Multimedia Japanese Learning

[Made in DNA]

This is the way I learn Japanese every day. Watch TV, movies, news, and 
use what I learn by speaking to people. I advocated this method to 
university friends learning any language the whole time I was at 
CalState Long Beach and still do today when friends ask "how do you 
learn/study Japanese?" Easy. I use what I learn. Pick a show you like, 
stick with it. Start with something easy. Comedy is something that most 
people can understand. Take "notes" on ideas or words you want to learn. 
Ask questions of friends who also like the show. Watch it regularly. 
Sitcoms in the US are ideal for this. They are short, sweet and to the 
point. Seinfeld was a big hit with my non-English speaking friends.

You don't have to use any particular drama or movie, just use ones that 
are more down to earth with situations you are likely to use. Ashita Ga 
Aru is good for business people, Kinpachi Sensei for students. The 
weekly sitcom is not such good method for Japanese learners as they 
simply don't exist, but you can adapt your favorite weekly program such 
as Music Station. They ask the same repetitive questions over and over. 
Only the answers are different. Sometimes not even the answers are 
different. =P Watch anything with Downtown if you want to get into 
"impolite/dirty/gross" Japanese (love those guys!). Or London Boots if 
you want to learn about cheating, sex, lies, and videotape. Much Ado 
About Love is perfect for those with martial "problems" or "situations". 
You get the idea.

Good luck!
Made in DNA

Silvia Groniewicz wrote:

>Hello,
>
>I haven't seen anything about Japanese Learning, but I was quite surprised
>when I heard about a way to learn English with movies. A Japanese
>businessman obviously noticed that a lot of common dialogues occur in
>movies and based his English courses on them. There were five movies in
>that course and if you were able to work through them within two years, he
>claimed that your English would be fluent for everyday situations (no
>Business English). I only remember two of the movies that were used:
>"Regarding Henry" and "Sleepless in Seattle".
>
>The person who held a speech about this teaching method was quite good in
>spoken English and his pronunciation was pretty good. He was lacking in
>written English though, using too many colloquialisms.
>
>It would be interessting if this would also work the other way round. I
>would probably choose a Japanese drama as source material :)
>
>Silvia
>
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