Anime Assistance
This is not 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, and in all cases miserable failure was the result. No, these are some pointers as to the way you can better take advantage of watching Japanese popular media, adding to your other studying efforts.
You'll find mainly two issues that watching anime, movies, TV shows or even theater will help you with, should you have little to no previous knowledge. You guessed it, listening right? Well that is one. And the other is vocabulary. You can learn to pick up grammar as well, but that will have to be after you recognize some core sentence structures.
Take notes of all of the recurring words that you don't know. If you see the word used repeatedly over 20 minutes, and it's not something restricted to the confines of science fiction or fantasy, jot it down and memorize it. The thing about a language that makes it tough to learn from just textbooks and old audio CDs, is that languages don't stay the exact 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 that there can sometimes be an abundance of different dialects in play. If you already have experience from living in Tokyo, or somewhere with a relatively neutral accent, you should be fine. But if not, 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 very well be an excellent idea, since they are more likely to speak within the standardized accent. For anybody who is not enthusiastic about 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 usually very casual, and omits elements one might 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 try to be polite by following suit, you could actually wind up not being understood, or simply make an incredibly weird first impression.
Should you have already established some base understanding of Japanese grammar, you may learn some basic casual speech by studying the form. Or you can identify when particles are now being omitted, then concentrate on the additional parts of the sentence. While you proceed, you realize some parts of Japanese grammar can be learned almost as vocabulary, you learn the specific context by which to use it, and then you simply expand when you see it utilized in other situations.
One thing to note is the fact that the topic is often omitted from Japanese, even in semi-formal writing. But on the contrary, if you omit it too frequently, people are certain to get confused as to what or who you are speaking about, and you have to go back and explain. There's a balance to be found on the flip side, and media can actually be a step forward within the right direction.
With regards to learning value, some genres are superior to others. I might have to claim that for the most part, slice of life can be the most appropriate. You will discover two reasons for that. To start with, there will be simply more conversation involved, even when battle heavy fantasy or sci-fi is often 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 handling them, you learn plenty of more relevant vocabulary and conjugations than you need to do through most other genres.
Sometimes you can find that you are able to pick material that's perfectly suited for you. For anybody who is going to work, or already work, in a big Japanese company, stories revolving around salarymen or perhaps the corporate world can assist you remember some of the lingo.
Try and only absorb things relevant to your age group. While knowing the terms secondary school students use might seem a way to remain hip, it shall only work against you within the long haul. 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 discover yourself in a position the place you have to learn a whole lot of Japanese in a short time period, you can substitute all of your normal media consumption with the Japanese equivalent. Find a band you like, pick out some movies to watch anime online, as opposed to TV watch series relevant to what you need the Japanese for. This is especially effective in between study sessions, as it provides a necessary break, while not completely losing focus of the task at hand.
While you'll find definitely things you can 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 very best effects will be accomplished with a combination of the two, and should you have the opportunity, interaction with others in Japanese also.
