I’ve been studying Japanese casually for years at this point, and while I do think I know the language better than I did when I started, I mostly don’t feel like I’ve gotten much closer to my “Big Goal” of being able to understand Japanese pro wrestling TV (from both now and the past).
Let me get this out of the way: yes, my study has mostly (not only, but mostly) just been doing the minimum to keep my Duolingo streak. And yes, I know how to ask if your little sister is a soccer coach. So… that’s something.
But it’s not what I’ve wanted to get out of the language and I don’t even know how to pivot to a more efficient study plan.
When pro wrestlers or, to a lesser extent, commentators speak on pro wrestling TV… I just don’t feel like I’m picking up on as much in real time as I’ve picked up on in the past when I’ve studied Spanish or Swedish (for far less time with far less intention) and then watched Spanish or Swedish TV/film.
With so many resources (Duolingo included) being dedicated to a fairly tourist-y or business-y version of Japanese, it’s hard to know if there’s even anything out there that would help me understand “pro wrestling Japanese”. Not just terms, but a way of speaking, especially among the wrestlers themselves. Like, Minoru Suzuki does not strike me as someone who speaks maximally polite Japanese in his promos, you know?
If you have any tips at all, I’d really appreciate it.
1 comment
If you a haven’t already I would check the starters guide: https://www.reddit.com/r/LearnJapanese/wiki/index/startersguide
Beyond the starters guide if you’re looking for something structured than Genki 1 and 2 books along with Tokini Andy’s Follow Up Video Guides on YouTube regarding the books are a good starting point.
Since you’re on Duolingo they have a feature that helps you learn the Hiragana and Katakana which isn’t that bad. I would do that first and then move on to following the starter guide or the above mentioned books and resources.
> I just don’t feel like I’m picking up on as much in real time as I’ve picked up on in the past when I’ve studied Spanish or Swedish (for far less time with far less intention) and then watched Spanish or Swedish TV/film.
The proximity of the language to your native language greatly influences this. As a native English speaker it is a lot easier to learn Spanish than it is Swedish and by comparison Japanese takes at least 5 times or longer (and much more effort) to learn than Spanish.
> Not just terms, but a way of speaking, especially among the wrestlers themselves. Like, Minoru Suzuki does not strike me as someone who speaks maximally polite Japanese in his promos, you know?
I’m sure there’s a lot of terminology in wrestling but if you understand the language enough then terminology is easy to pick up. A look at Japanese Pro Wrestling videos with my bad listening skills I found they mostly speak like normal people. With varying levels of politeness and crudeness.
Just find a starting point where you can learn/study the language foundation first and then it’s the very long journey of acquiring the language over time (watching pro wrestling probably a good way to do that).