An Analysis Of Watching Anime
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, as well as in all cases miserable failure was the result. No, they are some pointers as to how you can better benefit from watching Japanese popular media, adding to your other studying efforts.
You'll find mainly two things that watching anime online anime, movies, TV shows or perhaps theater shall help one with, should you have little to no previous knowledge. You guessed it, listening right? Well that is one. As well as the other is vocabulary. You may learn to pick up grammar also, 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 word used repeatedly over 20 minutes, and it is not something restricted to the confines of science fiction or fantasy, jot it down and memorize it. The thing about a language that can make it challenging to learn from just textbooks and old audio CDs, is that languages do not 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 an abundance 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 if not, paying attention and not mixing up accents is a good idea. Identify where the different characters are from, in anime this really is often not possible, but usually if you steer clear of the characters using a lot of unique expressions and sentence endings, you should be fine. Checking out some countrywide news may very well be an excellent idea, as they are more very likely to speak within the standardized accent. In case you are not serious about hyojungoć¨?ćş?čŞ?, the standardized accent, but say Kansaiben,é?˘čĽżĺź you can do some research by watching comedians from Kansai, although 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, and also the vocabulary is archaic. If you try and be polite by following suit, you might actually wind up not being understood, or simply make an incredibly weird first impression.
If you have already established some base familiarity with Japanese grammar, you may learn some basic casual speech by studying the form. Or you may identify when particles are 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 as you see it employed in other situations.
One thing to note is that the topic is usually omitted from Japanese, even in semi-formal writing. But on the flip side, if you omit it too frequently, people will get confused as to what or who you are talking about, and also you have to go back and explain. There's a balance to be found however, and media can actually be a step forward within 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 can be the very best. You can find two reasons for that. Initially, there is simply 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 may be everyday problems. As well as in the process of handling them, you learn a lot of more relevant vocabulary and conjugations than you do through most other genres.
Sometimes you may discover that you are able to pick material that is perfectly suited for you. In case you are going to work, or already work, in a big Japanese company, stories revolving around salarymen or the corporate world shall help one remember several of the lingo.
Try to only absorb things relevant to how old you are group. While knowing the terms high school students use might seem a way to remain hip, it will only work against you in the long run. If you start slipping in incredibly informal words or conjugations into conversation in a proper context, you are 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 frame, you may substitute all your normal media consumption with the Japanese equivalent. Find a band you like, pick out some movies to watch, rather than TV watch series relevant to what you will 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, do not treat it as a complete substitute to actual studying. If you find yourself lacking motivation, do not let yourself fall in to the pattern of only watching, and not doing any real work. The best effects will be accomplished with a combination of the 2, and if you have the opportunity, interaction with other people in Japanese as well.
