How to THINK in Japanese. Bypass native language and process directly in Japanese.

Moving from translating in our heads to thinking directly in Japanese is one of the harder barriers to break. But we can break it. ▼Links▼
Taking the pain out of J-J definitions - 7 Simple Tricks: • 7 Easy Tricks to Learn...
Tadoku - wide reading: • Beyond "Learning": How...
Immersion playlist: • Japanese Immersion: Th...
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learnjapaneseon...

[@walkingcontradiction3962]

I haven't even relized that I didn't translate English in my head into my native language, but instead just listen to it and understanding it naturally as English 😅 It will take a while, but I wanna be able to understand Japanese in the same way as I do English, and your videos are a great help for that! So thank you very much 🙏🏻

[@organicjapanesewithcuredol49]

That's good!

[@BATMAN10N]

Username checks out

[@sigalius]

"Western foreigners never like using Japanese, they only like studying it. That's why they never get good at it." BINGO

[@petervansan1054]

だって日本語をつかえば恥ずかしい

[@Rairosu]

はい

[@supechube_k]

all i did for the other languages i was learning was just get an insane amount of listening practice and the habit just disappeared without me even thinking about it

[@organicjapanesewithcuredol49]

Yes. That is the core answer to the question. Just use it and use it and use it until the brain starts cutting out the translation phase. And listening practice doesn't give it time anyway.

[@riaboyes1299]

A small thing I've started doing is whenever I'm reading numbers in my head to only read them in Japanese It's a small thing but once you realize you're seeing 2 as に not as two and then に it helps with your confidence a bit because you're like "oh wow, I'm actually able to look at this and go straight to the Japanese! I wonder what else I can start doing that with??" (the only issue is when you have to read out numbers to someone in English (or another language) when you were in the middle of reading it in Japanese lol)

[@sorenrl3089]

Something I started doing: while journaling, I write words or even entire phrases that I know in Japanese. I've discovered I know a lot more than I thought I did, and I don't recall them unless I actively think about them. But that's getting easier to do. ありがとうございます！

[@organicjapanesewithcuredol49]

Yes - every time you use something you beat down its "path" a little more.

[@nordgeit]

"If you have imaginary friends -- and it's not only children that have imaginary friends, *and who knows if they're really imaginary anyway* --"

[@user-vg8tn8cy8p]

this part was scary lol

[@organicjapanesewithcuredol49]

Scary? I thought it was reassuring.

[@user-vg8tn8cy8p]

@@organicjapanesewithcuredol49 it sounds like a child with a ghost friend

[@organicjapanesewithcuredol49]

@@user-vg8tn8cy8p Are ghosts bad? They were people a little while ago. Does dying make them bad? (I don't know the answer but this is a puzzle to me).

[@JuniorTaitt]

@@organicjapanesewithcuredol49面白い

[@captainclarky5352]

Your voice is surprisingly nice. It's like being taught by the Queen

[@user-a6m2]

1:00 "...this channel appeals learners of Japanese whose native language is not English" - "loooook mom, she's talking about me!!!" Ahem. Actually, thank you for sharing your ideas about Japanese immersion which I'm totally approve! Personally I can add another small bit from myself is to switch all the applications/software/sites interface everywhere to Japanese. Google, yt, twitter, etc - 設定 the locale everywhere to JP. Many years ago this helped me to familarize with EN and now it's JP time. Will be looking forward next videos!

[@yuki._loves]

I just did the same with my phone today!! Now my whole phone is in Japanese Wish me luck and I hope the better for you ❤️

[@magnuslidbom5049]

One thing that has helped me very much is to stop learning vocab primarily by memorizing the English translation. Now I learn kanji and vocab and sentences primarily by imagining the concept non-verbally. Images, sounds situations etc. When a sentence, word, kanji etc turn up in anki, I try to just imagine it. Then I look at the answer and if the English in the answer feels like the thing I imagined I pass the card. This is helping me greatly, because even in my studying I'm not translating into English, I'm imagining the meaning of the sentence, word or kanji instead. Once I stumbled on this way of doing things it felt incredibly right and my learning is really speeding up. It's a mystery to me why this is not a well known standard practice. Well, not exactly a mystery, most language learning materials are geared towards passing exams after all, rather than really learning the language. Just as Dolly Sensei keeps reminding us.

