Just found your content recently. Reading with fumigant is 100% what students need to be doing. I’ve been self studying for years and I’ve realized not reading enough has really held me back. This video alone is worth a sub.
I appreciate the comment and the sub! Definitely agree with you! If you can get yourself to the point where you are thinking about Japanese in Hiragana instead of spelling out the words in romaji, then things really take off (as I guess you are probably experiencing now.)
Having visited Japan for a month the culture is fascinating. Your video just kinda appeared in my RUclips recommendations and I really enjoyed your presentation. Perhaps starting to learn some of the language might be fun with your approach and would love to see how you study from a manga :) Thanks and all the best.
Thank you, it is super encouraging to get your feedback! Im trying to get another video up in the next day or so I would be really grateful for your honest opinion on my direction and what kind of things you liked or didnt like.
@@kourtneyjohnson1557 Hi Kourtney, sorry for the late reply. Well I definitely recommend getting the train pass allowing unlimited use of the trains. I used airbnb mostly, obviously not the cheapest place to live. Hope you have a great time.
I feel like it's not entirely true that you can just learn hiragana and then read a manga with furigana. As a beginner you will probably struggle to figure out where words begin and end, and also manga usually use contractions, which means that even if you have a pretty good guess as to where the word starts and stops, looking it up in a dictionary or googling it may get you nowhere. At least speaking from my experience when I was just starting.
This is true, sometimes its really confusing! I think you have to be okay with only understanding 60% and then pressing on. Recently I found a hack to get past this, I will share soon!
I keep telling myself I need to get back into learning Japanese. But my only attempts were in school so I haven’t been confident learning solo. I really enjoyed the video and learning the history definitely helped. (I was also thinking “so many people say Japanese is easy and never speak it during their videos” your comment at the end made me laugh 😂 )
Thank you for the comment! I’m still a pretty new channel but eventually it’s my goal to have out a lot of resources to help self-learners understand different Japanese media on their own. I hope I can help you out too! If you can read hiragana, katakana and understand basic grammar please check out my Read Manga series! I’m about to put out Lesson three later today :)
Here I thought this channel would be about 卵焼き or お好み焼き but I guess I will subscribe. I agree with your basic premise if you do not learn hiragana well you might as well not try but katakana these days is a lot more prevalent but it is easy to learn since thankfully there is no Kanji equivalent as far as I know. Yeah manga is great way to improve your Kanji recognition but for the earlier learner they really need to hear the words so it wouldn't be a bad idea to have your channel revolve around using manga and you could use that as a medium to teach Japanese and the culture as well 2 for 1.
Interesting information! Thank you for sharing. Can you make a video discussing the learning curve and how to get through plateaus while self studying? I am feeling stuck with self studying especially with learning kanji and reading fluency. Did you find this a normal part of the self study process? Periods of where it feels as if you’re going in circles? And how to overcome them…or push through?
Thank you for the comment! Im about to put out a video on katakana, and after that I will be putting out some practical guides. My whole goal is to show people how to take a class 5 language and bring it down a notch so I really hope I can help you! I think learning to love the language itself instead of only what it gives you access to (ie, anime, manga, etc.) is a really important step. Please check out the katakana video and let me know if it rekindles any of the fire! There is so much mystery and intrigue in the language itself I always find myself digging deeper.
I'm not proficient by any means, but I feel like you should've mentioned pitch accents. Yes it's easier to read than English, but some words are written the same and pronounced differently. I am subbing cause I do like your explanations and I did learn a lot about how Hiragana was invented!
Pitch accent, while not insignificant, is a waste to worry about [most of the time]. It comes naturally the more Japanese immersion you do. No need to study it separately or to dedicate a long time to it. It only got popular due to some RUclipsrs would preach it was the key to learn Japanese and that is very much not the case.
@@tokyoscrambledesigns It would be interesting to hear more about how you read your way to understanding the kanji - like, how many books did you have to read? How long did it take? Anything about the process would be helpful - if you looked lots of words up, or just waited to figure them out from context, for example. Thanks!
I am on Unit 7 of Duolingo and self-taught. There is a small problem I may have found....Bo in Katakana is said by the Computer like Vo (with a V) sometimes. This is inconsistent from the way I have been saying Bo. Its for a word that is of a country I think....I will come back when I see the word again....The app does not tell me why some characters are silent in a word- I have to figure it out on my own- and it makes me learn the particle-use/grammer on my own too- it only tells me when I fail so I learn from the failures- not because it's guiding me through- for that I will need a textbook- this is the only thing making my learning slow- I am surprised by my ability to quickly learn and remember....I used Drops app for the 1st time tonight and I enjoy the fast pace of that more than the slow-pace of Duilingo...Both are great for different reasons...I like your video- I'll surely check out more of your stuff.
