• i want to learn japanese, but not just so i can watch or read the next manga/ anime, but because i like language too.

As for me... yes, it does. But not only manga and anime. I was interested in it long before that. The truth is that I really like Japanese culture, I like their lifestyle and I like them in general. I fin Japanese very cute and sweet <3 And manga/anime is one of a many aspects why I want to learn this language.

Not only because of anime and manga, I want to go to Japan one day. Well, I want to go everywere. xDD and learn about all the different languages. It's also fun to learn Japanese and listening to the characters speack in Japanese is always fun to learn new words.

I don't think I need to learn Japanese
Ok, maybe only the basics. That's it.
I mean; I don't need it for the future o__o
And learning it is extremely hard

I became interested in learning Japanese because of manga and anime but now I just want to learn. Not for manga or anime but because I just do. Even if I quit reading manga or watching anime I would continue to learn the language.

Heh, manga's what made me start wanting to learn Japanese. So I know a little so far :D but I'm gonna take classes, because I don't think I'll be able to learn by just watching subbed anime.

Yes, because it drives me nuts when they stop translating a series.

Yami No Matsuei is a good example:

It became to yaoi-esque for them to translate it any further.

Which I think is dumb.

I've thought about it, but I never really watched anime in Japanese or anime at all so I didn't feel I needed it for that part, but the few times I did it made me curious to learn the language, and like any language I try to learn I sucked at it.
My friend's uncle lives in Japan so he knows fluent Japanese, so he tried to teach me but... it really didn't work.

No, but I did learn Japanese and Japanese culture because I liked what I saw in the Anime I watched and wanted to know how accurate it was... so does that count?

yes it definitely encourage me to learn japanese. but at the same time watching anime and reading manga or listening to the music and learning about japan makes me want to go to japan myself. so i would want to learn the language that way if i go to japan i won't get lost.
japanese is quite hard though especially the kanji =(
i could only read hiragana and katakana.
but japanese is a pretty hard language but at the same time it's as easy as taking candy from a baby i guess

Actually, yes, ever since i've started watching anime in japanese with english subs, it has made me interested in learning japanese. Within the last year I have actually started to learn japanese and its quite fun to read it. Still i can't read manga yet, but working on it.

Yes, actually! Because of my love of manga and anime, I am currently taking a Japanese language course at my university.

I have and still do

Originally Posted by Sandra

Have you guys tried to learn Japanese simply because you want to read the latest manga or understanding the anime without watching subtitles?

I for one would love to be able to read Japanese manga.
So yes, I would definitely love to learn Japanese and maybe if I have time Korean.

I don't know if that was it. I thinkI I was more inspired to learn. I started ages ago maybe about 10 -12 yrs ago. Then put it on hold for school. I'm really disapointed with that dicision now because I feel like I was left out of the loop for all those years. I had stopped buying anime magazines because it cost too much. I had also had a pen pal send me copied episodes of Sailor moon and only some of them were subtitled the rest were in Japanese. I picked up a few phrases frome watching those.I've only picked it back up recently. Sadly I haven't learned much. and now that I'm older I find it a bit harder to learn. But I do understand the complexity of the lanauges. And I'm probably more able to tackle learning it as a launguage rather than a casual hobby that anime fans thinks is cool. I've admired the asian culture for years. So has my brother who is now teaching english over there. He will be home in nov so hopefully he will be able to teach me a few phrases and just general cultural gestures etc.

i would love to learn Japanese. I always watch anime with subtitles so i can hear the Japanese actors doing the character voices. they always seem to fit better than the dubbed actors. it'd be great if i could understand the Japanese actors and not have to read what they say.

Originally Posted by madamelsie

i would love to learn Japanese. I always watch anime with subtitles so i can hear the Japanese actors doing the character voices. they always seem to fit better than the dubbed actors. it'd be great if i could understand the Japanese actors and not have to read what they say.

And easy way to pick up a few words is this. Pay very close attention to what they do and say. For instance when a character picks up the phone and sayd mushi mushi. I instantly got that; oh this must be their teleohone greating. And so on...
Lets see it's been a while since I've practice this technique so it hard thinking of another good example. Hmmm can't think of any. Well a good place to start is with the pronunciations. Get them down because this is very important in their language. More so than I had originally thought I first started learning Japanese years ago. Also if your serious about this get yourself a book. I bought Learning Japanese for Dummies. Yes I know sounds silly and does it really work or help? YES, it's the best Japanese learnign tool I have ever bought. The author breaks wach lesson down into simple terms. Helping the reader undstand the complexities of the language. Along with their words adapted from english which can be quit funny hee hee
Anyway I hpe this helps you out. I know it can be discouraging. But it's deffinelty worth the stot to try and learn Japanese. Best of luck! ;)

I do want to learn Japanese so I can be able to read it and speak it. Mostly this is because I want to visit Japan one day soon and I want to be able to read the signs there. Anime and manga were the influence for me to get start tho.

Manga and anime definitely encouraged me to learn Japanese! Last Spring Semester I had the honor to take Japanese I with one of the best professors in the campus. She was amazing. I'm sad that she didn't teach Japanese II for this fall but I may take it next fall.

Right now I use My Japanese Coach for practicing. I remember how so many people were telling the My Coach series how they wanted Japanese and BOOM we got it. It was such a happy moment. <3~

i believe so,
i teach a small group of students at my school japanese culture, and language. i try to base some lessons off of common anime and show that there language will always tie in with names or citys ect. in the series. which in return brings up culture and why those things are named the way they are, it really does help. should you base all the language you know off of anime? no. its just a stepping stone (a very very small one)

I personally have always loved learning different languages (french, italian, japanese) and learning bits of each culture...Then i started really liking japanese, and that's what actually started me into liking anime and manga ^_^; and pokemon of course. lol....I also want to learn korean...but one language at a time ^_^;

sadly...i still have no interest in learning spanish, i love learning about the culture all the same....but


anyways ^_^ anime/manga= life....and it's so much easier learning the language through movies and interaction with it.

HA HA! actually because of anime, I took all 4 years of high school japanese class. not only do I love the language but the culture and history of Japan really fascinates me.
Sometimes, I really wish I lived in Japan and one of these days I will visit! >.<

but it's funny because now in college, most of my roomates are chinese, so I've been learning chinese now XDD
I also find that country interesting......plus some of their dramas on their TVs are based on mangas from japan! O3O
For example: Meteor Garden (which I love) is based on Hana Yori Dango (Boys over Flowers) (though its pretty old, made in 2001 XDD) strill good to watch though! ^^

reading manga and stuff did make me want to learn japanese, but i never learned it well enough to read ahead or anything.
i took japanese for 2 years in high school. the first year was really good. i had a little trouble with the sentence structure, but nothing too bad. the second year was horrible. the first semester, we had a new teacher who could not teach at all. we got a new teacher the second semester, but since we learned so little the first semester, i didn't go that well.

yea i would love to learn the language and go visit one day see the culture and actually speak to someone but i need to start practicing again :D

Well, anime helped my interest in learning Japanese. But it was the culture that got me into it. Hearing stories from my parents, who lived in Japan for a few years because my dad was in the air force, got me interested in learning more. I went to Japan for a week for a class in college...and I have to tell you, I started to like the Japan culture more then anime.

Yes also so you can say your favorite characters sayings at the top of your voice so everyone will think your nuts if they don't already lol