Anime (as a tool)

I always strife to find a good balance between having fun and studying.
Anime is a refreshingly fun way to study Japanese and I found a way not only to train your listening skills by watching Anime shows. I also integrated a reading practice there. Cool, eh?
The best way to integrate Anime into your study shedule. Read on, traveller.

So, everyone who likes to watch Anime watches them with english subtitles I assume.
Watching Anime with english subtitles may be the most convenient way to enjoy those series. Yet, following that way won't let you have a deeper approach at the language itself. Your brain is constructed in a way by which it generally looks for the easiest ways to solve a problem at hand. Your eyes will constantly try to focus on and wander around the english subtitles at the bottom of the screen. When studying Japanese this can be indeed considered a distraction in my opinion.

We have to begin to ask ourselves: Do we want to stay like that? Watching Anime always staying dependent on subtitles? Well, yes, that will be the case for quite a while. Subtitles will be a part of your journey, but:

DO NOT WATCH ANIME WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES!
SWITCH TO JAPANESE SUBTITLES!

We have to start to look at Anime (or Dramas, Movies, etc.) not as a media of pure enjoyment, but as a tool to advance in our approach of getting more aquainted with our beloved language.

SEE ANIME AS A FUN TO HANDLE TOOL.

So, there we are. Instead of taking out the popcorn, get your pencils sharpened, we are in for some studying! Get your dictionaries ready too.  It will be a rocky road. Some will get lost - will give in to the hardship of pausing the videos each and every few seconds. Anime has become a tool. A mighty tool. If you can hold on long enaugh you will see the fruits of your endeavour sooner than you could ever have believed. Words, phrases and expressions will repeat themselves - you will notice that. You will get the hang of understanding what the characters are saying more and more with each episode you've watched (and translated).

DON'T GIVE UP!

There are not many places on the web that offer Japanese movies or shows with japanese subtitles. Still, I was lucky enaugh to have found a great website providing us with exactly that. You can donate to that the owner of that site if you want to show your respect and gratitude. I sure did.

https://animejpnsub.blogspot.jp/