Learning Japanese with anime?

[LadyMatsuke]

Does anyone know of any books/resources that teach Japanese with manga? There was a book a friend of mine had called 'Japanese in Mangaland' but I can't find it...

Also, does learning Japanese give any advantage in reading manga?

 

[Sphinx777]

Japanese is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is related to the Ryukyuan languages. There may exist relationships with other languages, but they have still remained undemonstrated. It is an agglutinative language and is distinguished by a complex system of honorifics reflecting the hierarchical nature of Japanese society, with verb forms and particular vocabulary to indicate the relative status of speaker, listener and the third person mentioned in conversation whether he is there or not. The sound inventory of Japanese is relatively small, and it has a lexically distinct pitch-accent system. It is a mora-timed language.

The Japanese language is written with a combination of three different types of scripts: modified Chinese characters called kanji, and two syllabic scripts made up of modified Chinese characters, hiragana and katakana. The Latin alphabet, rōmaji, is also often used in modern Japanese, especially for company names and logos, advertising, and when entering Japanese text into a computer. Western style Arabic numerals are generally used for numbers, but traditional Sino-Japanese numerals are also commonplace.

Japanese vocabulary has been heavily influenced by loanwords from other languages. A vast number of words were borrowed from Chinese, or created from Chinese models, over a period of at least 1,500 years. Since the late 19th century, Japanese has borrowed a considerable number of words from Indo-European languages, primarily English. Because of the special trade relationship between Japan and first Portugal in the 16th century, and then mainly the Netherlands in the 17th century, Portuguese, German and Dutch have also been influential.

 

[LadyMatsuke]

You're an angel...!

 

[Qyöt27]

The advantage in knowing it when reading manga would be evident if you were reading the original untranslated material. The benefit of it when reading an English translation is primarily just going to lead to getting ticked off at the often-inane way some 'professionals' choose to localize the stuff. Although, heck, you really only need to know some basics of the language for that last one - I can pick out horrible translations and I know next to no Japanese.

What I do know are some of the eccentricities of the pronunciation and the need for contextual translation over literal translation (contextual translation is often sorely-lacking in fansubs and overly vague translations are far too common in many professionally-done subs, both of which miss the point). A good portion of the 'contextual over literal' thing with me is that I took German for seven years, and French for two, and despite popular notions to the contrary, literal does not always mean best. In fact, it rarely does. Primarily because there are so many different facets to and cultural perceptions regarding language that going by a strictly literal translation is going to either require extra, cumbersome notes or be rather hard to follow because the insistence on being literal has overshadowed the need for the audience to really understand what's being said.

I'd really look into local colleges/universities offering Japanese classes rather than looking for one focusing on a niche market.

 

[PixieSunbelle]

it's probably better to take a japanese class because it's probably too hard to do on your own....

 

[homeofmew]

I've personally picked up a few phrases over the years of watching Anime/Subbed Anime

 

[meowmix]

All I know is the word "Hi" means yes...

 

[KarateCowboy]

Also, does learning Japanese give any advantage in reading manga?

Only if they're Japanese comics.

 

[meowmix]

hmmm...

 

[Eudaimonist]

Does anyone know of any books/resources that teach Japanese with manga?

I recommend you simply start learning japanese with whatever tools you find, and then watch anime to help it sink in.

My wife has been doing exactly this, and she now understands some of what she hears when she watches anime.


eudaimonia,

Mark

 

[cecillia321]

any of them

 

[MinorityofOne]

Does anyone know of any books/resources that teach Japanese with manga? There was a book a friend of mine had called 'Japanese in Mangaland' but I can't find it...

I'm gonna make it clear to you, first of all, that I know relatively little about Japanese, manga, and anime. However, I have a friend who currently lives and teaches over there, and he DOES NOT recommend using manga or anime to learn Japanese. His claim is that they sometimes intentionally butcher the Japanese language in both manga and anime for a number of reasons. Based on what he has told me, I would recommend you take a normal Japanese class in a University, and then use that knowledge to read Japanese manga and watch Japanese anime.

