Why are you learning Japanese?

by 135 Comments

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!

[yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9g-BUcAe3c']

← Older Comments
Newer Comments →
  • Joanelle

    Spanish wasn’t really very challenging for me either. I wanted to learn I language that no one could easily dechiper.

    Not many people in America can read Kana :D

    Spanish and Japanese are surprising similar sometimes too.

    Pan and パン :D

  • Hachi Gatsu

    Like Koichi, I have a few reasons. At first, I was just a nerdy otaku who just wanted to know what the hell they were saying on the Japanese versions of the anime I watched, but I then became interested in the Japanese culture itself, from past to present. I’m currently in college, though I’m and English Major, I plan on teaching English in Japan, and perhaps working for an American company in Japan since I may be a “shoe-in” for that job at a local company looking to expand in Japan. But also, to go out of my norm. I grew up in the small, unexciting town in Wisconsin. The closest thing I’ve come to another country is Canada (or Wyoming lol). So being the sheltered white person I am, I’m lookikng to explore other places, like Japan.

  • Hachi Gatsu

    Like Koichi, I have a few reasons. At first, I was just a nerdy otaku who just wanted to know what the hell they were saying on the Japanese versions of the anime I watched, but I then became interested in the Japanese culture itself, from past to present. I’m currently in college, though I’m and English Major, I plan on teaching English in Japan, and perhaps working for an American company in Japan since I may be a “shoe-in” for that job at a local company looking to expand in Japan. But also, to go out of my norm. I grew up in the small, unexciting town in Wisconsin. The closest thing I’ve come to another country is Canada (or Wyoming lol). So being the sheltered white person I am, I’m lookikng to explore other places, like Japan.

  • http://rocmegamanx.deviantart.com Rock Martin

    I hope to learn Japanese more extensively one day, for a few reasons(maybe wrong, but who knows):
    1. I want to play great games that were only in Japan that US missed out on.
    2. I would like to translate kanji that don’t have furigana
    3. I hope to translate hiragana-only sentences and paragraphs, because those seem much harder than those with Kanji and furigana.
    4. I don’t want to bug random people who know some Japanese to translate some stuff for me.
    5. I don’t understand Japanese comedy. I’ve watched a few clips of this guy named Jinnai Tomonori, but I can’t speak Japanese so I wouldn’t know what the guy was saying if there weren’t subtitles.
    6. I MIGHT visit Japan one day…

  • http://rocmegamanx.deviantart.com Rock Martin

    I hope to learn Japanese more extensively one day, for a few reasons(maybe wrong, but who knows):
    1. I want to play great games that were only in Japan that US missed out on.
    2. I would like to translate kanji that don’t have furigana
    3. I hope to translate hiragana-only sentences and paragraphs, because those seem much harder than those with Kanji and furigana.
    4. I don’t want to bug random people who know some Japanese to translate some stuff for me.
    5. I don’t understand Japanese comedy. I’ve watched a few clips of this guy named Jinnai Tomonori, but I can’t speak Japanese so I wouldn’t know what the guy was saying if there weren’t subtitles.
    6. I MIGHT visit Japan one day…

  • Leigh

    The older I get the more my reasons “grow” (for lack of a better word) for studying Japanese! When I was in middle school (which is when I took in interest in the Japanese language/culture) my reason for wanting to learn Japanese was due to the fact that, at the time, there were not very many sites that provided translated lyrics and I didn’t want to be the dumb American girl who walked down the street saying all sorts of god-awful things about myself (or the idiot girl going around confessing my undying love for strangers) just because I could mimic the sounds I heard! That and I had just discovered that Sailormoon wasn’t originally an English speaking cartoon…(I think I lost a little of myself that day…)

    However, now, aside from the fact that I do, in fact, work for a Japanese company and I feel awful when my co-workers have to speak in English simply because I am the only one without the knowledge and ability to speak Japanese, I study Japanese because I have been since I was 11 and I really find it to be an incredibly interesting culture (but darn -it-all if the actually language isn’t so confusing “ha = wa, kanji have 100,000,000 meanings for one character, ect…”) I study Japanese, now, because while it may not be the easiest thing I have ever done in my life, it’s fun and rewarding when I understand what the heck my co-worker are saying and better yet when I am able to reply!

