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View Poll Results: What is your motivation to learn Japanese ?

Voters
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  • I want to communicate with my Japanese relatives

    57 7.64%
  • I want to talk to my Japanese friends or make some new ones

    290 38.87%
  • I live in Japan (so for daily life use...)

    62 8.31%
  • My boyfriend/girlfriend is Japanese or want to make one.

    136 18.23%
  • I (will) need it for my job

    152 20.38%
  • To read the manga or understand the anime

    289 38.74%
  • For the video games

    171 22.92%
  • To travel in Japan

    384 51.47%
  • I am interested in Japanese culture/language, etc.

    557 74.66%
  • For no particular reason or others (please specify in forum)

    88 11.80%
Multiple Choice Poll.
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Thread: Why are you learning Japanese ?

  1. #101
    rock on MikeM's Avatar
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    I'm 14... I've been interested in it for awhile. It strikes people strangely when I tell them that I am not a big fan of anime and only a small video game player but I want to learn it because I am basically just interested in the culture mainly.

  2. #102
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    Although I live in the US, there are many Japanese ex pats in the symphony that my (Japanese) girlfriend and frequent. After awhile I noticed that when she was around them her personality complete changed. Normally she is very exactly in her mannerisms and speach. We're both scientists and I'd say she acted like a scientist, but when she was speaking Japanese she was a different person. No longer stern and exacting, but light, friendly etc. After talking with her about it and reading many things, I learned that people who are bi-lingual tend to have a personality for each language they know. (I'm not an expert on this, so take this with a grain of salt.) She also pointed out that when I spend time (and hence talk) with my Italian family, I become quite different also. I decided that to truly know her I had to know both personalities and so I'd have to learn Japanese.

  3. #103
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    I've been interested in Japan and the culture for such a long time that it seems I have been waiting forever to go in 10th grade.Anime is what originally caught my eye but now I really don't read or watch that much about it instead I find myself searching for things about the culture or language.The Japanese language is hard but that's another reason it's so interesting.So after that senseless rambling basically what I was saying is I want to learn Japanese in hopes of going there some day soon and also just a common curiosity in the culture and way of life.

  4. #104
    Junior Member Zentai's Avatar
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    I am 1/4 japanese and my girlfriend is japanese. As you can see in my signature! ^^

  5. #105
    Regular Member George L.'s Avatar
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    I have always been interested in Japan...not really sure why...I have no decendants or really close friends that are Japanese, but I have always had that facination. As I grew older my facination increased as well as became more focused. Before it was just a general facination that a lot of children have (anime and such), but now I find I am not only interested in the language, but the culture and history behind Japan. I had a Japanese foreign exhange student stay w/ me last year that was rather unplanned which pulled me even deeper into the wonders of the Japanese culture and lifestyle. I have continued to keep in touch and ever since tried to learn Japanese. Unfortunetely I have been very busy with school (first year of college) and work and have not had the time necessary to study as I wish I could. I just found out that Minako (the exchange student) will be coming down this spring to visit me once again. This has renewed my efforts to learn Japanese. I am currently teaching myself but have found that rather difficult so I am in the process of finding myself a Japanese tutor that will be able to help me. This will also help keep me on track (I'm a terrible procrastinator ) and hopefully speed up my progress. I don't expect to be able to speak Japanese by the time she gets here, but I would at least like to of mastered the basic concept of the language by that time.

    I am very happy that I have found this site and found it as easily as I did...I decided to look for some type of forum today where people interested in Japan talked, and it seems I have found one beyond my wildest dreams. I think that it is great that you have put together this great site for people that share this common interest. Thank you! Or should I say arigato? Anyway, just wanted to put in my two cents. Thanks again!

    -George
    Orlando, FL

    P.S. If anyone knows of place for a tutor / teacher in my area for Japanese I would greatly appreciate it...I have been searching on the web without much luck so far. Next I might put an ad at a college or something, but if anyone has any insight I would be much obliged.
    Thanks!

  6. #106
    Junior Member Sailor Shadow's Avatar
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    It's true. I've been trying to learn Japanese to understand the Manga and the Anime. *^^* I realized a few days ago; when a friend of mine commented, "You've been at it for how long?" that March will be two years since I started. @_@; In that time, I've visited other boards, used websites and both a pocket Dictionary and an online dictionary, as well as a printed out set of kana charts... but just browsing this site, I think the people are the most friendly that I've seen anywhere and don't think too little of you for not being the same level nor learning as fast. I get excited when I realize that I have memorized something or that I can read a sentence. It's nice to find a place where stupid jokes, comments, and opinions don't make you look any less serious than the next person.

    I remember being interested in anything Japanese since I was little, but it's only recently that I wanted to learn the language. I do want to go to Japan one day and feel rather jealous of my friends who have gone. ;_;

    It's been... listening to Anime Music and J-Pop/J-Rock that's sent to me or I download... and watching subbed and raw Anime or shows that I can basically immerse myself in the language.