 

[Qyöt27]

I'm gonna make it clear to you, first of all, that I know relatively little about Japanese, manga, and anime. However, I have a friend who currently lives and teaches over there, and he DOES NOT recommend using manga or anime to learn Japanese. His claim is that they sometimes intentionally butcher the Japanese language in both manga and anime for a number of reasons. Based on what he has told me, I would recommend you take a normal Japanese class in a University, and then use that knowledge to read Japanese manga and watch Japanese anime.

'Butchering Japanese' in the Japanese originals, or the English translations? Or is it more due to the horrendous amount of loanwords from English and other languages that crop up in the speech (and creative uses of kanji to represent words with non-Japanese pronunciation, like in Bleach)?

Of course, at least in some series, certain cases would be a result of the intended audience's age range of the series in particular.

 

[fuzzyjesusfreak]

Its not possible to learn Japanese from anime, its possible to pick up sentences and slang from anime (which is primarily used) but it usually wont be good when using it in general Japanese conversation. I have learned a few words here and there when watching Japanese dub anime but learn other things online like grammar and stuff like that. But learning it entirely from anime isnt possible, you have to know things like particles and sentence order to have at least some understanding of it, I watch Japanese anime to practice, and listen, I have gotten alot of words out of anime and added them to my vocabulary but do not try to learn Japanese from anime.

 

[BassmanOz]

Nope, I would say not much help at all, unless you want to speak like an anime character I've been learning Japanese for a few years now and can pick up some of what is said on Japanese TV/movies etc but it takes some time. One thing that's not apparent to the casual listener is the different politeness levels in Japanese language, and when it's appropriate to use them. Anime can be good for your listening skills though.

That said, there is a series of Kanji (Japanese character) learning books called Kanji de Manga and I would also recommend the (free) audio lessons from japanesepod101.com but if you're serious and committed, nothing can beat a proper language course at a college or university.

 

[Crystal Star Light]

Yes I've learned a little Japanese with watching Anime. Knowing Japanese is beneficial if you don't like cheesy voice overs.

 

[Azureknight 773]

Speaking of which, I learned some like these:

Ore/Boku/Watashi no namae wa (ex. John Matthews) desu.
My name is John Matthews. (not my name in real life but serves as an example)
Kore wa Ikura desuka= How much is it?
Hachijuichi en desu= It's 81 Yen.
Gomen kudasai: Is anybody home?
Are wa?= Is that?
and so on and so forth.

 

[heavensworthit]

All I know is the word "Hi" means yes...

Konban wa (Good Evening)
It is pronounced more like Ha-ee.
I began watching anime years ago, then started watching mostly asian dramas. It inspired me to want to learn Japanese and I have been trying to teach myself. Definitely difficult but I've picked up a bit.
I think I have heard of the mangaland book mentioned...I believe it was at my local library or bookstore...

Minna-san...Oyasumi Nasai!! (Everyone...Good Night!!)

 

[meowmix]

Konban wa (Good Evening)
It is pronounced more like Ha-ee.
I began watching anime years ago, then started watching mostly asian dramas. It inspired me to want to learn Japanese and I have been trying to teach myself. Definitely difficult but I've picked up a bit.
I think I have heard of the mangaland book mentioned...I believe it was at my local library or bookstore...

Minna-san...Oyasumi Nasai!! (Everyone...Good Night!!)

Japanese is a difficult to learn.

 

[Caedmon]

You're not going to learn Japanese by reading manga and watching anime. The only sure way for an adult to learn any foreign language is to study with a formal textbook, and preferably under the guidance of a good instructor who doesn't think grammar is a "burden" on students. If you can't afford the instructor, go with the next best thing and get a textbook, and practice with people who know Japanese well.

When learning any foreign language, an adult must study the grammar and practice it "to the point of exhaustion." I've studied German for almost 10 years, and even taught it for a few semesters. But don't take my word for it, try it yourself. You will be happily satisfied when you see the fruits of your labor manifest at progressively better levels of proficiency, soaring past your less-focused peers.