[@alex_blue5802]

"Have imaginary friends that only speak Japanese" is the kind of advice that doesn't make sense until it does.

[@edge3220]

Something I was recently thinking about is how, when we speak, we don't think of individual words as much as entire expressions, or groups of words we commonly place together. Much like how words are spelled with letters but we view the word as a pattern, similarly, entire sentences can be viewed/heard that way as well. We often repeat phrases and expressions we've become familiar with in our own native languages after all. And, when reading, if the grouping is weird we slow down. This took me back to an earlier idea about occasionally focusing on sentences as a whole, and looking at the forest rather than the trees. Tadoku seems built for that.

[@organicjapanesewithcuredol49]

Yes. This is sometimes called "chunking". You will notice that people will often pronounce an unfamiliar word (in English) wrongly when they read it aloud even though the pronunciation is clear from the spelling. This is because we so rarely spell out a word letter by letter in our heads that some people find it difficult to do so when they try.

[@yu.niverse]

I’ve been working my way through your numbered lessons, but I always have an epiphany when watching videos like this! As an American born Chinese speaker, I can think in both English and Chinese (albeit with a significantly truncated vocabulary) and I’m always trying to figure out how, despite my poor command of the language, I’m still able to call myself a native Chinese speaker, and emulate the same learning process when learning Japanese. Your analytical description of even what it means to “learn” a “language” sets off all sorts of alarms and things really start making sense. どもありがとうございます！

[@organicjapanesewithcuredol49]

I am really happy to have been helpful to you. 頑張ってください。

[@KoupJam]

日本語は本当難しいです。悲しいです。たすけてください

[@lisahinton9682]

I am not sure how this video came into my feed, but I am glad I decided to watch it. I am currently learning French and Spanish and my frustration has been in trying to not do the translate-in-the-head thing with Spanish. (Why I don't do this with French, I don't know. I "think" in French all the time, but Spanish has been a different creature on that front.) So thank you - I thoroughly enjoyed this video and came away with lots of ideas. Tomorrow morning I will speak to the dogs in Spanish, and speak to the dishes in Spanish as I put them away, and speak to the breakfast in Spanish as I prepare it. I am so excited to meet all my new friends! Thanks again.

[@elboniu]

"Make sure you choose imaginary friends who don't know any English, they only speak in Japanese". Ok, it's time to find waifu.

[@organicjapanesewithcuredol49]

頑張ってね。

[@mikenekoski4251]

この部は難しくないです。後で、聞きの練習がもっと楽しいです。

[@user-fp5tv5vd3c]

ドリー先生は世界で一番大事なブイチューバと思います。

[@organicjapanesewithcuredol49]

本当にありがとございます。

[@captainshiggles]

You just gave me the answer I’ve been seeking as why my Japanese seems stuck. Thank you very much

[@arpitkumar4525]

Recently I have been trying to talk to myself in Japanese. The easy phrases at least. I don't have any real friends but many imaginary friends. So this method will be good for me.

[@organicjapanesewithcuredol49]

Imaginary friends have a lot of advantages. They aren't usually too lazy to speak Japanese like the other kind!

[@InfiniCalendar]

This showed up in my recommendations yesterday. A very interesting presentation style. I’m currently reading the Japanese Dr. Slump manga and using Anki to learn. I passed the JLPT at N5 and am dying to get back and try a higher level.

[@arpitkumar4525]

Really great video. I was having this problem of translating Japanese in English. Thank you sensei!

[@5002seven]

This helped me so much! Thank you for everything you have left us with. I am eternally grateful.

[@aaa-my5xy]

ive so behind on my anki for the past six months, doing it once or twice a week until it piles up and forgetting about. i think this video has made me realize i was probably doing it all wrong since ive built up a decent vocab. i would read the sentence outloud in japanese and then translate it in my head in english and try to make it match the translation on the back. instead what i do now is read the sentence and if i understand the meaning rather than the translation i go to the next one quickly otherwise i stay and read the translation and think about it.

