Anime/manga fans: do you know Japanese?

[Zenpai]

This one goes out to all the anime/manga/J-games fans out in the forums: do you know how to speak Japanese? Are you currently studying? If not, would you like to learn, someday? Or do you just have no interest in doing so? And why?

 

Personally, I'm currently studying and passed the Japanese Language Proficiency Test's N3 (Intermediate Level) last year, though it should take a while before I can tackle N2 (Advanced Level), which is significantly harder.

 

I've been getting more and more into Japanese pop culture over the last few years and grew increasingly frustrated with the amount of good manga, anime and games that never got translated or localized - and many of the ones that do sometimes get censored, something I truly despise (though fortunately, it seems to be a dying trend). Therefore, and since I always had a knack for foreign languages (I have a Master's in Translation and studied 6 so far), I thought I'd give Japanese a try. Personally, I don't think it's all that hard, especially if you watch a lot of anime and play a lot of J-games, though, obviously, it still takes a lot of hard work and determination. I've been studying for 4 years now and, at the Intermediate level, I'm able to maintain a simple conversation fluently, though obviously, I still lack a lot of vocabulary and have trouble talking about more complex themes, like religion, economy or politics.

 

What about you guys?

[NotAFoxAnymore]

I don't know Japanese, but I'm highly interested in learning. Just not 100% on how to go about it.

Edited September 4, 2015 by Makise Kurisu

[Neputyunu]

I think there is missing an answeroption between "no but i want" and "Im learning but Im not good at it".

[BlueFireReaper]

I studied Japanese during all four years of high school and plan to take it as a college major. I took the language proficiency test at the college I'm attending and passed, so I'm taking second-year Japanese during my first college year.

[Zenpai]

I don't know Japanese, but I'm highly interested in learning. Just not 100% on how to go about it.

 

It's actually pretty simple. Most universities and language schools have a Japanese language course these days. Though you'll most likely have to get a tutor eventually (as I had), since most people drop before even reaching Intermediate level. It's very rare to see advanced level students at the JLPT tests. At the test site I was last year, from the whole of Portugal, N3 (Intermediate level) only had 8 applicants, N2 (advanced level) had no more than 4, and N1 (master level) had a whopping 2 applicants! (It's extremely normal to see only one person or even none).

[JaM]

No, but I do want to learn it someday... unfortunately not in the near future since my free time is too little and always spent catching up with anime/manga and playing video games

[xZoneHunter]

I started with studying it on my own sometime last year (i think), but after a while i kind of stopped (lack of motivation i guess). I looked into taking classes as i would probably stick with it then, but they are pretty expensive. Last time i looked it was 500€ for 1 year of classes. Right now my knowledge of japanese is limited to basic sentences and other basic vocabulary. 

Edited September 4, 2015 by Zone Hunter

[Edunstar84]

I think it's one of those things where I'll do it when or if I have more free time in the future. I would really, really love to learn it though. It's just not up there in my list of priorities.

[JapanimeGamer]

There is no better way to learn Japanese than by doing something you enjoy doing, like playing video games or watching anime are both perfect ways.

For those who have not yet taken any steps to learn the basics then there are some you tube videos that help you through the first steps.

This one is pretty good (there are 3 parts each one is over 1 hour in length).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1aRFpi9ALA

[Nihiris-]

I recognize a few phrases and words here and there. Currently have no motivation to learn another language though. But I'm not going to lie, really would be nice to play some of the games that don't come out of Japan, or at least get some games months earlier.

[Dragon-Archon]

All my Japanese comes from watching anime, but I'd like to learn it properly.

[Satoshi Ookami]

I can't say I'm fluent but I can't also say I'm studying at the moment =D

In the previous semester, I finished the 6 semester Japanese course. There was no proficiency test but I do plan to attempt it.

 

As for my level, I'm capable of understanding spoken Japanese and can make simple conversations but reading and writing is fairly average, maybe below average.
I can understand usual kanji and somehow understand if the less known kanji is used in a sentence, but writing it would probably be impossible =D

[Hoshi]

I pick up certain words here and there from watching anime, but no, I can't speak it. Nor do I want to. I'm not the greatest when it comes to learning other languages and, if I was, I'd rather learn French. Seeing as I'm Canadian and we've got an entirely French province, I have more use for it than Japanese. 

[Revvie]

I know a very very few Japanese words because of anime and video but I may or may not learn Japanese when I finish my college. But for now, I'm stuck with numbers and math formulas.  

[DEMON]

I'm not really a big anime/manga fan.  But I am a fan of Japanese music and Japanese games (often, not waiting for some to release here).  Some of that Japanese I hear has kind of rubbed off on me, where some songs I listen to now, I just know what they are singing etc.

 

But I voted "I'm currently studying but I'm not that good (yet)" because I still have a long way to go for the writing/reading in Japanese, while I may be able to understand it a good bit from speech, it's this bit I really struggle on and also speaking it myself (which I have never really found a reason to).

