Sir, as a learner of this Language for about 3 years now, I smashed that "like" button when you said that the Japanese are not good at teaching Japanese. So true.

@weeklyfascination

18 күн бұрын

Thanks for watching, commenting, and smashing like!

What a wonderful video. Glad that I found it! Thank you a lot for your work!

@weeklyfascination

20 күн бұрын

Thank you! I'm so glad you enjoyed it! I've got another one coming soon (currently editing) about how to study Japanese effectively.

Extremely fascinating!! Thanks

@weeklyfascination

16 күн бұрын

Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed it. More videos coming soon!

I appreciate you sharing your experiences, especially how you consistently made the distinction between your personal preferences and more objective statements. Also, thanks for dropping names on those TV shows. I'm clueless to almost all visual media that isn't animated, both East and West, so actually finding something that sounds interesting is difficult.

@ALEXMEDIA100

23 күн бұрын

Agree - It can be useful - otherwise hard to find

@weeklyfascination

23 күн бұрын

Thanks for your comment. I have my own quirks, and my friends laugh at me, so I’m often the only person in the group with that specific preference. I’ve been thinking of doing Japanese drama reviews. Awesome idea!

Being in my 60's, living in a non Japanese environment and having a limited income means self study has been my only option so far (going on 3 years). I find I have the motivation (most of the time) just not the structure behind my efforts to to get it all to stick. Speaking and listening are my major hurdles. I have a Japanese friend who wants to help in a limited way. That starts soon so hopefully some more progress during this year. My ultimate goal is to be a frequent visitor to Japan without the language barriers that most tourists encounter. Cheers for this video.

@weeklyfascination

22 күн бұрын

Go for it! It's an amazing language and you'll have a lot of fun. Can't wait to hear about your travels in Japan.

Very interesting video, thank you for putting it out there. Im also the type of person that would rather hear a "no", than being led on, but i guess thats the cost of politeness

@weeklyfascination

21 күн бұрын

Part of the adjustment for me was learning not to take things at face value. Sometimes I still struggle with it.

I've been learning Japanese for 4 years now (AJATT style) and working hard on it. I'm also 33 so it's really interesting to hear you say you moved to Japan in 1990 as I was born that year not to make you sound old just love the perspective.

@weeklyfascination

15 күн бұрын

It's ok, I AM old. 🤣 But I hope this old-timer's experience can be beneficial. It's so motivating to see so many people studying Japanese. It reminds me not to get complacent.

I'm glad this video came up on the suggested bar, it was insightful. I mainly listen to Japanese music, which is how I am exposed with the language on a daily basis. Thanks again for this video :)

@weeklyfascination

19 күн бұрын

Thanks for watching! There are some amazing singers out there. I might have to do a video reviewing bands.

"They don't expect me to know such a difficult word." That's an issue. I experienced this a lot when I was in Japan. I don't think I was even saying difficult words - I'm not a lawyer in Japan or anything haha. Getting the pitch accent wrong is an issue too. I found out when I said 籠 it sounded like カード because my pitch accent matched カード and not 籠 even though they have completely different consonant sounds. Also, I think Japanese people might see my face and expect katakana words more than kanji ones. It's a legitimate frustrating experience but not unique to Japan. If you search on KZread you can see a video of a Scotsman giving a speech in parliament and his fellow countryman from further down south (England) can't understand him at all - even after he slows down and repeats himself three times. The video stops but I suspect he had to write it down on a piece of paper or get someone else to "translate" for him.

@weeklyfascination

8 күн бұрын

It happens to me often. Fortunately, I've been able to meet some people who are used to dealing with foreigners. The truly international-minded. I guess it's just a function of being on a homogenous island where everybody grew up with other native Japanese speakers. There are now classes for service workers where they learn how to speak Japanese with foreigners. The funny thing is, I was always told that my Japanese was incredible until I started delving into the more difficult topics like law and technology. That's when I found more people who pushed back and told me my Japanese was not very good. I'm not sure how I went from perfect Japanese 2 years in, then terrible Japanese after 30 years, but here we are.

