Has gaming helped you in learning Japanese?

Actually, I find manga to be somewhat of a double sword: if you're reading the shounen stuff the utter lack of kanji might actually confuse some people who aren't used to seeing everything spelled out in hiragana, not to mention the fact that the Japanese that is used in these books is quite different, to say the least. Light novels are a good bet for those with a bit of experience who don't mind a challenge and aren't afraid to frequently use a dictionary.

 

Well I'm under the assumption that people actually have more important things to do than to learn a language that they will not use outside of trying to play import games and watch anime. It's your own decision if you think it's worth it but I think it's a terrible waste.

Unless you become fluent in Japanese and talk to actual Japanese speakers and learn alot of their culture you may not do any better than a translation. Sure there are bad, really bad translations out there. But there are plenty that are great.

I mean I guess if you are really into the whole Japanese culture, and not just the games and the anime it would be worth it to learn it. But I think most people that think it would be neat to learn Japanese aren't really going to stick with it.

 

I.e. unless you actually learn the language properly you won't be any good at it?

Does that not seem kind of redundant?

And? This says nothing at all about the worth of learning a new language.

I don't think it's worth it but I also don't think it's a waste. If it's important to someone then that's their business, not mine.

I doubt anyone ever learned Japanese purely for games, anyway, so it's a moot point.

 

That's not what I was saying. I was saying unless you do those things you won't beat a decent translation to your own language.

 

Visiting the country, talking to first-language speakers and learning the culture are all typically an inherent part of learning a foreign language, though. Japanese isn't any different in these respects.

 

@MottZilla

I don't think learning a new language is ever a waste. I'm not ashamed to say that I've initially learned Japanese (especially reading) so I could translate (among other things) game's instruction manuals, menus and such. I've always loved Japanese culture (beyond anime and games, of course) and it was a logical step for me to learn the language so I could explore this world even more. English is not my native tongue and I'm actually learning Japanese in English - that can fry your brain yonno - but I think I'll always learn new languages in the background. It is important to always rub your brain against a different culture than yours. So I don't think it'll ever be a waste.

 

Fair enough. It's not like I'm against learning Japanese. It would be neat to be able to understand it both spoken and written. But of all the choices of languages to learn it seems pretty daunting. And as Alchy said visiting the country to talk to native speakers is far more effort than atleast I personally would be willing to put into it. But it's just be personal opinion, learning other languages is low on my priority list. But ofcourse I still enjoy Japanese video games and anime. But I'll settle for translations or just figuring it out on my own.

 

Before really digging down and trying to learn, the only japanese I really picked up from imports and manga, besides the usual greetings, was nani (or in animes "naaanniii????" since its said about every 3 minutes