[@mia-gl8ub]

I just discovered your channel recently but it provides such amazing and useful, unique but real information, I am so thankful. Thank you so much

[@davidandrade5064]

I'm glad for a video like this, but to be honest, a part of me was hoping for an easy secret to it. Reading, and more so listening, are the hardest things for me. I can hear a sentence that I 100% know the words and grammar, but it's almost like I panic trying to separate individual parts of the sentence and end up not understanding anything. I guess the answer is simply that I need to practice a whole lot more, but it definitely does not come to me as easily as writing my own sentences. It's very discouraging to study heavily and then completely flop when trying to talk to someone, watch a video in Japanese or read something on NHK news easy. Seeing this video did make me realize that maybe I have to focus on lessons and kanji studies a little less and put more focus on finally using Japanese as a form of communication.

[@organicjapanesewithcuredol49]

If it did that it did the most important thing it could have done. For more practical discussion of listening, see this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/oquof3WNq8yZfKM

[@user-jc9yf1mp9j]

Super informative video, as always! One thing I would add about language partners, is assuming you're at an intermediate level of Japanese, finding a partner whose English is worse than your Japanese can be beneficial. It can be easy to slip back into your native language when you're trying to express a complicated idea, whereas when Japanese is the foundation of your communication, knowing you don't have a crutch to rely on can force you to quickly (and creatively) circumlocute vocabulary that you might not know.

[@organicjapanesewithcuredol49]

That is very true. Also if their English is poor you may well find that they are happy for part of the "English" time with you explaining points about English in Japanese. This often happens the other way around so that most of the time is spent in English, but if you find a partner whose English is poor it can work to your advantage.

[@xvanillaxstarx]

I’ve been asking a few KZbin teachers about this and nobody has had an answer for this issue! They all say “I don’t know I just don’t translate, I think in Japanese” but they don’t explain HOW! Thank you Dolly Sensei!!

[@Soulskinner]

Interestingly enough, but almost no one is mentioning it. Maybe after some time people are stopping translate automatically. But I have no idea, how often it happens. About "how", I would recommend to read my post too. XD

[@organicjapanesewithcuredol49]

In the end I think it is really immersion. The brain is too lazy to go on translating when it has to do it all the time, at speed. The main reason people go on translating Japanese but not, say English is that they actually use English a lot and they only play at (or "study" or "practice") Japanese - so they never get beyond the translation stage. The techniques in this video are to accelerate the process but as I stressed, there is no subject for treating the language as a language instead of a learning target,

[@Soulskinner]

@@organicjapanesewithcuredol49 ...and I've completely forgot about this. I'm not sure about laziness of the brain. But when we're talking about audio, usually, there is just no time to translate (while someone is translating, speaker says another phrases). And some (many?) phrases are just really hard to translate from one language to another. Maybe that's how many people learn not to translate.

[@organicjapanesewithcuredol49]

@@Soulskinner I think so. "Laziness" is a bit of a joke really. The brain is efficient. It wants to cut out unnecessary processes where it can.

[@Soulskinner]

@@organicjapanesewithcuredol49 No. I've understood what you mean by "laziness of the brain". I'm just not sure that it's the reason/only/main reason of this.

[@GalekC]

Thank you Dolly ! Brightened me up a bit.

[@frustum.]

I was looking for this type of video, I was wondering why when I'm watching english video as non-native english speaker I can understand to it without translating it in my head, then sometimes later I was doing my japanese flashcard when I realized I forgot the meaning of some cards in my native language but I understand the meaning of it in japanese then I went "oh so this is the right thing to do, I know what is it and i don't need to know what it translate to." So now i tried to do my flashcard until I understand it and neglects the literal meaning instead of memorizing it

[@Kinorashi]

Back when I studied Spanish in high school, I noticed I first learned a word by translating it into English in my head. I later learned it without translating it into English. While I was told Rosetta Stone was not good for learning Japanese, I realized this step of thinking in Japanese happened a lot faster since I started my study with Rosetta Stone Japanese. For those that are not familiar with it; it is like Duolingo. It essentially taught me with pictures and never translated anything. You can see videos of what I am talking about on my channel. This can be another way to make the jump to thinking in Japanese. Find study material designed to be used without translation.

