At some point, most anime fans think about learning Japanese. Some go through with it…most don’t.
I successfully taught myself Japanese to a native speaker level through games and anime when I was 15 and the Internet didn’t have 10% of the resources it had today…so it should be easier for you, right? Well, yes and no.
Yes because there are things out there nowadays which are incredible resources. No because it’s still going to take a lot of work and time. It takes about 10,000 hours to learn a language…but there’s no reason that can’t be fun!
When I used to teach Japanese at university and with my private students, I always focused on the fun aspect of learning. Learning should be fun, and it should be geared towards what you are interested in. That’s always been my approach at least.
I’ve since used the same techniques to learn Chinese, and to a lesser degree Spanish and Indonesian. It’s basically the same routines. I’ve also familiarized myself with what’s available nowadays (not everything, but a lot) so that I’m not just repeating my old stories.
So without further ado, let’s begin!
Grammar, Textbooks – The Fundamentals
Alright, I’d like to get the first bugbear straightened out – you will need to learn some grammar. Grammar is not a scary word, and it’s not that hard. Really.
Why I stress the acquisition of grammar is simple. Firstly, you can’t really run away from the fact that all languages have one. If not, we would string random words around and not make sense. I know friends who have watched anime daily for 20+ (!!!!) years and still can’t form simple sentences. Don’t be those people.
Secondly, knowledge of grammar grants mastery. You will be able to break down a sentence or construct your own once it’s internalized enough. When that happens, you’ll feel a sense of power and accomplishment – more so than just “hey I did this!” enough grammar and you can say what you mean – again and again.
I think the reason why many people are scared of grammar is the tons of rules each languages has regarding them (like the infamous genders of European languages that I cannot say to have mastered) You generally don’t need to learn them all at once. If you want to be able to speak fluently, at some point they will have to be understood, but that is a gradual process that comes about from exposure to the language and not just textbooks.
So essentially, don’t be afraid of grammar and syntax. They are essential.
Also, as much as I would like to tell you that you can, you can’t ONLY learn a language from the fun stuff – you’ll probably need a textbook or two at some point.
You’ll probably only need one or two, focus on getting those with broad coverage in the language you want. (i.e not phrasebooks or “100 Exercises for XXX”) Besides that, Google and pick one of the top five or so, or do a little more research. There are too many for me to comfortably recommend, but I still like Japanese for Busy People as a starter.
With that out of the way…
Goal Setting – How Good Do You Want to Be?
This is a question I always asked my students before we started lessons, because it determines a lot of what we were going to focus on. I would teach more fundamentals and grammar to those who wanted to go to the distance, but just simple phrases to those who just wanted to be able to speak conversationally.
Most people will not go the whole hog and master a 2nd (or 3rd) language – that takes a LOT of time and effort. It took me more than a decade before I was able to think in Japanese, for one.
So it does help to decide at the outset whether you just want to be able to walk around the capital city of your choice, or you want to move to and settle in a new place. Adjust your commitment levels and approach accordingly.
Different kinds of learners
Everyone learns a little differently, and no two students are exactly alike. So focus on the method of acquiring information that works the best for you.
Visual learners should probably use books, movies, games – anything with written text – a lot more. Makes sense right?
Auditory learners should do anything that involves sound – audiobooks, YT clips, movies and songs.
And of course, do mix and match up the two. No one is completely one or another, we just have things that we naturally gravitate to.
If you’ve never learnt a 2nd language before, try out various approaches and find out what “clicks” There will usually be methods that you find you naturally gravitate to. Play to your strengths and stick with them!
It also helps to know whether you like learning by yourself or with others. There are suggestions for both below.
Interested readers can Google VARK styles of learning to know more.
The Fun Stuff – Games, Books, Comics, Movies
This is what you came here for, right? J
So yeah, for those of who are expecting some super secret technique to magically absorb Japanese…there isn’t one. Sorry. And I’m not pulling anything because I said so right at the beginning of this piece.
But what you will get is the opportunity to watch anime and play games and everything else. Because you see, language learning is about repetition. So…expose yourself to media. Cross reference with textbooks. Rinse and repeat. That’s about 50% of the work, to be honest.
However, I will be giving other pointers as well, such as –
Find games, and change the language in settings! This is by far my favorite method of learning languages. Nowadays most games come with multiple language options, so you can play Hearthstone in English and then voila – suddenly it’s a whole other language (and voices too!)
Why do this? Because your mind retains the information of the English text. So…instant translation buffer! Works great for remembering words – the boring old way of making word lists still works but this is more fun.
Watch anime with subtitles in the target language you are learning. This and the above are easy methods that work wonders. It’s real-time, so you can match the words with the spoken dialogue – and you can slow down the file if you need to.
