Why You SHOULD Learn Japanese From Anime

The idea that you “Shouldn’t learn Japanese from anime” has been pervasive in the Japanese learning community for quite some time. The argument is usually that because the Japanese used in anime doesn’t reflect how Japanese is used in real life, learning from anime will lead to an unnatural and off-putting way of speaking the language. In this video, I deconstruct this myth by explaining that the differences between “anime Japanese” and “real life Japanese” are largely surface level, and that even if you mainly learn through anime, learning to shift your speaking style to be more in-line with “real life Japanese” will not be difficult.

Although I’ve had the idea for this video for a while, I was inspired to make it now as a response to the recent episode of the “Trash Taste” podcast titled “Don't Watch Anime to Learn Japanese”. The hosts, Joey, Connor and Garnt (Gigguk), only talked about learning Japanese for the first 15 minutes of the 2-hour podcast, and the topic of learning from anime only came up briefly. So, I assume they titled the podcast episode that way largely for clickbait purposes. Nevertheless, I figured it would be a good opportunity for me to make this video.

I want to make it clear that I’m a fan of all three members of the Trash Talk podcast and harbor no animosity towards any of them! That said, I do think they have some misguided views on topic of language learning. My hope is that Connor and Garnt will see this video and realize that their love for anime is actually their greatest asset when it comes to learning Japanese!

JAPANESE RESOURCES FROM VIDEO:

***MY LINKS***

MUSIC:
Mahjong Legend Akagi Full OST - Genei
Carole and Tuesday - Warm Groove
Kaiji: Ultimate Survivor OST - Wish
Naruto OST - Afternoon of Konoha
Carole and Tuesday - Music Brains
Golden Boy OST - T N Software
Space Dandy OST - Kimi to Nara

[punikachi]

I don't understand how the argument that you can't learn Japanese from anime even exists. It's literally content made by natives for natives. It's not like anime uses different words to other forms of media. As long as you are not stupid you are not going to actually speak like an anime character. Are there any ESL speakers who speak like Spongebob? I highly doubt it. But everything that Spongebob says is natural English.

[dnoxpgk]

I’m Japanese and the learning process was exactly the same for me too when I was studying English. I watched a whole bunch of American cartoons, sitcoms, dramas, and movies. I listened and listened and listened to the language and had a general idea of when to use certain words or phrases in a particular situation. I gradually began to understand the nuances and I increased the amount of English I hear, speak, read, write in my daily life. While I was on the train, I watched American YouTubers’ videos and without using textbooks, I naturally learned grammar. I also listened to lots of American pop songs. Learning another language is a lot of work but at the same time, it is a lot of fun. The number of valuable things you gain after you master the language is immeasurable. To those who are learning or are about to begin learning a language, go for it!

[BijuuMike]

i seen the podcast as well and when they talked about learning Japanese from anime i gotta admit i immediately thought of you

[averageweeabo]

Saying that one should not learn from anime is like saying to an english language learner who likes detectives novels "Don't read too many detective books because you'll end up sounding like a Humphrey Bogart character! As if people are so stupid as to not be able to tell a difference between how characters talk and real life.

[cahsahhhhhhhn]

You’ve given hope to so many weebs.
What a hero.

[alineblooms]

besides there's worse than sounding like an anime character, it's to speak textbook japanese, seriously.

[jackneals]

Bro the ONLY way to get good at Japanese is from years of classes, txt book grammar study and actually MOVING to Japan. You CAN'T simply learn Kanji from RTK, watch a bunch of anime and mine some sentences and magically EXPECT to get fluent in a couple








OH

[cubingonmymind]

Honestly I don’t care if anime hurts or helps my Japanese I just watch it cause it’s good

[CrimsonDX]

Anyone else want to hear Matt actually talk like an anime character?

[jefftube]

I feel like the trash taste podcast should respond to this

[AkaiNiwatori]

Hopefully people notice this contrast to what so many popular you tubers have been saying recently: Japanese people don’t talk like they do in anime.

With the exception of obvious differences that many have already pointed out, or course they freaking do or they wouldn’t be understanding it

[kezako]

Well, that makes sense. My favorite immersion program when I was learning Hungarian was... dubbed Southpark ( there wasn't much more available on the internet at the time ). Surprisingly, I went to live in Hungary, I didn't end up sounding like Cartman.

[stevijs]

Exactly. And if you really do get fluent in a language you should be able to change what you are saying to fit the situation anyway.

And seriously ... if you hear someone scream 貴様 while enraged and you think this is the right way to address your neighbour ... then I don't know what to tell you.
And all of this even assumes that you ...
- you only watch anime and read manga until you are fluent and nothing else.
- that you never encounter a character speaking in 敬語 or dont notice it.
Even if this was the case it would be easy to fix with some immersion with "everyday" speech, or by a japanese person pointing it out to you.

[BenLucasCritic]

Literally my first reaction when I saw that podcast title, had to dash into the comments real quick to correct this misinformation 😅 this is a great video to just send people to now though!

[vanessameow]

Can't wait for the part 2!!
マジで第二部を楽しみにしてる！！

[gogll]

Omg yes, this is what is needed. Remember people to tweet this to garnt, Joey and Connor when it's published. This might be the first step to spread immersion based language learning to the masses.





[I changed the phrasing as it previously couraged to spamming. I do not encourage spamming]

[kooken]

I never cared for Anime, then I decided to sit down and watch One Piece. A few months later, I'm on episode 300.

[Eruptor]

Matt I love how your channel has been blowing up lately, you deserve it.

[mcmodmod]

Really interested to see how next week‘s video will turn out. It sounds like a new type of video, considering we usually get quite broad language learning videos, instead of specific Japanese language analysis stuff.

[azzamfs]

5:09 English is not my first language but I believe I am decent enough to understand everything that is said in this video. When I was learning English, the most helpful tool for me was watching Hollywood movies with English subtitles. I quickly expanded my vocabulary and English understanding from there. I think this would apply to learning any language.