Hi guys! It's me Director! What's your best difficulty to learn Japanese? What do you need to improve your language skill? Please share your advise each other!(╯✧∇✧)╯
Finding interesting stuff to listen to/watch is hard. There isn’t much good stuff on Japanese Netflix that’s not anime. But unfortunately anime are also limited. When you’ve already watched the good ones, most anime aren’t super entertaining. And when you go onto youtube it’s not at the level of American/Canadian youtube. You just can‘t find interesting youtubers for the topics you‘re interested in. Japanese youtube was the most disappointing thing for me about learning Japanese and it still annoys me everyday.
Speaking is my weakest point. I live in America and I don’t have many opportunities to practice speaking. My listening is improving by listening to Japanese music, watching shows, interviews, etc.
I first fell in love with Japanese when i was in university, around 1980. I was able to watch Japanese tv in my local area of Southern California. I didn't watch anime or read manga, but i watched historical dramas, samurai/ninja series, romantic dramas, etc. I became disabled so traveling to Japan was out of the question. But i still enjoyed my Japanese hobby. The Internet is a wonderful thing. Now i can read manga and watch anime, even though i would seem strange as i am in my 60s now.
Reading books and youtube videos can only get you so far. That is why its a best opportunity to practice if you happen to have a japanese community near your place
I admire so much how Cathy actually embraces her Lolita outfits and is living in Japan and learned Japanese and you can tell she loves Japan so much. I wish I could move to Japan and find work there. She is so lucky and an inspiration.
@@v_v9195 because building up an unrealistic image in you mind can lead to serious disappointment, when the reality is actually really good, but you have over inflated your expectations. a lot of Japanese and Chinese suffer from serious issues like this when visiting France, especially Paris. They have an unrealistic fantasy ideal in their heads, and then when they finally arrive, they feel seriously let down, and even end up with some mental issues from the disappointment, because Paris is a s@*t hole. It's called Paris Syndrome.
I used to watch a lot of Japanese dramas the 2 years before I come to Japan! After I came to Japan I decided not to gather too much with only people from my country, which I notice many people do! Then everything happened naturally! Cheers great video!
イエーイ!イルコさん! Yeah, that's the best way to get REAL language skill! Thank you always and I'm watching your great videos. Let's enjoy UA-cam together(╯✧∇✧)╯
41 yrs old here. I started at 39, stopped from not having a routine (like Cat says) and just started picking it up again this year. Amazingly some concepts come right back. I didn't get very far, but I remembered most of my hiragana and katakana. Only a handful of kanji.
Pro tip: Watch Ask Japanese! No, really, UA-cam is one of the best learning tools ever. Better than variety programs if you're not too into them. I find channels like this really encouraging for learning more about the culture AND the language! Subtitles both in English and Japanese are a plus.
Good tip I received from a Korean in Japan: "if you want to improve your Japanese get a Japanese boyfriend and that's gonna help you a lot!" And indeed, she (is) was so right xD 😂
I learned Japanese all by myself ,too.It took me 2 years to become fluent.It is not easy but as long as you can keep learning it is not hard.And I don't think you need to learn Japanese in japan .
That is sooo encouraging... As of now it's impossible for me to be in Japan or to have regular Japanese classes for getting better with the language & I'm all geared up to learn it..So Thank you for your timely helpful comment..It meant a lot.. Thanks.
Really appreciate this video. I've been living in Japan as an exchange student for about two months now (but I've been studying for about 13 months at this point) and I study literally 3 hours a night. It's absolutely mesmerizing to see foreigners who speak so fluently, and it really gives me hope for myself. Good stuff, guys!
@@DonS90 Somewhat. Like a lot of exchange students, the first thing I realized upon getting here is that my Japanese kinda sucks. The second thing I realized is that it could be much worse. I can do alright on familiar/commonplace topics, but when it dives into anything with particular vocab/terms it gets really dicey. Vocab is absolutely huge, and looking back I wish I studied more of it. Every part of the language is important - kanji, grammar, vocab, etc. - but without a balanced study routine you can often make every other part useless.
"Learn Japanese to Survive" is a series of games that is a fun way to learn to read and write Japanese. They're available on Steam and I really enjoyed playing em!
日本語は日本人の私でも難しいです。 漢字は意味を少し知ると面白かったりします。 例えば「魚」偏（へん）が入る漢字は魚の名前だったりします。 鮭（シャケ）鮪（マグロ）などなど・・・ Japanese is difficult even for me as a Japanese. Kanji is interesting if you know the meaning a little. For example, the kanji that contains “fish” is the name of the fish. Salmon, tuna, etc.
Blue Bandit oh... Well it’s not impossible to learn. It’s very difficult and I’m trying to learn it and it’s so hard but if other people can learn is at a second language then I can too. We’re all humans, right? I’ll probably end up giving up lol
In my experience (I speak 6 languages), you start off by learning the basics, slowly get into more advanced material. Everyone learns at a different rate, I know this teacher that studies, learns and speaks 2 languages per year, while me; it probably took me about 3 years to start speaking English well, a couple more years to be fully fluent at an advanced level (mostly has to do with new vocabulary learning). Most important of all is practice, this can start at an early stage, don't be afraid to try stuff, we all make mistakes, just keep trying and at one point you'll make that switch, at one point you finally end up having real conversations with people. Watch tv in the language and if you can speak with native speakers, in my experience the ones who end up speaking perfectly are generally people who move to the country for some time. How much you study is up to you, note that some languages are harder than others, in my case I studied like a mofo for my German classes and I still sucked, while french & English all came easily to me. From what I can gather about the Japanese language, it's pretty easy to speak it, the hard part is the writing. People who only study and never practise end up like Japanese students, they have more English classes than I ever had, yet me after 3 years I could speak, 3 more years just pushed me into an advanced level, what they lack is practise; our teachers very early on push students to have dialogues with each other + I'll admit that the fact that tv movies and series are in English with subs (in Belgium and the Netherlands) it helps a lot to learn english at one point I noticed I didn't really need the subs anymore. Do note that you can practice on your own, but you need somebody else to hear you out, to correct you eventually. Now the reason I mentioned native speakers: you learn certain things you can't learn in the book, like mannerisms and accents. I have met & spoken with plenty of people who can speak a language, but they sound "weird", usually you can tell they never practiced with native speakers. One last thing that's not directly related to the language, but it kind is still: the culture, you need to know a bit about the culture or there's things you simply won't understand, this certainly seems to be the case with Japanese. You'll notice you've mastered a language when you can think & dram into that language, it may sound weird if you only speak 1 language, but you just think differently depending on the language, that is tied to the culture in some ways and the way the language is used, you just use a different logic in each language, in part that has also to do with having different sayings & different ways of saying something in a language, in extreme cases you even have words that only exist in that language.
I can only imagine how hard is to explain and walk at the same time and also recording and paying attention to your surroundings... way to go Cathy Cat and Director-San! I loved this video!
Me, unemployed, with lots of free time: I should really brush up my japanese skills again. Also me, playing video games 24/7: There's just no time, jeez
The fact that you’re a native German speaker and can speak English and Japanese so well is pretty amazing. Two of the hardest languages to learn if you’re not a native...wow.
I've watched several of your videos. I don't think I ever realized english wasn't your first language. can't wait till one of my languages get that good.
I lost interested in learning a few times. But since i made the solid plan to move to japan for atleast 1 year, probably more. Since then i have a lot more motivation for it.
the only downside to practicing using subtitles in a movie or anime, is often they are badly translated, and that can be frustrating once you start learning more words. But it is a good way to learn some basic conversational stuff.
@Shrisada Read Subtitles don't translate the sentences literally because if they do that, it would be strange, too long, don't make sense. However, it means it's not good to learn Japanese
the tip about making routines is very insightful, i was beginning to doubt myself because i was losing the initial motivation i had when deciding to start learning Japanese, but hearing that it's normal and how to work around it was very encouraging. べんきょおうをします！
To be honest she’s right about the remembering words that are funny. In One Piece I didn’t even notice after watching 800 episodes that I learned the word “matte” which means “wait” but Luffy (the main character) always said it and a lot of the times it was funny and once I started studying Japanese stuff started to make sense and I just though “well that’s one less word I have to learn” as well as everyone knows “Nani.” Now it really just learning the difference in the use of Nani and Nan.
