What is more reliable in learning a language?

7 Comments

What is more reliable for learning Japanese?

Books and articles 7
Subtitle on anime 3
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Comments ( 7 )
  • disthing
    10 years ago

    Hahaha

    DEFINITELY not subtitles.

    Translating for subtitles often involves rewording entire sentences to fit with the timing of the visuals. That means it's not simply a word by word substitution.

    For example, English subtitles could read:
    "Go away!"
    when the original language was...
    "Leave me alone!"

    If you took that as a direct translation, then tried to say "I'm going away!", you'd actually say "I'm leaving me alone!".

    You see?

    Always rely on educational resources and direct conversation to learn a language. Don't rely on subtitles. Animé could only help if you turn the subtitles off and focus on the original Japanese audio - which would probably require a basic understanding of the language first.

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    • Anonymous Post Author
      10 years ago

      I ask since my friend was arguing what a word meant based on subtitles. Which my translation was straight from articles and books. The articles had something different than the subtitles. So I was wondering which I should go by.

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      • disthing
        10 years ago

        You were probably right.

        However, you also have to consider colloquialisms e.g. slang. That's where a fluent or native speaker comes in handy.

        For example, the textbook definition of 'cool' in English may only account for the formal use, ignoring the informal use.

        Japan similarly has plenty of slang, so textbooks may not always adequately cover this. Make sure the word you're correcting your friend on isn't also a colloquialism.

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  • WokeUpScreamingFilmNoir
    10 years ago

    Rosetta stone.

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  • RoseIsabella
    10 years ago

    Subtitles on monster movies.

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  • ucipher8
    10 years ago

    books and articles are great however i find them as an aid when learning other languages. for example subtitled content allows you to listen observe and even study speech, not just vocabulary and or grammar. then again, you could always just live in japan too.

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    • Anonymous Post Author
      10 years ago

      I found subtitles that don't follow the book though.

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