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+--- Thread: putting the Fun back into learning Japanese (/thread-8616.html)
putting the Fun back into learning Japanese - jordan3311 - 2011-10-31
Over the past few months learning japanese has come a chore and less of a luxury. I need a way to make learning japanese fun again. I think the biggest problem I have is that I am more focus on being fluent. I feel that I have to learn japanese as fast as I can. I know this kind of sounds silly but its been really bugging me lately and I could really use some good input.
putting the Fun back into learning Japanese - Bokusenou - 2011-10-31
Watch/play your favorite anime/drama/movies/games/music, etc. Basically, remember the reason you wanted to learn Japanese in the first place (for me, anime/manga), and do something related to that. That always helps me when I'm in a language learning rut.
putting the Fun back into learning Japanese - ta12121 - 2011-10-31
jordan3311 Wrote:Over the past few months learning japanese has come a chore and less of a luxury. I need a way to make learning japanese fun again. I think the biggest problem I have is that I am more focus on being fluent. I feel that I have to learn japanese as fast as I can. I know this kind of sounds silly but its been really bugging me lately and I could really use some good input.Sounds like me, when I started learning Japanese. We tend to focus on just becoming fluent and we lose sight of having fun with learning. My advice is, find something that will motivate you to have fun. I.e. games,manga,books,novels,light-novels,etc. Something that keeps you hooked on to Japanese on a day to day basis. It helps to have something motivating you to accomplish something. Keep the fire going(motivation to have fun)
putting the Fun back into learning Japanese - jordan3311 - 2011-10-31
Thanks rite now I am trying to save up and buy pokemon soulsilver in Japanese I feel that would help me out a lot.
putting the Fun back into learning Japanese - jordan3311 - 2011-10-31
do you guys have a certain anime or drama that got you out of the rut that I am in?
putting the Fun back into learning Japanese - ta12121 - 2011-10-31
jordan3311 Wrote:do you guys have a certain anime or drama that got you out of the rut that I am in?Hmm, I'd say bleach but not everyone likes that type of anime. Pretty much action,good character designs,traditional japanese clothing in there as well,swords,dark-tone at times,very long(still going on and it's been on for 10 years).
putting the Fun back into learning Japanese - Bokusenou - 2011-10-31
jordan3311 Wrote:do you guys have a certain anime or drama that got you out of the rut that I am in?Hmm, the latest ones for me have been Steins;Gate, Shiki, Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica and Chihayafuru, but your tastes may be different. I tend to go for darker plotlines. As for books, Kino no Tabi (also made into a truly great anime series) always gets me out of ruts.
putting the Fun back into learning Japanese - nadiatims - 2011-10-31
@jordan
I have no idea what level you're at, but I would say that if your study consists mainly of formal study (for instance srs), take a break from it or cut back and add more media to the mix. I Particularly find videos to be great mindless fun, because there's stuff happening that keeps you entertained even if you're not understanding a lot of the language. If you've studied for a year, I think you should be at a level that TV and other audio is a lot more approachable to you.
I'm still very much a beginner at Mandarin, but I'm finding I can enjoy and learn a lot from videos. I've been watching a lot of Mandarin youtube recently. A lot of chinese and Japanese TV make aggressive use of subtitles which also helps a lot.
putting the Fun back into learning Japanese - jordan3311 - 2011-10-31
@nadiatims
yea my level of Japanese is pretty low I am round 1713 in RTK and my main focus is trying to get the the sentence method like in AJATT. I can understand and speak some japanese but not much. I have done a little bit of japanese for busy people but stopped because it was only using kanji
putting the Fun back into learning Japanese - nadiatims - 2011-10-31
hmm... I would ignore sentence method if I were you. SRSing becomes too slow that way. By all means read about grammar a little and maybe even memorize it in small chunks, but the biggest barrier to comprehension (and enjoyment) is going to be lack of vocabulary. I'd recommend on focusing your formal study on vocabulary acquisition.