Some things I do to learn Japanese is: make flashcards for vocabulary you pick up and for kanji (I've literally made hundreds lol I find it fun and relaxing), I also listen to music, watch dramas sometimes and have started watching anime and reading manga in Japanese (shounen is great for it because it has furigana). I also watch Japanese youtubers who teach Japanese, Ask Japanese, Yuta, and use several apps (easy japanese news is a great app). I'm trying to drop subtitles because I notice I understand much more without them because I actually pay attention to the spoken language instead of reading the translation xD
Thank you. I am currently trying to learn because I encounter several Japanese here in my country associated with the Toyota Plant near by. I have a few phrases down and find that they appreciate the effort. Their genuine smiles that someone took the time to learn is my reward. This was a well done video also. I liked the montage of your outfits and would love to see a video dedicated to that. Looking good Cat, Travel Blessings.
No technique will help everybody, but every technique will help some people, and some techniques help a many people. When you hear of a technique try it out. Some techniques sound oh so boring, or oh so complicated; but when tried they prove themselves to be very effective and/or nowhere near as complicated as they first seemed.
Hi Cathy Cat! Hello Director San! What Cathy Cat said about study before bed-time really works. It's like magical spell, studying something before sleep. I do it when I'm learning lyrics or complicated guitar riffs and chord progressions. Play and/or sing the song 3 or 4 times before sleep and the next morning, I'm performing it much better! It's as though I was practicing in my dreams :) Also, when I was learning Malay language, I put post-it notes on everything in my apartment with the Malay words for all the everyday items. It helped to increase my vocablulary. Also, I had Malaysian friends to text chat and Skype with and this helped a lot too!
Thank you! The tip of reviewing at the morning was very useful to me! I'm already using it. I'm very busy so I can't maintain a conversation too long. I'm trying to find someone who wants to practice with me occasionally.
I learned three main principles for language learning, that I plan to use now I decided to study Japanese bit more seriously: 1) *Comprehensible input, lots of input.* // Being exposed to the language really helps, especially if I can understand most of it. I find especially images helpful in the beginning so I am not wasting my time with translations where half of my time is wasted on different language, but even translations are better than not understanding at all. 2) *Have fun.* // Feedback is important, but especially too much of the negative feedback can kill your language journey, all the stress from the tests is pointless. It is important to learn something and appreciate it. When I see a list of 10 words and I learn half of it, I am happy that I know 50 new words. I am not worried I still do not remember the remaining 50. 3) *Routine.* // As Cathy said, it is dangerously easy to get frustrated/bored and stop practising. Even a little bit every day helps. And then you can do more when you feel like it. But do not neglect the small tasks, they are essential in the long run. The details whether you use Duolingo, manga, normal course, anime are not that important. More ways are always better in my opinion, but the important part is to get exposed to the input with the right mindset and making it a habit.
It’s good to study before sleep because your mind has more time to let information settle in if it’s the last thing you’re thinking about before you go to bed. However it doesn’t work if you’re drowsy while studying. It’s probably best to study in the morning because you’re most alert when you first wake up in the first few hours of the day and then review before you go to bed with flash cards and things will stick a lot better. Just saying this to further explain why her tip on doing things before and after sleep works.
I really like to draw and design things, so I have found it fun to decorate my japanese vocab flashcards! It is always something I look forward to when studying.
The only pro tip I can give you, is that the correct way to learn a language is by learning how to write and read it. Only if you are a kid you can learn by ear, witch is kinda awkward. Once you got structure, try to seek for written and sound samples. Videos, anime, music lyrics or movies with furigana are of great help. And must be media that you enjoy, that's the secret, have fun to have time and energy studying it..
Ich habe vor über 20 Jahren angefangen Japanisch zu lernen weil es als Budoka immer present war wenn auch nur in Form der Kommandos im Dojo. Leider war es damals mit dem Internet noch nicht so doll und ich musste mir mit einem Starterpacket von Langenscheidt aushelfen. Leider bin ich nie über die erste Lektion hinausgekommen. Dank deines Channels und dem Channel von Kato "Einfach Japanisch" habe ich wieder Antrieb bekommen das Sprachstudium wieder aufzunehmen. Domo arigato gozaimashita Cathy Sensei. 🙏🙇♂️
What really helped me was watching shows like Terrace House and Million Yen Women. This really helped me push through the intermediate plateau. I would watch with Japanese subtitles and when I came across a word I didn’t know I’d take a picture of the screen so I’d have the context as well as the written Japanese and put them in flash cards on Anki. It may take a long time to get through an episode but afterwards your Japanese improves a ton
when it comes to vocabulary I do the same thing. I developed my own app in which I organize my vocabulary and practice this vocabulary before going to sleep and also in the morning while commuting. so convenient this method I don't know why :D but the most important thing is that you insert this vocabulary by your own not using a prepared deck that contains thousands of words randomly because our brain learn easily by making connections
The best advice Ive ever heard on language learning is to remember that language is a tool. When you’re studying from books remember not to waist your time learning words that you don’t actually use in your own language because you won’t use them anyway. The more you learn the faster and easier it is for your brain to take in information. So at first just worry about being able to speak the way you do in you everyday life. Honestly proof that you’re brain begins learning faster the longer you learn is that I can tell you a word in English that I haven’t used in over a year but my brain still knows that word. For example I have actually never used the word rustic in a long time. I don’t think I’ve ever actually used that word until now but I know it and after a while I will be able to do that with Japanese too. It’s like how through the eyes of a child or a dog everything is just everything and through the eyes of an adult everything is something. Eventually you’ll be able to know what is and what isn’t in Japanese and at that point the whole world kinda opens up. It’s definitely something to look forward too if you have no other motivation.
Hello. I learn by taking a japanese class in highschool, then I continued on after high school by asking friends that I know who speak japanese about a word. I just learn how to say Good Night Oyasumi in Japanese. Also the word fox and how to say something you owned. I also watch anime where I catch some japanese words like Let's go, not there yet, or you say when you arrive home, or leave home. So those small things. I do know hiragana and katakana but kanji I only know some of it. And I always wanted to speak the Japanese fluent and many other languages so I can meet new friends and I love their culture. They are so polite and nice people. :)
At the seven minute mark, Cathy is talking about the role of sleep in memory formation, and states that there must be some science to it, and there is. In the very deepest stages of sleep memory consolidation takes place in which the neurotransmitters that have chemically encoded information during the day is translated into modified synaptic connections while you sleep. The formation of long-term memory. Drinking a lot of alcohol prevents people from going into the deepest stages of sleep, short circuiting this process which is why if you drink a lot of alcohol you often can’t remember what happened the night before.
I'm already decent on conversation and kana, but it's been a year or 2 yet i can only grasp basic kanji. Japanese is easy if you're patient ^^ Kanji is the most struggling since you could easily forget the characters you learned days ago haha If you don't have a japanese friend, just watch japanese shows or watching videos where japanese ppl talking to each other (like this channel and Anime) Also, if you're a native english speaker, especially if english is the only language you can speak fluently, it'll be super hard. But if you're in a country where you learn a lot of language (mother tongue, english) it'll be easy for you to get the grasp of japanese grammar ^^
About the thing of read words before sleep and then after wake up... omg... I have learnt "have to form" in this way without doing on purporse! 😱 amazing!
I will listen to this video a few times,Cathy. I don't speak Japanese myself and learning that beautiful language might be most useful, I think, but it would take a lot of time for me,because of my age.... You speak japanese fluently, even at an incredible speed... Where were you born, if I may ask? I saw a few videos that you made and I am under the impression that your roots are either German or American.I would a bit surprised if you are German, because -genertally speaking- most Germans speak their foreign languages with a strong accent.. I like the pleasure that you show when you talk with the Japanes and your enthusiasm clear inspires them. I myself am a Dutch retired teacher who lives in the German-Dutch border area..
I'm great at Germanic, Romanic and Celtic languages but i sooo do struggle with the --kana's. Or to, go, ga, wa, no....all those small particles. Luckily there are channels like Japanese Ammo that do the grammar too.
