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+--- Thread: I study Nihongo because... (/thread-2214.html)
I study Nihongo because... - imabi - 2012-10-13
bleko Wrote:左利きだから！ Wait, that might not have come out right...I'm a lefty too! It can apparently mean "sake drinker" too, but context saves the day.
I study Nihongo because... - egoplant - 2012-12-18
I'm a shut in and haven't left my house in 7 years. I'm learning so I can watch anime, read manga and play visual novels and other games.
I study Nihongo because... - RoyalBlue - 2013-01-03
So I can read books from American authors on Japanese.
Honestly I think it was reading Shogun by James Clavell when I was a kid. Really awesome book. Though I really want to start reading as much as possible on Japanese asap. Including reading Shogun on Japanese once again.
I study Nihongo because... - qwertyytrewq - 2013-01-15
egoplant Wrote:I'm a shut in and haven't left my house in 7 years. I'm learning so I can watch anime, read manga and play visual novels and other games.So you're a NEET? Don't worry you're not alone, though Japanese in origin, it is fast becoming a worldwide trend.
It's a good thing Japanese entertainment is good and varied, otherwise NEETs would have nothing to watch besides reality television.
I study Nihongo because... - Kewickviper - 2013-01-15
qwertyytrewq Wrote:I thought it was a UK born phrase?egoplant Wrote:I'm a shut in and haven't left my house in 7 years. I'm learning so I can watch anime, read manga and play visual novels and other games.So you're a NEET? Don't worry you're not alone, though Japanese in origin, it is fast becoming a worldwide trend.
It's a good thing Japanese entertainment is good and varied, otherwise NEETs would have nothing to watch besides reality television.
I study Nihongo because... - qwertyytrewq - 2013-01-15
Kewickviper Wrote:Interesting, you are right. But it refers to Japanese hikikomoris and western Japanese media consumer NEETs so often that I thought it originated in Japan.qwertyytrewq Wrote:I thought it was a UK born phrase?egoplant Wrote:I'm a shut in and haven't left my house in 7 years. I'm learning so I can watch anime, read manga and play visual novels and other games.So you're a NEET? Don't worry you're not alone, though Japanese in origin, it is fast becoming a worldwide trend.
It's a good thing Japanese entertainment is good and varied, otherwise NEETs would have nothing to watch besides reality television.
I study Nihongo because... - Daikoru - 2013-04-09
I've been uninterested of pretty much everything in my youth. The only thing that interested me were video games, and their music. Music in french (native language) and english didn't interest me, all I had in my playlist was instrumental.
Then I've slowly discovered Japan. I loved the first Manga I've read. I loved the first animes I've watched. And from one of their opening, I started loving japanese musics too. Turns out that video games I played originated from Japan too, as well as their soundtracks of course.
All my hobbies originate from Japan. So, I could go learn their language and play every single game in their original language! The quality of games and anime often drop when translated into English (and even more in French), so not only I know I will be playing the original quality, but I'll also be able to play those games and animes that have never been translated!
I also want to create a world of my own, touching the anime, manga and video game industries. The Japanese actors being so great, I wish for its main language to be in Japanese. If I learn Japanese and move on to Japan, that certainly won't be a problem!
So yeah, why not learn Japanese when my whole life is centered on it?
I study Nihongo because... - love2KISEKI - 2013-04-11
There's a Japanophile in every living generation of my family - my grandma's taught English in Japan before, my uncle lives over there and is happily married to his Japanese wife, and I decided to pick up the language at age 10 because I thought it would be good to continue the tradition, and was also a huge Nintendo fan and had a dream to work as a game designer, but I've since given up on that, and now aim to do some sort of translation work.
My interest in Japanese culture grew the more I studied the language, although the worst part was probably when I actually went to Japan and was going through a massive anime/manga phase and didn't want to see any actual temples (which I regret). I'm more into the actual culture and language than the pop culture now.
I study Nihongo because... - howtwosavealif3 - 2013-04-11
I love my japanese tv. Just watched atsuatsu buramayo episode with takeyama. So glad I learned Japanese otherwise I wouldn't be able to watch this show let alone know about its existence or the people in it.
