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From: tofugu
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  • I listen to japanese music, watch the news channels as well as practicing my Hiragana, Kanji Katana, katana is hard as fuck but Its gonna be worth it when everyone else knows romaji and you know how to read real japanese characters.

  • Hmm... "I", "you," and "kill" are all useful words to know... so are "underestimate" and "me" ... and oh! look at that, so are "will be" "pirate" and "king". Now from those three sentences I know how to say "I'm going to kill something", "don't underestimate" something and "I will be the", well anything! I just have to start replacing words. :D Considering that kids sometimes sound like cartoons, in the beginning why can't I?

  • I'm gonna kill you, don't underestimate me and I will be the pirate king.

  • My mom was howling with laughter at this even though I pointed out that I'm not trying to learn an entire language from anime I just like to watch it.

  • personally i would be to shy to talk to another person whose language i'm trying to learn. i would be to scared of sounding loopy. plus i would stumble because im to bashful.

  • Is that a panda hat? Where did you get that panda hat? I want that hat!

  • if you ONLY use anime to learn Japanese your considered a "weebo*

  • Let me hug you. I love you.

  • Comment removed

  • hehe, gotta agree with that guy, best way to learn a language is to use it. But as funny as it may sound, i've learned most of my english by watching The Simpsons (btw my main language is french and because what they teach you at school won't get you very far) and I actualy improved my casual writing/speaking by playing World of Warcraft. So yeah, you can learn a language with cartoons, but don't stick to childish/popular stuff and watch real movies or read books or even better speak it.

  • "DATTEBAYO~!"

    L.O.L.

    

  • 2 years lol.

  • It took a while to actually focus on what you were saying and not stare at your hat. But yeah, I agree, anime shouldn't be someone's primary source to learn the language. You can get a few words and phrases from it but you'd just have to rely on subtitles for the rest. Even if there was an equivalent of Dora the Explorer to teach people Japanese, it still won't do enough. Especially when we can say a certain phrase several ways in English, there would be several ways to say in in Japanese. It w

  • i wish someone would make a "Learning Japanese" anime (an anime where they talk slower and cover the basic....). that would be cool.....

  • LOL!!!!!!! I would totally be like that...I love anime and i would think i could speak japenese by watching anime :P

  • UGUU~DESU~

  • DATEBAYO!

  • LOL I WATCH OVER 30 ANIMES AND I KNOW LIKE A FEW WORDS IN JAPANESE LOL

    IDC IF I'M RETARDED but not i don't think that.

  • what about watching MUCH japanese drama's? I'm not really interested in anime at all.

  • how did i get here from watching Toradora?

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  • anime is my drug!!! :D

  • @coolgirlpopin101 it use to be mine too. I barely give a crap about it now.

  • I've watched about 8 K-dramas and I know realistically I only recognize about 4 phrases. I am trying to learn Japanese with books and videos.

  • My I think my friend told me she watch dramas to learn Korean :)

  • Dude, seriously, if I met a Japanese guy who talked like Popeye, I would lose my shit. That would just be too awesome

  • Don't let anime be youre drug... -_- To late

  • o3o i get all the points and stuff so i'll try my best buut

    DAMN I WANT THAT HAT

  • you're buff koichi!

  • Silly Weaboos speaking Wapanese~ =="

  • Naruto?

  • From his own article: "Whatever gave you the impression that you could learn Japanese from anime is sadly wrong. You CAN’T. " This assertion is basically wrong. You can knock out a huge chunk of Japanese learning from anime, especially when supplemented with manga for reading. Yes, 99% of the usage in cartoons is actual usage for real natives. The problem isn't using anime, the problem is 5 minutes a day. You should be listening and reading more like 10+ hours a day.

  • I want to learn japan from aniems so i can enjoy watching animes, not to talk with japan peoples xD

  • people, would you stop with the "I LEARNED JAPANESE! WITH AN ANIME!" he's got a point, you can't learn japanese JUST FROM anime. he already said "it's a fine SUPPLEMENT,as with actually studying" so stop getting all on his back, i see comments saying "i used it as a supplement! so hah!" and he already said that would probably help. he is talking about the people saying "I WATCHED ANIME AND ANIME ONLY! AND I AM FLUENT NOW!" done with rant, anyways, HILARIOUS.

  • DATEBAYOO, HAHAHA HOLY SHIT.

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  • he says to get friends, and that we are losers? making video's like this? enough said.

  • You may not be able to learn watching anime but reading anime or manga with kanji de manga you can and It works I am using it to study for JLPT!

