in semi-formal writing. But at the same time, if you omit it too frequently, people can get confused as to what or who you are talking about, and also you have to go back and explain. There is a balance to be found conversely, and media can actually be a step forward in the right direction.
On the subject of learning value, some genres are superior to others. I could have to claim that for the most part, slice of life may be the best. You will discover two reasons for that. To start with, there will be simply more conversation involved, even if battle heavy fantasy or sci-fi is usually riddled with crazy monologues, there is actual dialogue. Dialogue made to portray actual conversations between people, from our world.
Then perhaps more importantly, since the challenges they face are not murderous robots, or vampires, they are everyday problems. And in the process of addressing them, you learn tons of more relevant vocabulary and conjugations than you do through most other genres.
Sometimes you may discover that you're able to pick material that is perfectly suited for you. When you are going to work, or already work, in a big Japanese company, stories revolving around salarymen or the corporate world may help you remember some of the lingo.
Try to only absorb things relevant to your actual age group. While knowing the terms secondary school students use might seem a way to remain hip, it will only work against you within the long term. If you start slipping in incredibly informal words or conjugations into conversation in a proper context, you're bound to give a bad impression.
If you find yourself in a position the place you have to learn a whole lot of Japanese in a short time frame, you can substitute all your normal media consumption with the Japanese equivalent. Find a band you like, pick out some movies to watch anime online, rather than TV watch series relevant to what you'll need the Japanese for. This really is especially effective in between study sessions, as it provides a necessary break, while not completely losing focus of the task at hand.
While there are definitely things you may do to benefit more from simply consuming popular media, don't treat it as a complete substitute to actual studying. If you find yourself lacking motivation, don't let yourself fall into the pattern of only watching, and not doing any real work. The best effects will be achieved with a combination of the 2, and if you have the opportunity, interaction with other people in Japanese also.
