AnimeSuki Forums

Newprimus · 2014-08-04, 14:01

I took one year of actual Japanese years ago and didn't touch it afterwards. I've been watching anime and reading VNs, but those hardly count as Japanese language education.

But recently as I was watching a raw of a currently airing anime I realized I was following it without missing a step and didn't even notice I was doing so. Somehow I've become capable of listening to and comprehending anime-level Japanese without realizing it.

Of course in real-life I'm still a hopeless gaijin, but it was just an odd epiphany moment I had.

Tempester · 2014-08-04, 14:06

I had this "revelation" happen several times to me as I picked up more words and phrases throughout enjoying Japanese entertainment over the years. It's pretty fun and cathartic to realize how much your comprehension has improved, especially if you're currently learning and grinding Japanese like me.

Akito Kinomoto · 2014-08-04, 17:44

I can only understand certain words and maybe a few key phrases. If I'm watching the typical LN adaptation, and especially if there's a little sister involved, I can usually tell what's happening anyway.

Magin · 2014-08-05, 03:38

It's been my experience that if you know some formal Japanese, then see enough subbed anime to pick up on vocab here and there, you have a decent chance of being able to understand anime w/o subs... granted, vocab is the big thing. I can pick up on simple sentences and common phrases, but anything beyond that is still incomprehensible (especially when there's multiple verbs in one sentence; I still haven't studied enough to understand how that works, but that's not for this thread)

roxybudgy · 2014-08-06, 10:09

I've heard many similar anecdotes of people being self-taught Japanese, or becoming fluent with very little formal training. I must be doing something wrong.

I spent 7 years of primary/high school studying Japanese, although pretty much what I learned in primary school was re-taught in high school, and classes were only taught for 2 hours a week. I then did a 1 year full-time Japanese course, which again repeated a lot of what I already knew from high school (I even took the exam and passed with flying colours early so I could take a few weeks off to go to Thailand for a holiday).

I did scanalations as a hobby for about a year, often relying on dictionaries for vocabulary that I didn't know, and seeking help when stumped with grammar or slang that I am unfamiliar with.

After gaining confidence in scanlations, I put my hand up for my first fansub translation. I remember it well, episode one of Tsubasa Chronicle for Live Evil. Man, I was way out of my depth. I was asked to translate the OP, and I just couldn't do it.

Being able to read a text and translate it was completely different to listening to dialogue and translating. And translating songs? Don't even go there. Of course, I dropped out of the project, or I was kicked out, either way.

I continued with manga scanlations, and after somewhat recovering my bruised ego, I threw myself into another ambitious project: translating the PC game Utawarerumono. Despite getting good feedback about my translating skill from other translators working on the project, I felt like I was not fluent enough to work on the translation in a timely manner. The translation was eventually done by someone who was much more knowledgeable than me, and if I recall correctly, he is also self-taught.

Almost a decade later, I do feel like I understand a lot more than I did back when I was clumsily doing fan translations/scanlations. But I don't think I will attempt to translate for fansubs any time soon, I'm still not quite there yet.

So if you say that you can follow anime without subs, kudos! I am so very envious of you

SPARTAN 119 · 2014-08-07, 16:02

As for me, I can only understand random and mostly useless phrases.

I suspect if I actually took Japanese, regular anime watching would be very helpful.

During my first year in university, before I really got into anime, I took French, and I did HORRIBLY at it. One of the reasons was, I think, was that I NEVER heard it spoken outside of classes, and because of that, it was hard to work my way through the accent whenever I had interpret an audio file and answer questions about it.

That said, in general, with me and languages, I am generally good at remembering vocabulary and pronounciation, for instance, I have amassed a fair number of Japanese words and phrases from watching anime, however, what I don't do so well in is grammar. This came up quite clearly in the aforementioned French course.

I actually really want to take a Japanese course, but I don't have time with all the stuff related to graduate school, and university level courses aren't cheap.

also, @roxybudgy: You took Japanese in primary and high school!? They have those courses in Australia. Where I am in the US (at least my crappy part of it), the only foreign languages in high school were French, Spanish, and for some reason, Latin.

Eisdrache · 2014-08-09, 17:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by Newprimus

Somehow I've become capable of listening to and comprehending anime-level Japanese without realizing it.

Anime-level japanese? You make it sound like that is an actual level. You're better off following the official language levels (ABC 1-2 in Europe) instead.

Quote:

Originally Posted by roxybudgy

I've heard many similar anecdotes of people being self-taught Japanese, or becoming fluent with very little formal training. I must be doing something wrong.

Becoming fluent without little formal training is a myth. Those people were either fluent in a similar language before or invested a lot of time into doing so. You don't just pick up vocabulary and grammar without putting in the appropriate effort. We are speaking about years here.

Dr. Dahm · 2014-08-10, 02:29

I remember that happening with Katakana where eventually I started to notice the patterns and what syllables the symbols represented until eventually it just started auto-translating in my head. Now I just kind of read Katakana as if I was reading it in standard Roman lettering. It's kind of strange and weirds some friends out when I'm playing some import games cause I'll say things like "Okay now go to options" and they'll just look at me like "Really....