  • Leigh

    The older I get the more my reasons “grow” (for lack of a better word) for studying Japanese! When I was in middle school (which is when I took in interest in the Japanese language/culture) my reason for wanting to learn Japanese was due to the fact that, at the time, there were not very many sites that provided translated lyrics and I didn’t want to be the dumb American girl who walked down the street saying all sorts of god-awful things about myself (or the idiot girl going around confessing my undying love for strangers) just because I could mimic the sounds I heard! That and I had just discovered that Sailormoon wasn’t originally an English speaking cartoon…(I think I lost a little of myself that day…)

    However, now, aside from the fact that I do, in fact, work for a Japanese company and I feel awful when my co-workers have to speak in English simply because I am the only one without the knowledge and ability to speak Japanese, I study Japanese because I have been since I was 11 and I really find it to be an incredibly interesting culture (but darn -it-all if the actually language isn’t so confusing “ha = wa, kanji have 100,000,000 meanings for one character, ect…”) I study Japanese, now, because while it may not be the easiest thing I have ever done in my life, it’s fun and rewarding when I understand what the heck my co-worker are saying and better yet when I am able to reply!

  • Franish

    The reason I’m learning Japanese is because of my brother! We about 6 years apart, but we’re really close and he loved Japanese culture. Anyway, my brother got inter because there was a police station right next door my house where a Japanese-American police officer worked. My brother the police officer became friends and he taught him a bit a of Japanese. Then, he started to look more into it, and most of the time it was somewhere close to me and I could hear him repeating stuff like “Sumimasen!”. Soon I was repeating it and starting going to the internet and looking up the culture. After that I was hooked! BAM! That’s my reason…kinda. D=

  • Franish

    The reason I’m learning Japanese is because of my brother! We about 6 years apart, but we’re really close and he loved Japanese culture. Anyway, my brother got inter because there was a police station right next door my house where a Japanese-American police officer worked. My brother the police officer became friends and he taught him a bit a of Japanese. Then, he started to look more into it, and most of the time it was somewhere close to me and I could hear him repeating stuff like “Sumimasen!”. Soon I was repeating it and starting going to the internet and looking up the culture. After that I was hooked! BAM! That’s my reason…kinda. D=

  • Chimiko

    I don’t actually know why. But I like it and I want to be able to speak and understand it. To converse and maybe go visit Japan one of these days. Umm.. Just thinking about it makes me excited.
    I’m a huge Jdorama-holic and I think that’s where I started liking the language. I still watch it, but I don’t think it’s my only source of information. Nonetheless, I really enjoy listening to it and speaking it. It’s very fun ^^.

  • Chimiko

    I don’t actually know why. But I like it and I want to be able to speak and understand it. To converse and maybe go visit Japan one of these days. Umm.. Just thinking about it makes me excited.
    I’m a huge Jdorama-holic and I think that’s where I started liking the language. I still watch it, but I don’t think it’s my only source of information. Nonetheless, I really enjoy listening to it and speaking it. It’s very fun ^^.

  • http://www.myspace.com/thealchemyfreak TheAlchemyFreak

    I first started learning Japanese because my sensei at karate had us learn some of the words. After that, I became interested. Since I had already been an anime fan, I started learning everything I could. I saw lots of aspects of Japanese culture and I loved every bit of it. Now that I’m going into college, I have lots of things I want to accomplish after I graduate. I want to move to Japan after college. Don’t ask me why. I have my reasons.

  • 白いカラス

    I don’t know if you care about my posting here, but anyways :P

    I want to learn Japanese, because, and please don’t laugh, I want to live in Japan (which I in return want to do because of the culture, because I adore the cuisine, Japanese movies, comedy, ninjas etc etc) In addition, I wanna be accepted as an equal human being whenever I go there. Now, I know, as a blonde, tall, white gaijin, that is as good as impossible, but I DO believe that I have a better chance of being accepted as more-than-just-a-foreigner, if I learn about finer cultural points, language, etc ad infinitum.

    Looking forward to high-school if my grades come out right, so i can exchange to Japan.
    Lots of love
    ~白いカラス

  • http://www.myspace.com/thealchemyfreak TheAlchemyFreak

    I first started learning Japanese because my sensei at karate had us learn some of the words. After that, I became interested. Since I had already been an anime fan, I started learning everything I could. I saw lots of aspects of Japanese culture and I loved every bit of it. Now that I’m going into college, I have lots of things I want to accomplish after I graduate. I want to move to Japan after college. Don’t ask me why. I have my reasons.

