Learn Japanese from anime in only 5 minutes a day! 1337!

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don't learn japanese from animeYou TOO can learn Japanese from anime in only 5 minutes a day! WRONG. If you think you can learn Japanese from anime, you have been sorely misguided. Perhaps it is a genetic defect. Perhaps your parents drank a lot before you were born. Maybe you’ve been disillusioned by anime conventions. Or it could be that anime-induced isolation has cut you off from the real world for just a little bit too long. Whatever gave you the impression that you could learn Japanese from anime is sadly wrong. You CAN’T. No buts about it. I’ve seen way too many people who’ve thought it could be done. I’ve often see way too many people on youtube who still think it can be done. People who don’t know better idolize them as gods and follow in their footsteps. I don’t want you to go out and make that mistake. It’s time you knew the truth. Click through and watch the video to find out more…

[yframe url='www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rQFfRN6qmA']

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  • Meronpan

    At first I thought 'yay, I'll learn Japanese by watching anime!' But not too long after, I realised that anime couldn't get me much further than 'konnichiwa', 'ohaiyou', 'baka' and 'moshi moshi'. So I started to take real lessons (well, real, at least they teach you something :P MyJapaneseCoach for NDS taught me kana in 2 days :D And I'm also learning to make simple sentences)

    You can also find countless of online communities for japanese-learning people. If you want to learn japanese, get involved with others, you won't be able to learn it on your own.

    That is the way to go!

  • No-one-of-interest.

    It's back-to-front! You learn Japanese to enjoy Anime (As english dubs usually suck!)… you don't watch Anime to learn Japanese. Besides the english sub's are usually so poorly done that any words you could make out are used incorrectly. Half an hour with flash cards would teach you more japanese than a month of watching anime. So please please people, do it the right way round! Anime is one of the reward to learning Japanese!

    Piece!

  • Sarah M.

    I've started watching one of my old favorite TV shows in Japanese w/o subtitles, and I understand about 65% of it (mostly due to lack of listening skills and lack of vocabulary, but I'm working on both!). It's fun and it will definately help my listening, but it's not my only tool.

  • fdsfdaafsd

    I learn through anime only. I only look up Japanese stuff only. No ENGLISH. That's to help me learn both understanding and reading. Everytime there's a Japanese video sometimes there's kanjis I keep repeating those kanjis as I keep seeing them thereby understanding them more. I truly believe we can learn Japanese through anime it takes hours of listening to actually get it. It also helps weirdly Japanese stuff is sooo much more cooler then english. English is just boring I'm sorry I don't want to look up hannah montanna, America, and anyhting else. It's BORING. I want to play Japanese games, brag to everybody, and be fluent to live in Japan. What does your dream mean to you that's the question everybody should say? To speak in Japanese, brag to everybody you learn japanese. Start your dream right now do whatever works for you. Look up statistic and AT LEAST TRY. No one has really tried to learn Japanese through anime without subtittles. How cna you say that you guys haven't even try. I sit on my butt everyday at home looking up Japanese stuff for fun. It now has become 2nd nature to ME. M English has started to get boring. If I continue this for like 2 years I will learn the language. It's a beautiful language with a beautiful culture with great food. That is my future and I hope that everybody can accomplish it like I will do.

  • aizu

    Wakatta~!

    what koichi meant is japanese language is distinguished from anime's version. as we know, those is anime's contain lots of bad words & lack respect to elders. so, they don't want outsiders learn from anime. (Japanese are well mannered than haku-jin).

    So, they didn't want us to learn Japanese LANGUAGE but also MANNERS. that is what we called CULTURE. so that we wouldn't use mean / impolite words when we talk in Japanese.

    p/s: I'm sorry if I get you wrong~!

  • fdsfdaafsd

    If someone does learn from anime like me I truly believe the culture will sink in. No it has to sink in if I'm learning from anime. It is a tool that nobody believes that they should ever use at all. It really is a great tool that I use everyday. Besides that I really don't believe that everybody should stop doubting it. It's getting on my nerves at the very least. The culture will sink in I just know it. Japanese is mainly the only thing I know and the only thing I believe I will pursue in due time. Everybody should just try it. Just freaking try it without any subtittles or anything in Japanese for that matter.