Great video! I would love to know how you’d study from a manga. I bought one recently and even though I can read hiragana & katakana, I still needed to look up the translation to make sense of the sentences. Maybe its too soon for me.
I'm not fluent whatsoever, just letting you know I find it best to actually just read. Whether you understand it or not, just read through the entire manga. This is so you can familiarise yourself with the book and you'll gradually get better at reading and understand how to say something faster. Then, read through it again and take notes and look up vocabulary. Once you've gone through and made notes for maybe just a chapter if you want to start small, reread the chapter with the notes on the side, and once you've finished the chapter, reread it without the notes and see how much you remember. Then move on to the next chapter, and repeat the process for every chapter. Then, go back to the beginning of the book and read through the entire book without your notes. You'll see that it will not only be easier to read, but you have a somewhat understanding of what's happening. Although, I wouldn't rely on this to be your only technique. If you're a complete beginner, you should familiarise yourself with grammar points and just basic vocabulary, which is fairly easy to find online. Just search up "N5 grammar points" and "N5 vocabulary". N5 is the first level in Japanese and is the easiest, just letting you know in case you ever decide you want to take a step further once learning all the different N5 vocab, grammar, etc and take the JLPT (Japanese Language Proficiency Test)
@@maowav wow, that’s very helpful! I never thought of reading without trying to understand as a first step. It makes sense! Thanks so much for taking the time to give your insight and detailed approach, I really appreciate it.
Thank you for stopping by! This comment made me realize I need to get another video out there regarding this topic specifically. Give me a couple days to put together a meaningful answer.
What do you even mean by fluent? Some call knowing 100 words fluent, others near native level. If it's the latter, oh boy, atleast 3 hours a day of effective study, probably way more than that. I'm at about 4000 hours after 21 months and I'd guess I'm halfway there if I'm being highly optimistic.
The 1st Emperor to unite Japan killed many innocent buddhists during his reign and I couldn't understand why until you said that Buddhism was brought to Japan by the Chinese. I believe he killed those innocent people out of racism and also because if more Japanese adopted Buddhism there would be less warriors willing to kill....That does NOT make it OK but it only clicked for me now.....
Thank you for the comment and the theory! I think you are referring to Nobunaga, he was a feudal lord who was the first to unify Japan. He lived in the 1500's so Buddhism had already settled into Japanese culture comfortably. Affiliations with different temples and sects was almost entirely political at this time. The Buddhist monks wouldve been 99.999% Japanese so racism wasnt a factor and Buddhist monks were often militant. Contrary to the modern popular culture image of pacifistic Buddhists, warrior monks are not uncommon to find throughout history in many different cultures (and even exist in modern times.) Buddhism in practice is not as peaceful as one might think! Maybe I will do some more Japanese history videos!
I appreciate the history lesson TS “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16
Just found your content recently. Reading with fumigant is 100% what students need to be doing. I’ve been self studying for years and I’ve realized not reading enough has really held me back. This video alone is worth a sub.
I appreciate the comment and the sub! Definitely agree with you! If you can get yourself to the point where you are thinking about Japanese in Hiragana instead of spelling out the words in romaji, then things really take off (as I guess you are probably experiencing now.)
Amazing video! I would absolutely like a video on how to effectively study Japanese and how to got to the point of understanding to a manga.
Thanks for stopping by! Okay lets do it! I will try my best to get you there!
If you like video game Game Gengo is another good RUclips channel that makes learning fun.
your videos inspire and encourage me..
do more videos and you double my motivation
thks
- Brazilian guy
Thank you for watching! I hope we can keep your motivation high!
Even if it stays high, the number one thing you'll need for studying Japanese (or any other language) and in life is discipline, so stay consistent!
Thank you so much for such a wonderful video :)
Thank you for stopping by; Im still pretty new so I hope you can drop by again!
Very interested in your study process!!!
Great video! Starting your channel with a brief history of the language. Looking forward to more videos! :)
Thank you so much for stopping by! Are you studying Japanese now?
@@tokyoscrambledesigns Yes I am studying. Beginner 😅
Your video was very useful. Thanks.