    However, had I been able to do that with Spanish in 9th Grade, I think it might have actually worked. ^^; I still barely remember anything from 9th Grade Spanish. ^_^; I will agree on the idea of Mandatory Languages I saw. I think it would be a great idea! I remember how to count to 10 in Spanish because my mom taught me when I was little. I was able to build on my counting ability, but couldn't pick much else up by 9th Grade. If you learn basics when you're younger it becomes easier to expand on that knowledge as you get older. I think if I'd have learned at least a little/some basic Japanese when I was little, I might have an easier time with it now. I also have to find ways of teaching myself which means I get to use the Internet to learn a language! *^^* Fun! Wasn't really fun trying to locate all the sites I have bookmarked now, but I willingly share the links I have with anyone who wants them because I remember how hard it was to find them!

    I still find it amazing that my friends who are just starting to learn the language refuse to listen to me, however... I tell them what I think would be easier or best to do first to make it easier on them later and they don't bother even trying. ^^;; Such as, "When just starting out, I think you should learn the pronunciations and memorize the kana before you do anything else. Learning the wrong things now will make it harder to unlearn it later when you find that it's not correct." And still they would rather build vocabulary or try and learn kanji before they even know how to say the words properly. *sigh* Ah well, I'll keep trying. ^^;

    I also bug a friend of mine who took three years of Japanese in High School to be my "Online Sensei" since I'm trying to practice sentence structure... Maybe I'm glad there's no Japanese Classes around here... O_o; If he's that confused after 3 years, maybe learning on my own is a good idea. ^_^;;;

    And now I'm going to post because I've rambled now for about an hour. o_O;;

    -Jessica

  7. #107
    Regular Member SacredBlue's Avatar
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    Well..I put the asian in Caucasian. Just kiddin! I'm a white kid from freezing Massachusetts.
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    Let's see..To post my story or to not...Well..Not that anyone will read this, but...

    I've never liked Manga or Anime at all..For many reasons that I won't list. I was born in Utah, but grew up in Massachusetts. I bascially grew up in the orchestra my dad worked for. Many of his co-workers were Japanese, even his boss (Seiji Ozawa - now retired). I come from a mormon background (though I'm Christian), so my godfather is mormon, but he's also Japanese. When he found out I was interested in Japanese he always helped me..But now he has moved to live in Kobe
    So I guess you could say the language was like a seed planted in me when I was young, and is now blooming.

    I've been formally studying since last September, 2003 and have been told I'm progressing well. This December I'm hoping to pass the JLPT 2kyuu. I passed the 3kyuu by just a hair, so I figure why not spend a year studying and go for 2? The hardest part for me will easily be the listening comprehension..Grammar & Kanji are my strongpoint, around 6 more months of study and I should have the jouyou kanji down.

    As for right now..Twice a week I go to a private Japanese school nearby, and have the head teacher give me lessons. From the start, these lessons have only ever been conducted in Japanese, thus causing me to adapt rather fast. Another Japanese teacher at this school also gives me lessons when the head teacher isn't around. It's funny to watch all the little Japanese kids huddled outside the room watching the white kid speaking their language. I have quite a few Japanese friends who are also more than eager to help teach me..and have lovingly (i think) dubbed me 卵(Tamago - Egg). When I inquired about this strange pseudonym they simply said "Egg. White on outside. Yellow on inside." *cough* sigh..At least it's better than 変な外人

    For some reason I find it hard to tell people I'm taking Japanese. As when I do, the typical response is "You must really love anime, huh?" or "You must have a thing for asian chicks!"..It is very dissapointing when a culture is known only for its cartoons and false fantasies about their women. Therefore, the only people who I've told thus far are friends and many of the parents at the Japanese school who find it a mixture of fascination & humor that I can communicate with them. Other than that, I'm not the boasting or flaunting type, so I remain silent..Even if I hear an otaku insist to his friends that 'I love you' in Japanese is 'watashi ai suru anata' *shakes head*. Silence is golden.

    Wow I've gone on too long..What people will type when they want to kill a few minutes Though if anybody did read that I'll gladly answer any questions..

    がんばってね!

    P.S. I do love talking in Japanese with other people learning it, so e-mail or PM me if you want to chat, or just post here..Doesn't matter.