  • 白いカラス

    I don’t know if you care about my posting here, but anyways :P

    I want to learn Japanese, because, and please don’t laugh, I want to live in Japan (which I in return want to do because of the culture, because I adore the cuisine, Japanese movies, comedy, ninjas etc etc) In addition, I wanna be accepted as an equal human being whenever I go there. Now, I know, as a blonde, tall, white gaijin, that is as good as impossible, but I DO believe that I have a better chance of being accepted as more-than-just-a-foreigner, if I learn about finer cultural points, language, etc ad infinitum.

    Looking forward to high-school if my grades come out right, so i can exchange to Japan.
    Lots of love
    ~白いカラス

  • Sasuke

    I’ve always wanted to learn Japanese because I wanna move to Japan and get a job designing for Nintendo because Shigeru Miyamoto is my idol and If I ever got the chance to meet him (and other cool people in Japan) I don’t wanna make an ass of myself.

  • Sasuke

    I’ve always wanted to learn Japanese because I wanna move to Japan and get a job designing for Nintendo because Shigeru Miyamoto is my idol and If I ever got the chance to meet him (and other cool people in Japan) I don’t wanna make an ass of myself.

  • O-O-taku

    I am learning Japanese for the worst reason possible… Not only am I an Anime fan/Otaku, but I have no friends who also like Anime. That’s right. I’m learning Japanese so I can impress MYSELF!!! I sit there, watching my Anime alone, and getting excited everytime I can understand a passage of dialogue. Then, when this excitment dies down, I have no one to tell about it but MYSELF!!! WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!! I’m the most pathetic Otaku Dork on the planet! YAY!!!

  • O-O-taku

    I am learning Japanese for the worst reason possible… Not only am I an Anime fan/Otaku, but I have no friends who also like Anime. That’s right. I’m learning Japanese so I can impress MYSELF!!! I sit there, watching my Anime alone, and getting excited everytime I can understand a passage of dialogue. Then, when this excitment dies down, I have no one to tell about it but MYSELF!!! WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!! I’m the most pathetic Otaku Dork on the planet! YAY!!!

  • misa

    I’m not sure why I started learning and I’m not completely sure why I keep going. I am interested in the Japanese culture, language, and fashion. I also just love language. The more languages you know the more people you can meet and talk too (I think is one of the reasons why I stick with it).

    I wanted to ask in regards about not knowing all parts of the culture, is what about keigo or honorifics and humble expressions. I know that much of the young generation does not know this part of the language and it’s not in much use anymore. I don’t think that doesn’t mean you don’t know the language.. Mostly because there are things in the English language that we do not use today, but is still a part of the English language.

    After Japanese, I started to learn German, however, I didn’t have much available to German as I do Japanese. I also learned a bit of American Sign Language and Korean, but English and Japanese are the two main ones that I have a grasp on.

  • misa

    I’m not sure why I started learning and I’m not completely sure why I keep going. I am interested in the Japanese culture, language, and fashion. I also just love language. The more languages you know the more people you can meet and talk too (I think is one of the reasons why I stick with it).

    I wanted to ask in regards about not knowing all parts of the culture, is what about keigo or honorifics and humble expressions. I know that much of the young generation does not know this part of the language and it’s not in much use anymore. I don’t think that doesn’t mean you don’t know the language.. Mostly because there are things in the English language that we do not use today, but is still a part of the English language.

    After Japanese, I started to learn German, however, I didn’t have much available to German as I do Japanese. I also learned a bit of American Sign Language and Korean, but English and Japanese are the two main ones that I have a grasp on.