Thank you for the comment! Great motivation to put more out there :)
Having visited Japan for a month the culture is fascinating. Your video just kinda appeared in my RUclips recommendations and I really enjoyed your presentation. Perhaps starting to learn some of the language might be fun with your approach and would love to see how you study from a manga :) Thanks and all the best.
Thank you, it is super encouraging to get your feedback! Im trying to get another video up in the next day or so I would be really grateful for your honest opinion on my direction and what kind of things you liked or didnt like.
How was it financially for you? I'm doing the same in October
@@kourtneyjohnson1557 Hi Kourtney, sorry for the late reply. Well I definitely recommend getting the train pass allowing unlimited use of the trains. I used airbnb mostly, obviously not the cheapest place to live. Hope you have a great time.
Really good video. Everything was understandable. I'm interested in what else you have to offer in the future.
Thank you for watching, feeling very motivated to put out another video :)
I feel like it's not entirely true that you can just learn hiragana and then read a manga with furigana. As a beginner you will probably struggle to figure out where words begin and end, and also manga usually use contractions, which means that even if you have a pretty good guess as to where the word starts and stops, looking it up in a dictionary or googling it may get you nowhere.
At least speaking from my experience when I was just starting.
This is true, sometimes its really confusing! I think you have to be okay with only understanding 60% and then pressing on. Recently I found a hack to get past this, I will share soon!
I keep telling myself I need to get back into learning Japanese. But my only attempts were in school so I haven’t been confident learning solo. I really enjoyed the video and learning the history definitely helped. (I was also thinking “so many people say Japanese is easy and never speak it during their videos” your comment at the end made me laugh 😂 )
Thank you for the comment! I’m still a pretty new channel but eventually it’s my goal to have out a lot of resources to help self-learners understand different Japanese media on their own. I hope I can help you out too! If you can read hiragana, katakana and understand basic grammar please check out my Read Manga series! I’m about to put out Lesson three later today :)
Here I thought this channel would be about 卵焼き or お好み焼き but I guess I will subscribe. I agree with your basic premise if you do not learn hiragana well you might as well not try but katakana these days is a lot more prevalent but it is easy to learn since thankfully there is no Kanji equivalent as far as I know.
Yeah manga is great way to improve your Kanji recognition but for the earlier learner they really need to hear the words so it wouldn't be a bad idea to have your channel revolve around using manga and you could use that as a medium to teach Japanese and the culture as well 2 for 1.
Very interesting!
Please do share resources to learn Japanese via Manga in an interesting way!
Dude! @2:51 You used to be all about the 筆順! 😳 Seriously though, another thoughtful vid on your quality channel.
It’s criminally bad 😂 Never take a calligraphy lesson from me!
Thank you for over looking my faults😅
@@tokyoscrambledesigns not really a challenge on my part when your many strengths tower over what trifling few lapses there might be.
Interesting information! Thank you for sharing.
Can you make a video discussing the learning curve and how to get through plateaus while self studying?
I am feeling stuck with self studying especially with learning kanji and reading fluency. Did you find this a normal part of the self study process? Periods of where it feels as if you’re going in circles? And how to overcome them…or push through?
Thank you for the comment! Im about to put out a video on katakana, and after that I will be putting out some practical guides. My whole goal is to show people how to take a class 5 language and bring it down a notch so I really hope I can help you! I think learning to love the language itself instead of only what it gives you access to (ie, anime, manga, etc.) is a really important step. Please check out the katakana video and let me know if it rekindles any of the fire! There is so much mystery and intrigue in the language itself I always find myself digging deeper.
I started my guide with manga with you in mind. Let me know what you think! I think it will help push you to the next level.
I'm not proficient by any means, but I feel like you should've mentioned pitch accents. Yes it's easier to read than English, but some words are written the same and pronounced differently. I am subbing cause I do like your explanations and I did learn a lot about how Hiragana was invented!
Not only did you watch the video, but you gave me some great feedback! Thank you so much! Up next: pitch accents :)
@@tokyoscrambledesigns pitch accent and devoiced vowels like in です and しつれいします
Pitch accent, while not insignificant, is a waste to worry about [most of the time]. It comes naturally the more Japanese immersion you do. No need to study it separately or to dedicate a long time to it.
It only got popular due to some RUclipsrs would preach it was the key to learn Japanese and that is very much not the case.
Great video! I would vote for a video about how you study from manga.