  • whats interesting is that anime(among other media) is that you can learn a diferent language if you pay close attention to it.But yea is NOT that worth it,i mean,im used to the pronunciation and a few words and phrases,the same way as to how i learn english quite fluently (im mexican by the way),but it is best if you take clases,unless you been exposed to the language as a baby,chances are that you are going to be profficent.But at the age any of us are,it becomes less easy.

  • Learning Japanese solely from anime would probably lead to this.

    Random Anime Fan- ORE WO DARE DA TO OMOTTE YAGERU? :D (Just who the hell do you think I am?)

    Random Japanese Citizen- D: おたくは誰ですか (Who are you?)

    You'd then be labeled as insane.

    ...Google Translate is one hell of a drug-- wait, what?

    inb4someonedoesn'tgettherefere­nce.

  • sure every anime fan whos learning japanese wrong goes to japan says to every random person he sees "dont underestimate my power!" in japanese

  • you cant learn japanese by watching anime because thats like someone who never did any kind of sports goes to the olympian games.

  • 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

  • @KoolJust4U

    He means learning SOLELY and PURELY from anime. So actually, yes, he is right.

  • Have you ever heard of a site called alljapaneseallthetime(.)com? because there are a lot of people there who would disagree.

  • i think he is hilarious and i'm in love with his hat:):)

  • He's so right! But thank god I have perfect pronunciation xD

  • get a japanese girlfriend eehh..!!!

  • @kirion111 Actually that's wrong too according to this guy.

  • To clarify, anime is fine as a supplement as long as you're learning from other places as well, such as live drama, novels, dictionaries, etc? Of course, with flash cards and whatnot for review as well. I'm located in the middle of dead Kansas so finding Japanese friends or a teacher isn't a possibility for me.

  • @MrRakanub The same is the case for me. I can't find a tutor for Japanese language in my city though they are a few (very few) in a city 2 hours away from mine. I'm doing what I can do from internet and anime has increased my Jap vocab too

  • @MrRakanub well you could always find a japanese teacher on the internet. also you could study japanese by going on japanese learning pages :)

  • @MrRakanub anime is fine to pick up random vocabulary. For how to put sentences together, knowing what kind of speech is appropriate in what situation (like talking to you teacher in class, talking to your friends, talking to your boss, visiting someone's home, etc) anything like that, anime is NOT your friend for

  • @MrRakanub totally with you, as long as you use other sources, using anime as well wouldn't hurt any :) i'm using anime, dorama and rosetta stone

  • I love his hat.

  • @Lovaya4eve you've gotta love his hat

  • well, watching Anime is good for your pronounciation, I think. It depends of course on what anime you're watching, but I learned several phrases and words from Deathnote. Like ''thank you'' and Moshi-Moshi and stuff.

  • Does this guy really have the right to call anyone a loser?

  • @BakaSoil How is he a loser? He makes income from youtube has allot of friends and goes to japan back and forth to visit old pals' Anyway I don't know why you don't like him but i believe you can learn Japanese through anime. My mom learned English through cartoons lol

  • @LOLisInevitable

    First off I didn't say he was a loser, but I was thinking it so I'll still defend that point. I personally don't use anime to learn, however I don't see any issue with learning from anime. Anyone with half a brain is going to know not to over exaggerate their speech and is going to catch on very fast if they're speaking with actual Japanese people. At any rate, what kind of heartless person calls somebody who is stuck in their basement and has troubles making friends a loser...

  • @BakaSoil ahaha I think not

  • Um.. I learned English mostly by watching American TV shows (like South Park or The Simpsons) and movies. And I'm pretty fluent now. I think it's important to listen to a language a lot before trying to speak or write it. You get used to the vocabulary and sentence structures. Instead of remembering grammar and syntax rules, you just know if what you say sounds right or not.

  • Anime CAN be a good source of learning Japanese, but watching it is not. Learning has to be active, and watching is a passive activity. When you watch anime, and actively jot things down, think about it and reflect on it, maybe grab a dictionary and fit it into the context of the anime, your brain will be tricked in to thinking this information is important, and learn it more efficiently. (I'm a cognitive systems major, I know what I'm talking about.)

  • hello there!

  • Lol, he's wrong xP Why would japanese people even act like Donald duck. It's absolutely possible, just chech KenKyanon's channel. Dislike.

  • I've watched anime for like 10 years. I don't know jackshit about Japanese. Though your hiragana pronunciation video is definitely helpful. :3

  • lol

  • I never succeeded to learn Japanese through anime, even though I study Japanese at a Japanese school, and living at Germany.