  • Zane

    Since China’s economic boom, my dad has been pestering me to learn Chinese so that one day I am able to go there and if necessary, get a job and settle down. To his dismay I never tried to pursue his ambition as China itself fasinates me, however the language doesn’t.
    Whilst looking through Chinese websites to see if I could find a nice place to start off the language (when I thought I may aswell give it a try) I luckily stumbled upon a website that mentioned Japanese being half-chinese in a little side note. This note did not seem to have such a big impact on me then, but two weeks later during a registration period in the morning, the teacher started to read out a notice mentioning that there would be a Japanese class after schools for one hour. I was a bit hesitant at first as I had no idea what Japan or Japanese was like but two of my friends believed it would be a worthwhile experience and they were all raring to go. Realising I had nothing else to do on those days, I decided an hour away from home might not be a bad thing after all. Upon attending my first Japanese lesson, I was hesitant at first as I had heard that the teacher was not an actual teacher but someone who had recently come back from Japan. My doubts were confirmed, the teacher was teaching us Japanese from a “teach yourself Japanese” textbook which in my experience were not the best books to learn from, however, I thought positively and held out his lessons for a few weeks to show I was interested. Once I had got to a point where the lessons were too petty for me to carry on (as he could not answer my questions nor could he speak fluent Japanese in many aspects of conversations) I decided it would be best for me to leave. However, whilst I was at those lessons, the language started to grow on me without my knowledge. Now wanting to pursue Japanese as a self-learner (as there are no Japanese teachers in my area) I had to find a way to convince my dad that it was worth me learning and worth him funding. Upon showing him that website and many others my father saw it was linked to Chinese in some manner and finally agreed to letting me learn it, now the only obstacle left was my mother. She believed that it would be a waste of time to learn it as I would have no gain from it whatsoever, but once I showed her how some of their culture mixes with ours (ours being Pakistani) she was convinced to let me go ahead with it (probably dad nagging her to let me do it though :/).
    Anywho, by the time I had done all the convincing and the thinking, it turned out that exams were around the corner and I didnt have enough time to learn another language. As a result Japanese was postponed and was completely forgot about until one day I stumbled upon tofugu.com and read all its wonderous information. Now I am back on track (thanks guys and Erin) and have started to learn Japanese from the beginning, starting from reading Tofugu each time you guys release some lovely new info and memorising the katakana and hiragana charts (hopefully getting the Genki collection soon ^-^).

    Hopefully, this will be a good addition to english, urdu, broken spanish, pahari and punjabi. If anyone knows where I can get extra help to learn Japanese, please dont hesitate to contact me on adamulhaq@hotmail.com, I am usually around and will get back to you asap but please state your reason to adding me otherwise it is a bit worrying.

    As a final note I think the people at tofugu deserve a big thumbs up/big smile/badge/medal/new godzilla mask from me, you’re doing an awesome job, keep it up :D

    P.S when do we get our newsletters…i can’t wait that long :x

  • Zane

    That last smilie was meant to be a more confused smilie, so I will change it to a crying smilie, like so: ;-;
    That previous constipated smilie was not intended :/

  • Zane

    Since China’s economic boom, my dad has been pestering me to learn Chinese so that one day I am able to go there and if necessary, get a job and settle down. To his dismay I never tried to pursue his ambition as China itself fasinates me, however the language doesn’t.
    Whilst looking through Chinese websites to see if I could find a nice place to start off the language (when I thought I may aswell give it a try) I luckily stumbled upon a website that mentioned Japanese being half-chinese in a little side note. This note did not seem to have such a big impact on me then, but two weeks later during a registration period in the morning, the teacher started to read out a notice mentioning that there would be a Japanese class after schools for one hour. I was a bit hesitant at first as I had no idea what Japan or Japanese was like but two of my friends believed it would be a worthwhile experience and they were all raring to go. Realising I had nothing else to do on those days, I decided an hour away from home might not be a bad thing after all. Upon attending my first Japanese lesson, I was hesitant at first as I had heard that the teacher was not an actual teacher but someone who had recently come back from Japan. My doubts were confirmed, the teacher was teaching us Japanese from a “teach yourself Japanese” textbook which in my experience were not the best books to learn from, however, I thought positively and held out his lessons for a few weeks to show I was interested. Once I had got to a point where the lessons were too petty for me to carry on (as he could not answer my questions nor could he speak fluent Japanese in many aspects of conversations) I decided it would be best for me to leave. However, whilst I was at those lessons, the language started to grow on me without my knowledge. Now wanting to pursue Japanese as a self-learner (as there are no Japanese teachers in my area) I had to find a way to convince my dad that it was worth me learning and worth him funding. Upon showing him that website and many others my father saw it was linked to Chinese in some manner and finally agreed to letting me learn it, now the only obstacle left was my mother. She believed that it would be a waste of time to learn it as I would have no gain from it whatsoever, but once I showed her how some of their culture mixes with ours (ours being Pakistani) she was convinced to let me go ahead with it (probably dad nagging her to let me do it though :/).
    Anywho, by the time I had done all the convincing and the thinking, it turned out that exams were around the corner and I didnt have enough time to learn another language. As a result Japanese was postponed and was completely forgot about until one day I stumbled upon tofugu.com and read all its wonderous information. Now I am back on track (thanks guys and Erin) and have started to learn Japanese from the beginning, starting from reading Tofugu each time you guys release some lovely new info and memorising the katakana and hiragana charts (hopefully getting the Genki collection soon ^-^).