I study Nihongo because... - pauro02 - 2013-04-30
igordesu Wrote:I was looking over the members section of the site, and I was kind of shocked at how many people there are using this site to study Kanji. That makes me wonder. Especially since there are so many people here from so many different places, I was just wondering about the different reasons that people here have for studying Japan. Are you one of those awesome polyglots? Are you doing it for business? Do you just like the beauty of the Kanji? Are you addicted to memorizing random things? Are you an otaku? Are you addicted to dramas? A----I want to go to Japan and live there with a future japanese wife, hopefully.
Okay, I could go on forever. But you get the idea. I hope there isn't another thread like this already, lol. It's time for a new one anyways for all the new members.
Hmm, I guess I'll go first. I don't want anybody to get offended by this (because I know all of you have all kinds of different beliefs), but I'm hoping to someday teach English and do missionary work in Japan since it's (perhaps the most?) under-evangelized country in the world. Again, I don't wanna start a debate or anything. I'm just throwing that there as my own reason for studying Japanese. I'm sure you all have really interesting stories and reasons yourselves for studying Japanese. Let's hear 'em!
I study Nihongo because... - pauro02 - 2013-04-30
Daikoru Wrote:I've been uninterested of pretty much everything in my youth. The only thing that interested me were video games, and their music. Music in french (native language) and english didn't interest me, all I had in my playlist was instrumental.I've noticed something you weren't interested related to Japanese.. How about a japanese partner? Mind having one? hehe...
Then I've slowly discovered Japan. I loved the first Manga I've read. I loved the first animes I've watched. And from one of their opening, I started loving japanese musics too. Turns out that video games I played originated from Japan too, as well as their soundtracks of course.
All my hobbies originate from Japan. So, I could go learn their language and play every single game in their original language! The quality of games and anime often drop when translated into English (and even more in French), so not only I know I will be playing the original quality, but I'll also be able to play those games and animes that have never been translated!
I also want to create a world of my own, touching the anime, manga and video game industries. The Japanese actors being so great, I wish for its main language to be in Japanese. If I learn Japanese and move on to Japan, that certainly won't be a problem!
So yeah, why not learn Japanese when my whole life is centered on it?
I study Nihongo because... - ファブリス - 2013-05-01
Admin: pauro02 please try to quote the relevant part of the posts you want to reply to, and delete the rest of the text in the quoted post. Quoting repeatedly long posts with one line answers clogs up the forum and makes discussions difficult to follow.
I study Nihongo because... - pauro02 - 2013-05-04
Okay, sorry for that..
I study Nihongo because... - imabi - 2013-05-04
I don't really remember if I've ever responded to this thread or not, but my reasons for studying Nihongo is to be a Japanese language/linguistics professor. I want to continue on improving and expanding my own curriculum as I continue studying long hours in various topics concerning the language such as syntax, morphology, orthography, etc. I also love studying Japanese dialectology and etymology. I want to also have a decent knowledge of all the other Japonic languages before I die and try to one day give them more attention before it's too late.
I study Nihongo because... - ryanjmack - 2013-05-30
I've always wanted to learn a second language. Being able to think in a different language always seemed awesome! At first I tried spanish but the pronunciation, speed and lack of appreciation I had for spanish culture made me lose interest quickly. After considering how awesome and somewhat mysterious asian culture was I decided it's time to learn a language. Japanese culture is the most interesting culture IMO and that is why I picked Japanese.
I study Nihongo because... - tashippy - 2013-05-30
imabi Wrote:I want to also have a decent knowledge of all the other Japonic languages before I die and try to one day give them more attention before it's too late.That's very interesting. Have there been any threads in the forum about Ainu, et al.? Okinawan? Has anyone tried to learn any of these. I've never even heard these languages (except Okinawan), only read about them.
@ryanmack. That's great! I felt the same way and also kind of fell off with Spanish. I am determined to get further in Japanese (I realized recently that I already have-at least in listening comprehension), but someday I think I'd like to try Spanish again, as there are a lot of books I'd like to read in the native Spanish.
I study Nihongo because... - vonPeterhof - 2013-05-30
Ainu isn't Japonic.
I study Nihongo because... - tashippy - 2013-05-30
Yeah, that's true.
