sikieiki Wrote:

yudantaiteki Wrote:The videos are interesting; unfortunately even the "basic" dialogues are actually somewhat advanced but maybe I can use this with my more advanced students.

I think the main problem with them is that, at least in lesson 1, the dialogue is very specific to Japanese high school students (and a teacher)...a lot of the material in there wouldn't be all that useful to an adult or even college student. The translations/notes don't really point out specifically which parts of the dialogue are inappropriate outside of that specific context of a high school foreign exchange student coming to a Japanese school. The pitfall of "real Japanese" is that if you don't have a good handle on exactly what's going on, it's easy to try to use the "real Japanese" yourself and end up using it in the wrong situations.

I also feel like the delivery of the lines and the portrayal of the characters is more like actors in a televised drama rather than real Japanese people in the same situations (and some of the scenes themselves are more like scenes from a TV show than something that would ever occur in real life). One thing I like about the Japanese: The Spoken Language videos (which have become unfortunately dated) is that the "acting" is very natural; the participants seem like actual Japanese people rather than actors playing roles. (Although no scripted/written conversation, no matter what the source, will ever be "real Japanese" in the sense of being exactly like a conversation between two Japanese native speakers. This is true of any language, though.)

Speaking of which, I absolutely hate every japanese drama I have seen because the acting is so awkward and scripted, in an extremely predictable and cheesy way. Are there any very simple series I can get that arent like this?

sikieiki Wrote:Speaking of which, I absolutely hate every japanese drama I have seen because the acting is so awkward and scripted, in an extremely predictable and cheesy way. Are there any very simple series I can get that arent like this?

wccrawford Wrote:

sikieiki Wrote:Speaking of which, I absolutely hate every japanese drama I have seen because the acting is so awkward and scripted, in an extremely predictable and cheesy way. Are there any very simple series I can get that arent like this?

You actually might consider the predictability to be an asset for learning Japanese. Even with my low skill level, I can quite often predict the response and say it right along with them. The more I watch, the more I can do that with. It's pretty good practice.

Also, if you don't have to -think- about half the content, that leaves more time to think about the rest.

Aijin Wrote:I'll never understand why Westerners seem so happy about Japanese media. The stuff in America is soooooooo much better! After getting used to things like HBO series, whenever I see Japanese dramas etc. I just cringe at how atrocious the acting, dialogue, and plots are

Aijin Wrote:I'll never understand why Westerners seem so happy about Japanese media. The stuff in America is soooooooo much better! After getting used to things like HBO series, whenever I see Japanese dramas etc. I just cringe at how atrocious the acting, dialogue, and plots are

Quote:90% of the specific material is not specific. Plain old simple Japanese.

Aijin Wrote:I'll never understand why Westerners seem so happy about Japanese media. The stuff in America is soooooooo much better! After getting used to things like HBO series, whenever I see Japanese dramas etc. I just cringe at how atrocious the acting, dialogue, and plots are

Aijin Wrote:I'll never understand why Westerners seem so happy about Japanese media. The stuff in America is soooooooo much better! After getting used to things like HBO series, whenever I see Japanese dramas etc. I just cringe at how atrocious the acting, dialogue, and plots are

Aijin Wrote:I'll never understand why Westerners seem so happy about Japanese media. The stuff in America is soooooooo much better! After getting used to things like HBO series, whenever I see Japanese dramas etc. I just cringe at how atrocious the acting, dialogue, and plots are

aphasiac Wrote:So why is Erin played by a Japanese actress?

Quote:Are white actresses who speak decent Japanese really that rare over there?

Katsuo Wrote:The actress who plays Erin is half British.

Blahah Wrote:But animation from Japan completely blows US animation out of the water. Apart from a few comedy series from the US, there isn't much excellent animation for adults.

wildweathel Wrote:Occasionally, you'll get a "family-friendly" story that isn't complete dreck ("The Iron Giant," "Horton Hears a Who," most Pixar films, heck even "How to Train Your Dragon" was decent), but they're few, far between, and strictly cinematic releases.

The concept of an animated drama on television which might involve some violence and naughty words or even (*gasp*) sex hasn't caught on. We've never produced a domestic Ghost in the Shell or Cowboy Bebop or even Fullmetal Alchemist.

aphasiac Wrote:So why is Erin played by a Japanese actress? She's obviously meant to be a British foreigner in the plot and appears to be white european (blonde hair, round eyes) in the manga.

Are white actresses who speak decent Japanese really that rare over there?

wildweathel Wrote:But, Japan also takes the prize in interesting young adult literature (American YA writers/publishers are currently chasing the next Twilight. *barf*) and audio drama--which no longer even exists in America.

Aijin Wrote:The only time it's really bothered me was in のだめ where the German maestro is instead played by a creepy old Japanese man -_- ruined it for me.