There are a lot in the community so it’s guilt by association. Don’t let it bother you.
Well, think about where your average English speaking person is likely to see Japanese. Anime and manga, video games and things like that. And then think about the fact that many people obsess over anime and manga to the degree of worshiping Japan. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to draw a conclusion there. Korean has a similar stigma because of K-Pop and the obsession many fans have.
However, you shouldn’t let that discourage you. A language is a language. You don’t really need a reason to learn one, nor do you really need to justify it to others. It’s even okay to learn it just because you like those things. Hell, I’m learning it just so I can play Japanese video games easier.
Because many people that want to learn it are, but the same applies to French.
In reality, I think it has to do with “race” to be honest. The people that say that don’t say it about people that look “indigenously East-Asian” and only when “racial barriers” are crossed learning it it seems.
This subject was raised a while back on r/languagelearning and someone pointed out something about “fetishizing Japanese culture”, but many people pointed out that French culture has also been heavily “fetishized” by Anglo-Saxons for a long time and also by Japanese people to the point of the concept of “パリ症候群” existing so that can’t serve as an explanation.
I’d put my money on the “crossing racial barriers” explanation.
I feel like it has to do something with the popularity of their media exports
It’s a cliché thing to say. People keep repeating it.
I want to learn it because of Judo, which already makes me a dweeb.
Because they instinctively feel that learning J is a futile endeavour. In a way they are right. At the same time most people don’t have the mental capacity to even fathom the idea of learning another language, so there’s that too.
Because like it or not, the Venn Diagram of “Anime nerd” “No Social awareness” and “Wants to learn Japanese” on the internet is damn near a circle.
I am not making the claim that every single person ever fits all 3 categories. I said near.
I do acknowledge the situation has improved in the last 3 or so years.
But the stereotype is based on something very, *very* real.
Cause the vast majority is
Do they? In my experience when I tell people I speak Japanese they assume it’s for work or that I do business in Japan.
I think you’d find that this is more of a reflection on the person learning Japanese and how they’re perceived than it is the idea of learning Japanese itself.
I guess my question is why does it matter? These thoughts or ideas are just distractions. People have their own reason to learn.
And some people do learn because of their media items. I think that’s totally fine as well.
So what if you’re weeb? Let people learn if they want, bro.
Because it’s a true stereotype. I’ve been downvoted to hell a number of times for saying languages are for communication between people and the watch anime in the basement league comes out in full force. Japanese learners have the worst reputation in the language learning community for being weird and socially off and it’s well deserved imo
Cuz we are.
I got into it for the hentai, but I stayed because of Hololive.
It’s because Japanese is always associated with anime and video games. I’m learning Japanese because I love how it’s written, how it sounds like, and how complex the grammar is. In short, I’m obsessed with the language itself, not the anime or video games.
Dude. Why does that surprise you? What do most people “see” as Japanese “culture”? Anime, “weird” things and video games. Even more so after tiktok
When I went to language school half was like that (and I think I’m actually generous making that assessment).
As others said, it’s a true stereotype that many get into the language because of manga and anime. What I dislike is how “weebs” have this reputation. One enjoys a particular piece of media and is instantly labelled as such. If someone is into cars, for instance, they don’t have a degrading label like that. Yes, there is some weird shit in anime, but it’s a genre like any other regardless. If one starts learning Japanese for that reason, good for them, that love for Japanese media translated into a love for the language too. Nothing wrong with that.
because we are, no wait actually we are otakus.
Because these two languages are often learned by the same kind of people who are 100% OBSESSED over those countries’ exports. For Japan, it’s anime, manga and video games; Korea is K-pop
Do any other countries have as major exports as those two AND are socially acceptable? Two other common languages are Spanish and French, but those tend to fall under “was forced to take it in high school” (at least, in America). Germany has cool cars and beer, both of which are socially acceptable. Italy… probably best known for pasta and wine. And I think that covers most of the major languages- Chinese is usually a case of “Holy shit, that language is just HARD”
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There are a lot in the community so it’s guilt by association. Don’t let it bother you.
