This topic is a little off our normal beat, but I didn’t want to miss the the April Japan Blog Matsuri. Our host this month is NihongoUp and the topic is Education.
I have devoted a lot of time to learning Japanese. Spent a lot of time in classrooms, read a lot of books and even entered a few speech contests. And while there are no short cuts on the way to N1 proficiency (just endless flashcard drills), there are a few ways of learning Japanese that are more fun or more effective than many others…
Learn from your most heinous mistakes
No matter how hard I tried, I was never able to remember the difference between “hairu” (to enter) and “ireru” (to put s.t. in s.t.). That is, until I walked into the office with a bag of perishable groceries one day and asked my Japanese manager: reizoko ni haitte ii desu ka?
“Can I crawl into the fridge?”
Now when I need to use these verbs, I just remember that boner of a sentence and work out which is the correct verb for the current situation.
Put your J-pop collection to work
I once asked a Japanese friend to teach me a new phrase, and she came back with the wonderful little nugget “a tto iu ma ni” (before you can say “aa”). As I was walking home that night, listening to some music on my 2nd generation iPod (I did mention that I’ve been at this for awhile, right?) Ulfuls’ classic tune “Banzai” came up. In the midst of that previously incomprehensible song, I heard it loud and clear – “a tto iu ma ni.”
Now every time I hear Banzai, I get to review the phrase. I guess it’s natural spaced repetition. And there are a few more phrases that stick in my memory like glue that way – “tadori tsuita” (to finally arrive) from Ayumi Hamasaki’s Dearest. “Kokkei na” (ridiculous) from Mr. Children’s Na Mo Naki Uta. I could go on and on…
Get your conversation practice on the go
Sure you can pay for conversation practice with a native Japanese speaker in your local Starbucks. The better option? Jump in a taxi. Very rare is the driver who prefers to drive in silence. Also rare – drivers who speak good English (no crutch in this conversation). And they’re very good at matching your level – quickly moving from the basic Japanese (where are you from?) to grilling you about your opinions on Japan.
Sure, there’s a chance you’ll get the driver who speaks an incomprehensible local dialect. But if you live in Japan and want to practice real Japanese, just give it a try. Next time you miss the last train home after a few too many drinks (being intoxicated will help your Japanese prowess immensely – fun fact) don’t wait for the morning train at Karaoke. Just jump in a cab.
What are your best unconventional tips for learning Japanese? Leave us a comment and let us know!
Heh, like that expression. Though wouldn’t it be “a tto iu mae ni”?
J music can be a good way to study, indeed. Though when you do, do you recommend looking for the lyrics and studying them visually, as well? I find when I’m just listening to a song, I either have trouble picking out phrases or I just kind of tune out the lyrics.
And yeah, talking to natives is the best! If I find myself in little a little restaurant/cafe/bar, I often talk to the staff if they don’t look too busy.
I think the phrase is あっという間に - so I should have translated it as “in the time it takes to say ‘aa’”.
For songs, I’ve done it both ways. I think it really sticks when you pull out a phrase without having seen the lyrics on paper. But I’ve also had plenty of success learning words by studying the lyrics of my favorite songs in a more serious way. So actually, I’d recommend the latter.
Ahhh, thanks! 勉強になった！
Think the thing that stuck most for me was recently when a friend had been watching old bad Japanese movies and asked me what a certain song from the soundtrack was about…so I had to listen to it over and over piece by piece to try and figure out what was being sung.
Hahaha, oh, man, I’m pretty sure I’ve asked to crawl into unfortunate places without realizing it!
I totally agree that really bad mistakes make you better!