How well can you passively learn a foreign language ?

[dgsddfgdfhgs]

I have been watching anime & drama from Japan for 10+yrs , i think I dont rely on subtitles anymore but i still struggle in games...

 

 

[PlayStation 2]

Approximately 0%. If I ever play something that isn't in English, I basically rely on previous information that I've learned from the English version of the game to navigate myself through.

[dgsddfgdfhgs]

2 minutes ago, Dan Castellaneta said:

Approximately 0%. If I ever play something that isn't in English, I basically rely on previous information that I've learned from the English version of the game to navigate myself through.

I find that jap & eng version of same game gives totally different experience , main reason is voice actors are too superior in jap lol

[PlayStation 2]

Just now, dgsddfgdfhgs said:

I find that jap & eng version of same game gives totally different experience , main reason is voice actors are too superior in jap lol

I largely don't play games with a ton of voice acting to begin with, so that's not a barrier I have to progress. Funny enough, I had played Gran Turismo 3 in Japanese a few weeks ago and... it's as easy as playing the game in English.

[Gegger]

i mean i've learned a bit of japanese both from previous chinese knowledge but also TV shows and the like

 

my friend has a dance class where the teacher speaks mostly chinese, yet she understands most of it without learning

[SenKa]

Ehhh, I'm okay with some languages. My Spanish is abhorrent and always will be, my previous mastery of Portuguese will ensure it stays that way. There aren't that many other spoken tongues here in Florida, but I have learned an okay amount of chinese just by listening.

[dgsddfgdfhgs]

Just now, -Kriss- said:

The majority of my english skills come from passivley learing the language.

you reminded me the days when I used to wake up at 7:30am to watch pokemon (the very first ones)before school & also the Simpsons helped alot

[WereCatf]

Does moving to another country, where you're surrounded by people speaking another language and you just end up learning it yourself as well on-the-fly count, or do you just mean picking something up from movies and TV-shows? If moving to another country and just learning the language on-the-fly without specifically setting out to study it counts, then it'd be 2 months for me, at which point many people couldn't anymore tell that I wasn't a local myself. If not...well, I dunno. Most content I watch or read is in English and I would rather describe myself as "proficient" at it by now.

[zassou]

watch videos and shows, play video games. i think

[greenhorn]

It can definitely help to play games in a foreign language or watch TV/movies in foreign languages when some words can be associated with certain objects or some phrases' meaning can be deduced from the context.

I also know an Austrian child that picked up a German accent from Germany because it is constantly watching German TV. His parents were not particularly pleased about that. 

[The_Prycer]

I've watched enough anime that I possess a toddler's level of fluency when it comes to Japanese. Eventually you begin to recognize certain words/phrases and can piece information together. Then you take the next step and watch a show without subtitles and try to figure the plot out. Then watch it with subs and see how close you got.

 

 

[TacoSenpai]

6 minutes ago, The_Prycer said:

I've watched enough anime that I possess a toddler's level of fluency when it comes to Japanese. Eventually you begin to recognize certain words/phrases and can piece information together. Then you take the next step and watch a show without subtitles and try to figure the plot out. Then watch it with subs and see how close you got.

 

 

but whe where the subtitles?

[TetraSky]

14 hours ago, dgsddfgdfhgs said:

I find that jap & eng version of same game gives totally different experience , main reason is voice actors are too superior in jap lol

It's not that japanese VA are superior. They just take their job seriously.

Too often than not, the English voice actors are the same people in everything, the same ones who are clearly just reading off a script without any of the proper emotions or intonation that you'd normally have in an actual conversation. They are unable to bring "the characters alive". They are like robots most of the time.

I don't know if it's because there's more competition in Japan as far as voice actors go or if English voice actors just can't be bothered to give their 100% when working on foreign material... Because what I've noticed, is that in a cartoon made in the US, the English voices are perfectly fine.

[The_Prycer]

8 minutes ago, TetraSky said:

It's not that japanese VA are superior. They just take their job seriously.

Too often than not, the English voice actors are the same people in everything, the same ones who are clearly just reading off a script without any of the proper emotions or intonation that you'd normally have in an actual conversation. They are unable to bring "the characters alive". They are like robots most of the time.

I don't know if it's because there's more competition in Japan as far as voice actors go or if English voice actors just can't be bothered to give their 100% when working on foreign material... Because what I've noticed, is that in a cartoon made in the US, the English voices are perfectly fine.

Not to super derail this thread, but that has been my main complaint of dubbing for years. When a company that isn't Funimation gets their hands on something, you can really tell when someone is passionate about their work by the soul they bring to the dub (Hellsing being my favorite example of this).

 

And yes, being a VA in Japan is a highly competitive field versus in the US where the same 12 people voice everyone.

[dgsddfgdfhgs]

12 hours ago, TacoSenpai said:

but whe where the subtitles?

you got to find them in usually in some anime lover forums, there are voluntary subtitle groups for the content

 

8 hours ago, comander said:

e.g. Code Geass where Lelouch is a Western prince and is voiced by Johnny Yong Bosch. EXCELLENT VOICE ACTING. I do like the "sound" of the Japense actor I have to give credit to Bosch. 

not bad for a eng voice actor, but I would say the passion is still far behind from from jap prof, not hot blooded enough?  may be i watched too much

 

random clip from youtube:

 

 

[Flying Sausages]

I am Viet. English is not my first language. I took French 1 in high school, and i literary passed with a "C". I used Google Translator to do my assignments and tests. Now I have to take French 2 in college so fucked me bruddar because I can barely remember anything from French 1. 

 

English is already hard to a lot of people, and even native English speakers as well, and now they want me to learn another language?! Cmon, give me a dam break.

[Guest savagepain]

well i can say not very well i have lived in the us for around 7 years my english is still shit the only reason why it looks good in text is my good friend autocorrect. 

[dgsddfgdfhgs]

9 minutes ago, OlympicAssEater said:

English is already hard to a lot of people, and even native English speakers as well, and now they want me to learn another language?! Cmon, give me a dam break.

the very 1st thing not to "hate" that culture/ language

 

[Flying Sausages]

1 minute ago, dgsddfgdfhgs said:

the very 1st thing not to "hate" that culture/ language

 

I am not hating it but it just added more weight onto my shoulders.............English is already hard enough for me.

[Crunchy Dragon]

19 hours ago, WereCatf said:

Does moving to another country, where you're surrounded by people speaking another language and you just end up learning it yourself as well on-the-fly count

That's the best way to learn a language, I'm told.

[Guest savagepain]

crunchy has joined the battle 

[Guest savagepain]

and i can speak from experience its not the best at all 

[Guest]

For many people it just clicks. At least the 2 people I know that said they learned languages by bring around them. 

[Silentprototipe]

Going from personal expirience with my parents learning a forgein language its really just a matter of being stuck in an enviroment where your forced to learn the language. So in their case it was spanish to English. I dont think you could apply that with Japanese though  

[The King of the Undead]

11 hours ago, OlympicAssEater said:

I am Viet. English is not my first language. I took French 1 in high school, and i literary passed with a "C". I used Google Translator to do my assignments and tests. Now I have to take French 2 in college so fucked me bruddar because I can barely remember anything from French 1. 

 

English is already hard to a lot of people, and even native English speakers as well, and now they want me to learn another language?! Cmon, give me a dam break.

 

I mean we borrowed so many words from french you might find it easier. /s