I study Nihongo because... - Tzadeck - 2013-05-31
tashippy Wrote:That's very interesting. Have there been any threads in the forum about Ainu, et al.? Okinawan? Has anyone tried to learn any of these. I've never even heard these languages (except Okinawan), only read about them.I really like Okinawa, and I used to take sanshin lessons, so I learned a bunch of little things through the songs and musicians that I met. Never actually made any real attempt, though.
Things like
てぃだ = 太陽
ぐゎー = ちゃん/something small or cute
んちゅ = 人/the people of
(ウチナーンチュ/シマンチュ: Okinawan person ヤマトゥンチュ: mainland Japanese person)
かじ = 風
をぅてぃ = marks a location where someone does something (weird kana, right? haha)
It's also confusing because there's more than one Okinawan language, and more than one Japanese Okinawan dialect, and some songs feature dead dialects or expressions (one of the most famous is Asadoya Yunta, which goes "マタハリヌ チンダラ カヌシャマヨ", which is thought to mean "Let's meet again, beautiful woman," in an old Yaeyama dialect).
I study Nihongo because... - tashippy - 2013-05-31
Wow, Thanks Tzadeck. Yes, interesting kana indeed, I suspect it was originally spoken with no concern for the writing, like most colloquialisms. Did you take the sanshin lessons in Okinawa?
I study Nihongo because... - imabi - 2013-05-31
To tashippy: I really love studying anything concerning Japonic languages. Other than Okinawan, which has several dialects as mentioned, which most people are aware of, and this should be distinguished from the Okinawan Dialect of Standard Japanese, there is North and South Amami, Yaeyama, Miyako, Yonaguni, and perhaps a few others that I just can't seem to remember at the top of my head. These names are not the best boundaries as each has their own dialects. Besides the Ryukyuan Branch, I think it's pretty fair to say that the Hachijou dialects make up their own continuum of a separate branch of Japonic languages with more recent origin, but I don't know how well accepted that is in the literature. I'm sure that I'll find out, though. My college library has a huge amount of information about them for some reason, so I'll definitely continue studying more into Japanese etymology, dialects, and what not. It's just at the moment I spend a lot of time working on my site, but that aids in many other study areas.
I study Nihongo because... - Tzadeck - 2013-06-01
tashippy Wrote:Wow, Thanks Tzadeck. Yes, interesting kana indeed, I suspect it was originally spoken with no concern for the writing, like most colloquialisms. Did you take the sanshin lessons in Okinawa?Well, Okinawa wasn't exposed to kana until the 13th century, and basically added a bunch of kana combinations to represent sounds that are in Okinawan but not Japanese (such as をぅ, うぉ, and しぇ). Okinawan uses kanji too, but with its own readings, such as 風 being read as かじ or 子 being read as ぐゎー.
Misako Koja is probably the most famous Okinawan singer that sings quite a bit in Okinawan, so if you watch a video of hers with Japanese subtitles you can kind of get a feel for how different things are:
(Also, if you're interested in the song that uses the old Yaeyama dialect in the chorus it's this one--I'm posting mainly because I love this version so much. The verses are usually sung in modern Japanese or Okinawan dialect:
)
Anyway, naw, I've been to Okinawa (went to the Yaeyama islands--highly recommended!), but I took the sanshin lessons mostly in Uji. I stopped going since Uji was just far enough away to be annoying to get to once a week.
I study Nihongo because... - warrigal - 2013-06-20
... because I have fond 30-year-old memories of Monkey Magic, especially the tunes by ゴダイゴ
ガンダーラ:
(Love this clip, the interpolation of old footage from 1978 with the band as they are now.)
I study Nihongo because... - Norman - 2013-06-21
imabi Wrote:...the Okinawan Dialect of Standard JapaneseWhat's the difference between a dialect and a language?
I study Nihongo because... - julisk - 2013-06-22
I was first exposed to the Japanese language during a short-lived manga obsession in middle school. Half a year after that ended, I arbitrarily decided to look into the workings of the language, and just...started studying it on a whim.
I'd say right now my main reasons for studying are:
1. I want to see if I am actually capable of achieving fluency in a foreign language. Just the challenge of it is enough to keep me going.
2. It's given me a perspective on the English language and American culture that I would never have gotten otherwise.
3. Studying makes me happy