Great video! I agree with your point about Japanese people sprinkling in English when speaking to you, while I try to speak only in Japanese. I've been learning for almost 8 years and take this studying of mine pretty seriously too, so I can only imagine your frustration as a learner of 30+ years when they immediately give you the English menu. To be fair though, I totally understand it, because I don't look Japanese in any way 🤣I did get called 四世 once and never forgot that haha Very interesting that you put Kanji off too, I did the same! I started learning at 18 and only started learning Kanji at 22 😅 My reason to learn was very much my stubborn nature like you, but also because I was bored out of my mind in my first job out of university

I'm learning Japanese from Anime. It's a challenging and rewarding experience so far. It's always interesting to hear what it's like to live and work in Japan. Thanks for the video! ありがとうございます。

@weeklyfascination

18 күн бұрын

Very excited to hear that. I think I missed out because I didn’t watch anime. A lot of references go over my head. What do you recommend for a total noob, especially when it comes to anime showing people in daily life?

@AndyGlover

18 күн бұрын

@@weeklyfascination I take a very adventurous approach when choosing what to watch. There is a ton of content out there. My taste tends more toward sci-fi/action. But lately I've been sampling a lot of different shows to absorb the language. For the "slice of life" genre, I've heard good things about "Ao Ashi" which follows a high school soccer team, and also "Planetes" which has more of a sci-fi backdrop. While I use Crunchyroll here in the US, I've heard Netflix is becoming a great place to find anime to watch if you're in Japan. Good luck on your Anime adventure!

@weeklyfascination

18 күн бұрын

@AndyGlover Yes, Amazon Prime and Netflix are both showing me a lot of anime in my feed. They’re nudging me toward the rabbit hole. I’ve heard that a lot of people use a VPN to watch overseas content, but I don’t know whether streaming services are happy about that or not.

@AndyGlover

18 күн бұрын

@@weeklyfascination Moderation in all things, as the saying goes! Anime truly is a rabbit hole 😅

@weeklyfascination

17 күн бұрын

@AndyGlover I will learn that someday.

I found the video really interesting and enjoyed it. As a Japanese person who loves learning English, I was impressed by how well it captured the interactions between Japanese people and English speakers. It was spot on, and I used to be just like them, feeling like the people you mentioned in the video. But as my skills improved, my mindset changed, and my mental block disappeared. Growing up in Japan, I now feel a greater sense of freedom through learning English. I really hope more Japanese people learn English and become more open-minded.

@weeklyfascination

13 күн бұрын

I'm glad you enjoyed it, and I hope I didn't come across as complaining too much. I love living in Japan. I think amazing things happen when we learn other languages and other cultures. A few times I felt like people were pretending not to understand me, then I learned that my pitch accent was really bad, and that I was not pronouncing Japanese correctly. When I learned that each "mora" needs to be pronounced separately, I was able to have much better conversations around Tokyo. I think I said a few things wrong, but it's hard to switch between languages for me. Once again, thanks for watching.

I'm learning Japanese using apps and books. I like to watch channels where everyday Japanese people are interviewed (Takashii and Interview Japan, etc). I have picked up so much dialect from these videos as well as hearing Japanese people's opinions. As a qualified trainer, I have had to adapt my learning style because I learn through seeing and doing. It's a fantastic challenge for me and I love learning new things. I am going to visit Japan for the first time, hopefully, in the next year. I've put Kanji to one side for now but eventually I will learn it. Thank you so much for your excellent video 🫶

@weeklyfascination

2 күн бұрын

Takashi has a great channel. Keep working at it and have an awesome trip to Japan. Do you know if you'll be visiting Tokyo or Osaka, other locations?

