My Recommended Language Studying Method

 I have heard an American joke that “the best way to study Japanese is by being born of Japanese parents in Japan and growing up in Japan.”

It sounds like a meaningless joke. But sometimes, a joke includes some truth. “Being born” and “growing up” are the best ways. However, we can try a second or a third way to study a foreign language.

Overseas study might be a good way. But it might be expensive. If you want to work in a country, you need a working visa. Furthermore, it might be a big decision. You have to say goodbye to your family and friends for a while. I studied overseas when I was young. It changed my life in many different ways.

 Having a boyfriend or a girlfriend who is a native speaker from the country is another good way. Actually, I have never experienced that. I heard that it is a very effective way to study a language. But if you already have a partner, you should give up on this study method. Studying should not disrupt your happy life.

 One-on-one lessons are also a good way to study. But they could be expensive. We have to pay a lot of money to good teachers.

 Taking a class is a good way at a reasonable price. If you loved classes in school when you were a student, you would also love taking a language class. If you hated school, I am not sure you would love a language class.

 The above ways are my recommended language studying methods. I, at least, have tried almost all these ways in my life. I am sure they are effective.

 The following method I actually tried too. I found it was also effective and fun.

 Repeatedly watching foreign TV dramas is my recommended language studying method.

 First, you should find a foreign drama series you like.

 You should watch that drama in the foreign language with no subtitles. You will find it difficult to understand the story. But if you are studying the language, you can guess the story. I think the most important key to studying a foreign language is guessing. If you are not a native speaker, it is impossible to fully understand all the lines in a drama. But you can guess.

 Second, watch the same drama with subtitles in the foreign language. The subtitles will help you understand the story. That process links pronunciation and letters. 

 Third, watch the same drama with subtitles in your mother tongue. I am sure you can now understand the full story. You will find places you misunderstood or had listening problems. The translators needed to make subtitles with fewer words. Sometimes they needed to omit the original lines. You will find some original content this way.

 Finally, watch the same drama dubbed in your mother tongue. This is the most fun option. You can fully enjoy the drama. I think the best translators and best voice actors cooperate in the drama. It might be an artistic masterpiece.

 I recommend this method to you because most of my readers are theatrical people. We practice the same story and the same scenes again and again. I think you will like this method.

 But I also have a warning for you. Watching a drama repeatedly is one of the effective ways to study a foreign language. But I also recommend other standard listening, writing, and speaking methods. This is just an additional way to study.

 Furthermore, this learning method has risks. In general, the conversations in a TV drama might happen in emergent situations. Or the conversation might be acceptable between people in a close relationship. You can’t use these words to people you meet in everyday situations. It could be rude.

 For example, the phrase “shut up” is very common in English dramas. But one of my American teachers said, “I have never said that phrase to my family nor my friends.”

 “Damare” means “shut up” in Japanese. Actually, I have never used that word in my life. But in TV dramas, the characters use the word very often.

 Reality and dramas are different. But still, the watching dramas method might be one way to enjoy studying a foreign language.

 If you are studying a foreign language, please try it.

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Ambidextrous

I am a right-hander.

But I was once in the hospital for a long time as a patient. And I needed to take care of my mother who had Alzheimer’s for a long time. I had a lot of time to kill. So, I tried to be a left-hander.

Now, I mainly use my left hand.

Every morning, I measure my grip strength for both my right and left hands. At first, my right hand was stronger, but my left hand gradually became stronger.

I kept using mainly my left hand for eight years. One day, my left hand was stronger than my right. I was surprised.

Now, when I measure my grip strength, my left hand wins once a week. When my left hand wins, I use my right hand that day.

My goal is for the strength of my right and left hands to become equal.

On TV, a professor said, “If a person mainly uses the opposite hand to their dominant hand, that might make the person a genius.”

I have never been a genius.

But if I had to eat a meal at a small table with many people, being ambidextrous would be useful.

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My no-fail joke

I have a no-fail joke. I’ve had it since I was a child.

It’s my sprinting. Whenever I sprint, everyone laughs at me.

I don’t sprint as a joke. I always sprint seriously. But everyone laughs.

When I was young, I was a part-time actor. I needed to sprint in a scene. The director scolded me many times because he assumed that I was kidding. Of course, I was not.

When I was in my final year of high school, we needed to time our runs in P.E. class. As usual, all of my classmates started to laugh when I sprinted, except one person. He was a member of the track and field team.

After the run, he came to me and said, “I couldn’t believe you could run that fast with such bad running form. I wish you had joined our track and field team and studied effective running form. You could have won a major competition for high school students.”　

My running form was a joke, but my time wasn’t so bad.

My hidden talent was found in my last year of high school. If I had known it before, I could have had a wonderful high school life. In reality, I was a member of the drama club. I lost the smallest competitions every year.

I wish I had joined the track and field team instead of the drama club.

What is done cannot be undone.

 

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