How to learn Japanese + FAQ [[Part 1]]

[tsjb89]

私が日本からではないですので、私に家の保険を販売しようとして­停止してください

[K1LLM3N0W131]

would you sudgest living with a host family or would it be beter to rent somthing or whatever?

[K1LLM3N0W131]

lol 7:12 "im like jesus" thats funny

[SpardaKnight2]

nice mustache 

[KirinWestphal]

japan *-*

[Brunswick999]

was he actually caught wanking? if so that's hilarious!

if not it's still a funny comment :3

[4geouse]

Doesn't it kind of suck having a mustache if you have a runny nose :-/?

[4geouse]

doesn't it kind of suck having a mustache if you have a runny nose :-/?

[kimerald01]

BAKA BAKA BAKA PERVERT PERVERT PERVERT

I hate you i thought you're cool but you're just a PERVERT

[esebaboso]

Omg that's a Centenary Jersey!!! My girlfriend used to go there I dont know if you know her? Janine? and her older brother Joram???? oh my god!! Isaw yur Jersey and I was like WTF?!?!

[TAXME1]

you really talk alot about nothing?

[waspjerk1]

lol it looks like someone gave you a dirty sanchez xD

[hakiro6]

@waspjerk1  Hahaha omg you should be given a Youtube award for that comment!

[Halflifefan264]

@Akita Tom

Dont know how that got there i laughed so hard. Plus the eye look thanks for that. :)

[dannyassassin96]

Baka baka vaka baka baka baka baka baka baka baka baka baka baka baka baka baka baka baka .....BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAKKKKKKKKK­AAAAAAAAAAAAAA lol gome perverts are bakas

[CyborgNinja7]

It's refreshing that there's a young man out there who's willing to tell off other guys who make disrespectful and perverted comments about women.

[CyborgNinja7]

How would you describe your fluency?

[BiteMeCarlisle]

ahah you said monga...lol

and thats hwo i learn...i listen to japanese bands like NewS , Kat-Tun and Arashi :D ehhe (i love koyama)

that and me and my friend use websites to learn :)

[marqmike2]

Moustache......... moustache!! MOUSTACHE!!!!

[iRlazyGoat]

lol my fav word from animes is baka :D

[SpookyYuki]

Yes, and when your watching anime in Japanese with subtitles ,you start to get a feel for the language , like how to make sentences sound like questions or just knowing when one sentence ends and another begins.

[Skuldrox]

Your like me, I suck at studying by myself! I wish there was a way for 7th graders to take japanese classes where I live T_T until then I'll try my best!

[looneyflight]

OMG i love code geass XD!!! cant wait till i can read some kanji, still working on meanings.

[cytroop]

The stache... It's... It's overwhelming.

[ihaterobbie123]

You could REALLY do without the tash XD

That aside, thanks very much, good video =]

[SoulxSpectre]

I agree with the ears first, brain later. It's how yo learn your first language, with no pressure, no study (shudder!) and it eventually goes in. I learned lots of Japanese through reading/watching manga and anime. (:

[PuzzlePatriots]

I'm japanese so if akita you dont know something a person asks you contact me via PM

[DarkGaia77818]

Lolz, you were in japan all the time and you didnt pronounce Naruto right xD

Lolz, perveted code geass book

[SqueeOriginals]

I learned a little bit of Japanese from anime :D

But only words by words xD

[syneatnrc]

hahahahaha did you get kicked in the face by an evil dragon man YES YES !!!

HAHAHHA AND ITS SNOWING LIKE A HOBO SHAKING 77YEARS WORTH OF DANDRUFF OUT OF HIS haIR hhaahahahah

london england :D

[realscrew]

he probably got cought masterbating

[sniperclown]

the most effective is when you learn the basics you should have frequent conversations to get used to

[azugirl111]

Yeees anime and manga helps ALOT. I've been wathching/reading for 5 years, it helps alot. Infact i will now translate this comment into japanese myself

はあい、アニメとマンガはちょう助けて。

私アニメお見ていたで5のさい。まじ助けてです。

And there you go kids! Watch anime! (p.s. I know its not 100% perfect you wont be fluent just after 5 years lol)

[xAsiahooD]

@azugirl111

How can you possibly translate that if you just watched Anime and Manga? Because if you watched with english subtitles and with japanese dub?

And manga..

