Going From Intermediate To Advanced(Strategy)

Japanese Language
#2

Totally empathize with this post, the only difference is that I’m trying to get to a solid, confident intermediate level :blush:

I’ve been consuming anime on Netflix in Japanese with Japanese subtitles, which I find really enjoyable! I started doing this a couple of years ago despite being a beginner, and it has definitely helped my listening comprehension skills. I understand enough to follow the stories and get attached to characters.
I don’t bother formally studying any of it though, I’d rather aim for quantity and consider it leisure time - because I’m actually using my language skills for fun! :dancer: Just a dictionary for words that keep coming up.

Have you joined book clubs on the forums? I started this year and am finding it super addictive - I’m now a manga fan :grin: And hoping to read a children’s novel later in the year.

Good luck moving out of the intermediate plateau!

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#3

Congratulations on your achievement!

Your plan sounds very thorough, but you don’t make any mention of working with a native speaker at all. Is that part of your plan?

I think it is important to use one sometimes because

A) Japanese language changes very quickly, and new words and slang are always being added (and older ones discarded.) And it changes so fast you won’t find up to date guides easily.

B) You will miss all the puns, jokes, wordplays, and cultural references in whatever you are reading. It’s a lot funnier if you know who Yamaguchi Momoe is and why skill at making pickles can be sexually suggestive.

Best of luck.

#4

You can save yourself a lot of work by using the Animelon Website.
Basically, it’s the workflow you imagined put into website form. Pretty great. And free.

You can setup your subtitles as you wish, putting hiragana on top of the japanese transcript, and hiding the english translation when you want it. It gives a real flexibility regarding training methods. You can even download the full transcript in both english and japanese, even tho i don’t see the point of this functionality.

When it comes to the anime they have in stock, it’s pretty furnished. I rewatched FA: Brotherhood and Kill la Kill on their platform. Theylack the latest releases, but there is some old gold in there. Psychopass is there too, Devil is a parttime worker… There is content, definitely.

Check it out, and good luck on your journey!

By the way, i am the beginner trying, and yes, i hate myself. But hey, at least i’m watching anime.

#5

Your plan seems very similar to Matt vs. Japan’s MIA approach, which is probably a good thing since he’s been mistaken for a Japanese person on VR chat by natives multiple times.

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#6

Cool! How do you legally get access to raw anime with Japanese subtitles, or even just without?

#7

I would say that would be the final touch to go towards fluency but I will probably do it way before that(I will need years to be fluent anyway haha).

I want to have a solid foundation before starting to use something like italki. Maybe after like 6 months of using this strategy, I will try to add a one-hour session once a week. Then, after like a year maybe twice a week. It’s not the priority because as I said before, speaking doesn’t bring anything to me. That being said, I don’t want to have like an N2 level and struggle to say one or two sentences.

I have to reach a level where I can play a game like Pokemon without a dictionary before I worry about puns and stuff like that :joy:

@Solfatare I agree with you. The only problem is that we are limited by choice and some episodes load infinitely without starting(maybe it’s just me). However, they do have some nice entries so I might use it as well. Thanks for reminding me!

PS: As long as you are practicing some Japanese, you are doing well :smiley:

@skymaiden Honestly, I don’t have a solid level yet. Let’s say I am really intermediate when I have Google :joy:

Not yet. I like manga but the problem is I can’t practice listening with it. I am also not into light novels. However, after I improve my Japanese a little bit more, if I find something interesting I might join.

@NinjaGandhi Hmmm, I don’t know about that. If anything, it would be a simplified version…maybe. Matt’s approach is more advanced but it’s for those who can dedicate a lot of time to Japanese.

@DagaKotowaru The word “download” and “legal” don’t go well together :joy:

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#8

Yeah I mentioned the book clubs because your post says your goals are to be able to consume drama/anime/manga/games - the Beginner Book Club has read quite a few manga, I haven’t checked out the Intermediate Club yet but I think they mostly read books.

If you already have Netflix that can help on the anime side of things (legally) – there’s quite a lot of Japanese content with Japanese subtitles available on the French version :blush:
(and even more if you use a VPN to access the Japan version)

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#9

https://animelon.com/ has all kinds of anime with both J and E subtitles. Shirokuma Cafe is one of the best for early readers of Japanese.

#10

That website is exactly what i was looking for! Thanks so much. I found the complement that I was missing for the moment.

#11

Yeah, as in words being replaced with katakana and young people using ヤバイ in every facet of their lives :joy:

Legally? For free? You don’t. You can very very easily get them otherwise though

I thought netflix cracked down on this and there aren’t like any ways to access japan server vpn’s.

#12

Depends on the VPN service, not all of them work apparently, but mine does!

#13

pssst, which one do you have?

#14

Nord

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#15

SoftEther VPN is free and works with Netflix. Might be the only free option that does as far as I’m aware.

It does slow down my connection a bunch, but beggars can’t be choosers. I can still watch without the video stopping to load.

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#16

Thanks! I’ll have to try it. I used to use proton vpn as they had free jp servers but like last month they no longer worked with netflix (brings up you’re using a proxy page or something) and I didn’t find anything else.

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#17

I shouldn’t have to risk viruses and even the most miniscule chance of legal punishment to watch anime in Japanese.

#18

As far as I know, animelon isn’t legal, though.

#19

I shouldn’t have to break the law just to learn Japanese efficiently. There has to be another way.

#20

I used torrents for years and I never had any problem. So many people do that as well. It’s your choice.

Just know that without illegal stuff you won’t find enough interesting stuff and even if you do you will have to spend a lot of money.

I am not encouraging any behavior, just mentioning some facts.

PS: You can @ people like @DagaKotowaru to avoid answering many times in a row.

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#21

Pfft, viruses? Literally the first link when you search “raw anime” on google gives you like every anime series out there. You can then just go to kitsunekko or some other website and get japanese subs, sync them up in VLC player, and boom you’re watching raw/subbed anime for free with minimal effort. Get ublock origin or something to avoid ads/sketchy sites.

If you’re so concerned about the ‘government’ or your isp watching what you do (even though I’m pretty sure they don’t gaf) then get a damn vpn and stop whinging, you have to realise you’re just making excuses for yourself here.

Mate, you’re sounding like some idealist with your head in the clouds. You wish to get all that for free AND keep your conscience of ‘law abiding citizen’? Come on be serious.

Yeah, by actually going through the regular paid routes. You can’t expect it all to be free man. It seems like you’re asking for something that’s free, easy, and legal. You can get one, maybe two of those, but never all three.

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