@amandahayward

Күн бұрын

@@weeklyfascination I'll be visiting Kyoto, Osaka, Nara then Tokyo. I will be planning a day trip to Hakone (depending on the weather). I can't wait to see Japan with my own eyes, rather than KZread 😊 It will be a solo trip, so the sky will be my limit

Thank you for the video. I've been studying Japanese myself for three and a half years now and I'm pretty comfortable in the language. I'll be going to Japan for 2 weeks in a week. I've always been speaking online with Japanese people and speaking has become my strong suite, to the point that (without camera) it takes japanese people a few minutes to realize that I'm a foreigner. I've personally never really liked mnemonics as just seeing a Kanji/word 2 to 3 times with it's associated meaning sticks in my mind. Really looking forward to new videos

@weeklyfascination

11 күн бұрын

That’s an awesome accomplishment. I think you’ll have an amazing time in Japan. Will you be going to Tokyo, or another area?

Thank your for the video. It's always nice to hear from others about their experience. I am currently trying to get more into studying Japanese, but I am too good at procrastinating . I agree that Hiragana and Katakana are not hard to learn, but Katakana is for some reason just more annoying to learn. Currently, I am at a point where I need to up my vocabulary and should probably get some Kanjis in, at least the "baseline" ones, as I want to go to Japan in 2025 and not rely too much on translation sites, as they don't sound too "smooth"(?).Do you have any tips on how to choose the sort of vocabulary to progress with at the beginning? My goal is to be able to not have a fluid conversation, but at least be able to understand and converse the right meaning in Japanese.

@weeklyfascination

18 күн бұрын

I have to agree. I've joked that Katakana is the hardest thing to learn because the pronunciation of loan words is completely different. As far as vocabulary, I was lucky to have a passion for Japanese cars. That led me to learn a ton of vocabulary, and that became useful later when I had some Japanese manufacturers as clients. I'd say find something that you're passionate about, and learn everything in that area. Of course, practice a lot of basic conversation: riding the train, taking a taxi, ordering food at a restaurant before you visit. Learn the names of your favorite foods in Japanese, and note that there are a lot of foods that are unique to Japan. That should make your visit go smoothly. Best of luck and thanks for watching and commenting.

Something to note about anime too is that they don't really animate the facial movements of the characters, for many reasons. So stuff like pronuncing individual sounds the way that Japanese people do (e.g., the 'r' in something like ラ/ら or 't' sounds) requires understanding how they move their mouth, or rather how they move their tongue when they make those noises. That's very different to how we pronounce those same sounds in English in my opinion So in my opinion it's probably better to watch dramas or tokusatsu (Nichi-asa) shows with real-life actors.

@weeklyfascination

7 күн бұрын

I never noticed that. Now I will probably see it every time I watch anime.

I've been using the "anime" path. I've watched some anime, but I mostly watch a ton of Japanese KZreadrs and Japanese movies/TV/news broadcasts and podcasts. Anime though specifically for beginners is really nice because there are almost always Japanese subtitles available that actually match the dialogue. That's not always an easy thing to find. Once I got to the place where I didn't really need subtitles anymore, KZread has more content than I could ever hope to watch. I also got involved with Japanese online game communities. That was a fun experience learning the Japanese internet slang. When I come across new words, I make Anki cards for them in the sentences they appear in to help review. I've studied some basic grammar, but I mostly pick it up by feel from just seeing it used a lot. I found watching similar content helps me learn domain specific terms a lot better.

@weeklyfascination

21 күн бұрын

It’s great to hear from you. I encourage everyone to use what works best for them. And by getting to the point where you do not need subtitles, that is serious progress. These days, I am actually starting to think about watching anime myself so I exclude myself from conversations. Maybe I will have a video someday about how I became an anime fan.

@coolbrotherf127

21 күн бұрын

@@weeklyfascination If you haven't seen them yet, Death Note, Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood, and Steins;Gate are all good shows to watch. Especially for learning Japanese, they tend to have less "anime talk" compared to fantasy shows like One Piece or Dragon Ball. I saw them in English years before I started learning Japanese and it was really interesting to go back and watch them in their original language.

@weeklyfascination

20 күн бұрын

I can feel myself going down a rabbit hole. This is one reason I haven't started watching, as I know my tendency to get obsessed with things. Update coming soon!