  • fdsfdaafsd

    I truly believe Anime will help me learn the language. I watch anime for 2 reasons only. 1. It's enjoyable 2. It's not boring plus I can do more I've learned alot from anime and it hasn't even been a month since I've started. I went on vacation for like 2 weeks and was lazy for one week. Japanese has to be it's own reward. It doesn't have to be boring you can do stuff already in Japanese you like. Like the food? Then just eat their food at a local Japanese resturant. Like thier animations but can't understand them? Watch them without SUBTITTLES. Like their video games? Buy them import them. Like their culture? Throw a little Japanese in your room it helps at least for motivation. See where this is going. People do what feels what works no matter what. It's okay to like whatever you just have to be serious about it. That's like. If your going to learn from anime you have to be hardcore about it.

  • plixplox

    I watch anime and love it. I like reading manga, translated. Although it might be useful later on (it might, I don't know, I'm not there yet) — you know, when you can actually read most necessary kanji, it might help to increase your reading speed / context comprehension — otherwise, I have found manga completely useless as a learning aid so far. Although it's fun to notice how you pick up sentences you didn't before in anime, they're really just about as useless.

  • Mizuki Yamashita

    hey that's cool i love anime and manga. I have read all of my friends manga and now I am asking another friend if I can borrow some of her books. Also I am learning Japanese so ask me any thing and I will tell you.

  • Mizuki Yamashita

    hey that's cool i love anime and manga. I have read all of my friends manga and now I am asking another friend if I can borrow some of her books. Also I am learning Japanese so ask me any thing and I will tell you.

  • Pilila

    YOU CAN LEARN JAPANESE BY WATCHING ANIME AND READING MANGA!
    How easy it will be depends on what you watch and read and how you do it. If you do right, it will be a fun ride.

    1. Choose shows with an easy plot and realistic setting like those World Masterpiece Theatre animes, e.g. “Porfy no nagai tabi”.
    This (50+ episode) show for example is about a boy who travels across Europe to look for his lost sister. Every episode he meets someone new and tells his sob story. Because reoccuring moments like this you'll be able to understand a lot after a while.
    More suitable shows are: all WMT series (as mentioned),Nils no fushigi na tabi, Tanoshii mumin ikka, Taiyou no ko Esteban, Aishite naito, Miyuki, Atashin'chi,…

    2. NO SUBTITLES EVER! At first it may not please you to watch an episode of 24 minutes and only understand “ohayou”, “arigatou” and “itadakimasu”. But after a while you'll start to pick up on more words, phrases and ultimately on complete (albeit) short sentences.

    3. WATCH ONLY ONE EPISODE OF A SHOW PER DAY AND IF DOESN'T BORE YOU, WATCH IT TWICE.
    This way your brain will have it easier to process the data and the repetition of certain words every day will write them deeper in your memory.
    Instead of watching the episode twice, you can use a programme to extract the audio and listen to it on the go. It will be like a radio drama. But because you watched it before and therefore remember the plot, it will train your listening comprehension.

    4. DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME WITH THINGS THAT BORE YOU!
    You will definitely get more from shows you like, shows that intrigue you.

    I learned English, Italian and Spanish without effort by watching shows I liked and reading comics. Now I'm repeating the experiment with Japanese and Czech.

  • http://www.animepalm.com/ Anime

    I see nothing wrong with learning a language from videos. I know alot of people that learn English by watching English Dubbed Anime. Why can't English people learn Japanese through Subbed Anime?

  • http://www.animepalm.com/ Anime

    I see nothing wrong with learning a language from videos. I know alot of people that learn English by watching English Dubbed Anime. Why can't English people learn Japanese through Subbed Anime?

  • warwick

    I think that using anime for learning Japanese can be more effective if you keep an eye on what it is that you're watching – steer away from most Shounen stuff (and probably the majority of Shoujo) and try with a variety of more Seinen based series, though I still wouldn't promote using it as your sole language learning tool… Especially not for people who need to cut back on their anime fixes.