I think the most difficult thing is the Kanji and also finding people to talk to. Here in the United States unfortunately there are not a lot of Japanese speakers. So, the media is very helpful..also apps are very helpful too. Anime, and just talking with my friends about reviewing Japanese words also really helps. I am listening to so much Japanese that I find myself saying words as part of my sentences or answers haha. I find it frustrating because I hold a great deal of respect for Japan and the Japanese people and I want to learn about the culture and language more. It is difficult to do that when you have parents who hold no interest in Japanese culture. So my friends are really the only ones I can talk to when learning Japanese..and now here too! Arigatogozaimashita!
Most youtubers who became fluent, or close to fluent, has moved to Japan at some point in their learning journey. Immersion is a very important aspect when learning a language, and you can't get any more immersed than if you live and breath the language along with native speakers. This is true for any language.
Hi from the UK. Motivation to learn is the most important thing for me. I started learning Japanese at the beginning of this year because I'm a huge fan of Japanese music. I was never good at languages at school and only just scraped through French. Now I have a tangible reason to learn Japanese I'm progressing so much more easily than I did with French. Thanks to the whole "Ask Japanese" team for putting out such great vids. You really help.😁
Some of these Tips actually translate well into other languages. Up until fifth or sixth grade, my english was very poor, but when i picked up a box of both Starwars Knights of the old republic games on sale, and found out that they were only in english I still played them without understanding half of it and therefore failed a lot. But upon trial and error i eventually understood most of it in context, so i started reding english books, having to consult google or my dictionary at least twice per page. (although it did use a lot oif fairly combat piloting and technical terms). At the end of the book, i only had to look up something about once per chapter and now i mostly need to work on my speaking skills, for my local dialect comes through aabout as much as the rest of my accent. By the way, im not gonna study japanese, for i have only a single semester, maybe two if i do overtime to learn a second modern foreign language (latin sadly doesnt count). At this point even russian would be easier to learn coming from east germany and already knowing basics of cyrillic writing so i dont fall for the old " Вер дас лесен канн, ист кеин луммер весси! "
actually I use this channel to learn japanese. There are some podcasts that help to understand also but I'm looking the conversational type. The most important thing is to be consistent. Even 10 minute a day is fine and pay attention closely to it and then you can do another 20 minutes just by listening on the background and you do something else. that sounds small and not big commitment but it's a really good start and doesnt make you burn out. You can also study the book but I didn't like that commitment, everyone learn different way. find what is best for you!
I am doing my best to practice more now since I get to meet some Japanese people a little more often. I took three semesters consecutively in college and do my best when I can. I’ve focused more on making sure that I can give directions etc than “ hows the weather?” Or what foods or music I like. I have been thinking about enrolling into a class to further vocabulary and stronger, more complex sentence structures before covid happened. Think I’ll settle on apps and my books.
To add to her kanji point, I recommend learning both the kun and on readings for kanji. I hate knowing the meaning but not being able to read it out loud .-. I've been studying for years but I still run into readings that I don't know (mostly due to learning compound kanji verbs w/ two 'on' readings and regular verbs with one 'kun' reading).
For listening practice, I like your channel and other "street interview" channels. Because people are thinking about their answers they tend to speak more slowly. Thanks!
I was so happy that I understood when they said "Yoroshku Onegaishimas" (bad Romaji I don't use it often I'm sorry) because I'm just taking my first steps in the Japanese language! Btw I think the closest translation is... "Pleased to meet you" or something like that. There isn't a spot on translation but I believe it might be close...
If anyone’s looking to ask questions about Japanese to native speakers I recommend HiNative. On HiNative you can ask questions about any language as well as answer questions about the languages that you speak.
I started watching a lot of Japanese let's play channels and it's fun even though I still don't understand almost anything but the good thing is that slowly I'm learning more new words.
contrary to popular opinion thats actually not the most important thing. the most important thing is understanding. learning what sentences and words mean, then listening to and reading any thing thats interesting to you in the language. like cat said, look things up that you don't understand. once you can understand some japanese shows with japanese subtitles or no subtitles, and read books and articles in japanese, then getting better at speaking is only a matter of practicing saying those things you understand out loud, practicing your voice. language is FIRST understanding, THEN speaking. speaking when you barely understand anything is kind of pointless and will cause you to internalize many bad habits.
Cathy, Thank you for the reply. I lived in Japan some years ago for 2 years and picked up quite a bit but the years passed and little remained from my young memory. I listen to quite a lot of Japanese and as a for instance your interviews with the translator turned off. What is difficult is how fast they speak there. I can only surmise people from other countries think the same as in America. Nonetheless I have taken Japanese lessons and trying to distinguish from proper and casual Japanese is probably the most difficult to grasp in learning. Some phrases are easy others I don't know if I will ever get here. So I do listen but I really do feel having someone to speak with, not another person learning but someone who speaks as well as you for instance to correct me. Anyway, I'm trying as I'd love to move back there and buy a second home in Japan preferably away from Tokyo but within at least an hour no further. I'd still like to see you do some of the music festivals and maybe get backstage interviews and same with fans both local and from outside of Japan. My favorites are Band Maid and Lovebites. Thank you again for your advice. Love your show and I am happy you and Director are safe and sound. I am pretty sure the word Kawaii was invented just for you.
i talk to myself and try to make various imaginary conversations like daily life, girlfriend, science, or even debating myself over a philosophy topic. when i dont know any words i just go and translate em, when i dont know how is the right thing to form a particular sentence i just go and browse in google or youtube. also i immediately write down the kanji as much as possible (to create muscle memory i guess) and learn its pronunciation, plus its kunyomi and onyomi readings sometimes. and that's so effective, 0 money spent, and easy. i think having internet as your resource is more than enough.
Thank you for the tie method I found Japanese speaking groups in New York City. I'm going to go to one of these meetings this week. And immerse myself, and ears in conversations.
Sorry this is not a comment about the content. As a rule, I don’t comment on the way people look if that is not the content focus, but the montage of Cathy Cat at the beginning was great. You are a lovely and fun person. OK - content. In college, long, long ago, I studied Japanese and had 400 kanji at the end. Didn’t use it. All gone. It’s a shame to lose a language.
I’ve heard this coronavirus causes neurological damage, makes it hard to remember things. I haven’t tested positive yet, but I feel even the times of pandemic make it some more so difficult to learn and remember things. My vocabulary in two languages I’ve tried to study (Russian and Japanese) is so difficult to remember. In Japanese and Russian I know a lot of names of foods and dishes, but most other words are very difficult to remember. Katakana, Hiragana, and other Japanese writing systems are way more difficult to me than the Cyrillic alphabet but I absolutely love their aesthetic. Love Japanese signs and labels. I hope there will ever be a time again when being a student in many parts of the world will ever feel as much more normal as to me I feel like it used to seem. That is my opinion on the times. I think sustainability practices are very important to keep countries healthy and avoid huge social class disparities. I see a lot of improvement in that coming out of Japan and other parts of the world nowadays compared to a few years ago when I feel like people were both less connected and in denial. I think that some of the effects of that denial especially in the recent turn of this century are being felt more and more even by the wealthy and are making people realize. I can not even find information on the Japanese illiteracy rate which is concerning. Anyway, I never let the difficulty of the Japanese language has been as of yet to me stop me from continuing to pick up as much of it as I can. I’ve longed to study Japanese writing in a classroom setting but have yet to get the chance. Above all I’ve said though I think the Japanese language and writing is beautiful and I wish the best for everyone in Japan and around the world.
Well, the barrier I am facing is my age. I am nearly 40 and I am wondering if it would make any sence to learn Japanese? Reason why I would is to understand japanese music and to talk with Japanese band members. But you barely are in touch.... or with that one Japanese friend. So, motivation is fairly low.
Yes! I totally understand studying hard, dropping it then starting up again! I've been studying Japanese for about 3 years on and off. I'm at the point where I can watch subbed anime and occasionally understand what they say w/o the subtitles.
I still watch anime subbed but I found myself watching news and some japanese docs without it. Funny thing is, I would sometimes get what would otherwise been local US news from japanese networks first before any state-side stations air their coverage, if at all.