I really liked Remembering the Kanji too. It helped me remember a kanji longer than I otherwise would and gave me hope. But I still forgot them eventually and I had to relearn them over and over and struggled to read Japanese for years and years without giving up before my brain seemed to tune into kanji. But I probably would have given up early on without that book.

@weeklyfascination

13 күн бұрын

It was a miracle that I found that book. I had really given up on learning to read, much less write. I could identify some train stations because I saw them every day, but that was about it.

I'm currently learning now in my 30's it's definitely a challenge. I'm actually studying at a private Japanese school in the states and also watching some of those 90's dramas you mentioned lol. Are there companies that help foreigners who want to work in Japan find jobs? Anyway, thank you great video.

@weeklyfascination

23 күн бұрын

There are many recruiting agencies. It just depends on the the type of work you're looking for. Daijob dot com is a good place to start. I'm no longer in my 30's, but I'm learning new vocabulary all the time. The human brain continues to amaze me. Best of luck and thanks for watching!

@user-hb2eq1sk7n

12 күн бұрын

waste of time learning japanese

@jayros4269

12 күн бұрын

@@user-hb2eq1sk7n Why do you say that?

@user-hb2eq1sk7n

11 күн бұрын

@@jayros4269 just read the news

@user-hb2eq1sk7n

11 күн бұрын

@@jayros4269 I mean learning a language is fun, but watch the news for state of Japan.

Great set of info and opinions! I have heard other stories of employees seeking out the one japanese-seeming person in a group to speak towards regardless of whether the other's have shown to also be able to speak Japanese or not. I like the concept someone brought up that this is likely because Japanese people are generally risk &/or disruption avoidant (maybe just anxious) & wish to ensure proper satisfaction from the customer. So while in your situation you could have said what you wanted perfectly, I could also see how a server could always have that second-guessing thought of not knowing how well you truly know Japanese & questioning whether you truly meant what you said or if you've mistakenly wanted one thing while saying something else. Therefor the verifying stares at the Japanese customer to ensure things are right.

@weeklyfascination

22 күн бұрын

It's a huge disconnect to be sure. I see myself as a long-term resident who speaks Japanese. They see me as someone who just got off the airplane. What's funny is there are some restaurants around Japan that have put out signs stating that the staff only speaks Japanese and they have no English menu. It's just the area where I live. They get so many tourists and short-term residents who struggle with the language and I get lumped into that group because we look similar. in the end, it's no skin off my back. I'd like to see it change and see a day where a guy who looks like me can be treated the same as a Japanese customer, but I'm not holding my breath. I do find that foreign staff, who sometimes speak excellent Japanese, are sometimes easier to deal with.

@mica4977

22 күн бұрын

@@weeklyfascination Hopefully it does improve for people like yourself who've lived there for long as well as those visiting with hopes of getting natural practice in through everyday style interactions. Am under the impression that the Internet's influence on their younger population in addition to the continual foreign interactions will change things up for the better. On the flip side I hope not too much of the culture is lost in the progress towards that goal.

@weeklyfascination

22 күн бұрын

@@mica4977 There's another KZreadr who sells a t-shirt that says 日本語OK. I'm thinking of getting one. With people who know me, they quickly get over the nervousness of seeing a non-Japanese person speak Japanese. It's usually strangers or service workers who are used to dealing with foreigners who speak no Japanese. I'm with you on the culture. I really do love Japan and I hope Japan is able to keep its uniqueness as we get a massive influx of tourists and foreign workers.

All this time I thought "Wangan sensou" meant street racing in Kanagawa

@weeklyfascination

8 күн бұрын

Ahhhh... The good old days!

Really interesting introspective of the country, culture, and it's language. I have put in about 60 hrs or so thus far (so extremely new) However I have made quite tangible progress with understanding through mostly low level comprehensible input, vocabulary/kanji study (I tried kanji in isolation but found it far too troublesome. Within context of sentences the kanji have stuck very well) and some grammar study here in there (this part definitely has a long way to go. I have a general understanding of most of the basic particles. However in use I cant really parse them too well yet) Overall I am really enjoying it though.