Or maybe you didnt? Whatever.. I just want to know :P

[azugirl111]

I don't really know, it just gets soaked into my brain I suppose?

It's cause you start seeing things being repeated and you start noticing? No idea. It just comes naturally? But like I said, I'm still not 100% fluent, It's going to take a loooong time for that.

[xAsiahooD]

@azugirl111

Wow, thats great! But you must have been watching with eng sub & jap sub since you didnt knew any japanese before at all? And you watched with english sub then you started to learn right?

[azugirl111]

Haaha yes, that's pretty much how it happened. I wish I could have known Japanese out of nowhere, but sadly that's just not how the world works. ^_^;;

[chiresasori]

@azugirl111

５年ですか？やばい

[OngakuxParker]

@azugirl111 Not to bring you down at all, or to nit pick. But the grammatically correct version is:

私アニメを見ていたで5のさい。マジ助けてです。

[xniloox]

Centenary Jerseyy =)

[ReaziAzevedo]

this isn't the first shit comment you made.....

what is your problem?

[kaizokupanda]

thx for the rei booty shot! gonna take your advice and go watch anime, been missing out on One Piece cuz the audio is is 'off' ... i have no choice but to deal with it T_T

[darkcableguy]

go to animecrazy and watch one piece. or pm me i will tell you where you can watch it in HQ and the audio isn't off.

[omgitshenry]

Laziness strikes

[123jesse123]

EPIC

[starfirechik]

i was learning japanese by hearing words just like you from anime :)

and yea once you watch the anime in japanese it sounds better than the voices who do it in english.

[hakushoFAI]

how much you buy that Manga?!

[GregarMoon]

anime japanese ftw~~~

but say,I find that J-drama and anime uses different method of Japanese,if you compare them carefully I mean.The grammer and stuff is all same,only the vocalization is different and the slang is different,so it might be hard for beginners to understand different province's slang in a short time.Tha's what I think anyways.......

[Starhh21]

i soo agree with u here .. sometime they way they speak in j-drama are bit diferent like the tone they say a certain word !

[animemanga15]

I agree, you do cath a little of japanese when u watch anime. I only know a little on japanese from watching anime.

[TheVinster]

If anybody actually wants to compliment actual learning with shows they should watch J-dramas. I just started taking classes at the end of May and recently started watching some dramas. I've noticed they usually keep the proper sentence structure. (Anime and songs will only make you confused.) Just my two cents. Difficult language to me, but hopefully it will be rewarding.

[bloodspiller20]

cool videos you have. I really wish i could speak japanese x)

[ration10]

who is Miki? scratch that never mind but, about those movie or vidz are there w/ subs u can recommed us.

[ration10]

can u suggest us a movie or videos with subtitles for us to learn and pick up some of the japanese language.

[crippin798]

you know... you talking about how you don't want to tell makes me even more curious.

[SlaveExplosion]

was just thinking that man haha

[crippin798]

I know, right? hah

[NarutoCelebrityCospl]

We sing japanese anime themes to learn ^_^ and watch anime

[Heintje1]

NarutoCelebrityCospl,

*facepalms* Learn Nihongo by J-pop songs? That won't get you anywhere. Those songs won't teach you anything like particles, grammar construction and so on. If you wanna learn, do some REAL studying.

[luisr5432]

dude u look older in this vid not saying anything bad about u but yea

[zaldabus]

You'd be surprised by how few words you need to know to have a casual conversation. Pick up a beginner level Japanese book, add a few street slang words, and soon enough you'll be hearing

日本語上手ですね！

-or-

わ、すごい！

Just get out there and start talking. Getting over the whole shyness about poor speaking ability is the first step to mastering spoken language.

[terraxlocke]

agreed =P

[linny177]

once a week wont make you fluent, someone who wishes to become fluent before there 60 should study everyday, for atleast a half hour or something like that

[InuAva]

thank you for the videos!!!

[DivineGoddessfufu]

I enjoy watching anime in japanese with subs anyway,

english dubs suck (for most anime, not ALL of them)

[lauzzxo]

i think if ya wanna learn, when you hear a japanese word look up the meaning in a japanese dictionary and then if you constantly hear that word in conversation you should learn it

[smaviii]

Hai. Daijoubu desu

lol that's probably the first word i ever remembered of Japanese. thank you animes.