My next, next video will be a guide! I would love your feedback and to hear what would help you the most.,
@@tokyoscrambledesigns It would be interesting to hear more about how you read your way to understanding the kanji - like, how many books did you have to read? How long did it take? Anything about the process would be helpful - if you looked lots of words up, or just waited to figure them out from context, for example. Thanks!
I am on Unit 7 of Duolingo and self-taught. There is a small problem I may have found....Bo in Katakana is said by the Computer like Vo (with a V) sometimes. This is inconsistent from the way I have been saying Bo. Its for a word that is of a country I think....I will come back when I see the word again....The app does not tell me why some characters are silent in a word- I have to figure it out on my own- and it makes me learn the particle-use/grammer on my own too- it only tells me when I fail so I learn from the failures- not because it's guiding me through- for that I will need a textbook- this is the only thing making my learning slow- I am surprised by my ability to quickly learn and remember....I used Drops app for the 1st time tonight and I enjoy the fast pace of that more than the slow-pace of Duilingo...Both are great for different reasons...I like your video- I'll surely check out more of your stuff.
maybe I will check them out! thanks for dropping by!
Great video! I would love to know how you’d study from a manga. I bought one recently and even though I can read hiragana & katakana, I still needed to look up the translation to make sense of the sentences. Maybe its too soon for me.
I'm not fluent whatsoever, just letting you know
I find it best to actually just read. Whether you understand it or not, just read through the entire manga. This is so you can familiarise yourself with the book and you'll gradually get better at reading and understand how to say something faster. Then, read through it again and take notes and look up vocabulary. Once you've gone through and made notes for maybe just a chapter if you want to start small, reread the chapter with the notes on the side, and once you've finished the chapter, reread it without the notes and see how much you remember. Then move on to the next chapter, and repeat the process for every chapter. Then, go back to the beginning of the book and read through the entire book without your notes. You'll see that it will not only be easier to read, but you have a somewhat understanding of what's happening. Although, I wouldn't rely on this to be your only technique. If you're a complete beginner, you should familiarise yourself with grammar points and just basic vocabulary, which is fairly easy to find online. Just search up "N5 grammar points" and "N5 vocabulary". N5 is the first level in Japanese and is the easiest, just letting you know in case you ever decide you want to take a step further once learning all the different N5 vocab, grammar, etc and take the JLPT (Japanese Language Proficiency Test)
@@maowav wow, that’s very helpful! I never thought of reading without trying to understand as a first step. It makes sense! Thanks so much for taking the time to give your insight and detailed approach, I really appreciate it.
My next, next video will be a guide! Hang in there!
You look like a young Hideaki Anno
now that u mention it, i can see it lol. Would be better if he also wear spectacles
I will take that as a compliment! Haha, thanks for the comment and the chuckle
How long should someone study Japanese per day to get fluent in 4-5 years?
Thank you for stopping by! This comment made me realize I need to get another video out there regarding this topic specifically. Give me a couple days to put together a meaningful answer.
@@tokyoscrambledesigns Oh, alright. Thank you for reading my comment. Also, happy late Christmas! 🎄
What do you even mean by fluent? Some call knowing 100 words fluent, others near native level. If it's the latter, oh boy, atleast 3 hours a day of effective study, probably way more than that. I'm at about 4000 hours after 21 months and I'd guess I'm halfway there if I'm being highly optimistic.
@@英語わかりません Native-Japanese Fluency, but what are resources that you would recommend to study with?
@@gabriel41568 native Japanese fluency in that time frame??? In that case every waking moment and pray.
The 1st Emperor to unite Japan killed many innocent buddhists during his reign and I couldn't understand why until you said that Buddhism was brought to Japan by the Chinese. I believe he killed those innocent people out of racism and also because if more Japanese adopted Buddhism there would be less warriors willing to kill....That does NOT make it OK but it only clicked for me now.....
Thank you for the comment and the theory! I think you are referring to Nobunaga, he was a feudal lord who was the first to unify Japan. He lived in the 1500's so Buddhism had already settled into Japanese culture comfortably. Affiliations with different temples and sects was almost entirely political at this time. The Buddhist monks wouldve been 99.999% Japanese so racism wasnt a factor and Buddhist monks were often militant. Contrary to the modern popular culture image of pacifistic Buddhists, warrior monks are not uncommon to find throughout history in many different cultures (and even exist in modern times.) Buddhism in practice is not as peaceful as one might think! Maybe I will do some more Japanese history videos!
I appreciate the history lesson TS
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16
Thank you! The next video goes into some really interesting history, please let me know what you think when it comes out.