Learning with anime
 

Ok, I know that the worst way to learn japanese is watching anime, but I really need something to help me with the pronunciation and anime is the only thing for free which can be found over the net (a part from childish programs).
I'm attending a Japanese class at the university, so anime wouldn't be my primary mean of learning, they'd only be an aid for understanding the spoken language and learning new words/expressions.
I've heard that dialogues in detective conan are quite polite... do you think that is true? And do you think it could be used as an aid in learning Japanese?

Have you thought about listening to Japanese online radios? I don't know if that would help you in the way you're looking for though, just a thought of mine.

Yep, and to help with reading I read Yotsuba, both by the same guy.

I’m probably the last person who should give advice on how to learn Japanese since I don’t know the language, but I see no reason why you can’t learn from watching Anime. Since I know little about the language, it’s hard for me to make a differentiation between real life, everyday Japanese and anime Japanese, but I doubt there’s enough of a difference to destroy you potential to learn from it. I learned a vast majority of English from watching western media and later on enforced what little there was left with education. Sure, you’ll make mistakes that may be associated with whatever it is you’re watching, but with a bit of research and dedication you can learn from these mistakes.

Anyways, as someone who learned a language primarily from media, I recommend this video since he pretty much echoes, in detail, my thoughts on language learning from media sources, text books, school and so on. Be warned though, the interviewer is a bit colorful with his language so if that sort of thing bothers you....well, now you know.

Good luck finding what works best for you.

Ok....I don't know why it is so hard for people to understand this. But, let me just say this. 95% of the dialogue in anime is just regular, native Japanese. It's made BY native Japanese people, FOR native Japanese people. It uses regular, real Japanese that people use everyday. Even in Naruto and Bleach, most of the dialogue is completely normal Japanese.


The only "problem" I have with learning from anime is that the actors all speak very clearly, they can't mumble, they can't slur their words. They can't speak fast. They have to speak clearly. It's like watching Japanese news, where all the newscasters must have a perfect accent and speak crystal-clear Japanese. Which, in real Life, people don't do that. They will mumble and speak as fast as they want.

They WAY an anime character speak is different than in real Life, sure. But the WORDS and the SENTENCES are pretty much the same.

Other than that...you can learn just about everything from anime.

Yes...you'll learn 50 ways of saying "I'll kill you"

But, you'll also learn 50 ways of saying "I'm happy", "I'm sad", "I'm depressed", "What are you doing?", "This computer is broken!" , "I wish I had money right now..." "The gust of wind is strong"......and millions of other phrases.




You can find "polite" dialogue in ANY anime. Doesn't have to be Detective Conan

This opinion has been voiced by many here, and I'll give it voice once more: You will not gain any appreciable skill with Japanese by just listening. You need to speak it. Passive learning does not result in much of anything.

Good luck.

But for example in hunterxhunter the main character Gon refers to himself as "ore wa" and that is not so polite...

So it's not a good job learning how to speak (intonation, accents, rhythm etc...) by watching anime?

Well, there's all kinds of speaking in anime. Even in battle anime where many characters speak vulgarly, you can still find at least one who speaks politely. It's not uncommon to see a character who addresses herself as わたくし and uses いたします in her conversations, especially when she's a rich lady. It's obvious that IRL people don't pronounce clearly like anime VAs at all, but I think it's not a waste. By making yourself familiar with the clear sounds, you can later recognize them when people speak faster. I started practicing my listening with anime, and now I can get the gist when watching some dramas (of course I still need to re-listen many times if I need to understand the whole thing).

Speaking is different, though. It's important to double check instead of copying the characters immediately, since anime characters sometimes speak non-standard Japanese (like じゃありません), probably because the creators made them that way.

Of course they won't use polite dialogue all the time. The would result in something very unnatural. They have to speak regular Japanese that people use. So they switch back and forth all the time, you just have to know when they're using them.

And it doesn't even depend on the situation. They will use polite and normal Japanese whenever they feel like it. You never know.

I think you should learn to understand first. Just imitate what Japanese people say. But if you can't understand even 10% of what they say...how can you speak? So just imitate, don't try to make up your own stuff. You can speak as well as you want...but if you can't understand what the other person is saying...then it's just useless.

If you can effortlessly understand 100% of an anime, talk show, drama, news...whatever...then you will speak. And you will be fluent.