[Danilo552]

can u come in brazil and pay one passport for me *-* i reallyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy want go to Japan *-* sorry my english is so bad T.T thx *-*

[DraggingMorons]

I totally agree with you. watching program made out of japanese really helps you, so are the anime. Only if you can translate it, learning japanese will be faster. The thing is, if you just study like that you will only learn that word so, it is pretty bad too.

[Danilo552]

thake off this mustache

[yoroshiku]

Definitely. He should definitely take off the glasses and the mustache. He looked much better on previous videos, like the one titled "The truth being an Exchange Student in Japan".

[doubleheadeddude]

do you sleep in a futon

[Eponuts]

sweet rei butt

[ACrOsSZz]

Did you just got kicked in the face by a dragon man? yes yes i have xDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

[Capcanister]

Whats the first manga he showed called?

[Nat4Brendan]

Neon Genesis Evangelion. :)

[MadGoose5]

Thanks for this video, it really is very helpful. I've had problems learning Japanese by myself: I memorised the Hiragana chart and a bunch of Kanji, then forgot them all. BTW, does anyone know where I can get manga written in Japanese? (I live in England).

Sorry to hear there was a problem with your host family. I agree about the Miki comments, if I see any that are too weird I'll spam mark them. Thanks for the rest of your vids too, they're great. ^_^

[whisperofdeath987]

I heard Japanese people don't like foreigners is this true? I want to take a few weeks to visit there but I don't want to if i won't be accepted.

[Lemo267]

At least, it's not true for me.

Some Japanese avoided foreigners, because just they can't speak foreign language, I think.

I wish everyone will understand it.

[MGassailant]

Ya just like Lemo267 said. Japanese avoid foreigners just cause they don't speak the language. But the Japanese are trying hard to learn American English. As a matter of fact, its a mandatory class in school.

I know this cause I live in Japan (I'm "HALF"), and actually did a survey with my friends

[themilkclub]

Is it difficult learning to read japanese?

And does it take very long translating all that manga?

[gurtekniques]

funny thing was..

when you were talking about picking up words when watching japanese videos, i was thinking daijoubu!

i dont watch anime though, but i do watch Utaban and some other shows (usually with morning musume). and yes, watching shows with subs DOES help you with the language.

but for help, i bought a kana book for some extra practice. great video tom

[idkmybfftyra]

Today i told my science teacher who was an exchange student in Japan that im going to be one too. She replied "ha, you're going to be awfully lonely.... didn't mean to depress you...."

D|

[XxNathanJamesxX]

Miki seems rly nice u 2 seem like rly good freands also its okay u dont have to tell ene body about what happened to ur host fam and u kay? ^ - ^

[efrainplaza7]

he looks retarded with that moustache

[yopro]

I suggest watching anime with out subs.

[SweetSasuke52]

I've learned most my Japanese by watching anime and Japanese dramas in Japanese with subtitles. I've only learned a few things from reading manga. x333

[DoomAngelKitty]

Kanji is a hell. I agree.

But I'm really excited cause in October I'm going on the Japanese Tour with people from years 9-11 from my school. We are going to Disneyland there.

[cohman]

I can't wait until I go to Japan woot!!! I go this summer for about 2 weeks for a school trip. I am gonig to go all around Japan and the last 3 days will be in Tokyo... So yeah that is going to be cool and all... So thx for all the uploads...

[AkitaTom]

yeah i know right?

[sk8er4ever0101]

be proud!

[idkmybfftyra]

o-o; im going to be an exchange student in Japan for my senior year o-o;;;

so nervous D:

[madcowfun1]

wow thats so cool XD

[CatzDaLegit]

Tom was caught wanking.

[BustedNuttz]

lol.. thats exactly what I think too. No worries man.. sh1t happens.

Could have been worse.. could have been your mum who caught you

[underoathuea]

@CatzDaLegit literally thats the only thing it could be.

[mewmewkitens]

Is that a centenary high jersey lol ?

[AkitaTom]

Yus, you know of it :)?

[mewmewkitens]

Yeh... played them in union once a couple years ago :P i went to corinda high same year as you

[yamibakura21]

I learned japanese through the Irasshai program my school had. To me, the program was great because it made learning japanese easy. Plus, you had an over-the-phone sensei to help you speak it well.