    Having said that, I also speak Italian, I learnt that from TV :P All day everyday when I was young, I watched Italian TV.

    So I think it can work if you do between age 0 and 5. :)

  • 2:58 lol.

  • he is totally, right. that's why i get my resources for learning japanese at:

    kinkyjapanesegirls

    much more reliable, and it's real people who feature the videos and not animations.

  • Your adorable :D and yeah...anime helps me but only a tiny tiny bit..mostly I just teach my self using language websites and such...hopefully I'll be getting a tutor type person soon ~~

  • japanese people sound like popeii... mmm intresting. but any way you got any recomanded text books for japanese vocabulary?

  • marry me.

  • Shut up.. People can learn anyway they want not just cause a stupid video about a dude making fun of Japanese

  • @sakuse100, weeaboo.

  • @TechTongue Ikr eAe.....

  • @sakuse100 from what i got out of the video, he's saying people can (emphasis on can) learn any way they want, but actually learning it is more effective. unless there's an anime that's an actual course in japanese. in any case, properly learning it might actually lead one to appreciate anime even better. while i've no intention of learning any languages, i should note learning will be boring and tedious, but if you want so badly to talk like and talk with the japanese, learn as they've learned.

  • @sakuse100 Omigod... why are you such a weeaboo. You obviously didn't watch this video.

    -__-

  • I think learning japanese with YouTube and japanesevocabulary on Tumblr and learning some words from anime isn't bad.

  • he is halirious

  • I love this video man Tofugu I know you get questions like these all the time but can you please help me out? Kite and haite in japanese for like someone is wearing clothes. Whats the difference?? and how do you use them both like its weird

  • @LOLisInevitable yes kite & haite r used 4 wearing clothes but there is a difference

    kite-> for clothes worn above the waist (shirt, sweater, jacket, etc)

    haite-> for clothes worn below the waist (pants, shorts, also socks and shoes)

    hope this helps ^_^

  • @eien21 arigato gozymasu! (srry for my fail spelling lol) thanks that helped alot what about dress though wanpiisu :D would you say kite? also for hats hats is kabutte right?

  • you are a funny man :D

  • :D

  • Learning via anime is a fine thing to do as long as you have other (main) resources to study the language. Also you have to listen this guy on the fact that anime characters speak differently than a normal japanese.

    Just don't get stuck to that accent / tone and you will do just fine learning few useful prhases from time to time.

    For me, anime is just a personal hobby. I learn from text books and audio books. And also soon I will enter a japanese lessons in school.

  • da tay buy yo!!! 0:44

  • what if i am learning Japanese and watch anime on random, isolated ocasions? is that so bad?

  • And HEY.. I learned how to sing Row, row, row your boaat. in Japanese!

    -Jacq

  • I've learned a few things from anime.. Loll. And I use anime to practice my understanding of anime (:

    -Jacq

  • what would you say about japanesepod101 for someone who's homeschooled?

  • Yeah well, understandable. When I watch things in Dutch and Spanish they really are about the same as when my friends who speak spanish, or my relatives who speak Dutch speak. Obviously ot exactly, but pretty close. Aside from the ridiculous "kid" swearwords. like spanish "rayos", wtf nobody says that.

  • You got muscles

  • You're cute :3

  • I'm one of the weird adult Americans who watches anime, and I think I've figured out maybe a whopping three phrases in all my fifteen or twenty years of watching it.

    I will say my son and I both laughed, and we love your video. We've also been inspired to have a Talk Like a Cartoon Character day here at home. I'm thinking Looney Toons and Scooby-Doo voices and sayings. :D What's up, doc? *eats carrot*

  • you- don't let anime become your drug

    me- .... oops, too late(but at least i didn't try to learn Japanese from it XD)

  • Totally agree dude!!! Ive learned a whole 4 words from anime. I need to get back to college >.<

  • I WANT UR HAT!!!

  • i love your hat :3

  • PS.: aren't you japanese?... because you look-a-like one, well, if you are... why do you learn japanese from anime (in your 9th position), if your already jap?

  • hat... where can i get... omg...

  • DESUDESUDESUDESUDESUDESUDESUDE­SUDESU

  • Awesome, I Love Japan

  • just get a Japanese girlfriend then problem solved

  • @lostcause89 where i can get one?, on Walmart?, are they cheap?

  • すみません. とふぐ せんせい.

    かんじは わかりません,

    でも,

    わたしは日本語が だいすき,

    そして, 日本語のたのしいですね

  • 236 people have slimy fish-like bodies learning Japanese from anime..

  • What about dramas XD Or horror films? Same thing? x.x...