GUYS! When studying, listening especially, I almost don't recommend anime. WAIT! I'm not bad mouthing anime at all. I love watching the occasional series however, they speak completely different in anime compared to real life. Not only the WAY they speak but also 'anime talk', or 'entertainment talk', spoken in real life is considered 'dirty Japanese' (aka. なになにじゃねーよ) . If you speak like this someone will definitely say : "why do you speak like that?", and tell you not to speak that way, please trust me on this. I know when learning something new everyone jumps to the fun part but often that is the hardest part. Once you can start making jokes and people laugh, THAT'S when you know you have been making progress in a language because not only have you studied the language and culture but also how people interact, make fun of each other and joke around. Cause trust me it's different to your own mother language. Start to try to imitate real people not some over acted and silly character. Although funny and entertaining, not everyday life. PS. DO NOT feel bad if you don't understand something its;s part of the learning progress. (When you were a kid learning your mother language did you understand every single thing that was said? No!)
@Yū You're exactly right! But I think it is more difficult! I don't want people to loose motivation when they study hard but still can't understand 50% of what they are saying when watching anime.
i understand that you're trying to be helpful but you're very, very wrong about the anime thing. the type of japanese spoken in anime depends 100% on what anime you watch, what time period it's set in, and what personality the characters are speaking have. there are many, many anime characters who speak in completely normal, casual language (I've watched shows with Japanese friends/tutors and asked them to confirm) and if you have read and listened to a lot of japanese from many sources (including "real people" tv and radio shows) you would know that too. telling someone who's learning japanese to not watch anime is like telling someone learning english not to watch cartoons or play videogames in english. that's horrible advice. let people watch WHATEVER THEY WANT and learn whatever forms of the language they want and they will become familiar with those differences in speech as time goes on.
@@suckkmycandles Okay, Okay I fucking love that you disagree with me here (no sarcasm). Anyone reading this thread definitely read what she was to say here, on point! Everything is relative and depending on situation. People learn/ live/ think differently that's why I thought it was important to say my opinion so it's out there for people, not to 100% blindly follow but to pick up pieces that work for them and throw out the rest. I don't want someone to stop watching anime for study just because I/someone said so, make up your own mind about what works for you. That's what is so fun about language learning literally EVERYTHING is study of some kind. I just want to reach out to people whom(?) have hit the learning wall because it's extremely present when learning Japanese. KEEP GOING! Surround yourself with the Japanese language, Movies, anime, manga, books, podcasts, drama, TV shows etc . etc. Whether you understand or not get used to the flow, the grammar, make lists of patterns, words you hear often. Anyone with advice for my own language learning I welcome it! PS. Cathy, maybe I was a little bias before. I think in my mind I was thinking of people who study Japanese and when it comes to the practical side they use anime as their main input. That said aside from work UA-cam is probably my biggest input of Japanese so I am hypocritical.
makes sense. thats probably akin to someone learning english for the first time using the simpsons, south park, or family guy as model. probably not a good idea.
I found after working with Japanese and traveling to Japan is that the language is not that hard (compared to Mandarin or Thai); plus I also started as suggested in one of the tips by learning just one phrase that seemed to work also as an ice-breaker (“nan desu ka”) it just seem to fit in a lot of situations and I started building from there. Really miss going to Japan...
I love how she walks the street up in Harajuku and I'm here like aaaahh I know this place. The restaurant above the familymart has the best vegan ramen🙀🙀
Hi Cathy 🙇♂️🙇♂️🙇♂️🙇♂️🙋♂️🙋♂️🙋♂️🙋♂️🙋♂️🙋♂️ First I would like to say that I have been following your channel for almost 2 years now and I enjoy it a lot. Also I have been self teaching myself Japanese language for almost 2 years now and although I'm still at the begginers level almost reaching intermediate level but over here where I'm living at there isn't much Japanese people or persons who speak the language. I am a person who is learns much better in a classroom setting with sensei and students around than learning by myself and through the internet. Nevertheless I will keep on learning it until I become fluent like my English and Spanish. It is my dream to go and live in Japan and work there like you're doing. To me your an inspiration and I will definitely will take your advice that you gave in this video. Thank you for for this video and keep on going strong. Matane 🙇♂️🙇♂️🙇♂️🙋♂️🙋♂️🙋♂️🙋♂️
@@mikemustmurder In America, on Netflix, there is a show called Good Morning Call I'm currently watching. It's probably popular with high school kids in Japan, but it's good for learning. You can even switch the captions between English, Japanese, Chinese, Spanish or none. Not sure if it's available outside the US.
Really enjoyed this, thank you! I’ll be taking your tips for sure, I definitely find myself stopping halfway from time to time so this should be great ☺️
I'm really looking into learning the language now so that I can at least muddle my way through my trip to Japan in two years. I'll just take it a bit at a time. Also, your dress is adorable!
I only know how to read and write intermediate Japanese from studying Japanese from books.... Speaking and listening/understanding is another matter 😂.
Hi guys! It's me Director!
What's your best difficulty to learn Japanese? What do you need to improve your language skill?
Please share your advise each other!(╯✧∇✧)╯
for now its definitely the kanji. It's amazing how one Kanji can have so many meanings and ways to be pronounced. Quite overwhelming!
Remembering the readings of the kanji is the hardest ever in the writing system.
Finding interesting stuff to listen to/watch is hard. There isn’t much good stuff on Japanese Netflix that’s not anime. But unfortunately anime are also limited. When you’ve already watched the good ones, most anime aren’t super entertaining. And when you go onto youtube it’s not at the level of American/Canadian youtube. You just can‘t find interesting youtubers for the topics you‘re interested in. Japanese youtube was the most disappointing thing for me about learning Japanese and it still annoys me everyday.
Speaking is my weakest point. I live in America and I don’t have many opportunities to practice speaking. My listening is improving by listening to Japanese music, watching shows, interviews, etc.
Obviously speaking... I don't have confidence speaking japanese tho I know the language
I first fell in love with Japanese when i was in university, around 1980. I was able to watch Japanese tv in my local area of Southern California. I didn't watch anime or read manga, but i watched historical dramas, samurai/ninja series, romantic dramas, etc. I became disabled so traveling to Japan was out of the question. But i still enjoyed my Japanese hobby. The Internet is a wonderful thing. Now i can read manga and watch anime, even though i would seem strange as i am in my 60s now.
Rowan Nieuport that’s not strange. That’s really cool 😊
Can you speak it now?
You do you❤️ what an interesting story! Do what makes u happy, u only live once
I hope you'll one day get to experience Japan in real life!
Never let that flame go out, I hope you the best, !!!
Learning Japanese requires a lot of patience
Reading books and youtube videos can only get you so far. That is why its a best opportunity to practice if you happen to have a japanese community near your place
No shit lol
Anyway you are all home most times now so study 💪🏼 make notes
Start with 10words,5sentences everyday, good luck.
Like with learning any new language you're not kidding Captan obvious lol
Which I clearly lack
I admire so much how Cathy actually embraces her Lolita outfits and is living in Japan and learned Japanese and you can tell she loves Japan so much. I wish I could move to Japan and find work there. She is so lucky and an inspiration.
That outfit is too much
Do not overrate Japan too much ... Your expectation may become the "Expectation vs. Reality" situation
@@nerdygeek4845 why ?
@@ogatatsumi8594 your comments are all very negative. Please re-evaluate the way you look at the world before trying to give any advice.
@@v_v9195 because building up an unrealistic image in you mind can lead to serious disappointment, when the reality is actually really good, but you have over inflated your expectations.
a lot of Japanese and Chinese suffer from serious issues like this when visiting France, especially Paris. They have an unrealistic fantasy ideal in their heads, and then when they finally arrive, they feel seriously let down, and even end up with some mental issues from the disappointment, because Paris is a s@*t hole. It's called Paris Syndrome.
I used to watch a lot of Japanese dramas the 2 years before I come to Japan! After I came to Japan I decided not to gather too much with only people from my country, which I notice many people do! Then everything happened naturally! Cheers great video!
イエーイ!イルコさん!
Yeah, that's the best way to get REAL language skill!
Thank you always and I'm watching your great videos.
Let's enjoy UA-cam together(╯✧∇✧)╯
if you see this, where do you watch japanese drama?? i’m not a huge fan of anime/animation in general
When I grow up, I want to be CathyCat. I'm 36 now but it's never too late, right?
41 yrs old here. I started at 39, stopped from not having a routine (like Cat says) and just started picking it up again this year. Amazingly some concepts come right back. I didn't get very far, but I remembered most of my hiragana and katakana. Only a handful of kanji.
Nah never I'm 36 too and moving to Japan in 2020 so we have to keep the faith ;)
@@vix_in_japan That's amazing! Good luck with your travels
@@40EntrepreneurDrive I jest more than anything, I know that learning can happen at any age - I just wish I'd started earlier, you know?