    Hopefully, this will be a good addition to english, urdu, broken spanish, pahari and punjabi. If anyone knows where I can get extra help to learn Japanese, please dont hesitate to contact me on adamulhaq@hotmail.com, I am usually around and will get back to you asap but please state your reason to adding me otherwise it is a bit worrying.

    As a final note I think the people at tofugu deserve a big thumbs up/big smile/badge/medal/new godzilla mask from me, you’re doing an awesome job, keep it up :D

    P.S when do we get our newsletters…i can’t wait that long :x

  • Zane

    That last smilie was meant to be a more confused smilie, so I will change it to a crying smilie, like so: ;-;
    That previous constipated smilie was not intended :/

  • Shinji Kinomoto

    I started learning Japanese for the wrong reasons. I am a big anime and manga fan, so I wanted to have a better understanding of what I was watching. Over time I came to appreciate the language more. I have learned a lot from my two years of study in the language. The thing that keeps me interested in hopes to become close to fluent one day is that the language and culture itself reflects a lot of my own personal beliefs.

    One aspect that I feel deeply connected to is being humble. I absolutely hate how most people I know say how good they are at “x”. I hate people who brag. To me it shows how insecure they are. I know when people see me studying and ask if I’m good, I always say I have a long way to go, and they sometimes continue that I should give myself more credit for what I do. I don’t like to. The same can be said for any other skill that I have and people praise…I don’t like boasting about something even if I know I am good.

    There are a lot of other aspects of Japanese that make me more interested in it as I continue my studies, but the humbleness of the language has made me feel more connected to the culture then my own.

    One more thing I like about Japanese. I love the Osaka-ben. :D Not just in anime, but real life. There is a 40 year old grad student at the University I attend who is from Osaka and I enjoy learning differences in the dialect. The dialect is very interesting and amusing. He’s a nice guy and I like trying to implement a little of the Osaka-ben when I talk to him. It’s fun to implement the stuff in my skits for Japanese class as well. My instructor seems impressed and amused when I use the Osaka-ben in skits. However he doesn’t like it to be used in writing or talking to him, which I understand and respect.

    These reasons and many more, are why I continue my study of Japanese. ^^

  • Shinji Kinomoto

    I started learning Japanese for the wrong reasons. I am a big anime and manga fan, so I wanted to have a better understanding of what I was watching. Over time I came to appreciate the language more. I have learned a lot from my two years of study in the language. The thing that keeps me interested in hopes to become close to fluent one day is that the language and culture itself reflects a lot of my own personal beliefs.

    One aspect that I feel deeply connected to is being humble. I absolutely hate how most people I know say how good they are at “x”. I hate people who brag. To me it shows how insecure they are. I know when people see me studying and ask if I’m good, I always say I have a long way to go, and they sometimes continue that I should give myself more credit for what I do. I don’t like to. The same can be said for any other skill that I have and people praise…I don’t like boasting about something even if I know I am good.

    There are a lot of other aspects of Japanese that make me more interested in it as I continue my studies, but the humbleness of the language has made me feel more connected to the culture then my own.

    One more thing I like about Japanese. I love the Osaka-ben. :D Not just in anime, but real life. There is a 40 year old grad student at the University I attend who is from Osaka and I enjoy learning differences in the dialect. The dialect is very interesting and amusing. He’s a nice guy and I like trying to implement a little of the Osaka-ben when I talk to him. It’s fun to implement the stuff in my skits for Japanese class as well. My instructor seems impressed and amused when I use the Osaka-ben in skits. However he doesn’t like it to be used in writing or talking to him, which I understand and respect.

    These reasons and many more, are why I continue my study of Japanese. ^^

  • Me

    My original reason for learning japanese was a pretty bad one: My friends started getting into anime and japanese, and I jumped right on the bandwagon. But then when I started reading the culture notes in my textbook, I started to realize how unique japanese society was compared to the rest of the world. I’d been to japan a couple times before (my mom’s japanese) but I had never really appreciated how different everything was over there. Knowing what my aunts found so funny was also an another attractive motive. I’m not competent in the least (I’ve only been studying for a little over a year) but I feel like I’m a lot closer to my mom now that I have an idea of what kind of place she grew up in. Of course, I also feel resentful that she didn’t speak to me in japanese when I was a kid so I wouldn’t have to go through all of the confusing chapters on grammar, but I can’t change that I guess…
    Ha…no one’s commented in a while…this post probably won’t even get read.
    Oh well…it’s kind of therapeutic, actually.