putting the Fun back into learning Japanese - kainzero - 2011-10-31
i dunno why but the first word i think of when i think "fun in japanese" is ふんどし。
putting the Fun back into learning Japanese - jordan3311 - 2011-11-01
@nadiatims
Do you think i should use SRS for vocab instead and continue with RTK as well.
putting the Fun back into learning Japanese - nadiatims - 2011-11-01
I think because you're almost done with RTK you may as well finish it(shouldn't take more than a week or 2). Once that's done, the next step would be to start reading a lot and learning the unknown vocabulary you encounter. You could start by reading through a beginners textbook or a phrasebook or two. Then start reading other stuff using a dictionary. Online stuff is good, because you can use rikaichan (mouse over dictionary for firefox). I don't use SRS for vocabulary anymore, but if you do, I recommend using rikaichan's 's' command to export definitions to a text file for import into anki. Then in parallel to all of this, I'd start listening to a lot of Japanese. It'll be pretty incomprehensible at first but you'll start recognizing your known vocabulary more and more as your listening skill improves and as you know more words. You could also start with a learner directed audio course to get you started if necessary.
putting the Fun back into learning Japanese - wccrawford - 2011-11-01
Bokusenou Wrote:Mahou Shoujo Madoka MagicaHaha, I thought I was the only one that watched that.
I want a sequel, but I have no idea how they'd make it any good after the ending of the first one.
putting the Fun back into learning Japanese - vonPeterhof - 2011-11-01
wccrawford Wrote:They could make a series or two based on the two spinoff mangas, Mahou Shoujo Oriko Magica and Mahou Shoujo Kazumi Magica 〜The innocent malice〜. I haven't read them yet, so I can't tell if that would be a good idea or not.Bokusenou Wrote:Mahou Shoujo Madoka MagicaHaha, I thought I was the only one that watched that.
putting the Fun back into learning Japanese - Tzadeck - 2011-11-01
Learn to like studying. People always mention pop media as a way to make Japanese fun. Why not learn to appreciate doing something difficult and slowly that will ultimately pay off? If you can learn that lesson you can get far in life. Even reading a grammar dictionary can be fun if you learn to appreciate learning itself.
putting the Fun back into learning Japanese - Realism - 2011-11-01
Tzadeck Wrote:Learn to like studying. People always mention pop media as a way to make Japanese fun. Why not learn to appreciate doing something difficult and slowly that will ultimately pay off? If you can learn that lesson you can get far in life. Even reading a grammar dictionary can be fun if you learn to appreciate learning itself.Japanese is not computer science, or calculus, or organic chemistry, subjects you really have to study for. Japanese is not a skill. It's just a language that millions of people know how to speak.
putting the Fun back into learning Japanese - Realism - 2011-11-01
jordan3311 Wrote:@nadiatimsWell, if you have read AJATT he always emphasized on fun. Ever since I discovered the AJATT method (roughly a year ago), I have never looked my Japanese textbooks ever again. Everything was novels, books, manga, movies, anime. But the most important part was really avoiding English as much as I can.
yea my level of Japanese is pretty low I am round 1713 in RTK and my main focus is trying to get the the sentence method like in AJATT. I can understand and speak some japanese but not much. I have done a little bit of japanese for busy people but stopped because it was only using kanji
I can't recommend you what anime to watch. All of them will help your Japanese doesn't matter what kind of anime it is. There are literally thousands, it's not hard to find one.