" and I'll be like, "Oh right sorry..."

One other thing I've recently noticed though is that I can sometimes pick out when characters are using archaic or extremely formal or unusual dialects of speech in anime now too. I definitely can't just watch with subtitles off, but it's fun picking out those small little details every now and then.

risingstar3110 · 2014-08-10, 08:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by Akito Kinomoto

I can only understand certain words and maybe a few key phrases. If I'm watching the typical LN adaptation, and especially if there's a little sister involved, I can usually tell what's happening anyway.

That is a very interesting skills.....

Image that you get lost in Japan, and a girl comes to offer help. You will need to get her to talk like an imouto for you to understand?

hamazura · 2014-08-10, 08:54

pffft, i can understand frog speak

speedyexpress48 · 2014-08-18, 22:32

Quote:

Originally Posted by hamazura

pffft, i can understand frog speak

*croak* *croak* *groan*

Well, it's kinda like learning Japanese from Naruto

Jaden · 2014-08-20, 15:14

Yeah, this happened to me a year or so ago. Then I actually studied the kanas and keigo 'cause I figured it'd be a waste not to when I already knew so many words.

Even though I can converse quite fluently, not knowing enough kanji keeps me from taking exams. Learning those is a lot of work and not that fun for me. Can't force myself to do it when there's no huge benefit. Knowing a good amount of those is what really seperates the casuals like me and actual fluent speakers.

anime4ev3r · 2014-08-22, 11:18

Well even if you say anime-level the difficulty varies dramatically among anime. There are some poorly written anime with really boring, lazy, sparse dialogue or cliche/done to death premsies that I wouldn't be surprised if an otaku understands completely without taking any Japanese classes. It seems like no one mentioned any specific anime so far. I personally notice older animes are kinda harder to catch because they use words and idioms you don't really hear as much nowadays but nonetheless part of japanese and the audio quality is not as high or the equipment used to record sounds wasn't as good, and there are no Japanese subs unlike anime now a days

Cosmic Eagle · 2014-08-24, 07:08

There are Japanese subs easily available?

(Not talking about ts files ripped from TV since not all of those have that)

anime4ev3r · 2014-08-25, 08:53

Yes kitsunekko.net and other sites. It doesnot have every anime ever but clearly there's lots more subs available for the newer anime

Nicaea · 2014-08-27, 11:23

I had the same experience. Some years ago I attempted to learn some japanese words and started on hiragana. I never really went deeper with that, but over time I'd watch raws of some seasonal anime shows (I didn't want to wait for the sub). In the beginning I'd watch the sub afterwards, but as time progressed I stopped doing that. Now I find myself having somewhat of a grasp of Japanese language when I hear japanese. Of course it's not on the level where I'd know everything, but the general gist of it seems fair enough for now (I should really try to actively learn japanese though).

2014-08-04, 14:01	Link #1
Newprimus NO ESCAPE FROM NYAAA Artist Join Date: Jan 2004	Suddenly I can understand anime moonspeak I took one year of actual Japanese years ago and didn't touch it afterwards. I've been watching anime and reading VNs, but those hardly count as Japanese language education. But recently as I was watching a raw of a currently airing anime I realized I was following it without missing a step and didn't even notice I was doing so. Somehow I've become capable of listening to and comprehending anime-level Japanese without realizing it. Of course in real-life I'm still a hopeless gaijin, but it was just an odd epiphany moment I had. __________________ NYAA-CEPTION

2014-08-05, 03:38	Link #4
Magin #1 Akashiya Moka Fan Author Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Where magic is real Age: 35	It's been my experience that if you know some formal Japanese, then see enough subbed anime to pick up on vocab here and there, you have a decent chance of being able to understand anime w/o subs... granted, vocab is the big thing. I can pick up on simple sentences and common phrases, but anything beyond that is still incomprehensible (especially when there's multiple verbs in one sentence; I still haven't studied enough to understand how that works, but that's not for this thread) __________________ Gifted...or Cursed? R+V fanfic- Chapter 4 of A Water Bride and a Vampire is now up at FF.net! All fans of Inner or Outer Moka, come join her fanclub!

2014-08-10, 02:29	Link #8
Dr. Dahm Banned Join Date: Jun 2014	I remember that happening with Katakana where eventually I started to notice the patterns and what syllables the symbols represented until eventually it just started auto-translating in my head. Now I just kind of read Katakana as if I was reading it in standard Roman lettering. It's kind of strange and weirds some friends out when I'm playing some import games cause I'll say things like "Okay now go to options" and they'll just look at me like "Really...." and I'll be like, "Oh right sorry..." One other thing I've recently noticed though is that I can sometimes pick out when characters are using archaic or extremely formal or unusual dialects of speech in anime now too. I definitely can't just watch with subtitles off, but it's fun picking out those small little details every now and then.

