Learn Everything You Need To Know About 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 the way you can better benefit from watching Japanese popular media, adding to your other studying efforts.
You'll find mainly two things that watching anime, movies, TV shows or even theater can assist 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 also, but which 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 term used repeatedly over 20 minutes, and it is not something limited by the confines of science fiction or fantasy, jot it down and memorize it. The thing about a language that makes it hard 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 that there can sometimes be a good amount 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 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 great deal of unique expressions and sentence endings, you should be fine. Checking out some countrywide news could possibly be an excellent idea, because they will be more prone to speak within the standardized accent. When you are not interested in hyojungoć¨?ćş?čŞ?, the standardized accent, but say Kansaiben,é?˘čĽżĺź you may 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 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, and also the vocabulary is archaic. If you try to be polite by following suit, you might 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 can learn some basic casual speech by studying the form. Or you can identify when particles are being omitted, Full Statement then focus on another parts of the sentence. When you proceed, you realize some parts of Japanese grammar may be learned almost as vocabulary, you learn the specific context by which to use it, and then you simply expand while you see it employed in other situations.
One thing to note is that the subject is often omitted from Japanese, even in semi-formal writing. But on the contrary, if you omit it too often, 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 however, and media can actually be a step forward in the right direction.
In regards to learning value, some genres are superior to others. I would have to say that for the most part, slice of life may be the most beneficial. There are actually two reasons for that. First off, there is simply 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. As well as in the process of coping with them, you learn plenty of more relevant vocabulary and conjugations than you need to 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 can assist you remember several of the lingo.
Try and 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 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 are bound to give a bad impression.
If you end up 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. Locate a band you like, pick out some movies to watch, 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 you will discover 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, do not 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 others in Japanese as well.
