(No idea what flair would be most appropriate for this topic, so I just picked one.)
I very much doubt I’m in the minority for thinking it would be cool to understand the media I consume in its native language, but I guess I’m just afraid of having it rub any potential tutors the wrong way. I know there’s no right or wrong reason to take interest in a language, but I can’t imagine there isn’t some level of annoying stereotype of “foreigner whose primary exposure to Japanese is anime and is thinks Japan is just sooo sugoi~” or whatever, and I don’t want to evoke that. I do think that on some level, there’s an imperative to have cultural awareness when taking up a language (especially in one like Japanese, where honorifics and other indicators of social status are really prevalent), and so naturally I take no issue with learning more about it and admitting I might be really ignorant about a lot of stuff. I guess I’m just scared of coming off as ignorant AND fetishistic in some way by having a somewhat shallow motivator (especially being as I’m a white American lmao).
I guess I’m just afraid/embarrassed of admitting where my interest in Japanese started from, lest I come across as not seeing learning it as a serious and respectable endeavor. Am I overthinking things?
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Nope! A lot of people (especially these days) start out that way, nothing weird about it.
Edit to add: you’ll only come across as “not serious” about learning if that’s the way your attitude is towards it. So if you’re dedicated/determined to learn then that speaks louder than your interests imo
I mean, how else are foreigners exposed to Japanese other than Japanese media?
From my experience japanese people tend to apprieciate everyone who put the effort to learn the language (they know is not an easy one) despite the “stereotypical reason”.
If anyone wanted to learn Italian cuz they really like pizza I wouldn’t be offendend I would ask them what they think of pineapple pizza and then depends on the answer I would be offended.
Your fears stem from being American and how people view weaboos as opposed to actual Japanese people’s views. To start with, many are rather unknowing about how widespread Japanese culture, particularly anime/manga has become, and thus are genuinely and pleasantly surprised anyone knows even the simplest thing, like こんにちは.
Anyone who takes learning Japanese as a language seriously enough to get a tutor, even the most hardcore Weaboo or otaku-like people, will very quickly realize how different it is within 1 minute of sitting down with a tutor. So I imagine they don’t often see the more irritating aspects as we do from the statewide.
I guess some are, would be weird if 100% of a big group had the same opinion about something. But it’s also their source of income? Usually it wouldn’t do to be a snob about why people choose to pay for your services.
> I guess I’m just scared of coming off as ignorant AND fetishistic in some way
Don’t say fetishizing things then? You seem to know what’s cringe about some weebs, so you probably have an idea of what not to do. Ignorance is okay when you’re aware and trying to learn more.
None of this is anything to worry about.
Of course, there’s a level of weirdness that’s going to be off-putting to 99% of people, like if you’re planning to show up to your Japanese lesson with a waifu pillow or something, but hopefully that’s not what you’re talking about.
I’m no tutor, but I am a weeb who’s learning Japanese, and as one I believe there’s nothing wrong with it as long as you aren’t being either irritating or a complete degenerate.
The only people I would make fun of are if people want to learn Japanese because of the life coaches and influencers who post shit about ikigai and kintsugi.
It depends on the person and the exact anime.
If your tutor is a normie and your favourite anime is Galaxy Railroad or Detective Conan, then they would be delighted that you know and love so much about Japanese pop culture!
If you are a fan of… uhm… let’s say, Monster Musume? – likely not so much lmao
On the other hand, if your tutor is a devoted fan of Monster Musume…
just don’t actually BE a creepy weeaboo and you’ll be fine. most are aware anime exists and that it’s an impetus for a lot of people to learn japanese. many watch it themselves. they may not be superfans of it like many foreigners are. it’s a lot more everyday tv-like for them over there. sazae-san is on syndicated tv, doraemon is all over the place, everyone knows studio ghibli, pokemon go conquered japan just like the rest of the world, heck one of my senseis recommended demon slayer to me last month because it’s so popular at the moment
I did have a tutor that seemed to be put off by it as they had a dislike of the kawaii culture surrounding girls, so they would tend to keep away from that subject unless the material i asked about had a direct link to it.
You’re overthinking, from my experience Japanese people are generally happy that you know/are willing to learn their language.
My tutor’s bio talked about how much she loved Demon Slayer, so I didn’t exactly have that problem. She doesn’t know a lot about anime, but she enjoys hearing me talk about certain aspects of weaboo culture because she just never got into it. I don’t even watch anime that much, but she seems to genuinely like hearing about stuff like that, but I think it’s because it really is helping me learn be it working on reading manga, new vocabulary both while tutoring and outside of tutoring, etc.
If you were a tutor, you won’t like or care about everyone’s interests, but it’s a missed opportunity to teach if you’re completely closed off to it. My teacher has never done archery and we talk about archery and what limited knowledge she has of kyudo, for example.
i took a class and my teacher always seemed pleased when i mentioned i had picked up a word or phrase from an anime. however, like anything there are probably some who are put off, and others that don’t care
A native Japanese teacher at my University started his lecture by playing a fucking Gridman opening. Yeah I think you’ll be fine.
The only real problem I’ve seen is when learners rely too heavily on anime and manga dialogue in pronunciation. I have a friend who was translating YuuYuu Hakusho back when it came out, and for a while she was talking like a rude teenage boy.
Also I had one Japanese teacher who was kind of perturbed when she assigned “Sing a Japanese song, then translate it” as a final, and a student picked an anime song. But that was because it was 50% English loan words. But Wakita sensei was an opera singer, so that day was probably torture for her anyway.