  • Me

    My original reason for learning japanese was a pretty bad one: My friends started getting into anime and japanese, and I jumped right on the bandwagon. But then when I started reading the culture notes in my textbook, I started to realize how unique japanese society was compared to the rest of the world. I’d been to japan a couple times before (my mom’s japanese) but I had never really appreciated how different everything was over there. Knowing what my aunts found so funny was also an another attractive motive. I’m not competent in the least (I’ve only been studying for a little over a year) but I feel like I’m a lot closer to my mom now that I have an idea of what kind of place she grew up in. Of course, I also feel resentful that she didn’t speak to me in japanese when I was a kid so I wouldn’t have to go through all of the confusing chapters on grammar, but I can’t change that I guess…
    Ha…no one’s commented in a while…this post probably won’t even get read.
    Oh well…it’s kind of therapeutic, actually.

  • Chris

    When I was four, I met a Japanese woman while taking my cat to the vet, and we had an interesting conversation. Since then, I’ve been totally enamored with Japan. I can’t really say that when I was younger I actively attempted to learn Japanese, but seeing as I want to live in Japan (or teach Japanese in America), I need to start learning, and now is a good time for me. Wish me luck!

  • Chris

    When I was four, I met a Japanese woman while taking my cat to the vet, and we had an interesting conversation. Since then, I’ve been totally enamored with Japan. I can’t really say that when I was younger I actively attempted to learn Japanese, but seeing as I want to live in Japan (or teach Japanese in America), I need to start learning, and now is a good time for me. Wish me luck!

  • lala

    I dislike the fact that people believe there is such a large barrier between culture. To break the culture barrier i thought it might be necessary to learn some of the widely spoken languages in my region. Such as Japanese. However, that is not the reason, i’m really obsessed with Kanji, and they way the language works. It’s quite fun to learn, but i have such a long way to go.

  • lala

    I dislike the fact that people believe there is such a large barrier between culture. To break the culture barrier i thought it might be necessary to learn some of the widely spoken languages in my region. Such as Japanese. However, that is not the reason, i’m really obsessed with Kanji, and they way the language works. It’s quite fun to learn, but i have such a long way to go.

  • marisela

    well, i like anime and dramas and all that good stuff but i love the culture from the eddo period to the current so i want to go to Japan and maybe teach english or something like that …..that is why i am learning japanese

  • marisela

    well, i like anime and dramas and all that good stuff but i love the culture from the eddo period to the current so i want to go to Japan and maybe teach english or something like that …..that is why i am learning japanese

  • http://youtube.com/Carc1n0g3n Carcinogen

    Narutofags and their “OMG KAWAII DESU NE?!?!?!” attitudes are so friggin’ annoying. People like them are the reason I quit watching anime. I hope they choke on certain pieces of overrated pretzel candies that taste like sawdust =

    I myself want to learn a language that used another alphabet, and Japanese seems a bit more practical for the things I do. Could be beneficial as well, as learning all those characters will be great for improving my memory. Besides, I could learn a lesson or two from the culture.

  • http://youtube.com/Carc1n0g3n Carcinogen

    Narutofags and their “OMG KAWAII DESU NE?!?!?!” attitudes are so friggin’ annoying. People like them are the reason I quit watching anime. I hope they choke on certain pieces of overrated pretzel candies that taste like sawdust =\

    I myself want to learn a language that used another alphabet, and Japanese seems a bit more practical for the things I do. Could be beneficial as well, as learning all those characters will be great for improving my memory. Besides, I could learn a lesson or two from the culture.

