Comments on: Logical Reasons to Learn A Language…

By: Why Do We Play? What Dogs Can Teach Us About Learning Languages | AJATT | All Japanese All The Time

Mon, 24 Dec 2012 14:59:35 +0000

[…] And it made me realize how we’ve forgotten the one and only real reason to run, and we’ve replaced it with a bunch of good but ultimately stupid reasons. We run to win. We run because it’s healthy. We run for money. We run to save time. All of these are good reasons to run. And that’s why they’re terrible reasons to run. Good reasons are the worst reasons to do anything. Why? Because good reasons are unsustainable. […]

By: EkkusuXI

EkkusuXI — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 19:36:58 +0000

I have an immensely good, more like great reason to learn Japanese, it’s the same reason crack addicts take one more it. For me it’s the drug effect, it’s all i think about (and try to think in.. I just started RTK less than a week ago and im at 300 or so in)it’s al i want to do with my free time, so next thing you know I’ll be making kanji-meth out of my basement because i could never stop the one more kanji(hit) feeling!

So thank you Khatz, I have found meaning in my previously wasted free time and intellectual reprieve from my brainless work as a cashier!

By: Embok

Embok — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 17:26:45 +0000

Definitely agree here. With that said, it’s always nice to have a ‘good’ reason to throw out at people trying to make things difficult. I’m going into business so if someone has a problem with me wanting to learn it for anime/manga(and I can’t just ignore them for clearly being the enemy) I make up something about cars and technology to satisfy them.

By: Ryan

Ryan — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 00:11:03 +0000

Let x be a good reason to do something and y be a reason that says x is actually wrong.∀x∃y y>x. Whatever reason you can find, its possible to find a contradiction. Be irrational and just do it.

By: hayden

hayden — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 06:24:28 +0000

i dont even have a reason for learning Japanese, theres just a good vibe i get from that place. one thing that annoys me though is meeting other learners who do so for their ‘anime and manga’, i dont like that crap, and dont wanna talk bout it so it’s frustrating and not only that it gives allot of potential chat buddies the idea us western folk are just gonna talk their ears off about some low frame rate cartoons about robots with guns. BUT i can relate to this whole illogical reason thing, being as mines a vibe..

By: Tweets that mention Logical Reasons to Learn A Language… | AJATT | All Japanese All The Time -- Topsy.com

Mon, 24 Jan 2011 05:45:23 +0000

[…] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Khatzumoto, Marina. Marina said: RT @ajatt: "useful reasons are all well and good, [but] without the addiction, it is hard to continue." bit.ly/fK8wKM […]

By: Alyson (long time lurker on your blog)

Alyson (long time lurker on your blog) — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 04:18:53 +0000

Thank you for writing about this. I literally had this conversation an two hours ago with someone. I started learning Korean (though not for the dramas, as a poster above said, but because I love the way it sounds :D) and it is frighteningly addictive. I get a huge boost just knowing a few more words and understanding a bit more. When I tried to start learning Chinese (since it was more useful and all…) the fire wasn’t there, which made it near impossible to study. What’s more, I missed Korean, like an ex-boyfriend of sorts! So, I’m back to happily studying Korean. Despite the fact that useful reasons are all well and good, without the addiction, it is hard to continue.

By: Jason

Jason — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 22:23:06 +0000

I’ve done that as well….and to my surprise. After reading lots of manga/novels. I was still somewhat intimdated by Japanese, simply because I didn’t think that manga was enough. So one day I tried reading an economics book. And guess what….it was even easier than the manga that I read!

It’s ridiculous.

I would read a science textbook and can understand mostly everything. You take away the scientific vocab, and most of it is a piece of cake.

By: Jason

Jason — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 22:17:50 +0000

There are lots of Chinese websites that have Chinese scans of Japanese manga. Don’t know if that helps but….you’ll probably love it.

By: Jules

Jules — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 04:16:43 +0000

I can totally relate… I took Spanish in school for about 5 years and I can’t speak it… at all. But, because of my addiction to everything Japanese, after only 3 years of classroom study I can speak much more than I could have ever hoped to with Spanish. I took Spanish in High School because it was supposed to be beneficial for me later in life when I got a job… and then right before graduating, my Dad told me to go to college for something I love, and the next day I had changed my major to Japanese. And now I’m heading back to Japan to teach English. So much for Spanish helping me in my future endeavors XD

Thanks for all your great posts! I find I often come back here to reread posts as well as the new ones when I need to get back some motivation and relight that fire under my butt.