Here's what I'm addicted to recently on youtube
The entire series has been updated on youtube....this is beyond addicting (although I can't tell if it's scripted or real...hard to tell, maybe some Japanese person can enlighten me?)
putting the Fun back into learning Japanese - TwoMoreCharacters - 2011-11-01
I agree with Realism. If learning a language becomes a drag, start seeing it less like an academic subject and focus more on just doing fun and enjoyable things that provide input. When you've got an ambition to learn a language to a good level in a preferred time, it's dangerous for you to start associating language learning with boredom.
putting the Fun back into learning Japanese - Tzadeck - 2011-11-01
Realism Wrote:Japanese is not computer science, or calculus, or organic chemistry, subjects you really have to study for. Japanese is not a skill. It's just a language that millions of people know how to speak.Except that, you do have to study to get good at Japanese. I can introduce you to plenty of people who lived in Japan for years but never really studied, and therefore can't speak Japanese. If you think you can learn Japanese through osmosis, you're wrong. Adults really can't do that like kids can.
In fact you have to study A LOT to get good at Japanese. In the study time it takes to get good enough at Japanese to pass JLPT N1, you could learn all the mathematics required to be a high school math teacher.
Also, Japanese IS a skill. I don't know what kind of semantic game you would need to play to argue that Japanese is not a skill.
putting the Fun back into learning Japanese - Harpagornes - 2011-11-02
realism Wrote:Here's what I'm addicted to recently on youtubeLOL This bought back memories. I turned up at a school and sometime after lunch a small group of teachers and a somewhat larger group of students, dressed remarkably like those shown in the video, suddenly started throwing punches on the sports field.
http://
http://
The PE reacher won.
By curious coincidence, a visiting friend from the US had wanted to see a Japanese school so he had tagged along for the day as a sort of assistant ALT. He was totally aghast. I told him this sort of thing went on all the time although to tell the truth it was a unique experience.
Of course all the other teachers were terribly embarrassed and nobody would tell me what was going on. To this day I don't know what happened. I often wonder where the kids ended up.
Where is ta12121? I need my transcription
ジャ、僕はもと頑張ります。@Realism Maybe like AJATT, you have a fantastic business opportunity, sending annotated links to legions of subscribers. ありがとう
putting the Fun back into learning Japanese - Javizy - 2011-11-02
I find it motivating to have a reason to use Japanese. Making friends is one way of giving yourself that. If you're not advanced enough to hold a spoken conversation, try e-mailing or IMing. You can easily find someone to IM on Shared Talk, and it'll help you bridge the gap between writing and speaking. When you have fun speaking to someone, it's good encouragement to study harder to improve your 表現力 even further.
I wouldn't throw your grammar dictionaries away just yet. They can come in handy when you're motivated. Plus, if you get too sucked into that crap, you'll be paying $1000 a year for a newsletter if you're not careful
putting the Fun back into learning Japanese - ta12121 - 2011-11-02
Harpagornes Wrote:haha, I'll be getting back into transcription. Actually I'm working with someone on making a transcription-based service as well. Expect something by the end of this year.realism Wrote:Here's what I'm addicted to recently on youtubeLOL This bought back memories. I turned up at a school and sometime after lunch a small group of teachers and a somewhat larger group of students, dressed remarkably like those shown in the video, suddenly started throwing punches on the sports field.
http://
http://
The PE reacher won.
By curious coincidence, a visiting friend from the US had wanted to see a Japanese school so he had tagged along for the day as a sort of assisting AET. He was totally aghast. I told him this sort of thing went on all the time although to tell the truth it was a unique experience.
Of course all the other teachers were terribly embarrassed and nobody would tell me what was going on. To this day I don't know what happened. I often wonder where the kids ended up.
Where is ta12121? I need my transcription
@Realism Maybe like AJATT, you have a fantastic business opportunity, sending annotated links to legions of subscribers. ありがとう
putting the Fun back into learning Japanese - Harpagornes - 2011-11-02
Look forward to it... Do RevTK members get a discount?
putting the Fun back into learning Japanese - TwoMoreCharacters - 2011-11-02
Tzadeck Wrote:Except that, you do have to study to get good at Japanese. I can introduce you to plenty of people who lived in Japan for years but never really studied, and therefore can't speak Japanese. If you think you can learn Japanese through osmosis, you're wrong. Adults really can't do that like kids can.At this point you'd need to elaborate on this if you want to be any convincing at all.