Manga Case Study: Learning Japanese in One Year
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Today's guest post is from Mars Dorian whose website is his online comic and project to make the world a more epic place. Mars is German and we hung out while I was living in Berlin (and talked together in German of course).
This post shares his Japanese learning story and strategy… presented in his Japanese Manga-like drawing style with himself as the main character! It's over to you Mars!
Since my early childhood, I was OBSESSED with Japanese culture. I loved the animation, food and culture from a country on the other side of the globe. I knew in my guts that I was DEFINITELY going to go there someday. It was only a matter of time.
Then in my early twenties, when I was in Australia, it came to me: I was living with Japanese friends in Chinatown, and I said to myself: Hell – I'm going to Japan next… and I'm going to learn this language in less than a year!
I knew this was going to be a tough challenge, but I have a passion that's strong enough to melt the moon, and the focus of a Terminator hunting down his target. And you know what? I did indeed succeed in this mad quest.
This is how I did it.
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Total Japanese Immersion
Since I was going to live in Australia for almost a year, I had to bring Japan to ME. And that meant buying Japanese books, listening to Japanese music, eating sushi, and watching Japanese cartoons and animation. I completely surrounded myself with my target language, in order to get the MAXIMUM input.
Lesson: Do the same. Bring your target language into your daily life. Change the language settings of your browser and mp3 player, eat that food, watch online videos, and pick the options that fit your life!
Focus on the Key Japanese Words
When it came to actually learning, I focused on 1,000 high-frequency Japanese words. That gave me a useful base for loads of everyday conversations, though a frequency list on its own cannot cover everything you need.
Recognising common words helped me understand Japanese sooner, and that early progress gave me more confidence to keep learning.
Use Imitation as a Learning Exercise
I used imitation as a learning exercise. I listened to how Japanese speakers moved through sentences and copied their rhythm. That focused practice helped my pronunciation.
The goal was to practise specific speech patterns, while still being myself.
Have Ridonculous Fun
You may say this is obvious, but it's NOT. Many times I learned the language when I was in a bad mood and just didn't feel like it, and as a result I didn't learn much!
I found that I learned more effectively when I was in a good mood and ready to concentrate.
So, make sure you get into kick-ass mode before you learn – hell, dance like a monkey on fire if that helps you. But do it in your target language 🙂
Well said Mars! Dance like a monkey on fire, but do it in the target language 🙂 Check out more of Mars' great comics on his website, and leave your comments below about his tips on this post!
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