  8. #108
    Regular Member Seppuku's Avatar
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    after reading sacred's story i though i should post mine ( i dont think it will be quite as long though)
    when i was 6 or 7 (now 16)me and my family lived on a military base in fallen nevada ( my dads in the navy) we had only been living there for a couple of months when this family moved in across from us. ( there are little small off roads from the main road with four houses on each one) my mom said that they were from japan and i thought japan? whats that. so the whole day while they were moving in i kept making up excessus to go outside just to watch them( i was very intrigued that there were other people in the world besides americans, how closed minded i was..) but by the end of the day i finally went over and talked to there youngest son and we became freinds that day, and our friendship only deepend with time. he and his family introduced me to so many wonderfull japanese things and customs. sometimes we would spend in entire afternoon just talking about what japan was like( he had perfect english) ever since then i have loved almost everything japanese and had wanted to learn japanese but only within the last couple of years have i really started to work hard at that goal, and i still have a long long long way to go but i know i will get there one day. wow writing this has brought back a lot of memories...hope i didnt bore you guys to death haha
    "support music not rumers"-C.S.
    "メタル魂を 忘れるな!"-Chuck Schuldiner 67-01R.I.P.
    "No one can tell you to turn down your amp unless they're of higher skill or in your band"

  9. #109
    ~Onegai Shimasu~ Musoka's Avatar
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    I am very interested in Japan and its culture, so I am learning the language to learn more about Japan.

    I also want to make some japanese friends and I want a japanese girlfriend.

  10. #110
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    I picked 'I am interested in Japanese culture/language, etc' in the poll. Ever since I was a kid I've always been interested in Asia more than any other continent, and so now recently I've found myself reading up on the history of the area more and more. I especially like the history of Japan (the samurai era is a particularly high point). I like the movies, music and books they bring out, I like the landscape of the country, the culture and the people. I hope to travel there one day, and maybe even work and live there if I'm lucky. Plus there's also the fact that learning another language can just be fun and interesting. I'm doing it in my spare time though, nothing intensive like a course. I'm busy with uni right now so its just in the background of my life. One day when things have calmed down I'll enroll on a course but for the meantime I have the internet, anime, J music and library books with dodgy cassettes...

  11. #111
    Regular Member Keeni84's Avatar
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    Hey guys! I guess I should reply to this thread, since everyone has such interesting things to say!

    Well, as I've mentioned before, I didn't really grow up in the whole Anime/Manga/J-Pop atmosphere. I didn't grow up around Japanese-Americans or Japanese folks, I'm not from a big city with Japanese in it. Of course, I'd seen a few anime's in my day, but it wasn't that deep for me.

    I really became interested in Japan when a Japanese exchange student came to my school. She was sweet, funny, kind and so interested in America and American culture. We became good friends and she taught me some of my first Japanese words, while I helped her with her English. We would chill in class, laughing at the teachers, going to parties and having fun. It was so cool. When she left for Japan, she sent me X-Mas cards and we kept in touch over e-mail. She now attends University somewhere in Japan--I have no idea where!

    So, I just thought--so many students come to America from all over the world--why don't I just return the favor? I wanted to participate in intercultural/international exchange too, and to bring a little piece of me to other parts of the world.

    So, I thought---why not Japan? Too many of our schools only focus on places in Western Europe, teaching only French, German, and Spanish as core languages. I was tired of learning these languages, that give us no variety. So I decided, hey, why not, when I go to college, learn a unique language? Japanese just seemed the perfect way to go!
    馬鹿も一芸。。。

  12. #112
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    Hi, this is my first post.

    My interest in Japanese first sparked with my facination with certain anime and Japanese TV shows. I watched a LOT of it and as I did I began to pick up some of the commonly used phrases of the language (e.g. "nandemo nai", "demo...", "kore wa nan desu ka", "daijoubu", arigatou gozaimasu", etc), a few nouns and verbs and gist of the basic SOV sentence structure. Then, I found a friend had gotten Pimsleur's Japanese I and him and some friends were showing off the few sentences they had learned. I tried that for a while but didn't get very far because I'm a very visual person. I'm better off reading a Japanese grammar book.

    But anyway, I've been on and off for about 5 months going at it on my own, unmotivated at times. Hopefully this forum will help that.

  13. #113
    Always learning Narau's Avatar
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    My initial interrest in Japanese was from Japanese-only nintendo rpg games. I had access to quite a few of them, but could not get into them because I could not read Japanese.
    That has changed by now. I no longer have much of an interrest in the games, but have an unexplainable desire to get to know the japanese language and culture. All I can say is I'm hooked, and though I can see that it is a long and hard journey, it is one I can only hope I do not fail at.

  14. #114
    Like Anime? Avoid UK! kai_sethoris's Avatar
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    i want to learn the language . . . but dont no where to start . . . plz help!

  15. #115
    Wandering Hobo-geek Eito's Avatar
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    I had never thought of learning Japanese to begin with. I didn't know anything about Japan, and I didn't really care to. When I was a freshman in high school (now I'm a junior) they had a little survey asking which language they should add to the curriculum. I picked the one that sounded the most interesting, that being Japanese. Then, when registering for the next year's courses, I decided that I didn't want to take Spanish. I saw that they had added Japanese to the course schedule, and, being the only other language class, I decided to take it.