@envision hey young'un age is just a number that just brings lots of back pain with it, nothing more :P. Don't give up and keep at it
Pro tip: Watch Ask Japanese!
No, really, UA-cam is one of the best learning tools ever. Better than variety programs if you're not too into them. I find channels like this really encouraging for learning more about the culture AND the language! Subtitles both in English and Japanese are a plus.
I recommend you to watch Japanese otaku channels like hers. ua-cam.com/channels/vmKMgtpoKLanUpecq2AtiA.html
Good tip I received from a Korean in Japan: "if you want to improve your Japanese get a Japanese boyfriend and that's gonna help you a lot!"
And indeed, she (is) was so right xD 😂
Lol 🤣
no shit!
@@kawaiime4714 cool username 😉
I guess so, what if he doesn't speak English. I guess it will motivate you to learn Japanese more.
@@v_v9195 thanks😘 Trying to increase self esteem ~
I learned Japanese all by myself ,too.It took me 2 years to become fluent.It is not easy but as long as you can keep learning it is not hard.And I don't think you need to learn Japanese in japan .
Did you do as Cathy cat or did you do different things she didn't mention? :)
That is sooo encouraging... As of now it's impossible for me to be in Japan or to have regular Japanese classes for getting better with the language & I'm all geared up to learn it..So Thank you for your timely helpful comment..It meant a lot.. Thanks.
Really appreciate this video. I've been living in Japan as an exchange student for about two months now (but I've been studying for about 13 months at this point) and I study literally 3 hours a night. It's absolutely mesmerizing to see foreigners who speak so fluently, and it really gives me hope for myself. Good stuff, guys!
Are you confident speaking Japanese?
@@DonS90 Somewhat. Like a lot of exchange students, the first thing I realized upon getting here is that my Japanese kinda sucks. The second thing I realized is that it could be much worse. I can do alright on familiar/commonplace topics, but when it dives into anything with particular vocab/terms it gets really dicey. Vocab is absolutely huge, and looking back I wish I studied more of it. Every part of the language is important - kanji, grammar, vocab, etc. - but without a balanced study routine you can often make every other part useless.
Keep up that studying. I remember those days. Once you have a family and full time job, it’s tough to find even 30 minutes a day, but I won’t give up.
@@morningknight7105 Good luck!!! I study Japanese too I hope I will learn it and move to Japan to find a job😀
@@morningknight7105 how old are you?
4:12 THE GIRL IN THE BACKGROUND IS MY HERO OMG
"Learn Japanese to Survive" is a series of games that is a fun way to learn to read and write Japanese. They're available on Steam and I really enjoyed playing em!
I will take a look
Interesting :o
Where can I find them?
@@NyuAkiyama Available on Steam
Free to play or do they cost money?
2:11
Ah yes, the three alphabets: hiragana, katakana and English.
i see what you did there
Romaji*
@@fridayimprunner2152 ロマじ
Roomaji*
@@fernandaobregon4726 Is that a joke or sth? I don't get it.
日本語は日本人の私でも難しいです。
漢字は意味を少し知ると面白かったりします。
例えば「魚」偏（へん）が入る漢字は魚の名前だったりします。
鮭（シャケ）鮪（マグロ）などなど・・・
Japanese is difficult even for me as a Japanese.
Kanji is interesting if you know the meaning a little.
For example, the kanji that contains “fish” is the name of the fish.
Salmon, tuna, etc.
I would take Cathy’s advice without a second thought 🥺
Please do your best.
I support you.
Bruh, I would take her advice if she spanked it into me
Doesn’t work. I took an entire semester and used all those tips, useless. This language is way too difficult
Ganbatte kudasai
Blue Bandit oh... Well it’s not impossible to learn. It’s very difficult and I’m trying to learn it and it’s so hard but if other people can learn is at a second language then I can too. We’re all humans, right? I’ll probably end up giving up lol
逆に日本人にとってキャットさんの英語がとてもいい教材になります。ありがとう。
I always thought she is a native English speaker, she learned English as well. Wow.
@@Peachelliveryou claim to speak english very well and then you use "me included"? lol okay
@@Peachelliver did google translate help you with that sentence? just stop bragging about your mediocre english skills
Pete Rock me included is perfectly fine lol
piennuivelo damn you probably have no friends at all. Good luck with that!
yeah I mean an average European knows like 3 languages including myself haha
In my experience (I speak 6 languages), you start off by learning the basics, slowly get into more advanced material. Everyone learns at a different rate, I know this teacher that studies, learns and speaks 2 languages per year, while me; it probably took me about 3 years to start speaking English well, a couple more years to be fully fluent at an advanced level (mostly has to do with new vocabulary learning). Most important of all is practice, this can start at an early stage, don't be afraid to try stuff, we all make mistakes, just keep trying and at one point you'll make that switch, at one point you finally end up having real conversations with people. Watch tv in the language and if you can speak with native speakers, in my experience the ones who end up speaking perfectly are generally people who move to the country for some time. How much you study is up to you, note that some languages are harder than others, in my case I studied like a mofo for my German classes and I still sucked, while french & English all came easily to me. From what I can gather about the Japanese language, it's pretty easy to speak it, the hard part is the writing. People who only study and never practise end up like Japanese students, they have more English classes than I ever had, yet me after 3 years I could speak, 3 more years just pushed me into an advanced level, what they lack is practise; our teachers very early on push students to have dialogues with each other + I'll admit that the fact that tv movies and series are in English with subs (in Belgium and the Netherlands) it helps a lot to learn english at one point I noticed I didn't really need the subs anymore. Do note that you can practice on your own, but you need somebody else to hear you out, to correct you eventually. Now the reason I mentioned native speakers: you learn certain things you can't learn in the book, like mannerisms and accents. I have met & spoken with plenty of people who can speak a language, but they sound "weird", usually you can tell they never practiced with native speakers. One last thing that's not directly related to the language, but it kind is still: the culture, you need to know a bit about the culture or there's things you simply won't understand, this certainly seems to be the case with Japanese. You'll notice you've mastered a language when you can think & dram into that language, it may sound weird if you only speak 1 language, but you just think differently depending on the language, that is tied to the culture in some ways and the way the language is used, you just use a different logic in each language, in part that has also to do with having different sayings & different ways of saying something in a language, in extreme cases you even have words that only exist in that language.
I can only imagine how hard is to explain and walk at the same time and also recording and paying attention to your surroundings... way to go Cathy Cat and Director-San! I loved this video!
Me, unemployed, with lots of free time: I should really brush up my japanese skills again.
Also me, playing video games 24/7: There's just no time, jeez
The fact that you’re a native German speaker and can speak English and Japanese so well is pretty amazing. Two of the hardest languages to learn if you’re not a native...wow.
I watch terrace house to help me listen and it helps that I like reality tv
you didn't notice at 4:30 the girl holding umbrella looks like the girl designer from Terace house :o?
I've watched several of your videos. I don't think I ever realized english wasn't your first language. can't wait till one of my languages get that good.
Most native speakers are terrible duh
I lost interested in learning a few times. But since i made the solid plan to move to japan for atleast 1 year, probably more. Since then i have a lot more motivation for it.
the only downside to practicing using subtitles in a movie or anime, is often they are badly translated, and that can be frustrating once you start learning more words. But it is a good way to learn some basic conversational stuff.
@Shrisada Read Subtitles don't translate the sentences literally because if they do that, it would be strange, too long, don't make sense. However, it means it's not good to learn Japanese
the tip about making routines is very insightful, i was beginning to doubt myself because i was losing the initial motivation i had when deciding to start learning Japanese, but hearing that it's normal and how to work around it was very encouraging.
べんきょおうをします！
Ok, I'm a total beginner, but when she said これは、何ですか and i understand it, it was the best feeling of my entire life
yah 😁
10:41 that guy totally nailed it.
😂😂😂
Omg! The best realist advice that I've listened to. I can't believe that she speaks so well English.
Ask Japaneseは私のお気に入りの日本語コンテンツです。 永遠にありがとう
To be honest she’s right about the remembering words that are funny. In One Piece I didn’t even notice after watching 800 episodes that I learned the word “matte” which means “wait” but Luffy (the main character) always said it and a lot of the times it was funny and once I started studying Japanese stuff started to make sense and I just though “well that’s one less word I have to learn” as well as everyone knows “Nani.” Now it really just learning the difference in the use of Nani and Nan.
i believe たい at the ending actually refers to a continuation of doing something. Whereas ほしい refers to a desire to want to do something.