~Jules

By: Tyler

Tyler — Sun, 09 Jan 2011 03:48:54 +0000

I agree. I’ve seen so many people with ‘reasons’ to do something. Tony Robbins did say “all you need is a big enough why”, but I find Japanese content provides its own why.

Stu Jay Raj just happens to be one of those people who found a way to be a “language junkie”. He figured out a way to “hook” himself on the “drug” of language. Thus, he can speak about 13 languages and read upwards to 17.

By: Chris C.

Chris C. — Sun, 09 Jan 2011 01:56:55 +0000

Great post. This reminded me of something a friend of mine once asked me “Where did you learn Japanese to get so good?”. I paused, and thought. and finally came to realize this: “I learned Japanese through reading manga”, much to my friends surprise. I remember those days just over 2 years ago when I would read my favorite Manga in japanese. I would sit for hours and hours with a large grin on my face, happily reading(learning) it with an online dictionary. Before I knew it was able to read pretty much any Manga. From there the only thing that stood in the way of fluency was higher level vocabulary. Like Khatzumoto said, don’t look for a “good” reason. What you do need however is sources of input that you love so much, it’s impossible for you to not learn your target language.

By: Sandra

Sandra — Sat, 08 Jan 2011 14:45:40 +0000

The most posts I read, the most I desire an “All Mandarin All The Time” site. Khatzumoto could be my beloved and overrated guru if only this site was about Mandarin with all the boxes on the left about Chinese XD His tips are for every language, but I want things made in the easier way for me XD

A problem I have with Chinese is that I am fond of original Japanese anime songs of the ’80s and in those years China hadn’t enought time for cartoons. I find many interesting Chinese dramas and movies, but I can’t listen to the anime songs of my childhood and so I am unhappy. I’m not interested in Japanese language, but I miss those songs (and I need to stay focalized in a language with no interferences). It is all so hamletic! Anime songs, or Mandarin language, that the question!

Bye!

By: fandd

fandd — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 03:19:11 +0000

If I read this post last year, I would not have believed you. I always wanted to learn another language to be “more marketable,” but could not keep up with studying for more than a week.

Then I got hooked on Korean dramas. I decided to learn Korean only because I did not want to wait for the English subtitles to come out. Yeah. It was all about the shows.

K-Dramas led to K-pop, stepping foot in my first Korean restaurant ever (Korean BBQ where have you been all my life?) and a local Korean language group.

I have no problem studying each day because I know that every bit I learn will make watching dramas more enjoyable.

All that was written to say that I totally agree with your post and am now looking for Korean books that I can get addicted to.

Also, love your site. It is very helpful and inspiring.

By: Raphael

Raphael — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 22:08:35 +0000

“I almost envy English learners, because English has tons of widely-available cool stuff in it.”

You’re definitely right! Just look at this website: it’s kind of paradoxical, but by reading this blog on a daily basis in order to improve my Japanese, I’ve learned so many new English words (English is not my mother tongue)… I love it: 一石二鳥 (2 birds, 1 stone)

By: Jason

Jason — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 18:54:39 +0000

It always bothers me when people say what’s a good reason or bad reason to learn Japanese. It’s the stupidest argument ever.

The only good reason is a reason that works for you.

A lot of people say knowledge of Japanese culture that type of nonsense…those are the people who probably will never learn.

You think the average Japanese person gives a cahoot about that stuff?

hehe

They just do whatever interests them….

people just can’t figure it out.

By: bubble

bubble — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 18:36:59 +0000

This is why my main criteria for picking a language have gone from the practical to 1) is there cool stuff and 2) is it easy to find the cool stuff. It also matters whether or not I like the language, but I like most languages.

I almost envy English learners, because English has tons of widely-available cool stuff in it. But Japanese is pretty good for that too.

By: Tweets that mention Logical Reasons to Learn A Language… | AJATT | All Japanese All The Time -- Topsy.com

Thu, 06 Jan 2011 18:32:45 +0000

[…] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Labor Teacher. Labor Teacher said: RT @phrasemix: Logical Reasons to Learn A Language… (via @ajatt) /logical-reasons-to-learn-a-l … […]

By: Angeldust

Angeldust — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 18:32:26 +0000

I think this is my problem. I have a billion good reasons to learn Japanese (seriously!) but there’s no addiction right now. I must go find addiction…

By: Ayuku

Ayuku — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 12:21:42 +0000

I’ve translated your post (because it’s short and meaningful) to Czech and posted on my blog. I hope you don’t mind ^^;

ayukucara.blogspot.com/2011/01/khatzumoto-promluvil.html

Ayuku, the AJATT follower since 2009