[@barrydanser4334]

I had found your work invaluable. Recently my Japanese has improved so much just listening to your ideas . The only thing I know you are not crazy about is language exchange . But I do this by strict English only time followed by Japanese only time. That means 30 mins each immersion. Good news the quality of Japanese people online is mostly very high and we speak about all kinds of interesting things . We also do Tadoku reading out loud to each other. This video is 100% correct and should be followed by all.

[@organicjapanesewithcuredol49]

It's really only the time element that makes me recommend tutors instead (and the fact that English has a tendency to splurge), but if you have good exchange relationships that's wonderful.

[@barrydanser4334]

@@organicjapanesewithcuredol49 it's the quality of either that makes the difference a bad tutor will not be as good as a great language exchange partner. E. G. A retired translator!

[@tankeryy1566]

for me i learned English by watching movies...im gonna try doing that but in japanese. guess i need to turn of the subtitle on my japanese movies and anime for comprehensible input then.

[@amadhia]

*cheers quietly* This video is an example of why I love the work that you do and the viewpoint that you encourage so very much!!! You distill concepts so wonderfully into words!!! You asked for us to share our own practices: for several months now I'd been doing what you suggest here. I've been listening to Audible's Harry Potter series in Japanese, stories I know like the proverbial back-of-my-hand. I've found that I can just turn off my mind and understand what's going on with the occasional English word in the text (like "Hogwarts" or "Hermione") and just _get_ the story even though my Japanese comprehension is in its infancy. It's been a joy bordering almost on a guilty-pleasure. And I've found surprisingly that in these last couple of months since I've started doing this, it _is_ actually easier to read my various Japanese manga, and my current play-through of にの国 (in Japanese) has been going much more easily than before. I thought it was a fluke. Thank you for showing that it's actually good practice!

[@organicjapanesewithcuredol49]

When doing something in (100%) Japanese feels like a guilty pleasure you know you're on the right track! Congratulations and 頑張ってください。

[@organicjapanesewithcuredol49]

PS - 二ノ国 is really wonderful isn't it?

[@amadhia]

It really, really is! :D

[@diabollich]

Super helpful as always thank you very much; Cure dolly top tier Waifu

[@jamaisnunca]

キュアドリー先生の存在の現在のところので感謝する。ドリー様のチャネルをみたことがあるのは一年中ぐらいのでいろいろ習った，取り敢えず文法を教え方ははっきり覚えやすいし完全脳のAIだって面白いと思った、姉妹の漢字は信じられないだから一月だけ暗記で全部勉強しました今全部覚えるよ。今多一千漢字を読める毎日この数字増える。多分姉妹のおかげで、昔の僕は漢字無理無理ダメって言ったでもドリー先生の教えて自信は増えってたそして僕は全力を頑張っていった、今から日本語出来る、無理じゃないと言う。もちろん間違いがいっぱい過ぎてでも怖くなかった. ドリー先生ありがとうございます。

[@organicjapanesewithcuredol49]

それはよかったですね。発音姉妹はすごく便利なんですね。これからも頑張ってください。

[@Eltaurus]

そのコメントは驚くほど読みやすい！

[@DennisPulido]

Wow, thanks for this!

[@Knight-Cyberia]

I have always thought that the speed of the translation in my mind reached a point where it is so fast that I can't notice it anymore... but after watching your video I think that it can also be called "thinking in English", I guess... A very interesting video Dolly- sensei.

[@organicjapanesewithcuredol49]

Yes, I think once you get to the stage where you are no longer consciously thinking native-language words (or only rarely doing so) you are thinking in your second language. Native concepts may continue to have an influence (I notice that Germans sometimes confuse "happy" and "lucky" in English because they are the same word in German) but this diminishes with increased facility in the second language.

[@lucianoromanlarrocca7023]

Thank you a lot for your videos, Dolly!