  • Korean whore

    I am learning Korean not my animae not by textbooks but my friend is Korean so he is teaching me i can pronounce “you piss me off” perfectly and i can say “bitch” xD that's gonna come in handy….

  • Korean whore

    I am learning Korean not my animae not by textbooks but my friend is Korean so he is teaching me i can pronounce “you piss me off” perfectly and i can say “bitch” xD that's gonna come in handy….

  • Hiyay23

    I love anime, and I did figure out a few words in Japanese from anime, but it hasn't helped much. I don't even know what Naruto is saying and I've heard him say that phrase so many times! I've heard that it means “believe it”, but that's just what the team of dubbers say. I've been learning how to read in hiragana, but I have now idea what they say. Maybe I should learn the language first then try to read in it. lol.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_X6MWR5PWTNHEMUN5OGHJWTZG2Y Cherish

    how you gonna sit up here and say don't use anime as a way to learn Japanese but yet your about to try and teach. Obviously you already know how to speak the language h, how about you share the knowledge. i myself love anime and want to learn Japanese. Ive learned stuff from it but not enough. but anyways some parts of the video was pretty funny. i happen to like Naruto too

  • Joe Dirt

    LoL this story is from someone who has tried

  • Realmeryl16

    To all the people who think they can learn a language SOLELY from a cartoon…

    I have a cousin who does not know English. He watches english cartoons everyday. He’s 10 years old now and he still cannot make a good English conversation with me. All he knows are random phrases he picked up from them.

    Therefore, NO, you can’t learn a language PURELY from TV shows/cartoons/movies. You need other BETTER sources for learning. If you don’t want “boring textbooks”, look for a BETTER textbook. Get My Japanese Coach. You don’t need to get a class, you can teach yourself provided you have your own sources other than Anime. Penpals help too.

    Heck, if you think one part of learning a language is boring (ie. The textbook) that will actually hinder your learning process. I’ve been self-studying for less than a year and I can already pull off simple conversations, both written and spoken.

  • Taro

    Haha… I didn’t think anyone actually believed anime could be used as a primary when it comes to learning Japanese, but I guess it makes sense;
    ‘*sigh* I guess none of my two friends wanna hang out… Oh well! I guess I can watch every episode of Naruto, Bleach, and (insert other Otaku staple here) known to man and glean every word of Japanese I can!’
    (twelve hours later)
    ‘Hey! I learned “Ganbatte”!’

  • ryuu

    you’re kinda annoying.

  • Momomo

    hey koichi! this might sound kind of stupid to you but to me its really important. i was on the track to becoming an otaku, obsessed with anime and drama. but when i saw this video i was hit with a wave of reality. because of you i have my sanity back (: in my school being an otaku is kinda cool, you have lots of friends with you b/c you discuss the latest anime and whatnot. but everytime i feel myself turning into a greasy haired anime/drama person who only cares what happens in the dramas, and i remember that you say otakus are bad, their gross, they have no lives. because of your statement, i am successfully learning japanese on my own. with me. with my own personality. not yearning to be that pretty girl in the drama. just wanted to get that out there. 

  • Callie

    I know it can be hard to learn Japanese from watching Anime, but it was completely inapropriate for you to call us retarded for trying. I do not have a genetic defect, and my parents did not drink alot before I was born. You should not title this “Learn Japanese from Anime” if it is not stating that you can learn Japanese from anime. And you know what? Starting now, I’m going to watch only Anime, and learn Japanese from it. You don’t like it? Too bad.

  • Ane

    I don’t learn Japanese from Anime, but I learn some words and some people on youtube learn me common words/phrases that I often hear in Anime so. It does help :)

  • Arie

    Not entirely true…
    I have been watching anime for about three weeks now and I have been seriously picking up on the language. Not enough to remotely learn the entire language but it certainly helps. . .