[Winkuru]

I have watched enough anime to understand Japanese a little bit but that's pretty much it. I do want to learn more because even i can see that some of the fan translations are off and it bothers me. 

 

But sadly i'm just so fucking lazy to bother. I really just should get the ball rolling because then it would be lot easier to learn more from simply watching anime and Japanese movies. 

[Satoshi Ookami]

 I do want to learn more because even i can see that some of the fan translations are off and it bothers me. 

At least they are just fan translations.

Sometimes even official translations (games and Crunchy) are totally off =D

[Arkthur]

I've been stuying since March, I'm quite good (refering to the stuff learned so far), but yeah, as soon as you take a peek on how much you still have to learn, it can be overwhelming Still, I'm going to keep at it as much as I can, and hope I finish the course knowing my way through the language.

[Waffle-Sensei]

I know certain phrases and words, but not enough to hold a conversation or understand something completely without subtitles. There are actually a lot of languages that I want to learn, Japanese is one of them but I know if I'd be able to manage it all.

But to anyone else who's thinking about possibly learning, "Don't let your dreams be dreams! Just do it!"

[Purple Heart]

no but I would like to learn it someday

[PleaseHoldOn]

I'm not as into anime as I used to be, but I don't know Japanese and really have no interest in learning.  I only watched dubs, and was overall pretty happy with it.

[Xillia]

I know bits of it from learning by myself at home, but I was never really satisfied with any of the sites and I didn't get very far. :/

 

I'm starting uni next month though and I'm taking English (as a foreign language) and Japanese, so I expect to see results.

[Brawler]

I don't know it and I don't plan on learning it. I used to say I have an interest in learning it but I've kind of come to terms with the fact I probably won't get around to it.

[Slava]

I've been gravitating towards Japanese stuff more and more recently. Games, music, manga, anime, streams, and just internet content in general. Even though there are translation for most of that stuff, you'll always find something with no localization, or hear about the quality of a localization not being that great, or something else. In the case with music, you just have to google the lyrics. In the case with streams, your options are even more limited. You can only hope someone has clipped the good moments and translated them properly.

 

As you can guess, I started thinking about learning Japanese. And I finally made the first step and installed Duolingo on my phone a few weeks ago. I know it may not be the best option, but I just wanted to start and see where it goes. I've learned most of Hiragana so far, and can recognize some words. And also can say a few basic sentences in Japanese. 

 

I may try to start some Japanese classes in the future. 

 

Has anyone used Duolingo for learning languages and Japanese in particular? How did it go?

[AJ_Radio]

I have no plans to learn Japanese anytime soon. I will however, state that their games are vastly superior when it comes to simply creating something of originality. Bloodborne, a game from From Software which had Japanese developers work on it, is perhaps my favorite PS4 game. As much as I love The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, it ain't exactly the most original. It still contained many of the elements that we as gamers are familiar with. Western games have used the same themes over and over, as have Hollywood and many of the industries that are central in western society. No American developer or even a lot of European developers could of made bosses as original as the ones in Bloodborne. I applaud Japanese developers and guys like Shinji Mikami for at least trying to do something a bit different.

 

What does concern me is the rapid rise of 'weebs', or 'weeaboos' as some people like to refer to them. I cannot stand a lot of weebs. Since anime/manga became mainstream we have seen a lot more weebs come out of the woodwork. It's great that you're a fan of anime, there is some anime that I enjoy. But when you indulge in anything Japanese to the point where it becomes more than a simple obsession, then I have a problem.

 

Weebs, the more extreme ones, see Japanese as "my great Japan" into everything, while in reality, they are rather off about actual Japanese culture. Japanophilia is a term that I like to describe weebs and weeaboos. They like to constantly shove their obsessions of anything Japan down other peoples throats, especially on Twitter. No, I'm not going to follow your bullshit if you're going to constantly throw anime in peoples faces. I often find that many of them denounce their own culture, because they either can't stand it or because they wish to leave the culture they grew up in. This doesn't apply to any weeb of course, only the more extreme ones.

 

It's more than just being a fan of Japanese culture and learning the language, which I'm all for. It's when they have to paste their obsession and love of Japan onto everything. The VTubers Megathread on these forums is a perfect example of this. I absolutely cannot stand VTubers and I think they are a bunch of talentless losers who don't deserve any praise or recognition. Maybe it's just that I don't entirely understand them, but I honestly cannot see the appeal in playing a western game like LA Noire, DOOM or Mafia: Definitive Edition while making a bunch of garbled noises while your avatar is a fucking anime. Where is the appeal? What am I missing here?

 

I have nothing against Japan myself, if I had the opportunity I would like to visit and eventually even stay there for a while. But I just can't stand the 'weeb' culture that surrounds it. I'm sure a lot of Japanese people aren't even aware the culture even exists, but generally, I tend to see a number of weebs who denounce their own culture because truthfully, western culture has been falling for quite some time now.