    Maybe not cause I do talk to japanese people and they say my pronounciation is good...or...are they just being nice...*chirp chirp* >~<..

  • i don`t learn japanese from anime but... it is my drug

  • I 'did' manage to pick up "doshita (no)?" but I have a feeling that if I hadn't already been taught syllabularies, like "shi", I wouldn't have ever realized that's how it is romanized, and would have pronounced it poorly, like "doh-shtuh."

  • Really? you can't learn from anime? if you are saying just by watching anime, of course you can't learn japanese from watching it just by itself.

    but if you use anime as a source for listening and picking up vocabulary. YES!!! you can!!!! that mean Yes you can learn from anime.

    so tofugu. you sir are wrong.

  • @KoolJust4U Thats why he said you can watch it as one source of learning among many.

    You sir didn't watch the whole video.

  • @KoolJust4U

    in anime the people talk kind of fast and they don't really annunciate, subtitles are translations but not always correct they are rough. I know because a lot of times I find myself saying that doesn't meant that when I watch subtitles. and like he said you don't need to know i'm going to kill you in 3 different ways. also in order to understand the words in anime you have to know particles because the words all together like watashihaureshikattadesu.

  • @anime8explode Not to mention that their are people in anime (for example Gin from Bleach) who use vocabulary like "yo", "ain't", "ya" and use double negative- basically improper English grammar.

  • @chibigrunt

    also true!

  • @anime8explode Or made up words like he used in the video- dattebayo :).

  • @chibigrunt

    lol ^^ yeah!

  • @anime8explode Oh, people in my class that sound so hard to sound Asian from animes -__-u...

  • @chibigrunt

    I know what you mean...

  • @anime8explode Why do people do that?!

  • @chibigrunt

    It's easier than to watch anime and try to speak the language spending hours a day self studying to learn it...is my guess

  • @anime8explode Even though it doesn't work, lol. I love anime, but I couldn't learn that way, lol.

  • @chibigrunt

    I enjoy anime as well.

  • @anime8explode Lol, I could tell by the name ^_^

  • kick ass panda hat bro

  • i have a girlfiriend that learn japanese just to watch anime without reading the subs, if you are gonna be an english teacher in Japan i guess theres a reason into learning it , if its just for watching anime i guess its kinda stupid. my grandma is japanese so as my mom and i went there for a few weeks everyyear and didnt bother to learn the language or even my grandma dialect, right now improving my english is my main priority LOL very important language you know

  • He's got a point, I'd be pretty scared if i bumped into Japanese who spoke fluent cockney!

  • ore wa kaizoku oni naru!

  • i tried clicking the like button more then once, sadly it didnt work.

  • Before I was intent on learning Japanese, I just got simple words/phrases from watching English subbed anime. Now that I don't watch it as much, I use books/a learning program and I find it pretty stupid as well when people try to learn Japanese through anime.

  • u said to talk to people, so... dus my cat count as someone to talk to...? lol cos i already do that lol xD

  • OMFG I LOVE YOUR PANDA HAT xD

  • I have an easier way:

    1- go to japan

    2- find a japanese person

    3- Say Hello my name is '........', Nice to meet you. Now you better tel lme you know how to speak english or I will go crazy in this country.....or wait you know what im kidnapping you as my translator! Now where was that sushi restaurant *o*

  • 0:05 "I'm here today to tell you that you to can learn perfect japanese for only five minutes of practice a day! All by watching your favorite anime"

    My sister across the room :...OH MY GOD REALLY?! -Gets up and runs over-

    - a couple seconds pass-

    "... Hahahaha you got to be retarded to do that! "

    My sister: . . .

    XD!!

  • Everyone is obviously here because they want to learn Japanese and think they can do it through youtube videos...

    Hahah at least this one made me laugh.

  • :D i love your hat !!! lol and your AMAZING

  • HAHAHA. Thank you for saying this! Every person I talk to says, "Oh you're learning Japanese? Is it because you like anime?" ...yeah that's the only reason. Thanks... Haha! :)

  • Don't learn from anime - nobody talks like that

    Don't learn from manga -nobody talks like that

    Don't learn from Japanese people - they all talk different

    Don't learn from guys - you slur your speech

    Don't learn from girl - you'd sound like a girl

    Don't learn from your homestay - you'd talk like a housewife

    Don't learn from novels - no one talks like that

    Don't learn from Dramas- no one talks like that

    Learn from your Japanese textbook made for foreigners - THAT's how they talk

  • japanese people should learn english watching teamfourstar dragonball episodes

  • Lol. You're wicked funny! :)

  • I used to LOVE anime, but actually I started learning Japanese before watching Anime, and I can say I've only picked up a couple of phrases, but I don't use anime as my guide for learning Japanese. I'm more of a gamer these days, but I honestly still love learning Japanese from books and friends. Japanese culture is fascinating to me and it is annoying to see people abuse that by thinking they're experts by learning crap from Anime.

