There are so many reasons as to why people are learning Japanese. There are some great ones, some good ones, and some really really bad ones. Granted, my list below is all my opinion. I’m sure others have different ideas, but for now, we’ll go with these ones.
Great reasons to learn Japanese:
- You want to learn the language to help further your knowledge of the culture. There are many many pieces of Japanese culture that require their own Japanese word, and vice versa. If you don’t learn about culture, you can’t fully learn the Japanese language. If you don’t learn about culture, you won’t be able to fully understand the Japanese language. The two go hand in hand, and if you don’t learn both, you’ll only be 50% of the way there.
- You have friends / family that you want to be able to talk to. I’ve been in this boat. I have a decent amount of relatives that speak Japanese, and it’s nice to know what they are saying. Who knows, they may be talking about you behind your back.
- You enjoy it! Of course! You have to enjoy learning Japanese, or else everything becomes lame. If you don’t enjoy learning Japanese, and you don’t have an awesome reason otherwise, maybe you should look into Spanish, or something.
Good reasons to learn Japanese:
- You like Japanese television / youtube, and you want to know what these people are saying. This shouldn’t be your only reason for learning Japanese, and if it is, you should bump this down to “bad reasons for learning Japanese.”
- Your work involves talking to Japanese people sometimes. Maybe it’s a good idea you start learning some stuff before your company makes a fool out of itself. Don’t forget to bow a lot.
Bad reasons to learn Japanese:
- You want to impress all your other otaku friends with your anime subbing skillz.
- You want to impress all your other otaku friends with your manga translating skillz.
- You want to see Naruto and Sasuke make hot hot steamy love without any subtitles blocking the way of their naked children bodies.
- You love Morning Musume to the extent that you want to be like them in every way, even if you sound like a retarded fourteen year old girl where every moment is an epiphany.
- You want to be a ninja, power ranger, or anime character for Halloween, and you think that by learning Japanese you will be cooler.
There are more reasons, of course, but that part is up to you! Please comment and tell everyone why you are learning Japanese. If you’re up for it, you should consider making a video reply to maxdesu on youtube. Either way, think about why you are learning Japanese. The more Japanese you know, the more complicated reason you should have. It’s understandable for beginners not to know what they want from the language, so don’t feel bad if you don’t know for sure. I hope to hear from all of you soon!
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