2014-08-10, 08:54	Link #10
hamazura whatever Join Date: Jun 2013 Location: wherever	pffft, i can understand frog speak __________________

2014-08-20, 15:14	Link #12
Jaden Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2006	Yeah, this happened to me a year or so ago. Then I actually studied the kanas and keigo 'cause I figured it'd be a waste not to when I already knew so many words. Even though I can converse quite fluently, not knowing enough kanji keeps me from taking exams. Learning those is a lot of work and not that fun for me. Can't force myself to do it when there's no huge benefit. Knowing a good amount of those is what really seperates the casuals like me and actual fluent speakers. __________________

2014-08-04, 14:06	Link #2
Tempester Japanese Culture Fan Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Planet Earth Age: 33	I had this "revelation" happen several times to me as I picked up more words and phrases throughout enjoying Japanese entertainment over the years. It's pretty fun and cathartic to realize how much your comprehension has improved, especially if you're currently learning and grinding Japanese like me.

2014-08-06, 10:09	Link #5
roxybudgy Senior Member Scanlator Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Western Australia Age: 37	I've heard many similar anecdotes of people being self-taught Japanese, or becoming fluent with very little formal training. I must be doing something wrong. I spent 7 years of primary/high school studying Japanese, although pretty much what I learned in primary school was re-taught in high school, and classes were only taught for 2 hours a week. I then did a 1 year full-time Japanese course, which again repeated a lot of what I already knew from high school (I even took the exam and passed with flying colours early so I could take a few weeks off to go to Thailand for a holiday). I did scanalations as a hobby for about a year, often relying on dictionaries for vocabulary that I didn't know, and seeking help when stumped with grammar or slang that I am unfamiliar with. After gaining confidence in scanlations, I put my hand up for my first fansub translation. I remember it well, episode one of Tsubasa Chronicle for Live Evil. Man, I was way out of my depth. I was asked to translate the OP, and I just couldn't do it. Being able to read a text and translate it was completely different to listening to dialogue and translating. And translating songs? Don't even go there. Of course, I dropped out of the project, or I was kicked out, either way. I continued with manga scanlations, and after somewhat recovering my bruised ego, I threw myself into another ambitious project: translating the PC game Utawarerumono. Despite getting good feedback about my translating skill from other translators working on the project, I felt like I was not fluent enough to work on the translation in a timely manner. The translation was eventually done by someone who was much more knowledgeable than me, and if I recall correctly, he is also self-taught. Almost a decade later, I do feel like I understand a lot more than I did back when I was clumsily doing fan translations/scanlations. But I don't think I will attempt to translate for fansubs any time soon, I'm still not quite there yet. So if you say that you can follow anime without subs, kudos! I am so very envious of you

2014-08-07, 16:02	Link #6
SPARTAN 119 Unleashing the Homu-Rage Join Date: Apr 2010	As for me, I can only understand random and mostly useless phrases. I suspect if I actually took Japanese, regular anime watching would be very helpful. During my first year in university, before I really got into anime, I took French, and I did HORRIBLY at it. One of the reasons was, I think, was that I NEVER heard it spoken outside of classes, and because of that, it was hard to work my way through the accent whenever I had interpret an audio file and answer questions about it. That said, in general, with me and languages, I am generally good at remembering vocabulary and pronounciation, for instance, I have amassed a fair number of Japanese words and phrases from watching anime, however, what I don't do so well in is grammar. This came up quite clearly in the aforementioned French course. I actually really want to take a Japanese course, but I don't have time with all the stuff related to graduate school, and university level courses aren't cheap. also, @roxybudgy: You took Japanese in primary and high school!? They have those courses in Australia. Where I am in the US (at least my crappy part of it), the only foreign languages in high school were French, Spanish, and for some reason, Latin.

2014-08-22, 11:18	Link #13
anime4ev3r Junior Member Join Date: Mar 2007	Well even if you say anime-level the difficulty varies dramatically among anime. There are some poorly written anime with really boring, lazy, sparse dialogue or cliche/done to death premsies that I wouldn't be surprised if an otaku understands completely without taking any Japanese classes. It seems like no one mentioned any specific anime so far. I personally notice older animes are kinda harder to catch because they use words and idioms you don't really hear as much nowadays but nonetheless part of japanese and the audio quality is not as high or the equipment used to record sounds wasn't as good, and there are no Japanese subs unlike anime now a days

2014-08-24, 07:08	Link #14
Cosmic Eagle 今宵の虎徹は血に飢えている Join Date: Jan 2009	There are Japanese subs easily available? (Not talking about ts files ripped from TV since not all of those have that) __________________

2014-08-25, 08:53	Link #15
anime4ev3r Junior Member Join Date: Mar 2007	Yes kitsunekko.net and other sites. It doesnot have every anime ever but clearly there's lots more subs available for the newer anime

2014-08-27, 11:23	Link #16
Nicaea Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2014 Location: Isekai	I had the same experience. Some years ago I attempted to learn some japanese words and started on hiragana. I never really went deeper with that, but over time I'd watch raws of some seasonal anime shows (I didn't want to wait for the sub). In the beginning I'd watch the sub afterwards, but as time progressed I stopped doing that. Now I find myself having somewhat of a grasp of Japanese language when I hear japanese. Of course it's not on the level where I'd know everything, but the general gist of it seems fair enough for now (I should really try to actively learn japanese though).