Some things I do to learn Japanese is: make flashcards for vocabulary you pick up and for kanji (I've literally made hundreds lol I find it fun and relaxing), I also listen to music, watch dramas sometimes and have started watching anime and reading manga in Japanese (shounen is great for it because it has furigana). I also watch Japanese youtubers who teach Japanese, Ask Japanese, Yuta, and use several apps (easy japanese news is a great app). I'm trying to drop subtitles because I notice I understand much more without them because I actually pay attention to the spoken language instead of reading the translation xD
This is very helpful.. Thank you.
Thank you. I am currently trying to learn because I encounter several Japanese here in my country associated with the Toyota Plant near by. I have a few phrases down and find that they appreciate the effort. Their genuine smiles that someone took the time to learn is my reward. This was a well done video also. I liked the montage of your outfits and would love to see a video dedicated to that. Looking good Cat, Travel Blessings.
4:00 i can relate to that i've picked up japanese while translating...doujins...
No technique will help everybody, but every technique will help some people, and some techniques help a many people.
When you hear of a technique try it out.
Some techniques sound oh so boring, or oh so complicated; but when tried they prove themselves to be very effective and/or nowhere near as complicated as they first seemed.
Hi Cathy Cat! Hello Director San! What Cathy Cat said about study before bed-time really works. It's like magical spell, studying something before sleep. I do it when I'm learning lyrics or complicated guitar riffs and chord progressions. Play and/or sing the song 3 or 4 times before sleep and the next morning, I'm performing it much better! It's as though I was practicing in my dreams :)
Also, when I was learning Malay language, I put post-it notes on everything in my apartment with the Malay words for all the everyday items. It helped to increase my vocablulary. Also, I had Malaysian friends to text chat and Skype with and this helped a lot too!
Thank you! The tip of reviewing at the morning was very useful to me! I'm already using it. I'm very busy so I can't maintain a conversation too long. I'm trying to find someone who wants to practice with me occasionally.
I learned three main principles for language learning, that I plan to use now I decided to study Japanese bit more seriously:
1) *Comprehensible input, lots of input.* // Being exposed to the language really helps, especially if I can understand most of it. I find especially images helpful in the beginning so I am not wasting my time with translations where half of my time is wasted on different language, but even translations are better than not understanding at all.
2) *Have fun.* // Feedback is important, but especially too much of the negative feedback can kill your language journey, all the stress from the tests is pointless. It is important to learn something and appreciate it. When I see a list of 10 words and I learn half of it, I am happy that I know 50 new words. I am not worried I still do not remember the remaining 50.
3) *Routine.* // As Cathy said, it is dangerously easy to get frustrated/bored and stop practising. Even a little bit every day helps. And then you can do more when you feel like it. But do not neglect the small tasks, they are essential in the long run.
The details whether you use Duolingo, manga, normal course, anime are not that important. More ways are always better in my opinion, but the important part is to get exposed to the input with the right mindset and making it a habit.
It’s good to study before sleep because your mind has more time to let information settle in if it’s the last thing you’re thinking about before you go to bed. However it doesn’t work if you’re drowsy while studying. It’s probably best to study in the morning because you’re most alert when you first wake up in the first few hours of the day and then review before you go to bed with flash cards and things will stick a lot better. Just saying this to further explain why her tip on doing things before and after sleep works.
I really like to draw and design things, so I have found it fun to decorate my japanese vocab flashcards! It is always something I look forward to when studying.
The only pro tip I can give you, is that the correct way to learn a language is by learning how to write and read it. Only if you are a kid you can learn by ear, witch is kinda awkward. Once you got structure, try to seek for written and sound samples. Videos, anime, music lyrics or movies with furigana are of great help. And must be media that you enjoy, that's the secret, have fun to have time and energy studying it..
Ich habe vor über 20 Jahren angefangen Japanisch zu lernen weil es als Budoka immer present war wenn auch nur in Form der Kommandos im Dojo. Leider war es damals mit dem Internet noch nicht so doll und ich musste mir mit einem Starterpacket von Langenscheidt aushelfen. Leider bin ich nie über die erste Lektion hinausgekommen.
Dank deines Channels und dem Channel von Kato "Einfach Japanisch" habe ich wieder Antrieb bekommen das Sprachstudium wieder aufzunehmen.
Domo arigato gozaimashita Cathy Sensei. 🙏🙇♂️
What really helped me was watching shows like Terrace House and Million Yen Women. This really helped me push through the intermediate plateau. I would watch with Japanese subtitles and when I came across a word I didn’t know I’d take a picture of the screen so I’d have the context as well as the written Japanese and put them in flash cards on Anki. It may take a long time to get through an episode but afterwards your Japanese improves a ton
I’m a Japanese viewer of your channel and I can help any of you learn Japanese.
Thanks for the offer!
手伝ってください
How many kanjis do you know
先生 、よろしくお願いします
Do you have a website??
when it comes to vocabulary I do the same thing. I developed my own app in which I organize my vocabulary and practice this vocabulary before going to sleep and also in the morning while commuting. so convenient this method I don't know why :D but the most important thing is that you insert this vocabulary by your own not using a prepared deck that contains thousands of words randomly because our brain learn easily by making connections
The best advice Ive ever heard on language learning is to remember that language is a tool. When you’re studying from books remember not to waist your time learning words that you don’t actually use in your own language because you won’t use them anyway. The more you learn the faster and easier it is for your brain to take in information. So at first just worry about being able to speak the way you do in you everyday life. Honestly proof that you’re brain begins learning faster the longer you learn is that I can tell you a word in English that I haven’t used in over a year but my brain still knows that word. For example I have actually never used the word rustic in a long time. I don’t think I’ve ever actually used that word until now but I know it and after a while I will be able to do that with Japanese too. It’s like how through the eyes of a child or a dog everything is just everything and through the eyes of an adult everything is something. Eventually you’ll be able to know what is and what isn’t in Japanese and at that point the whole world kinda opens up. It’s definitely something to look forward too if you have no other motivation.
Not just sleep but naps too! REM sleep helps convert new information (i.e. what was just studied) into long-term memory.
I usually don't like to watch these Japanese learning tips but if it's Cathy's video I'll better watch because her Japanese is super good imo
Hello. I learn by taking a japanese class in highschool, then I continued on after high school by asking friends that I know who speak japanese about a word. I just learn how to say Good Night Oyasumi in Japanese. Also the word fox and how to say something you owned. I also watch anime where I catch some japanese words like Let's go, not there yet, or you say when you arrive home, or leave home. So those small things. I do know hiragana and katakana but kanji I only know some of it. And I always wanted to speak the Japanese fluent and many other languages so I can meet new friends and I love their culture. They are so polite and nice people. :)
At the seven minute mark, Cathy is talking about the role of sleep in memory formation, and states that there must be some science to it, and there is. In the very deepest stages of sleep memory consolidation takes place in which the neurotransmitters that have chemically encoded information during the day is translated into modified synaptic connections while you sleep. The formation of long-term memory. Drinking a lot of alcohol prevents people from going into the deepest stages of sleep, short circuiting this process which is why if you drink a lot of alcohol you often can’t remember what happened the night before.
I'm already decent on conversation and kana, but it's been a year or 2 yet i can only grasp basic kanji.
Japanese is easy if you're patient ^^ Kanji is the most struggling since you could easily forget the characters you learned days ago haha
If you don't have a japanese friend, just watch japanese shows or watching videos where japanese ppl talking to each other (like this channel and Anime)
Also, if you're a native english speaker, especially if english is the only language you can speak fluently, it'll be super hard.
But if you're in a country where you learn a lot of language (mother tongue, english) it'll be easy for you to get the grasp of japanese grammar ^^
About the thing of read words before sleep and then after wake up... omg... I have learnt "have to form" in this way without doing on purporse! 😱 amazing!
