Anime and learning Japanese
danball1976
Wichita Falls, TX
One thing about watching subtitled Anime is that you can learn a few japanese words and what they mean, however, its almost impossible to learn what they are saying, or which Japanese word goes to what english word in a sentance due to the structure and complexity of the Japanese language.
Included in a text file are words I have learned in Japanese and their approximate english translation.
One should also note that translations by different fan subbing services can vary wildly.
Included in a text file are words I have learned in Japanese and their approximate english translation.
One should also note that translations by different fan subbing services can vary wildly.
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I never got her number though, otherwise I'd give it to ya, Dan. You two might would hit it off.
Those are the worst kind of people who think they automatically know a different language just because they watch it with the english subtitles.
Do a search on google on learning japanese, and you'll find how hard it can be and how complex the language is. There are no personal identifiers in the Japanese language such as You, Him, Them, and so on. A noob learning Japanese would be confused if he walked up to someone talking to another because he wouldn't know who they were talking about. You have to listen to the context of the story.
How about I meet you have way and say they're just evil? But let's keep things like "worst" reversed for sub-humans like Bin Laden.
(Yeah, ok, really crappy joke. I know, I know.)
Oh, I have the last volume (episodes 11, 12 and 13) of Burn Up Excess: Case of the Black Diamonds. It has the original Japanese Dialogue as well as english and spanish dialogues. It has english subtitles when viewing the Japanese dialogue. The subtitles stay on when switching to english or spanish dialogues.
When listening to the english dialogue with the subtitles translated from Japanese, it shows just how much the script was changed for the english dialogue. That is the main reason why I dislike dubbed anime.
Now, if I were a fan and was used to the characters and storyline, then subtitled might seem better.
My kids want to learn Japanese, and so I let them watch kids anime that has no subtitles or overdubs. They watch probably 1-2 hours of Japanese-only anime a week. They are not by any means speaking Japanese yet, but they understand (as it is very easy and effortless for all young children) the flow and the meter and the rhythm of the language. My 5 year old can "fake" pidgin Japanese VERY convincingly. He's saying complete nonsense, of course, but to a person who knew nothing of the language, it would sound like he's firing off fluently. He knows a few phrases, and one time we went to a Japanese grocery store and he was talking with a couple of guys, in "Japanese" and they were just cracking up. I have no idea what he was saying, so maybe he knows more than I think he does
At any rate, if you want to learn Japanese, forget the TV and turn to the books. You need an audio program, and a hiragana book to start. Then learn the katakana, and then start "reading" children's books or middle school literature that is written in Furigana. Furigana is written in kanji but has tiny kana characters next to each kanji so that you can learn how to pronounce it. Since a native doesn't truly learn Kanji until age 20 or so, you're gonna have to get cracking
I've also met people who believe that anyone who watched anime with any translation is missing the whole point of the medium, and that they shouldn't watvh it at all if they're not willing to learn the language.
It's a personal preference. To tell me I'm wrong would be like telling me that I'm wrong because I can't stand strawberry flavored ice-cream.
Amen to that!!!
...Topical digression!
Best Buy places Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda in the anime section and not the Sci-Fi section. I think its due to who releases the DVD's for the TV series, which is ADV Films.
The ones who has such releases as:
All Purpose Cultural Cat-Girl Nuku Nuku
Burn Up Excess
Angelic Layer
Cutey Honey
Dirty Pair Flash
Excel Saga
Golden Boy
Neon Genesis Evangelion
Rurouni Kenshin
Sailor Moon
You're Under Arrest
among tons of other actual anime
Once I finish my enlistment next month and go back to college, I'll take Japanese.
EDIT: should also mention that there was a Super Campeones video game for the NES that was also very popular. It had an RPG interface. You'd move the ball along the field, and when you met a defender, it was treated as an "encounter". You'd see the guys power level, your own power level, and you'd get a menu where you could select pass, try to get around him, a super move (super pass, super shot on goal, etc). An announcer would say whether you succeded or not and you'd see the animation.
Each move would delete a certain amount from your power level. Certain players had "combo" moves, that if they were both on the field, they could get together to do super kicks on goal. The players you used the most would have a pretty low power level at the end of the half, and you'd have to rest them so that their power level could get back to max in time for the endgame. The most powerful players had power levels of around 700-900, and their super moves could use up 75-90 points. Combo super moves could take 100-140. Some players had impossible-to-block kicks on goal that used up 3 or 400 points. Of course each character in the show was represented, had his signature moves from the show (for offense AND defense). That game was AWESOME