Wait, since when do you have to be a Japanophile to like music from Japan?  And for that matter, since when does the geographic location of a band have anything to do with its quality?  There's enough people making music out there that you could probably go just about anywhere in the world and manage to find a sound that you like.

Where are you guys getting your dictionaries?

No need for a screenshot for me, either. When watching a J-drama, I take advantage of having a dual-screen setup. When I hear an interesting phrase/something I don't qutie understand I jot it down on one screen while continue to watch on the other.

When I'm on RTK, there is a great plugin for firefox called leechblock. It's a simple plugin that allows you to block off specified websites for an amount of time; basically everything except for RTK and a couple other sites I use when studying here areb blocked. I strongly recommend this program if you want to cut out distractions.

Anki is simple. Fullscreen it, close all programs, and study until my stack is clear.

Simplicity is best for me.

Last edited by samesong (2008 October 06, 8:08 pm)

Jarvik7 wrote:

Most Japanese music is pretty terrible. The only thing I've ever found that I've liked is jazz here. Not everyone who studies Japanese is a Japanophile.

Most people I've talked to who are of that opinion have only been exposed to the crap that fanboys spread across the internet. (music meant for preteen girls, anime music, "bands" which put more effort into their fashion than their music, etc) As an example, maybe .5% of the stuff on jpopsuki is any good and it never gets seeded for long. However, the Japanese music industry is the largest in the world, so there is still a LOT out there that never gets spread around much outside of Japan.

That's interesting, but I can't say its relevant in this case. I live in Japan.

Although, I suppose my tastes vary more than most people who are studying Japanese. I can't really stand anything but the literature here, but its generally pretty good. I don't understand how people can watch J-Drama though... The most popular shows are so shallow and overacted that they bother me just being on, even when I'm not paying attention (usually at restaurants). I do like the physical comedy here, but even then, my tastes are pretty narrow-- there are only a few comedians that I really like (Downtown and their ilk, basically.) However, to sit and study from (Japanese television dramas) sounds a lot like being slowly suffocated with a soft pillow.

Last edited by FutureBlues (2008 October 06, 8:48 pm)

Most Japanese music is pretty terrible. The only thing I've ever found that I've liked is jazz here. Not everyone who studies Japanese is a Japanophile.

Most mainstream Japanese music is terrible. It's the same here in America.

Edit:

Jarvik7 wrote:

Most Japanese music is pretty terrible. The only thing I've ever found that I've liked is jazz here. Not everyone who studies Japanese is a Japanophile.

Most people I've talked to who are of that opinion have only been exposed to the crap that fanboys spread across the internet. (music meant for preteen girls, anime music, "bands" which put more effort into their fashion than their music, etc) As an example, maybe .5% of the stuff on jpopsuki is any good and it never gets seeded for long. However, the Japanese music industry is the largest in the world, so there is still a LOT out there that never gets spread around much outside of Japan.

Yeah, that's pretty much it.

Last edited by alyks (2008 October 06, 9:49 pm)

Time bomb?! Study or die? I *like* it!


Also:

CaLeDee wrote:

nickoakden wrote:

Erubey wrote:

I don't really like Japanese music.

That's like saying "I don't like music". They've got everything.

Whats wrong with that? I've never been interested in music o.O

Aaa!

FutureBlues wrote:

Tobberoth wrote:

Erubey wrote:

I listen to japanese jazz and hardcore bands. So, they either don't have vocals or use english. I just mean that japanese media, the type that would you would use for immersion, just doesn't interest me.

Well, maybe you would find some you like if you gave it a chance? I don't expect everyone to like mellow rock, but since there's so much japanese music of relatively high quality, I find it hard to believe that you can only listen to and enjoy japanese jazz and hardcore... (I like jazz but I loathe hardcore so I will refrain from recommending any bands, I doubt you would like my picks). You could check around listen.jp and stuff for the bands that aren't as popular as the "wow-this-song-was-in-naruto-so-every-japanophile-in-the-world-loves-it" kind of band (I assume those are the kind of bands you been listening to the most since they are EVERYWHERE on the internet, and I wouldn't be suprised if you came to terms with not liking it before you found something you really like or at least can listen to enough for immersion.)

Most Japanese music is pretty terrible. The only thing I've ever found that I've liked is jazz here. Not everyone who studies Japanese is a Japanophile.

The majority of any music genre or media overall is terrible. 80% of hollywood movies suck. 80% of american music suck. The difference in this case is just a language. Of course most of Japanese music suck, but there's just as much good music ratiowise as there is in any other countrys music. No one said everyone who studies Japanese is a Japanophile, in fact, I more or less said the opposite.

alyks wrote:

That's nifty, iSoran. I personally need the alarm function in some cases, though. If you added that functionality, I would definitely use it.

I slightly updated it. It can now play a sound file or execute an arbitrary program when the time is up. Here's a windows version. But you have to install PyGTK first.

Shirow66 wrote:

First of all, great thread.

alyks wrote:

5. Script for show playing. If I can't figure out a word, I'll search for it on the script. If I find it, it's instant context. Sometimes I hit a word in the script that's describing what's happening in the show and that's awesome.

I'm not sure I understood what you were saying here. When you say script, you mean a text file of the spoken dialog in Japanese? If so, won't it always be "what's happening in the show" ?

As in, a script with most of the spoken dialog that also describes the character's actions in the show. Example:

食堂にいくと、生徒がプリンを食べていた。
「プリン・・・。」