@weeklyfascination

18 күн бұрын

I think you've found the secret. Enjoy it! You make a great point about learning in context. Thanks for watching and leaving a comment.

Also I heard an interesting thing from my friends. Apparently pitch accent (or as they call it, intonation) isn't really taught in school - it's such a difficult thing for us foreigners I feel, even now I still get thrown off by stuff like kumo, hashi etc. 🤣

@weeklyfascination

7 күн бұрын

I've mentioned it to Japanese friends, and they have no idea what I'm talking about. So it's no wonder my instructors in the 90's didn't teach it. I think they deal with so many students that struggled with pronunciation that they just didn't worry about it that much. Also, many of the students I went to Japanese school with were studying to get into a Japanese university, so they focused a lot on reading.

@Suedeash

7 күн бұрын

@@weeklyfascination @weeklyfascination I see, it seems like that problem is almost compounded when it comes to foreigners trying to get into Japan for work or school then, as we study for the JLPT (which is mostly a reading test anyway) but don't even have the prior experience of talking in the language regularly, so pitch accent completely falls under a lot of people's radars as a consequence.

I've lived in Tokyo for about 8 years now, currently 29 years old. I work with old guys from Fukushima, Kyushu, Kyoto (Among others) and did a homestay with Japanese American family (both Native level Japanese) for 4 years. I help manage a business where we have dozens to hundreds of Japanese customers per month, and help with Construction work, IT work, and 土木 work (Not even sure what that's called in english). I first came to Japan almost 11 years ago and started studying a few months before that, for a 1 month Japanese language study trip before starting college, and did about a year and a half of Japanese Language School after I moved here before I started working. I know and understand Japanese to a pretty proficient level (I haven't taken JLPT since I was in Language school where I failed JLPT 3 by just a few points at the time, I'm extremely confident I could pass JLPT N2 if I took it now), I'd actually say at this point Kanji is my Most Proficient aspect of Japanese, and I can "get my point across" in almost any interaction I have, and feel pretty confident in most situations. AND YET, I still feel nowhere near close to "native" level. When Japanese people talk directly to me, I usually can usually understand and have a conversation. But when the Japanese guys are all talking amongst themselves, I feel like I can barely understand a thing, Much less replicate it. I can "Get my point across", But it always feels like I do so in a way that they can "Comprehend" what I'm saying, But what I'm saying is almost never "Correct". 了解させる通話できますが言い方は全然正しくないわけです。

@weeklyfascination

19 күн бұрын

I've had the same experience. When my Japanese colleagues get into conversation among themselves, I get lost. As far as the difference between 下手 and 上手 that's a very big question. I struggle with that question myself. You definitely sound like someone who has put a lot of effort into your Japanese studies. One thing that I've learned as my Japanese improves in short bursts is that the results lag behind the effort. Just like learning music, martial arts, or going to the gym. I find that I put in a ton of effort, see no immediate results, and then one day it all comes together. That gets frustrating, to be sure. Learning Japanese is certainly a humbling experience. It seems like there's always another level. We never get to meet the final boss. Just another level of the game (video game analogy). Every time I think I've conquered it, I get into a situation where I"m completely lost and I'm back to square one. I've had co-workers "explain" what I've said in Japanese, and I think it's more of a comfort level issue than a language ability issue. They want to hear it from a Japanese person because it's just more comfortable. Just like the server who wouldn't acknowledge my presence. She probably just wanted to talk to a Japanese person. If I did that back home, I'd get fired on the spot. But it's a daily occurrence in Japan that everybody but (seemingly) me feels is perfectly normal. The joys of living in an insular society. In summary, I feel your pain. But it's this frustration that pushes me to study more. And I think that's the difference between the learners who get to a certain level and stop, and those who continue to study and improve for a lifetime. The only thing that gives me solace is seeing a Japanese friend say, "I don't know that kanji/word/phrase/concept." It takes a lifetime of study for Japanese, and if my friends are still learning, I guess I still have things to learn. Finally, keep going! 頑張って下さい！！

What you talk about at around the 9:00 mark in linguistics is called code switching.

