Emersing Yourself In Japanese

[Kudo Masaki]

I have been emersing myself in the Japanese language, listening to Japanese music and all that and even going to sites and putting them to Japanese if its an option, what do you think of this? Is this a good study habit?

[Wakannai]

immersion without study won't take you very far very fast. You will still have to formally study the Japanese.

[Yudan Taiteki]

Immersing yourself in Japanese that you barely understand (or don't understand at all) is nearly useless in terms of building your language skills. Also, it doesn't count as immersion if there are subtitles or translations.

[Mike Cash]

You're attempting to surround yourself with Japanese. Not immerse.

This tactic alone won't assure you of any progress; that takes active effort. But there is little chance of it hurting anything and it does increase your exposure to the language. And goodness knows there is no substitute for exposure.

[Kudo Masaki]

Im trying to familiarize myself to the language in general, I understand most of it so Im good at that part, Im working on getting more fluent.

[Kudo Masaki]

immersion without study won't take you very far very fast. You will still have to formally study the Japanese.

And I do study, everyday, thanks.

[Yudan Taiteki]

Im trying to familiarize myself to the language in general, I understand most of it so Im good at that part, Im working on getting more fluent.

What do you mean by "I understand most of it"? If that's actually true you don't really need to study Japanese anymore.

[Harisenbon]

What do you mean by "I understand most of it"? If that's actually true you don't really need to study Japanese anymore.

Snarky comments regarding people with inflated estimates of their ability aside, I'm of the opinion you should study until you know all of it. And then study some more.

[Yudan Taiteki]

I'm of the opinion you should study until you know all of it. And then study some more.

I'd be happy with 50%.

[Kudo Masaki]

Im trying to familiarize myself to the language in general, I understand most of it so Im good at that part, Im working on getting more fluent.

What do you mean by "I understand most of it"? If that's actually true you don't really need to study Japanese anymore.

Well not most of it, I do tend to get to know what is which by looking at it though, I tend to make out what it means sometimes, Im not getting my words right, gomenasai.

[Oracle]

Immersing yourself in another language is very difficult to do unless you're in that country, but in my opinion anything that forces you to think about the language is good: things like putting a post-it note on every object in your room with the Japanese name on etc. Watching an hour of Japanese dvds consistently everyday (btw drama and normal programs with people talking if possible, rather than anime), or having Japanese net radio with lots of talking going in the background all the time so you're getting used to the sound of the language, even when you're not specifically concentrating on it.
If you're not in-country though these things should be in addition to 'normal' study of Japanese.

[Harisenbon]

One thing that just stood out for me is that you mentioned that you were puting websites into Japanese if they have that option? Do you mean if the site is multilingual (like slashdot or cnet) you put it into Japanese, or do you use an online translation function like google has (Translate this)? If it's the former, it could be good practice but if it's the latter, you need to keep in mind that the translations that you get from an online translator will not resemble real Japanese in the least.

For example, I translated a page into Japanese through google and the phrase "Home" in the navigation bar was written as "家" in Japanese.

[Kudo Masaki]

One thing that just stood out for me is that you mentioned that you were puting websites into Japanese if they have that option? Do you mean if the site is multilingual (like slashdot or cnet) you put it into Japanese, or do you use an online translation function like google has (Translate this)? If it's the former, it could be good practice but if it's the latter, you need to keep in mind that the translations that you get from an online translator will not resemble real Japanese in the least.

For example, I translated a page into Japanese through google and the phrase "Home" in the navigation bar was written as "家" in Japanese.

I mean like myspace.com, it can go to myspace.co.jp, thats what I mean, I dont use no google translator. xD

I also watch Ninja Warrior and Unbeatable Banzuke to study as well sometimes, it takes me a minute to understand but I get it sometimes.

[two_heads_talking]

I dont use no google translator. xD.

so, you do use a translator huh? or do you just fail to understand the double negative uses?

[AJBryant]

I dont use no google translator. xD.

so, you do use a translator huh? or do you just fail to understand the double negative uses?

For the record, I always figured if I was ever in legal trouble, I could make a great point of avoiding perjury by a judicious usage of the double negative.


Tony