  • Anonymous

    Learn from (only) Anime?  Not likely, but I do like the exercise one proponent puts forth of watching an anime with subtitles and then watching it again without.  The point is clear, though, that one’s choice of anime can be critical.  For me, I get a lot more out of watching the more relaxed and playful ones (Miyazaki, Kaasan and others) rather than the flash-bang Naruto sort of thing.  Still, it’s fun to use those as an occasional benchmark just to see if I can get anything from the constant stream of macho chatter.  When I do, it’s quite satisfying!

    For me, my wife is Japanese and my kids watch anime themselves, so I might as well make the best of it!

    But it should be seen as one tool among many.  Pimsleur may be boring, but it slips in a lot of great lessons under the radar, and has taught everyone, even those who profess to hate it, the importance of breaking down new words into bite-size syllables.  Tofugu and the other web-based resources, free and otherwise, are a treasure trove and there’s no reason not to take advantage of all of it.

    My advice would be, don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater.  Yes, a lot of folks seize on the idea of ‘learning from anime’ because it appeals to a desire for a magical effortless expertise arising from an activity they already enjoy, and that’s unfortunate.  But as one educational aspect of many, it can be a great tool to expand and/or measure your own learning.

  • Theresa

    To an extent this is true, yes. But, there is a way you can learn Japanese from anime, and this is if you have the proper foundation built already through some more formal training. This is like the concept of learning an instrument. You can pick up an instrument and start playing it, but unless someone tells you how to hold it, you may forever be impeding yourself by starting off on the wrong foot. If you start with some real basics of Japanese in the classroom or in a “real life” setting, you can come away with enough know-how to interpret what you hear in anime appropriately. For example, you’ll be able to distinguish which level of formality a character is using, or which word is the verb or adjective, and how to conjugate appropriately. You won’t learn much writing/reading from anime but hey, any way you can pick up some words is great in my book. Just have the tools with which to really appreciate the language you’re hearing.

    (PS I took Japanese in college and coming to back to anime now is SO much more fulfilling/enjoyable as a result!)

  • Cyrilla-

    lol I’ve learned English from TV :D

  • Victor

    this is soo true anime doe not heolp you speack japanese and if you try to speack it you just sond dum so its beter to get a teacher and like it said on the video try to make some friends that speack the lenguage and practice it.

  • http://soundcloud.com/dj-chopstick Choppin’ Stix

    Slow but sure? ;)

  • Zachary L

    I’ve definitely learned some sentences and lots of words from anime, but I defenitely would not call that learning Japanese from anime, its more like learning a few words from anime.  I’ve watched over 230 anime and don’t know Japanese, so I can guarantee this article is somewhat correct in that you can’t learn the language from anime, but you can learn several words and make out about 25% of what is being said in anime, although aside from that you really don’t learn enough to engage in any form of conversation nor are you able to understand much of anything outside of Anime.

    Good luck to whoever is actually serious though.

  • http://www.TiesOfAffection.blogspot.com/ Yua

    You sir, are an idiot. Just because some people lack the intelligence to learn a language from a tv-show doesn’t mean EVERYONE can’t do it.
    I learned German, completely, like my understanding of German is practically perfect, from TV. Watching German dubbed anime as kid. (German tv-channels would air pretty good anime from 12:45 to 16:00)
    And some other channels on the satellite.

    So yes you CAN learn japanese from anime. Just watch it without subtitles and at least two hours a day.
    I have a friend who learned korean by watching lots of k-dramas growing up.

  • http://www.facebook.com/jeffrey810816 黃 川

    The difference between me and you, is that I can learn Japanese from anime. I like anime, but when I watch it I pay attention to language structures, I look up vocabulary and I listen properly, instead going for characters and plot. Sure you can learn Japanese from anime. I learnt all but the most basic conversational English as a second language from reading books and movies, by the way. It can be done, but it takes discipline and research.

  • Alex Loranger

    NHK Radio, TBS Radio are good supplements. Anime is good supplements, but you need to study with your notebook and use textbooks or you’re just going to be confused. In the beginning, it’s good to get used to vocabulary by watching anime or tv shows, but nobody said anything about solely using it. Crack open your notebook and write those kanji down thousands of times like I did. 