@weeklyfascination

16 күн бұрын

Yes, good old code switching. I'm probably completely wrong, but for some reason I was afraid doing it would hold me back. I have no evidence for this, but I was always afraid that if I practice code switching I'd end up talking to someone who doesn't speak any English, and wouldn't be able to have a conversation in 100% Japanese. My unfounded hypotheses have been proven wrong time and time again. So I'd be open to learning more about this.

Thank You…. Very fascinating… Well, I am a retired teacher ( 75 years old)… My wife and I are going to take a Japanese tour this Summer ( June 21- July 6)… About 5 months ago , I decided to study the Japanese language. I mean really learn the language , not just some phrases for the trip… I used various books and apps…. I learned hiragana and katakana, and I am using Italki tutors. Right now I am using Minna No Nihongo with my tutor. I think it will be a great challenge for my brain, and I am determined to go as far as I can go with this commitment. Btw: I admire what you have done with your life and your achievements…. Best, John

@weeklyfascination

21 күн бұрын

Thank you. It’s exciting to hear about people studying Japanese. Hope you have an awesome trip.

@saundrakinnear1118

16 күн бұрын

😅😅

Great video. I visited Japan for 3 weeks recently. I knew a few phrases to get by which Japanese people really appreciated. I do love learning languages and am thinking of trying to learn Japanese. Thanks for the inspiration.

@weeklyfascination

23 күн бұрын

Go for it. It is both frustrating and exhilarating at the same time. But overall, I think the good overwhelmingly outweighs the bad. Keep going!

I am a Canadian dude and I have been here in Osaka since 2003 and my Japanese still sucks … lol I want to pass the N1 one day

@weeklyfascination

11 күн бұрын

You can do it! There are some amazing resources available now.

I find the speaker softens the language. Is that the reason when women speak Japanese it’s cute sounding but when speaking normal it sounds harsh? Japanese is a harsh sounding language at times.

Our current world's ease of life could certainly cause people to be lazy while learning a language though it also greeeatly allows us to be immersed in the language without needing to travel there now more than ever. I've recently started watching a few KZread channels from Japanese content creators of various genres which I do feel has helped in my learning growth. It's surprising to see the number of Japanese channels with either full or partial Japanese subtiles. Helps expose me to more Kanji within context as well as general reading material. I also recently found an iPad app of Japanese picture books with audio recordings to read along to, which has been fun! Also enjoyable to now and then watch the various videos of walking footage of Japanese locations and or events to see more of what it's like there. Quite the interesting time to be alive as long as we make the best of it and don't overwhelm ourselves with info & choice.

@weeklyfascination

22 күн бұрын

True! Technology can either be a great tool to make us more efficient or make us lazy. It just depends on how we leverage it.

@mica4977

22 күн бұрын

@@weeklyfascination Most definitely. The biggest double edged sword because distractions are just a click away. There are also those who jump from one tutorial/learning source on to the next hoping to find "the ONE" that'll magically make Japanese click for them all's while procrastinating on hands-on practice (which for some may be far more beneficial at their stage).

@weeklyfascination

22 күн бұрын

@@mica4977 Once again, totally agree. I'd recommend that anybody who is learning Japanese even today use a book and a dictionary (a book, not online). When you repeat a word over and over again in your head while looking it up in the dictionary, it really helps burn it into your brain. And you see other words on the page that you end up learning, too. Having said that, I have used ChatGPT to check a Japanese email for me (but not write it for me).

@mica4977

22 күн бұрын

@@weeklyfascination I do imagine that would help greatly!