Well, think about where your average English speaking person is likely to see Japanese. Anime and manga, video games and things like that. And then think about the fact that many people obsess over anime and manga to the degree of worshiping Japan. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to draw a conclusion there. Korean has a similar stigma because of K-Pop and the obsession many fans have.
However, you shouldn’t let that discourage you. A language is a language. You don’t really need a reason to learn one, nor do you really need to justify it to others. It’s even okay to learn it just because you like those things. Hell, I’m learning it just so I can play Japanese video games easier.
Because many people that want to learn it are, but the same applies to French.
In reality, I think it has to do with “race” to be honest. The people that say that don’t say it about people that look “indigenously East-Asian” and only when “racial barriers” are crossed learning it it seems.
This subject was raised a while back on r/languagelearning and someone pointed out something about “fetishizing Japanese culture”, but many people pointed out that French culture has also been heavily “fetishized” by Anglo-Saxons for a long time and also by Japanese people to the point of the concept of “パリ症候群” existing so that can’t serve as an explanation.
I’d put my money on the “crossing racial barriers” explanation.
I feel like it has to do something with the popularity of their media exports
It’s a cliché thing to say. People keep repeating it.
I want to learn it because of Judo, which already makes me a dweeb.
Because they instinctively feel that learning J is a futile endeavour. In a way they are right. At the same time most people don’t have the mental capacity to even fathom the idea of learning another language, so there’s that too.
Because like it or not, the Venn Diagram of “Anime nerd” “No Social awareness” and “Wants to learn Japanese” on the internet is damn near a circle.
I am not making the claim that every single person ever fits all 3 categories. I said near.
I do acknowledge the situation has improved in the last 3 or so years.
But the stereotype is based on something very, *very* real.
Cause the vast majority is
Do they? In my experience when I tell people I speak Japanese they assume it’s for work or that I do business in Japan.
I think you’d find that this is more of a reflection on the person learning Japanese and how they’re perceived than it is the idea of learning Japanese itself.
I guess my question is why does it matter? These thoughts or ideas are just distractions. People have their own reason to learn.
And some people do learn because of their media items. I think that’s totally fine as well.
So what if you’re weeb? Let people learn if they want, bro.
Because it’s a true stereotype. I’ve been downvoted to hell a number of times for saying languages are for communication between people and the watch anime in the basement league comes out in full force. Japanese learners have the worst reputation in the language learning community for being weird and socially off and it’s well deserved imo
Cuz we are.
I got into it for the hentai, but I stayed because of Hololive.
It’s because Japanese is always associated with anime and video games. I’m learning Japanese because I love how it’s written, how it sounds like, and how complex the grammar is. In short, I’m obsessed with the language itself, not the anime or video games.
Dude. Why does that surprise you?
What do most people “see” as Japanese “culture”?
Anime, “weird” things and video games. Even more so after tiktok
When I went to language school half was like that (and I think I’m actually generous making that assessment).
As others said, it’s a true stereotype that many get into the language because of manga and anime. What I dislike is how “weebs” have this reputation. One enjoys a particular piece of media and is instantly labelled as such. If someone is into cars, for instance, they don’t have a degrading label like that. Yes, there is some weird shit in anime, but it’s a genre like any other regardless. If one starts learning Japanese for that reason, good for them, that love for Japanese media translated into a love for the language too. Nothing wrong with that.
because we are, no wait actually we are otakus.
Because these two languages are often learned by the same kind of people who are 100% OBSESSED over those countries’ exports. For Japan, it’s anime, manga and video games; Korea is K-pop
Do any other countries have as major exports as those two AND are socially acceptable? Two other common languages are Spanish and French, but those tend to fall under “was forced to take it in high school” (at least, in America). Germany has cool cars and beer, both of which are socially acceptable. Italy… probably best known for pasta and wine. And I think that covers most of the major languages- Chinese is usually a case of “Holy shit, that language is just HARD”