/jp/ - Otaku Culture

>>44445335
Learning a language exclusively because it has some practical "utility", like getting a job or something, is generally a bad idea. You need to have a personal interest or reason in learning a language (or any skill) if you really want to see it through to the end. Assuming you're not obligated to learn it through school or living in Japan or something, because then you have external factors to keep you responsible and consistent.

But if by "real utility" you just mean using Japanese for any reason outside of "because I can", then there's loads of reasons to learn it. It's hard to explain or understand until you see it for yourself, but it's more than just reading or watching stuff in Japanese. I saw a post here several years back that described it pretty well, but to quote a small part of it, "At a fundamental level, any time anyone in any way associated with making the stuff you like speaks or writes anything at all, they’re creating more Japanese that would have to be translated for you." People like to think everything's translated nowadays, but ask yourself how often you read articles or watch videos or watch streams or talk to friends or read forum posts or social media posts about your non-Japanese hobbies and interests. Knowing Japanese allows you to do all that with your Japanese hobbies and interests, because that's shit you can't rely on being translated. And this is without mentioning unreliable translations or stuff that isn't even translated. If you just wanted to watch anime without subtitles just so you can say you watch anime without subtitles, then yeah there's no point in learning Japanese. But if you have a genuine interest in otaku culture, then knowing the language it's produced in is insanely useful.

beginning jamal summoning ritual...