What do you say about learning via italki tutoring with real Japanese people? I keep going back amd forth on learning Japanese because unlike most languages I hear that no matter how fluent you are it’s never enough. I speak several languages and switched learning Japanese with Chinese and loved it. But my passion lies with Japanese and its culture and I’m trying to get back at it… I’d love to go from basic to intermediate, as long as I have enough to mainly understand and make myself understood, I’ll be happy lol

@weeklyfascination

18 күн бұрын

I wish I had it back when I started studying. You are correct. It always feels like there's another layer when it comes to Japanese. Still, you can have conversations, make friends, date, and work using Japanese without being perfect.

A classmate in my Japanese class said his Japanese girlfriend only spoke Japanese to him when she was mad. He was one of the most serious Japanese students I'd met. He won the Japanese speech contest in our city even. I think it was a shame that she wasn't speaking Japanese to him at least some of the time they were together. I've never had a non-native English speaking girlfriend but if I was studying their language as hard as I could and they never spoke Japanese to me except when they were mad, I would take that as a sign they don't really care about me. I'd probably be breaking up at some point.

@weeklyfascination

13 күн бұрын

Without telling my whole life story, I will just say that dating really helps. You end up covering a lot of things that aren't in textbooks. From friends who are married, I often hear that their spouse will express frustration in Japanese. Feelings are very difficult to translate, especially with so many words in Japanese having no simple translation.

I had problems pronouncing McDonald's the Japanese way. I'm definitely not the most talented learner to study Japanese. I was having issues even after living in Japan for about 6 months. I took aside a housemate of mine who lived in the same share house (over 60 of us) and asked her to just WRITE the darn thing down for me. I explained my problem. Honestly , I think she knew already as I'd struggled so much to say where I was eating almost every day in Japanese while talking to people. She then wrote it down the English way except she wasn't really sure if she was spelling it in English right. I wanted to pull my hair out. Spell it using KATAKANA the JAPANESE way so I can SEE it and this will help me remember it. Oh my goodness. This was years ago. She was a good friend really. It's just most Japanese people lack a lot of common sense when it comes to interacting with foreigners. Oh my goodness. I watching videos like this brings back memories.

@weeklyfascination

13 күн бұрын

That's one of the hardest things for me to say, too! Glad you enjoyed the video. This is exactly why I make these videos.

I have a tip for you: When Japanese people want to practice their English and say "chance!", you go "No, this is MY chance to practice Japanese" in perfect Japanese. 🤣

@weeklyfascination

16 күн бұрын

I have to be transparent. It doesn't happen very often, especially in Tokyo. I guess that's why it sticks out in my mind.

1:55 hence, prefer authentic dramas over anime any day.

@weeklyfascination

16 күн бұрын

There are so many to choose from, too. A few months ago, I watched a dark comedy called Rebooting on Netflix. I can't remember laughing so hard in a long time. The main character dies and ends up at a reception desk. She asks if she can go back to her old life or if she has to start a new one. Hilarity ensues. I'm also a big fan of BBC documentaries overdubbed in Japanese. But there's nothing like a good Japanese mini-series for learning vocab for daily life.

To learn any languages, pronunciation is most important whatever happens. To be honest anyone can tell your Japanese language is come from American native speaker. Sorry to say. But I subscribed

@weeklyfascination

13 күн бұрын

This is exactly why I try to give new Japanese learners a head start by learning correct pronunciation, like separating each "mora". A native English speaker would pronounce 簡単 with 2 syllables. A native Japanese speaker would pronounce each "mora" か　ん　た　ん And pitch accent, which I heard about for the first time a few years ago, can be corrected by learning it the right way the first time. Since I lived in Japan when I started studying, I just assumed I'd learn how to talk like a Japanese person. I was wrong. Thanks for subscribing! More videos are on the way.

NOBODY WILL TELL ME. Well, he learned japanese by LITERALLY studying a japanese degree.

@weeklyfascination

18 күн бұрын

In the interest of full disclosure, I lived in Japan before finishing my degree. It gave me a head start. There's a new video coming out, possibly this week, about how to avoid the mistakes I made when I studied. Hope this was helpful. Thanks so much for watching. Hope to see you here again.