    There are also a TON of high quality Japanese literature, and you can even read a bunch for free on aozora bunko. When I was learning English in Elementary school, I would always soar ahead of the rest of the class simply because I would read books outside of class. It’s also why I know how to spell.

    Simply put, you work your way up to being fluent, you don’t just get there from doing one thing.

  • vladimir

    bro i don’t like how you kinda attacked the audience but as for your point 10points. i wanted to learn Japanese and my first guess was anime a year later i felt confidant and surprise surprise a Japanese student moved to my school that knew English i tried to converse with him and he laughed at me and asked why the hell was i speaking town Japanese aka anime and why i did not learn to speak formal Japanese aka city. he explained that anime language was like speaking country ascent English and that if i went to Tokyo i would be made fun of… well i leaned formal Japanese from him went to japan and tested his theory and guess what i did get made fun of…. don’t spend your time on anime to learn Japanese it is cool to watch but do not learn it. unless you want to look like your IQ lvl is 105 when you speak to natives 

  • Saywhatyouwillaboutlecheese

    The panda hat o3o tis cute

  • http://twitter.com/Scaricornicus Lydia (琳-ちゃん, 유리, 雷)

    I haven’t learned Japanese from Anime, but I went to a well known Japanese immersion camp through Concordia over the summer and two different friends of mine in the top groups this year and last were both learning from Anime, so it can definitely be done if you pair it with other good study habits.

  • Naru Hime

    Do you mind me reblogging this? I am currently blogging about Japanese language learning and I’m planning on presenting research into this subject :)

  • ItsDaFish

    hmm well i would find it O.K if Japanese people sounded like pop eye..

  • ItsDaFish

    now that would be a fun way to learn Japanese and if teachers used it in lessons lets just say everyone in the world will know Japanese

  • daniel green

    Nandeska? Anime is sweet, but, no, I’m not learning japanese through anime lol. Whilst i’m learning it, anime is just a waste of time (i love it!) but i can’t understand the majority of anime talk just yet.. haha

  • otaku

    im 13 years old.I’ve been trying to learn japanese through websites(cause i cant go out and buy textbooks) bECAUSE I LOVE ANIME AND SPEND ABOUT 5 -12 HOURS A DAY WATCHING IT. Ive become an addict and your video saved me from actually trying to learn stuff while watching which is hard cause after watching anime for a couple hours I think to myself maybe i should try to do something productive like learning japanese with anime. Thanks for the vid

  • Mr. Bloody Skeptical

    Bang. You just pwnd Ken Cannon. OMG, I was trying to download his list of the “300 most common words in Naruto” when your video came up. Thank you. Koichi vs. Ken = invoke the slaughter rule… I wouldn’t want to be the one to clean up after the bout; and Ken’s not really a bad guy — he’s just an average wapanese dude looking for that ever-elusive boner. I honestly can’t say I’m very different from him.

  • mister X

    i have actually learned much from anime, where i’m from its normal for poeple to speak at least 3 languages. And i can speak 6 languages. In school we learn Faroese, Danish, English and German, then some people also speak norwegien and swedish like me. when i watch anime i can understand about 50% or more sometimes the whole sentence, only from watchimg anime. I know it sounds like bragging but its only to prove a point

  • 15yearold

    It is impossible to learn “proper” japanese through anime, but you can learn some basic words and phrases, that’s what I did, but then again, I have watched anime for at least 5 years so it’d be weird if I didn’t. To some people it might seem preposterous, but I was still able to learn quite a lot, to the point where I can even hold a conversation going for sometime (albeit with difficuilty and informal japanese)

  • norishi

    y u mad fo?

  • シシ

    なんだいよ i practice my japanese with anime so you can stop calling people retarded if you think learning from anime is silly then you can say that but thats your opinion dont call people retarded ok わかた？

  • シシ

    well also ive already learned basic japanese i just listen to the animes when i have nothing else to do then while im understanding it im like わたしはわかりました！

  • john the ripper

    you are taking advice from a guy with a panda on his head -.-

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