First, let me put some context here:
Living in japan, I decided to watch Suzume no Tojimari… of course, it’s completely in Japanese, and I didn’t go to a closed-captioned showing. Now, I am actively studying- currently working through Tobira, so I’m in the Intermediate stage. All this to say, I understood a TON of the movie… I’m going to estimate between 65\~70% of it. And, there’s a VERY specific reason why, IMO.
Most of the movie has our characters in very normal situations, interacting with people like you might do on a daily basis-despite what the movie is ultimately about. The stuff that went by me was when the details about the very specific situation of the movie were discussed… but again, most of the movie uses words and phrases that you’re likely to encounter during daily life in japan. Or in other words, it’s got a HUGE Slice of Life element to it.
So why do i talk about this being a trap? While certainly not all, the majority of people who want to learn Japanese are fans of anime and manga… and I would guess it’s more shounen/shoujo/seinen/josei manga, to use those categories. These categories, ESPECIALLY shounen, use words more specific to fights and battles, and extremely casual, if not “rude” Japanese- the kind you won’t find in a textbook. Or to put it another way: the manga you find exciting… is NOT beginner-friendly.
It kinda sucks, but until you’re in the N3/N2 ability level, chances are anything beyond slice-of-life is going to have words, phrases and grammar points that you won’t understand without burying yourself in a dictionary… and burying yourself in a dictionary means less time reading manga/watching anime. S for those starting out/of a lower level, accept that you’re going to have to start with slice-of-life stuff if you want to comprehend the majority of the story.
4 comments
On my WFH coffee breaks I casually watch some news channels on YouTube.
I now know the phrase 警察によりますと…
🙂
You’re gonna have to learn all those words one way or another. Japanese is Japanese no matter where you get it from. Learn the words from what you like first since it’s important to have fun while learning.
I’d argue the most important thing about immersion is being consistent, which is much easier done with media you enjoy. It’s in my opinion preferable to watch Demon Slayer every day, then watching something you hate once a week because you can’t stand it. Of course, if Shounen Anime is your only source of Japanese learning that could be a problem, but it’s a pretty unlikely scenario, since getting to an advanced level takes years and a ton of immersion.
Has anyone actually heard of real cases of people getting to an advanced enough level of Japanese through Shounen alone, that they actually go around speaking to Japanese people and sounding weird? I think this problem is really overblown.
I’ll add to this: when I meet someone who is working in a field I am not versed in, I have to learn their jargon on the fly.
And it does not matter whether this in English or Japanese.
So following on OP’s point there is a surprising distance basic day to day Japanese can carry you, and everyone, Japanese or not has to learn the jargon.
I have to teach Japanese people how to speak Japanese about the thing I teach, because it is all unfamiliar equipment and procedures, and, in the field pretty routinely use words that Japanese people do not know, and are not in Japanese dictionaries.
One slight advantage is that when the Japanese people see it written in Kanji, they can pretty easily pick it up, as Kanji have some clear meaning to them.
(And vice versa, when I am presented with new Japanese words, seeing them in Kanji makes them easier to grok.)