  • Breiniak

    I have everything it takes to become a NINJA. I have acquired every skill except for knowledge in the Japanese language. ^^

  • Breiniak

    I have everything it takes to become a NINJA. I have acquired every skill except for knowledge in the Japanese language. ^^

  • Irene

    good reasons, bad reasons… who is there to judge what is good or bad? :p
    as long as you are having fun doing it and being at least a bit serious about it. maybe even learning a few more words than baka and honto ni etc. otherwise you can hardly call it learning a language.
    anyway, my reason… I wanna marry Oguri Shun! so I will have to be able to understand him first and then impress him with my skills ;)
    honestly though, I wanna go into tourism, media, journalism or something like that (not 100% sure yet) abroad and the country/language/culture that was most appealing to me was Japan. I’m only in my 1st year of college so it’ll take a while, but I got time :)

  • Irene

    good reasons, bad reasons… who is there to judge what is good or bad? :p
    as long as you are having fun doing it and being at least a bit serious about it. maybe even learning a few more words than baka and honto ni etc. otherwise you can hardly call it learning a language.
    anyway, my reason… I wanna marry Oguri Shun! so I will have to be able to understand him first and then impress him with my skills ;)
    honestly though, I wanna go into tourism, media, journalism or something like that (not 100% sure yet) abroad and the country/language/culture that was most appealing to me was Japan. I’m only in my 1st year of college so it’ll take a while, but I got time :)

  • Danielle

    My fascination with Japan actually started because of Gwen Stefani and her Harajuku Girls. I know that sounds incredibly lame, but I just thought that they looked so cool. I start learning the language though when my friend got me hooked on Korean and Japanese music. I just really love the culture and how different it is from everything else.

    I was learning Spanish in school but I just was not into it at all. Its totally the opposite for me with Japanese. I get all excited when theres a special on Japan on the travel network, and I write hiragana all over the margins on my tests at school.

    Ive been learning on my own for almost 6 months. I’m only in highschool and they only offer the same old languages that everyone else does T___T

  • Danielle

    My fascination with Japan actually started because of Gwen Stefani and her Harajuku Girls. I know that sounds incredibly lame, but I just thought that they looked so cool. I start learning the language though when my friend got me hooked on Korean and Japanese music. I just really love the culture and how different it is from everything else.

    I was learning Spanish in school but I just was not into it at all. Its totally the opposite for me with Japanese. I get all excited when theres a special on Japan on the travel network, and I write hiragana all over the margins on my tests at school.

    Ive been learning on my own for almost 6 months. I’m only in highschool and they only offer the same old languages that everyone else does T___T

  • Davitta

    I started learning Japanese because of anime and manga. (Mostly DBZ and Tenchi Muyo) Hopefully I can progress more so I can be able to watch movies and anime without subtitles. I also started learning because of the music, fashion, and food. I just really like the culture and I think its a wonderful language. I hope to go to Japan someday. ^_^

  • Davitta

    I started learning Japanese because of anime and manga. (Mostly DBZ and Tenchi Muyo) Hopefully I can progress more so I can be able to watch movies and anime without subtitles. I also started learning because of the music, fashion, and food. I just really like the culture and I think its a wonderful language. I hope to go to Japan someday. ^_^

  • http://www.myspace.com/swatkinsphotography Samantha

    Haha I saw you on youtube. I started learning Japanese because I have always been interested in the country and it’s culture and I do hope to move there in the future.
    It sounds like you dont want many people to learn the language because you think they are doing it for the wrong reason? Hmmm I say if you are interest in Japanese than why not?! So what if people learn it to “show off” I doubt them types will get very far with =]
    I did find it easy when i first started but as i advanced it became really hard, I shall keep going though..
    P.s I was wondering were you got that panda hat from?!

  • http://www.myspace.com/swatkinsphotography Samantha

    Haha I saw you on youtube. I started learning Japanese because I have always been interested in the country and it’s culture and I do hope to move there in the future.
    It sounds like you dont want many people to learn the language because you think they are doing it for the wrong reason? Hmmm I say if you are interest in Japanese than why not?! So what if people learn it to “show off” I doubt them types will get very far with =]
    I did find it easy when i first started but as i advanced it became really hard, I shall keep going though..
    P.s I was wondering were you got that panda hat from?!

  • Tomususan

    Why ?
    1. To watch Anime in Raw version
    2. To read Manga in Raw version
    3.To tak to Japanese people in japanese
    4. To travel to Japan
    And Some others reasons ^^.

  • Tomususan

    Why ?
    1. To watch Anime in Raw version
    2. To read Manga in Raw version
    3.To tak to Japanese people in japanese
    4. To travel to Japan
    And Some others reasons ^^.

  • AnimeFan

    I started learning Japanese so i am able to watch anime without English subtitles and to be able to play Japanese-language video games without waiting for the English version arrives. My knowledge of Japanese language might also come in handy if in the future i work at a company that has business with Japanese clients/companies.

← Older Comments
Newer Comments →