Seven Important Facts Regarding 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, and in all cases miserable failure was the result. No, they are some pointers as to how you can better take advantage of watching Japanese popular media, adding to your other studying efforts.
You will find mainly two things that watching anime, movies, TV shows or maybe theater can help you with, should you have little to no previous knowledge. You guessed it, listening right? Well that's one. And the other is vocabulary. You may learn to pick up grammar as well, but that can 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 is not something limited by 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 the fact that languages don't stay the same. They change with time, and sometimes staying in touch to date with popular media, is 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 someplace with a relatively neutral accent, you should be fine. But if not, paying attention and not mixing up accents is an excellent 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 might be an excellent idea, because they are more prone to speak within the standardized accent. For anybody who is not interested in hyojungoć¨?ćş?čŞ?, the standardized accent, but say Kansaiben,é?˘čĽżĺź you may do some research by watching comedians from Kansai, even though you might want to refrain from using all the expressions you hear.
Speech in anime, or movies for that matter, is often 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.
If you have already established some base familiarity with Japanese grammar, you may learn some basic casual speech by studying the form. Or you can identify when particles are going to be omitted, then concentrate on the additional parts of the sentence. When 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 then you simply expand while you see it employed in other situations.
One thing to note is the fact that the topic is usually 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 talking about, and also you have to go back and explain. There is a balance to be found on the contrary, and media can definitely be a step forward within the right direction.
When it comes to 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. To start with, there is simply simply more conversation involved, even if battle heavy fantasy or science fiction 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, because the challenges they face are not murderous robots, or vampires, they are everyday problems. And in the process of handling them, you learn a great deal of more relevant vocabulary and conjugations than you need to do through most other genres.
Sometimes you may see that you're able to pick material that is perfectly suited for you. If you are going to work, or already work, in a big Japanese company, stories revolving around salarymen or the corporate world can help you remember several of the lingo.
Attempt to only absorb things relevant to your age group. While knowing the terms secondary school students use might seem a way to remain hip, it's going to only work against you in the long haul. 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 end up in a position where 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. Locate a band you like, pick out some movies to watch, as opposed to TV watch series relevant to what you 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 you will 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 best effects will be achieved with a mix of the 2, and if you have the opportunity, interaction with others in Japanese as well.