2000 Kanji in a month 🤯🤯

@weeklyfascination

21 күн бұрын

I should be more specific. I learned to write 2000 kanji in one month. Of course, that’s after studying Japanese for two years in Japan. I had learned to read a lot already. And I had made several failed attempts to learn how to write kanji before using Remembering the Kanji. In the interest of full disclosure, I was not starting from nothing.

@weeklyfascination how many free Japanese teachers have you met or interacted with for free? Why did you make this video for free?

@weeklyfascination

15 күн бұрын

Great questions. 1. I have not met any teachers that would teach me for free. The city of Tokyo, TV, Netflix, and billboards are my teachers. There are a few websites and apps that can match learners for language exchange. But I haven't found them useful. Meeting people through work that I click with was helpful. But it was after I learned to speak Japanese. And those interactions helped me in small ways; improving my pronunciation, learning new vocabulary, etc. 2. I made this video because I love making KZread videos, and my friends in Japan encourage me to share my experience.

heh, thats because you dont have written on your forhead 'i lived here for 30 years, i do know japanease'.

@weeklyfascination

17 күн бұрын

I’d do it, but they frown on tattoos here. Just kidding. There is a KZreadr who sells T-shirts that say 日本語OK. I might need to get one. Or maybe I just need to chill out and not take myself so seriously. (It could happen.)

@beheroot

16 күн бұрын

@@weeklyfascination i don't think that japanease will belive t-shirt ;) Because you know, "what do gaikokujin knows about kanji, he probably bought it because it looks nice". And yea, i forgot about "fame" of tatoos in japan :D If you did that, they would neve talk to you again, no matter language :D

@weeklyfascination

16 күн бұрын

OK, you got me there. Do you remember the 日本人の彼女募集中 tshirt (looking for a Japanese girlfriend)? Or maybe it was 彼女募集中 (Looking for a girlfriend). A female Japanese colleague told me that she never saw a guy wearing one of those and thought, "I'd go out with him."

that drama is based on real life when a burakumin man was accused and even sentenced

@weeklyfascination

23 күн бұрын

I didn't know that. Thanks for that info. It was a great series.

@petervansan1054

23 күн бұрын

@@weeklyfascinationcheck sayama jiken

@weeklyfascination

22 күн бұрын

Thank you! I stopped watching TV/Netflix for a few years because I got really busy, but now I've got a little breathing room so I'm looking for things to watch (especially Netflix or Amazon Prime).

宅建士試験の合格をお祈りしています。

@weeklyfascination

21 күн бұрын

ありがとうございます。頑張ります。

Step 1: Live in Japan Welp, I’m already screwed.

@weeklyfascination

19 күн бұрын

It definitely helps, but it's not impossible to learn Japanese outside of Japan. There are so many resources available that were not available when I started. We have have KZread, online lessons, video calls, and Netflix.

13:30 some people are just indenial its alnost like they are stupid😅

@weeklyfascination

16 күн бұрын

I'm never 100% sure. My Japanese professor explained it this way. It just doesn't register. Since it's a commonly held belief that Japanese is too difficult, coupled with the many foreigners who go to a restaurant and ask for an English menu, I'm the person that does not fit the narrative. I've been a server and a hotel front desk worker. I remember working on autopilot, and so I am guessing that service workers are just on autopilot when they reach for the English menu. Sure, it feels strange, but it has been consistent since I moved back in 2014. (They didn't have English menus in the 90's.)

Its a fun language but absolutely useless

@weeklyfascination

10 күн бұрын

If we're talking about number of people in the world who speak Japanese vs Chinese, Spanish, or Arabic, you've got a point. But let me offer another perspective. I got a project where I had to sift through evidence for a big case. The rate for Japanese-speaking attorneys was 3X the rate for English-speaking attorneys.

@user-hb2eq1sk7n

10 күн бұрын

@@weeklyfascination great point. I see you have the advantage. very niche. But to add, if you knew kanji- you'd be even greater.

過小評価されてますよこのチャンネル！

@weeklyfascination

15 күн бұрын

ありがとうございます。