You can read manga or comics side by side. And then to test yourself, see if you can do one page unaided, and one with translations. Little challenges and games like this can really spice up the learning.
Pick a favorite piece of media that you know back to front, and then watch or play it with the subtitles of the language you are learning. I’ve watched the Evangelion movies with different subtitles at least seven times by now.
Repetition is key to learning anything – but especially languages. So this is the best time to replay and rewatch everything you love in the language you’re learning…and not feel guilty about it!
Music is a learning tool that I often see neglected when it comes to language learning. It’s fun to sing along, and now lyrics and translations are freely available online. As with all the above techniques, using it on songs you would listen to normally anyway is best (so then it’s not really any work!)
Making Mistakes – A Learning Opportunity
One of my therapist was fond of saying that a mistake was just a learning opportunity – which it is!
As with learning anything new, you’re going to make mistakes. Those should be welcomed and not shunned.
Keep a small diary or notebook where you can write down key phrases or where you got something wrong. It will help when you can review them.
Beyond knowing WHAT you got wrong, it also helps a lot to know WHY. That’s where the Internet comes in handy – there are plenty of online resources (see below) where you can ask native speakers exactly what kind of error you mean. The explanations generally help in solidifying your comprehension of the learning beyond merely rote learning from the textbook.
Techniques and Tools – Other Resources
Podcasts are a good resource for those of you who are more inclined to the sound of the human voice. Not just podcasts about learning the language…but podcasts IN the language.
Youtube is of course both a treasure trove and minefield of content. But a cursory search will turn up almost everything from Spanish explanations of the Big Bang Theory to native Chinese speakers dissecting shows. I don’t use it enough to recommend specific channels.
Duolingo – Don’t let the hype fool you…Duolingo would LIKE you to think that it’s a substitute for a college education, but it’s not. However, it is semi-free, and it does give you a reasonably solid foundation and exercises in most languages. For most of the commonly studied languages in the world, Duolingo is a good tool, but just using it alone is not enough.
Reddit is full of specific language subs and ones dedicated to learning languages. You can also use it to find a penpal.
There are plenty of other platforms (Rosetta Stone, AI based ones) that purport to teach you a language, and I can’t speak for them all. What I will say though is that most offerings should give you a free trial, and stay clear of anything that promise “Master XXX in 5 days!” Even the most dedicated learner will not manage that.
Interacting in the language
Unless you’re learning a “dead” language like Latin, millions (or billions) of people around the world speak that language. It grows, changes and evolves daily. Textbooks only teach things up to a point!
Online forums – These can be kind of hit and miss because there are so many of them, but they are invaluable when it comes to getting live feedback. I would count Reddit among these.
Playing online games – I polished my Japanese through years of playing FF11 and 14. You get to speak with natives all the time, and you’ll learn slang as well. It’s a very fun to learn.
Penpals – Also not a bad idea. There are tons of apps for these, but I had the most success on Reddit after weeding out the flakes.
Essentially, anywhere native speakers gather is a good idea. There are usually a large amount of people who want to learn English, which works in your favor.
Going back to school
Some people do not work well as self-taught learners. I had a lot of them as my students, and there is no shame in that. For those people, I would consider professional courses (there are tons of them online) or even a formal degree.
Please don’t pigeon hole yourself into a “self-taught” or “school” person. As with visual and auditory types above, there are many kinds of learners. You might do 80% online courses, and then a little paid instruction, or a combination of whatever suits you.
There are tons of options (sometimes too many!) in the world today. You could consider a site like TakeLessons.com, or have Skype sessions with a 1 on 1 tutors. There are plenty of good courses online like Coursera.
There are in fact far too many to list here, so you can Google if you are interested in this option. As an autodidact myself, I am not too focused on this aspect of learning, but I thought I would mention it to be comprehensive.
In Summation – Have Fun!
That’s about it folks! I tried to keep this short and sweet, basically full of the questions I’ve been answering for years (as you might expect “How did you manage to teach your Japanese?” comes up a lot)
A few last mentions :
Find a pace that works for you. I am the kind who likes to go hardcore in bursts, but YMMV. One thing I will say is that half an hour every day is almost always better than five hours at a once, due to the way the brain absorbs information. Slow and steady!
Take breaks if you need to. As I keep on saying, learning should be fun!
And last but not least…play with the language, sing with it, talk in it, and generally have a good time. Languages are living, evolving things kept alive by its speakers – not just dead words in a book or game (no matter how good!)
Enjoy yourself, and keep learning J
Other Resources –
Ted Talks on languages
https://steamspy.com/language/Traditional+Chinese – Find games in your target languages!
https://www.thejapanesepage.com/ – there are TONS of good pages on Japanese online, this is just one
Pleco is a great app if you are learning Chinese.
https://mylanguages.org/ – Decent website