  • this dude is funny

  • son, i can go to japan and tell people im gonna kill them in over 20 different ways. only took me 5 years of watching anime. I also can

  • dont let anime be your drug...uh too late

  • Bitch, I am The Pirate King!

  • your hat's awesome

  • i have the best plan on learning japanese.. i shall learn starting from infantcy, i will hang around japanese people, reading their bodie language as they speak, just like a child does, then start speaking the language, as i do this, i will set everything how a 4 year old, learning how to write, with writing books, and reading books, and i'll keep going from there, i think this is best due to everyone learns their main language this way ^-^

  • anime became my drug like 3 years ago...

  • You have an awesome hat.

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  • Not one day goes by without me saying "I will be the pirate king!"

  • uugh! same shit happens to me...friend is obsessed with it...shes always saying OHAYO! or nani? or aishitamasu... anything that i usually hear in anime...i got mad at her and told her to shut up because in reality, japanese speakers dont talk like that!

    -.- she's always being racist of her own race because she's soo involved with that

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  • I've seen this countless times but I still end up laughing hysterically all the way through. :')

  • Let me first say I am not a weaboo. Me being an anime fan, I catch a bunch of romaji-ized Japanese words from watching subbed episodes. Of course, though, I rarely use them, if not ever. Just saying. :D

  • otaku's are friend with other otaku's

  • i am from germany " Hessen" if i say i like anime and manga, they dont know what this is :( i learn japanese because i want to live and work in japan... but i have a big problem... there is no teacher in the near, i dont have frinds who can talk japanese and so on .... what should i do :( :(

  • @funckyj well,my dear friend,you should look for internet sites that help to learn Japanese.there are lots of lessons.if you want your ears to get used to Japanese sounds,listen to their music and watch some movies(but not anime(though i like it very much^^)). Well,that's what I'm doing ^^

  • @Usaaaagi thank you ^^ now i learn hiragana and more and more about japanese. i is fun XD

  • @funckyj heheee ^^ you are welcome.I think it's fun too! So,gambarimasu! ! >o< !

  • Panda hat XD PANDA HAT XD

  • this is my favourite tofugu video of all time

  • let me clarify, it is POSSIBLE, but not necessarily the greatest way for everyone. Also, you need to really REALLY make SURE that you articulate almost exactly as you hear it and not be ignorant. If you REALLY pay attention to how you sound, you can do it, though you should still be cautious of a few words in some anime that aren't really used in everyday conversations (or used at all anymore)

  • @marioman756 You can only learn from stuff that's interesting to you. Not boring textbooks with English translations made for foreigners.

  • @LifeFirst Agreed. It's important that you be interested in it, and you need to be smart about it. And you certainly won't learn anything from only 5 minutes of anime a day like 1 time a week. you will have to watch a whole lot more than that. Also, you should really use other sources that use a lot more realistic Japanese language, like music, J-Drama shows, and radio/podcasts with real people talking to other real people. Things like that aren't so hard to find anymore with the internet

  • um, all i'm saying is I know someone who really did learn japanese from anime, and he is pretty fluent, with correct pronunciations for the most part.

  • I watched your video and im like "damn , that dude is right ." Before i like practised japanese like once a week too -embarrased- WELL NOW IM SITTING AND PRACTISING KANJIS -proud face- HWAITING ! thanks for you motivation .. i think :D

  • yea your totally right

  • Haha you are awesome!!! Btw your hat is amazing.

  • Ok... i love anime.. and i do learn some stuff from it.. but i also learn Japanese from books and online.....

  • I'm retarded

  • That hat really makes you look serios =P

  • You're so mean, but really funny :D

    And actually, what you're saying is the truth ^^

    I mean sure, you can learn certain expressions by watching anime like "Sou desu ka?" or the greetings like "Ohaiyou/Konnichiwa/Konbanwa" and also some frequently used words, but people shouldn't make anime a substitute for hardcore-studying the japanese language :D

  • 2:25 "In Japan, anime is widely accepted. Adults watch it. Kids watch it. Old people watch it"

    My thoughts: In my American neighborhood in California, you tell your friends that you watch anime, you are automatically a loser :(

  • @drunken1agent2bob its different for me, im in California and all my friends love anime