Learning Japanese can sound like a very tiresome chore on its own and learning Japanese for the purpose of enjoying your favorite anime can sweeten up the deal. To learn Japanese you can use a number of ways starting from a textbook to long hours of class, but why not integrate your learning with anime. It is logical to first cover basic vocabulary and grammar, to understand anything in Japanese. This means that, you must have a textbook and some other tools for tutoring Japanese. If you want to learn Japanese to understand anime, then it makes sense to know how to use anime as a learning tool. It is highly debated that Japanese language learners can actually learn the language using anime. This article is going to discuss the relationship between anime and learning Japanese and how you can use anime to learn Japanese.
Disclaimer about the Japanese used in anime
The reason why it is debated as to whether standard learning of Japanese can match the style of the language used in anime is that, the Japanese language used in anime is casual and uses informal vocabulary. The Japanese language has an honorific approach in its structure that goes way beyond the formal and informal distinction. The Japanese language has a different approach when it comes to addressing your relatives, friends, work colleagues, customers, etc. So the way you will have to approach the universe of anime that has its own tone and grammar style should be with caution if you are a learner. It is popular that Japanese language professors often correct students who boast in using the Japanese they learned for and from anime. If you are to learn Japanese used in anime, then you might sound to natives like a child or a street vagabond. Some of the words used as a signature by anime characters are gibberish and made up slangs. This can cripple your Japanese while talking to natives or your instructors. But this doesn’t remove the fact that the Japanese used in anime is real Japanese and you can still learn to understand the language in such media.
The best course to take while learning Japanese for anime
There are two possible courses a learner can take when learning Japanese to enjoy and understand anime. The first way is, they will learn with anime comprehension as their goal from the beginning so they will use anime as a source of learning early on. As this type of learner becomes more informed about standard Japanese, they will comprehend the informal nuances used in anime and might be able to sort things apart. The second way is when the learner begins with assimilating the Japanese language using textbooks, classes or other educational methods. Then after they are about an intermediate level, they will integrate anime as a learning and recreational Japanese language tool. In this case, they won’t be confused by the informal and invented grammar and vocabulary in anime as they have a solid foundation in the language. The above facts make the second method much more recommended to learners who want to grasp Japanese for understanding anime.
Stumbling blocks to avoid if you learn Japanese for anime
There is a lot to be discussed about the distinction of real-life Japanese and the Japanese used in anime. With this in mind, Japanese language learners should avoid some pretty common mistakes. First and foremost, it’s not practical to learn Japanese solely for anime purposes. This is because, you might find that you put the effort into learning quite important aspects of the Japanese language that will never be used in anime. And this can be discouraging, and thus you might give up on your progress on real-life Japanese. Also, you should not adopt anime vocabulary unless you are sure it’s used in the real world, some words like “dattebayo” used by Naruto are invented for entertainment. Furthermore, the tone and speech used in anime might fool you into thinking you know much about real-life Japanese speech, so as you learn Japanese make it a goal to understand real-life Japanese first. All this doesn’t mean anyhow that the anime is not a great tool to learn the Japanese language, especially when it comes to building comprehension and listening skills.
Tips to understand and learn Japanese for anime
Since you are going to be learning the Japanese language for anime, you should understand how to use your time watching them as a learning tool and thus improve your Japanese language level. There is anime for everyone and once you find the niche that suits you, make sure you pick high-quality anime in terms of the Japanese used. If the Japanese used is uncommon, this will definitely impact your learning curve. If you have to associate anime with learning Japanese, it’s better to stay clear of shows involving giant super robots, magic and fantasy worlds due to the concentration of informal slangs in their scripts. The genres that have more real-life Japanese language are detective dramas, sports anime, and high school shows. Listening will be most improved while watching anime so make sure to not rely on subtitles and turn your watch time into practice. Be an active consumer and make sure to note down new vocabulary and grammar, you might even note slight variations in the use of what you already know. Double-check to see if your new discoveries are not show oriented before using them in real-life conversations.
Conclusions
Anime is a great part of the Japanese modern culture and you might be drawn to learn Japanese for anime. We discussed the pros and cons of this approach and with proper tactics, you are for sure going to learn and advance in the Japanese language by being anime oriented.