[TadakoXIII]

OMFG ME TOO.... but they were recently, uh, bought from some other company, weren't they? T__T;;;; Irasshai was a pretty beastly program.

[Xubxero]

Dude, just something quick, you didn't give us the name of the translator thingie in the video description.

Thanks in advance :D

[p3t3rkn1f3]

Tom is right! The way that Japanese is being taught in schools is wrong. You don't see babies writing before speaking. IMO languages should always be taught by speaking.. If you're learning a second language, that will probably be it's primary purpose anyway.

[Zensound]

Someone who likes Naruto and isn't retarded. Cool :o

[Cadacusdeity90]

I like your videos a lot but I must say I liked the video when you talked about the 'truth about being an exchange student in japan' cause you look 100% better with ur hair down and no mustache....Other then that, keep making vids cause they are very interesting ^_^

[AkitaTom]

Wow.. that Mustache was horrible

[onlyplaytabs]

Is that a mustache? You gotta shave that shit, it looks horrible..

[animefreak1467]

sry, but who's miki?

[thegamerdaemon]

my spoken japanese is comming along, i know basic words and phrases but i wouldn't know where to begin with kanji and such

[SlickRell22]

would you date a girl over there?or is that to personal?

[ironsaviorguy99]

i find that if you dont watch to many action animes and alot of romance ones you learn more of the language and the culture because the romance ones tend to usually take place in japan

[ironsaviorguy99]

i learnt by a mixture of rosetta stone japanese anime no subs and my friend id say if you study for about 6th months in total immersion you should pick alot of stuff up idk its different for everyone tho

[StarryKid06]

I don't think anyone will ever learn Japanese by watching anime. At least not people speaking Germanic languages. The placement of subjects and verbs, etc. is very different. Anyhow........ So having only basic Jp. language skills, what kind of work would I expect to get theoretically? Fish market? I'm asking seriously BTW

[Neosinya]

I could.

And by knowing basic Japanese, you learn the advanced Japanese. Basic is needed to communicate. You can't run before you haven't even learned how to walk.

[StarryKid06]

You say you "could," not you "have" or you "did." So that's not too convincing... I think any exposure to a language is going to help you. But I mean, someone who knows absolutely ZERO Japanese I don't think is going to sit down in front of a Jp. movie and gain anything without already knowing the structure, format, and basics of the language.

[Neosinya]

I said "could" because I get bored of everything after a week, but it doesn't mean I wouldn't. I just don't have the willpower. And I knew absolutely NOTHING about Jp language, BUT I started watching Jap horror, anime and then dramas and that's how I learned what I know now. I don't know much, but I do know that I will not stop. I'm not saying that you can learn it in one week, but I'm also not saying that you can't learn from anime. You just need the willpower.

[noyellingkid123]

oh man thanks for the faqs man. i love watching anime and i pick up all this japanese so fast. now i just need to go to school

[yahags]

man you talk so much no wonder people don't watch

signal to noise ration is way too high in your videos

[AkitaTom]

Right you are, absolutely nobody watches my videos. I just.. you know.. made 2600 youtube accounts and subscribed to my own channel for fun. Jeez you're a Moron =)

[NinjaArt99]

rofl you owned him should of did something in japanese lol

[overratedmule]

e_e sort out the tash man. not to be rude or anything.

[pborty]

Tom, we're all humans, we all like to get personal, especially if it an environment different than ours

[XKenshi25]

No, jdrama is like japanese soap operas. Shows like Hana Kimi, Hana Yori Dango, Stand Up!!, and series like that. They aren't really "soap operas" like here tho, and are aimed towards a much younger audience. You can find torrents of them all over the place if you want to study them. Good luck!

[xoxoxfranxoxox]

Code Geass is good...why did you say I don't know how that got in there. when you found the manga.

What are you even doing now that your out of the program? Aren't your parents mad at you?

[Clockheartpenguin]

Heh =p For a Japanese speaker, You still say Naruto like an Australia :)

[aznfire5]

yo u got a lil bit of that hitler on yo lip man

[SaiRyo]

wow u sur no how to speak japanese i wish i culd get in contact with u as i am going to japan soon as i am intrested om it's cultures my aim name is eternalshadows96 i am available on 3:00 through 9:00 america time hope to hear from u soon

[ginzuisho]

dude you really shouldn't have said something about your host family because now i want to know what happened lol

[dutchavatarfan]

Me too.