    So now I'm in my second year of Japanese and I just can't get enough of the language and culture! It all started with a little spark and grew into a roaring fire, I suppose

  16. #116
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    not only am in interested in the culture, and making new friends.

    but i think that in order for a person to truly grow in life s/he need's to experience and learn from diff culters.

    and besides.. i like talking to people

  17. #117
    baka no baka
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    I want to learn Japanese and am teaching myself, the reasons are many. First, so I can communicate with my boyfriend in his language for once, second I'd like to teach english in Japan when I grow up (if that ever happens ), Third I'd like to beable to watch anime without subs, forth it's a lot prettier than english, and fifth, the culture is more interesting than anywhere else I've researched.

    Alas: My parental units think that it's a waste of time, oh wait, there's a sixth reason, rebellion.

  18. #118
    Your Goddess is here Ma Cherie's Avatar
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    I'm learning Japanese, because....

    No reason, really. I just want to be bilingual(did I spell that right?). Anyway, I can speak French too. So, I guess that would make me trilingual. HA!!!
    "Persons attempting to find a motive in this narrative will be prosecuted; persons attempting to find a moral in it will be banished; persons attempting to find a plot in it will be shot."
    The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
    by Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens)

  19. #119
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    Hi I'm new here. I got into Japanese from buying an anime after reading about it in and old British music paper , the N.M.E..Then I got into the music and wanted to learn Japanese to help me understand lyrics and 'raw' anime.
    Er... that was 2 1/2 years ago and am still very keen.Cheers!

  20. #120
    Your Goddess is here Ma Cherie's Avatar
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    Hmmm

    You know, I discovered that, anime and j-pop are one of the main reasons why people want to learn japanese.

  21. #121
    squabblemaker ax's Avatar
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    Speaking another language wouldn't hurt.... if it doesn't take much effort... who wouldn't learn?

    ignorati I guess.

    ax

  22. #122
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    I am interested in Japanese culture/language, etc.<--..that's what i picked from the poll..^^..but i was alway interested about it's language and culture and maybe i want to teach English in Japan when i'm older[??..-.-]. Also, the music might be another reason. lol...i just bought myself a beginnier's book on how to read and write...but i'm planing to find a language school in my cite and go to it in th esummer ot take lessons..^^..

  23. #123
    Regular Member neofusion's Avatar
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    HELLO! ^_^ I JUST SIGNED UP TODAY! i hope some one that knows japanese can help me out. i would really like to learn japanese. i hope to visit there someday and would love to meet ppl there and be able to talk to them in thier native tounge. anyone interested in helping me?!?

  24. #124
    "Follow your bliss." Dan B's Avatar
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    I'm studying Japanese for a variety of reasons. I lived in Japan for three years during elementary school, but I didn't put much effort into learning the language (I went to an international school where all the instruction was given in English, so I could get by without knowing a lot of Japanese). So, in part, I'm addressing a regret that I've carried with me for over 20 years.

    Also, I'm very seriously considering moving to Japan. I'm a math teacher and I realize that, without native or near-native fluency, I certainly wouldn't be able to teach in any Japanese schools. So I hope to get a job teaching high school mathematics at one of the international schools in Tokyo, Osaka, etc. (This won't be for a couple of years, as I just accepted a job offer at a local high school and have entered into a tacit commitment to stay for several years.) But I suppose that doesn't explain why I'm studying Japanese, eh? Well, having lived as an ignorant gaijin previously, I would rather have at least some ability to speak the language before moving there.

    (That won't necessarily not make me an ignorant gaijin...but it's a start!)

    Finally, in the meantime I hope to visit Japan (and some friends who live there) at least twice a year. I traveled to Tokyo and Okayama in December and will go to Okayama again in July...and I'd like to be able to talk to people while I'm there, of course!

    It would seem to be a waste to go all that way and then be able to neither express oneself nor understand anyone around you.

    Dan

  25. #125
    I wish I were a bird... Hikki Kokurabuji's Avatar
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    The reason?
    My life is practically full of Japanese-related stuffs (anime, manga, music, samurai, cosplay, etc). Though I live in Malaysia (yes, Hikki has revealed his origin), I have deep desire of staying in Japan even only for a day of two. And yeah, if I get the chance to stay in Japan, I'll ty hard to introduce our Malaysian culture and lifestyle to them (umm... if I really have that chance )

    Quote Originally Posted by Ma Cherie
    You know, I discovered that, anime and j-pop are one of the main reasons why people want to learn japanese
    Yes, majority of the people want to learn Japanese simply because of the influential impact anime & J-pop have made. Including me!

    currently listening to: Heya! (Outkast)
    "I wish I were a bird..."
    Chiyo-chichi, Azumanga Daioh

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