Hey guys, just want to see what's the top 5 interests for learning japanese. For people on this forum.

I'll start first.

1.Culture/japanese people.
2.Kanji
3.Drama's/movies
4.Anime
5.Manga/books/j-games/j-music

1) I suffer from a langauge disability, 日本語 is a way to motivate me
2) The language itself
3) The people who speak it
4) J-pop
5) Other media and books

When I started I didn't know what アニメ or マンガ was. >.<; I think I am the only one who isn't obsessed.

gyuujuice Wrote:1) I suffer from a langauge disability, 日本語 is a way to motivate me
2) The language itself
3) The people who speak it
4) J-pop
5) Other media and books

When I started I didn't know what アニメ or マンガ was. >.<; I think I am the only one who isn't obsessed.

lol. I'm not obsessed with anime or manga. I just watch a few, and read a few. That's about it.
I'm more into j-music. That stuff is awesome.

1. Business
2. I like kanji
3. Yellow fever
4. Manga
5. Culture is interesting

@Womacks
#3>yellow fever lol.

Japanese language
yellow fever
high quality of food, alcohol and consumer goods
high standard of customer service
covenience of living (I've only lived in major cities)

LegionOfDeicide Wrote:I study because going to Japan has been a dream of mine. I don't care for drama, anime, manga, or whatever Japanese media. Studying Japanese is more of a life goal to me. I decided one day that I wanted to learn something and go through with it. I want to improve who I am as a person mentally, spiritually, and physically. The day I step on Japanese soil and venture through the rural areas of Japan is the day I can die peacefully.

So here is my list.

1) The spiritual aspect of the Japanese landscape.
2) The different points of views from Japanese people of various backgrounds.
3) The culture and traditions that Japan upholds in the rural areas.
4) The history of Japan
5) Japanese is what helps to improve my overall character.

That is a good reason, definitely agree with this a lot. It has already changed my personality. It's true what they say though, when you learn new languages. It opens new worlds to be explored.

My interests have changed very drastically since I first became interested in Japan and everything. Depending on when you asked me this question, there would be different things on the list, things in different order, etc..

Regardless, nowadays, it's probably:

1. The Language.
It's become a part of me, so abandoning it would just leave me feeling...wrong
2. People. Friends I've met, connections I've made
3. Business. So I can come back to Japan and continue relations with everything
4. Comedy. Because it's entertaining and fun to talk about.
5. Literature. Buried somewhere in my studies is a Bachelor's Degree in Japanese Literature (in progress). Reading something like 夏目漱石 to me now would be like reading The Count of Monte Cristo to me in High School

I guess it comes down to Study, Interpersonal Relations, and Entertainment.

@Asriel
I agree with you so much on how it becomes a part of you. It would feel wrong if I abandoned it out of nowhere. I doubt I will ever stop using it or reading it,etc.

1. So I could demand that my parents feed me ice cream.

I'd come up with four more reasons, but honestly I think that was my only one.

1. To expand my perspective of language and how it is used
2. Access to untranslated materials (i.e. books)
3. Japanese art forms (in particular calligraphy, origami, and noise music)
4. Moriyama Daido
5. Not anime

Really in no order:

1. Communicate with Family (yell at kids)
2. Kanji is just amazing
3. Read scientific papers in Japanese
4. To enable me to someday work in Japanese research lab or do research at a Japanese company.
5. Enjoy Culture and its values to hopefully make me a better person (persepective?)

Aijin Wrote:1. So I could demand that my parents feed me ice cream.

I'd come up with four more reasons, but honestly I think that was my only one.

Please refrain from eating forum members.

Sebastian Wrote:

Aijin Wrote:1. So I could demand that my parents feed me ice cream.

I'd come up with four more reasons, but honestly I think that was my only one.

Please refrain from eating forum members.

lol I just about to say something similar

*Jaws theme*

1. I live in Japan
2. Japanese is the language that is spoken in Japan
3. If I want to get anything done, I have to do it in Japanese
4. If I want to be a fully-functioning adult and not depend on people to do everything for me, I have to speak Japanese
5. And... I genuinely find the language beautiful

1. I want to be a polyglot
2. I wanted to learn a language with a new writing system
3. SUPER NERDY REASON I wanted to play Japanese games.

Aijin Wrote:*Jaws theme*

IceCream, I can provide you protection when you go to Japan. My services are pretty inexpensive, I only charge enough to cover my own expenses, like: flights, accommodation, transport, food, internet and probably a couple of other things.

Or else...

That picture is epic win!
(n_n)// kudos to Sebastian!

Agreed! lol I laughed when I saw the picture just now.

I used to love playing Japanese RPGs when I was a kid, and back then a lot of stuff didn't get translated, or took a long time to be translated. I always wished I knew Japanese so I could play them early. Even after I stopped playing video games (well, almost) the desire was still stuck with me so I took a Japanese class when I started college. I loved the language so much I decided to try and seriously learn it. I figured there was some fancy new way to go about learning languages, so I did some research and found this site. Now I'm addicted to learning it, and keep going out of habit - I'm stuck. Once in a while I'll get a new game in Japanese that's not translated yet, and being able to play it gives me such a satisfying feeling of fulfilling my childhood dream (or just arrogance).

So basically just for video games

1. vn/eroge
2. manga
3. anime
4. video games

...my list feels slightly out of place here.

Don't worry, ToasterMage. I'm learning 日本語 because I want to play those vn/ergoe's as well. Though, over time my interest did change a bit. My list is as follows:

1. vn/eroge/manga/anime/video games
2. japanese grammar is like computer programming..ish.
3. probably visit Japan sometimes.

Oh, and forgot to add j-core there.
4. j-core

1. Movies, manga, music, video games etc.
2. Kanji
3. Comedy
4. Friends
5. People usually assume I'm smart as ***** when they find out I speak Japanese.

A little difficult to list my top 5 interests in learning Japanese... As with several others, mine has changed (quite dramatically) over time. I guess mine would look a little something like:

1. Vidya games (RPGs are what got me into studying this language years ago, after all)
2. Music (I get a lot more enjoyment out of my music when I can understand the lyrics, and some of my favorite Japanese bands have rather complicated lyrics)
3. Translation (Something I've always been interested in, something I'd love to do professionally)
4. Philosophy (Particularly Japanese Buddhist texts which simply don't exist in English)
5. Travel (derp!)

I'd be lying if I said that anime and manga weren't high up there too. So many great seinen manga currently just out of my reach!