I will listen to this video a few times,Cathy. I don't speak Japanese myself and learning that beautiful language might be most useful, I think, but it would take a lot of time for me,because of my age.... You speak japanese fluently, even at an incredible speed... Where were you born, if I may ask? I saw a few videos that you made and I am under the impression that your roots are either German or American.I would a bit surprised if you are German, because -genertally speaking- most Germans speak their foreign languages with a strong accent.. I like the pleasure that you show when you talk with the Japanes and your enthusiasm clear inspires them. I myself am a Dutch retired teacher who lives in the German-Dutch border area..
I'm great at Germanic, Romanic and Celtic languages but i sooo do struggle with the --kana's. Or to, go, ga, wa, no....all those small particles. Luckily there are channels like Japanese Ammo that do the grammar too.
rapthor666 Japanese Ammo is the best channel for learning Japanese!
I love her! She's super helpful!
カティーの英語はとても聞き取り易いので助かります。何をしゃべっているのか殆ど分からないネイティブもいます。個人差が大きいですね。外国語習得方法とても参考になりました。
I think the most difficult thing is the Kanji and also finding people to talk to. Here in the United States unfortunately there are not a lot of Japanese speakers. So, the media is very helpful..also apps are very helpful too. Anime, and just talking with my friends about reviewing Japanese words also really helps. I am listening to so much Japanese that I find myself saying words as part of my sentences or answers haha. I find it frustrating because I hold a great deal of respect for Japan and the Japanese people and I want to learn about the culture and language more. It is difficult to do that when you have parents who hold no interest in Japanese culture. So my friends are really the only ones I can talk to when learning Japanese..and now here too! Arigatogozaimashita!
I love to hear Cathy Cat speaking
4:24 man making her hold the umbrella and bags omg lol
Most youtubers who became fluent, or close to fluent, has moved to Japan at some point in their learning journey. Immersion is a very important aspect when learning a language, and you can't get any more immersed than if you live and breath the language along with native speakers. This is true for any language.
Hi from the UK.
Motivation to learn is the most important thing for me. I started learning Japanese at the beginning of this year because I'm a huge fan of Japanese music. I was never good at languages at school and only just scraped through French. Now I have a tangible reason to learn Japanese I'm progressing so much more easily than I did with French.
Thanks to the whole "Ask Japanese" team for putting out such great vids. You really help.😁
Aww...Cathy, this is a wonderfully encouraging video. Thank you SO MUCH! ⛩
Some of these Tips actually translate well into other languages. Up until fifth or sixth grade, my english was very poor, but when i picked up a box of both Starwars Knights of the old republic games on sale, and found out that they were only in english I still played them without understanding half of it and therefore failed a lot. But upon trial and error i eventually understood most of it in context, so i started reding english books, having to consult google or my dictionary at least twice per page. (although it did use a lot oif fairly combat piloting and technical terms). At the end of the book, i only had to look up something about once per chapter and now i mostly need to work on my speaking skills, for my local dialect comes through aabout as much as the rest of my accent.
By the way, im not gonna study japanese, for i have only a single semester, maybe two if i do overtime to learn a second modern foreign language (latin sadly doesnt count). At this point even russian would be easier to learn coming from east germany and already knowing basics of cyrillic writing so i dont fall for the old " Вер дас лесен канн, ист кеин луммер весси! "
actually I use this channel to learn japanese. There are some podcasts that help to understand also but I'm looking the conversational type. The most important thing is to be consistent. Even 10 minute a day is fine and pay attention closely to it and then you can do another 20 minutes just by listening on the background and you do something else.
that sounds small and not big commitment but it's a really good start and doesnt make you burn out. You can also study the book but I didn't like that commitment, everyone learn different way. find what is best for you!
I am doing my best to practice more now since I get to meet some Japanese people a little more often. I took three semesters consecutively in college and do my best when I can. I’ve focused more on making sure that I can give directions etc than “ hows the weather?” Or what foods or music I like.
I have been thinking about enrolling into a class to further vocabulary and stronger, more complex sentence structures before covid happened. Think I’ll settle on apps and my books.
To add to her kanji point, I recommend learning both the kun and on readings for kanji. I hate knowing the meaning but not being able to read it out loud .-. I've been studying for years but I still run into readings that I don't know (mostly due to learning compound kanji verbs w/ two 'on' readings and regular verbs with one 'kun' reading).
For listening practice, I like your channel and other "street interview" channels. Because people are thinking about their answers they tend to speak more slowly. Thanks!
I learned a lot watching Doctor X, Daimon Michiko. The cast members repeat the same phrases each episode.
I was so happy that I understood when they said "Yoroshku Onegaishimas" (bad Romaji I don't use it often I'm sorry) because I'm just taking my first steps in the Japanese language! Btw I think the closest translation is... "Pleased to meet you" or something like that. There isn't a spot on translation but I believe it might be close...
Tipsをシェアいただきありがとうございます。Cathy Catさんのビデオは日本語人に対して大変役に立つと思います！これからももっと面白いビデオを作れば幸いです。
If anyone’s looking to ask questions about Japanese to native speakers I recommend HiNative.
On HiNative you can ask questions about any language as well as answer questions about the languages that you speak.
how nice is the short summary in the beginning💯💯
I started watching a lot of Japanese let's play channels and it's fun even though I still don't understand almost anything but the good thing is that slowly I'm learning more new words.
I don’t have anyone to practice with, so I write down scenarios and short conversations of Japanese people with what I know ^^
Most important to find someone to speak with. Haven't found any where I live.
contrary to popular opinion thats actually not the most important thing. the most important thing is understanding. learning what sentences and words mean, then listening to and reading any thing thats interesting to you in the language. like cat said, look things up that you don't understand.
once you can understand some japanese shows with japanese subtitles or no subtitles, and read books and articles in japanese, then getting better at speaking is only a matter of practicing saying those things you understand out loud, practicing your voice. language is FIRST understanding, THEN speaking. speaking when you barely understand anything is kind of pointless and will cause you to internalize many bad habits.
Cathy,
Thank you for the reply. I lived in Japan some years ago for 2 years and picked up quite a bit but the years passed and little remained from my young memory.
I listen to quite a lot of Japanese and as a for instance your interviews with the translator turned off.
What is difficult is how fast they speak there. I can only surmise people from other countries think the same as in America.
Nonetheless I have taken Japanese lessons and trying to distinguish from proper and casual Japanese is probably the most difficult to grasp in learning. Some phrases are easy others I don't know if I will ever get here.
So I do listen but I really do feel having someone to speak with, not another person learning but someone who speaks as well as you for instance to correct me.
Anyway, I'm trying as I'd love to move back there and buy a second home in Japan preferably away from Tokyo but within at least an hour no further.
I'd still like to see you do some of the music festivals and maybe get backstage interviews and same with fans both local and from outside of Japan. My favorites are Band Maid and Lovebites.
Thank you again for your advice. Love your show and I am happy you and Director are safe and sound.
I am pretty sure the word Kawaii was invented just for you.
@@Buzzramjet Download a app called himabu
You could try video chatting with Japanese speakers that you've connected to online.
i talk to myself and try to make various imaginary conversations like daily life, girlfriend, science, or even debating myself over a philosophy topic. when i dont know any words i just go and translate em, when i dont know how is the right thing to form a particular sentence i just go and browse in google or youtube. also i immediately write down the kanji as much as possible (to create muscle memory i guess) and learn its pronunciation, plus its kunyomi and onyomi readings sometimes.
and that's so effective, 0 money spent, and easy. i think having internet as your resource is more than enough.
Thank you for the tie method I found Japanese speaking groups in New York City. I'm going to go to one of these meetings this week. And immerse myself, and ears in conversations.
my motivation packs up and leaves two daying into doing something so im really gonna try hard this time
@3:20 you realize the Japanese character was doing something to Cathy cat which might fall under censorship🤔
Something I wouldn't mind doing.
ありがとう Cathy Cat!
I'm trying to learn Japanese. Did you write arigatou?
Karl Jans yes
4:15 the girl smilin had me laughin xD .
edit: 4:20 farmer joe had me crackin up too xD
I very much liked doing language exchange while I lived in japan. For me it was easily the most efficient way.
Sorry this is not a comment about the content. As a rule, I don’t comment on the way people look if that is not the content focus, but the montage of Cathy Cat at the beginning was great. You are a lovely and fun person. OK - content. In college, long, long ago, I studied Japanese and had 400 kanji at the end. Didn’t use it. All gone. It’s a shame to lose a language.
