Reasons Why Anime is Actually….Good for You?!

Yeah, not really good with titles, I suppose.

Anyway, because this is mostly a blog about anime, I figured I’d share how I think anime should be used with learning Japanese.

I think it should definitely be used.

Yeah, I know there are some people that say you shouldn’t. They say that you’d come of sounding like a cartoon, and you’d be completely useless in an actual conversation.

And then there’s the group I’m in. The group that says, “Anime and manga are good for you”.

Yeah, take your daily One Piece. It’s better for you than you think.

However, I think there’s one area that both groups are missing that make anime a good learning source.

References.

And I don’t mean those ones you get for a job. I mean the jokes that we make everyday. They’re funny because of references.

So. Yeah. While yes, I feel you should definitely use sources that aren’t anime, I don’t think you should avoid it completely. Besides, Genshiken is a lot less awesome if you aren’t otaku.

Now, of course, I understand that anime uses a lot of impolite speech. But there’s another thing that the naysayers are forgetting.

Everyone speaks differently. Period.

You probably wouldn’t understand the Yakuza kid trying to ask you where you’re from. Hell, you probably wouldn’t understand most of what the college student was asking you if you only listened to textbooks. And don’t even mention other dialects.

I personally think that you should definately have to watch anime (Or at least Dramas) to get a better grasp on how the people around you are going to talk.

(And as an aside, Yes. I am aware friends will do this just fine. They’ll tell you – Maybe! – when you’re starting to sound like a girl. And they’ll tell you when you’re sounding way to rough. But for those of us who don’t have a chance to speak to many Japanese people offline, Or the guys who just realized that learning Japanese from a woman made them sound a little more feminine than they intended, anime and manga are great.)

And not only that, but a good 80-90% of all anime speech is still regular, everyday Japanese. Yeah, there’s a lot of 俺 and 貴様, and even English words we’d never use outside of references, but the rest of it is still everyday Japanese.

Plus, it’s good for Listening Comprehension. So…woot.

Besides, it makes your learning a lot more fun, and if you don’t have access to Japanese people, then it also serves as a ruler on how much you’ve learned (Holy crap! I can understand this entire episode without subtitles!)

Which brings me to my last point.

Do not, unless under extreme circumstances, use subtitles. EVAR.

*sigh* I hate to say it. I mean, I like them too, but man. They hurt you. A lot. I mean, at first, you’re like, “W00t! I understand what’s going on.” But you soon realize after that you only remembered the English meaning. Chances are really good that you can’t remember any of the dialogue in Japanese. Yeah, it’s some weird thing our brains do. Don’t know why at all.

Anyway, I think that’s all for this rant, and I’m going to leave you with this awesome picture, and some advice for people learning Japanese.

Please, Please…Look for stuff you like in English, translated into Japanese. It just makes it more fun, and knowing that Millhouse is an 俺 is awesome by itself.

And I leave you with this.

Yeah. The Simpsons are just awesome.

P.S. I understand I said a Yakuza was asking you where you were from. That was silly. Just say you’re a Blood or a Folk. I’m sure they have those :P