[ginzuisho]

I totally agree haha.

I learned English by watching dubbed anime LOL

[PsychoHellKat]

Hey Tom, did u get the electronic dictionary in australia or japan? (at a shop or over the net?)

I'm going to Japan in just over 3 months with YFU.. can't wait! :D

[Pandomun]

говори по руссуки!

[XKenshi25]

Really good idea is watching Japanese drama. I've been studying Japanese at school for about five years now, and have been to Japan quite a few times. If you want any advice on how to learn while having fun, it's jdrama. lol, you can get really into it and youre actually seeing the characters speaking normal japanese. Very helpful indeed.

[pimpinpurple53]

jdrama,that is japanese drama right? like movies..?

[Zibi21]

I love to watch animes and well it helps ^^ I usualy watch animes in orginal state (japanese talk+eng subs) and it helps to understand talk ^^ My method was first watchig 1-2 times anime in RAW shape (only jap talk) and trying to understand what they say (trying to translate first in my head) then when the subs are out I re-watch it and see if I udnerstood good the talk ;] (learning words and sentences)... its combining fun with study ^^ I would love to learn how to read kanji >_>

[tehblizz]

just do it, don't sit here and wish

[Katsuya89]

u need to shave the peach fuzz bro.

[karapocky]

so true. i found it to be the same with british/american dramas. now my english is awesome lol

[FanOfTokyo]

i learn japanese too

and i can speak and write it a little bit

and i think that the best way to learn is fun

you should want to learn

if you always think "i hate it but i have to do it"

thats definitely the wrong way

or better sad not the simplyest way

you should to like study japanese

[AkitaTom]

I hate studying EVERYTHING by myself, i CAN'T do it by myself haha i fall asleep. Study isn't for everyone. That's why you have to find other ways to study without 'studying'.

[curlygurl2011]

Cool! Thanks for the tip. That is what I'm doing now. Just watching anime sub and when I hear a word I know its awesome!

[TkyoSam]

You are taking the people on youtube a little bit too serious buddy. It's all good and fun, but I suggest you don't show them that you are aggitated, otherwise you are more likely to fuel the haters bro ;)

[KenshinHeng]

refresh it

[TSODATOSProductions]

Go Tom. I hate hearing the English voices as well.

[JapanPlz]

Lookin a little rough there Tom... looks like you need a nice haircut and a shave :P

[AZaikoku]

In my school some boy studied japanese by himself and then took a test and got to a japansese university..o.0

And he only did selfstudying, he never had any help from anyone. I wish I could be that good too..

This was a good video! =)

[kylethebarbarian]

How about this, say you have never had any formal instruction in Japanese, or taken any lessons, but you are familiar with Japanese though film and anime. How hard do you think it would be to learn Japanese in Japan, if say, your with a family that speaks little English, or perfer to speak Japanese.

It is kinda asking the same thing, but this has been bugging me...

[Knnedy]

This year I've started taking Japanese lessons like you said in this video.

Every Saturday for 3 hours and 30 minutes..

And I started watching Japanese anime and dramas so I guess I'm on the right track. =D

I bet you made many people curious about your host family..

I hope it's not something bad that happened. o_o

[dutchavatarfan]

I guess it was.

[scorch11111111111111]

do you still live in your host house

[sheerblade]

The best one I've seen was the "All Japanese All the Time" video's recorded by TkyoSam, Khatzumoto put it best in those video's and really, Tom's video's kinda support it.

[AkitaTom]

Yeah those videos are really good, Khatzumoto and i have some differences in the way we think that Japanese should be learnt, but the overall message is quite similar.

[wesieboy56]

heeey tom! Whatcha up to these days??

[Shaggybunny1989]

Cool.

[karosakiichigo]

haha tom i bet you got kicked out because they found your code geass porn LOL! ofcourse im only kidding :)

[grubgush]

dude im just like that in that i can't study by my self lol

[fantasyfan998]

i'm sorry Tom

but dude you gotta shave

[spykeex69]

Well here's hoping other get "lucky" too eh?

[FrenzyR]

dudee first comment!

im learning japanese just by reading japanese phrase book is that ok?

haha

i dont know any good way...

i would take japanese class but my school doesnt have it T.T

[Zeokar]

tom u need to shave lol