Not all gone. Your brain has been primed for Japanese from your previous study/experience. If you dove back into it you'd relearn a lot faster.
I’ve heard this coronavirus causes neurological damage, makes it hard to remember things. I haven’t tested positive yet, but I feel even the times of pandemic make it some more so difficult to learn and remember things. My vocabulary in two languages I’ve tried to study (Russian and Japanese) is so difficult to remember. In Japanese and Russian I know a lot of names of foods and dishes, but most other words are very difficult to remember. Katakana, Hiragana, and other Japanese writing systems are way more difficult to me than the Cyrillic alphabet but I absolutely love their aesthetic. Love Japanese signs and labels. I hope there will ever be a time again when being a student in many parts of the world will ever feel as much more normal as to me I feel like it used to seem. That is my opinion on the times. I think sustainability practices are very important to keep countries healthy and avoid huge social class disparities. I see a lot of improvement in that coming out of Japan and other parts of the world nowadays compared to a few years ago when I feel like people were both less connected and in denial. I think that some of the effects of that denial especially in the recent turn of this century are being felt more and more even by the wealthy and are making people realize. I can not even find information on the Japanese illiteracy rate which is concerning. Anyway, I never let the difficulty of the Japanese language has been as of yet to me stop me from continuing to pick up as much of it as I can. I’ve longed to study Japanese writing in a classroom setting but have yet to get the chance. Above all I’ve said though I think the Japanese language and writing is beautiful and I wish the best for everyone in Japan and around the world.
Well, the barrier I am facing is my age. I am nearly 40 and I am wondering if it would make any sence to learn Japanese?
Reason why I would is to understand japanese music and to talk with Japanese band members. But you barely are in touch.... or with that one Japanese friend. So, motivation is fairly low.
i'm using AJATT since about 1 year
Yes! I totally understand studying hard, dropping it then starting up again! I've been studying Japanese for about 3 years on and off.
I'm at the point where I can watch subbed anime and occasionally understand what they say w/o the subtitles.
There's no way I'd be able to hold a conversation yet :(
I still watch anime subbed but I found myself watching news and some japanese docs without it.
Funny thing is, I would sometimes get what would otherwise been local US news from japanese networks first before any state-side stations air their coverage, if at all.
GUYS! When studying, listening especially, I almost don't recommend anime. WAIT! I'm not bad mouthing anime at all. I love watching the occasional series however, they speak completely different in anime compared to real life. Not only the WAY they speak but also 'anime talk', or 'entertainment talk', spoken in real life is considered 'dirty Japanese' (aka. なになにじゃねーよ) . If you speak like this someone will definitely say : "why do you speak like that?", and tell you not to speak that way,
please trust me on this.
I know when learning something new everyone jumps to the fun part but often that is the hardest part.
Once you can start making jokes and people laugh, THAT'S when you know you have been making progress in a language because not only have you studied the language and culture but also how people interact, make fun of each other and joke around. Cause trust me it's different to your own mother language.
Start to try to imitate real people not some over acted and silly character. Although funny and entertaining, not everyday life.
PS. DO NOT feel bad if you don't understand something its;s part of the learning progress.
(When you were a kid learning your mother language did you understand every single thing that was said? No!)
@Yū You're exactly right! But I think it is more difficult! I don't want people to loose motivation when they study hard but still can't understand 50% of what they are saying when watching anime.
i understand that you're trying to be helpful but you're very, very wrong about the anime thing. the type of japanese spoken in anime depends 100% on what anime you watch, what time period it's set in, and what personality the characters are speaking have. there are many, many anime characters who speak in completely normal, casual language (I've watched shows with Japanese friends/tutors and asked them to confirm) and if you have read and listened to a lot of japanese from many sources (including "real people" tv and radio shows) you would know that too. telling someone who's learning japanese to not watch anime is like telling someone learning english not to watch cartoons or play videogames in english. that's horrible advice. let people watch WHATEVER THEY WANT and learn whatever forms of the language they want and they will become familiar with those differences in speech as time goes on.
@@suckkmycandles Okay, Okay I fucking love that you disagree with me here (no sarcasm).
Anyone reading this thread definitely read what she was to say here, on point! Everything is relative and depending on situation. People learn/ live/ think differently that's why I thought it was important to say my opinion so it's out there for people, not to 100% blindly follow but to pick up pieces that work for them and throw out the rest.
I don't want someone to stop watching anime for study just because I/someone said so, make up your own mind about what works for you. That's what is so fun about language learning literally EVERYTHING is study of some kind.
I just want to reach out to people whom(?) have hit the learning wall because it's extremely present when learning Japanese. KEEP GOING! Surround yourself with the Japanese language, Movies, anime, manga, books, podcasts, drama, TV shows etc . etc. Whether you understand or not get used to the flow, the grammar, make lists of patterns, words you hear often.
Anyone with advice for my own language learning I welcome it!
PS. Cathy, maybe I was a little bias before. I think in my mind I was thinking of people who study Japanese and when it comes to the practical side they use anime as their main input. That said aside from work UA-cam is probably my biggest input of Japanese so I am hypocritical.
Learning through Anime is a very good way to learn collocations and new grammar points
makes sense. thats probably akin to someone learning english for the first time using the simpsons, south park, or family guy as model. probably not a good idea.
With the routine part, flashcards like Anki help.
I found after working with Japanese and traveling to Japan is that the language is not that hard (compared to Mandarin or Thai); plus I also started as suggested in one of the tips by learning just one phrase that seemed to work also as an ice-breaker (“nan desu ka”) it just seem to fit in a lot of situations and I started building from there. Really miss going to Japan...
6:09 when I put my glasses on...
毎度画質のクオリティが
ベスト。
I love how she walks the street up in Harajuku and I'm here like aaaahh I know this place. The restaurant above the familymart has the best vegan ramen🙀🙀
🥰
I really like cathy cat speaking English and Japanese she is fluently speaking both lsnguages she spesks clearly so interested with her talent😊
Hi Cathy 🙇♂️🙇♂️🙇♂️🙇♂️🙋♂️🙋♂️🙋♂️🙋♂️🙋♂️🙋♂️
First I would like to say that I have been following your channel for almost 2 years now and I enjoy it a lot. Also I have been self teaching myself Japanese language for almost 2 years now and although I'm still at the begginers level almost reaching intermediate level but over here where I'm living at there isn't much Japanese people or persons who speak the language. I am a person who is learns much better in a classroom setting with sensei and students around than learning by myself and through the internet.
Nevertheless I will keep on learning it until I become fluent like my English and Spanish. It is my dream to go and live in Japan and work there like you're doing. To me your an inspiration and I will definitely will take your advice that you gave in this video. Thank you for for this video and keep on going strong.
Matane 🙇♂️🙇♂️🙇♂️🙋♂️🙋♂️🙋♂️🙋♂️
アニメとかみるのもいいけど、日常会話はドラマがいいとおもうし、きれいな日本語は、ニュースを見た方が正しい日本語覚えると思う。
僕はまだ日本語を学んでいる。ニュースは堅苦しすぎると思う・・・ドラマならリアリティーショーのテラスハウスのような喋り方は一番便利かもしれない。
Its hard to find japanese dramas in english speaking countries though. Does anyone know of a any on Netflix or hulu?
@@mikemustmurder In America, on Netflix, there is a show called Good Morning Call I'm currently watching. It's probably popular with high school kids in Japan, but it's good for learning. You can even switch the captions between English, Japanese, Chinese, Spanish or none. Not sure if it's available outside the US.
ビジネスようだったらニュースがいいと思うけど、日常会話は方言もちょっと覚えとくと便利だからバラエティー番組とかユーチューブで見るといいんじゃない？
@Eriol ドラマの日本語はどうしても「台詞っぽさ」が出てしまうからね...
確かにテラスハウスみたいに台本が無い番組の方が自然な日本語を勉強できると思う
WHOA, 6:30!!! That freaking works! Thank you, Cathy Cat!!!
Really enjoyed this, thank you! I’ll be taking your tips for sure, I definitely find myself stopping halfway from time to time so this should be great ☺️
I'm really looking into learning the language now so that I can at least muddle my way through my trip to Japan in two years. I'll just take it a bit at a time. Also, your dress is adorable!
I only know how to read and write intermediate Japanese from studying Japanese from books.... Speaking and listening/understanding is another matter 😂.