[@samanthagardstein3543]

omg im crying in tears of joy, im going to use this and other matieral so i can learn japanese, im also going to use the news pods as well. im desperate to learn japanese

[@organicjapanesewithcuredol49]

頑張ってください。

[@Zothiqueness]

Good stuff, thanks for sharing.

[@Shefetoful]

I've found that it's a per word basis, the more familiar the word or phrase or structure the less likely I am to translate it. e.g. Even before formally learning Japense "sensei" because it's own word, I wasn't translating it to teacher when I heard it. I feel every word I learn goes through those stages, and that fine, just need to immerse enough such that my brain is familiar enough to stop translating.

[@organicjapanesewithcuredol49]

Yes that's right. We do naturally stop translating - and in fact everyone knows a few Japanese words that they never translate even before they start - ninja, karaoke etc. No one (I think) translates "ancient Japanese sneaky fighter" or "amateur singing to recorded background music". As we learn a little more we start not needing to translate 犬 or ネコ. But the leap to not translating sentences comes easier to some than others.

[@sheet3335]

This is whay I'm doing right now!! Amazing. I heard somebody said "You (i forgot the word maybe acquire) so it'll be "You acquire your first language then you re encode your 2nd language. I don't like how the feels so what I did is as much as possible I'm not basing my japanese in english. Or I only do it a couple of times

[@ace-2k8qa6]

This make s alot of sense. I really like the j-j anki Cards, they will Definetly work. Im gonna try that🤗

[@lisahinton9682]

@Sapphire Crystal Did you know that a lot of people misspell "a lot"? 🙃

[@regis5507]

That's a really important topic Use japanese as a language, not something we study, never thought about that way. あろがとうございます！！

[@ghaebnrtiaeil729]

Is so much harder to learn japanese than english because the english learning was natural, automatic, even but with japanese I realy have to try, witch is hard, that said your leassons are incredebly helpfull, ありがとう。

[@EXTREMEKIWI115]

Excellent video, ドリ－先生。I myself have been trying to stop translating lately and just accept that if I recognize a word during immersion but don't automatically know the meaning, then I haven't remembered the word and I continue on. Trying to translate mid-sentence will make me ignore like 10 words, so it's best left for when I'm analyzing text, and not for when I'm immersing casually. That said, English translations are often flimsy, so trying to break away from the english words is a bit difficult, but totally worth it. Japanese words are not English words, so I have been trying to take translations with a grain of salt, prioritizing Japanese contexts over English synonyms. I have also been trying to balance studying text with enjoying immersion with little concern for understanding and so far I think it is a great approach. I can feel myself recognizing speech patterns more easily, and that assists me across the board. Lastly, I've been doing a lot of fiddling with my Anki cards and I'm still not sure how I want them to be. I have been thinking about replacing English definitions with pictures since I don't know enough Japanese to read Japanese definitions yet, not sure if I'll go through with that, especially for abstract words, but I do want to eventually get rid of all the english. As for now, I'm replacing things as I go.

[@organicjapanesewithcuredol49]

I think it's best to introduce Japanese definitions/sentences as you are able to. Did you see my video on the subject? There are some tricks for doing it pretty early kzbin.info/www/bejne/gIe3oaqla9moZtU Not for everything, but starting to phase them in.

[@EXTREMEKIWI115]

@@organicjapanesewithcuredol49 I have seen this video, but only once a really long time ago. I'll give it another watch. So far I have been replacing easy words into Japanese, and I of course have an example sentence for context.

[@organicjapanesewithcuredol49]

​@@EXTREMEKIWI115 If the example sentence works as a check on the word meaning that can be sufficient. You can put the English definition in writing on the back but only listen to the backs of the cards. That way the English only comes into play if you miss. Or you can put the English definition in a hidden field or scrolled off screen. If you remember the sentence (doesn't have to be word perfect - just the general idea) and the meaning of the word in it, you're fine.

[@learningjapanese4417]

ありがとうございます

[@user-pq6gr4te2x]

ahhh dat video helps me immersively thanks

[@organicjapanesewithcuredol49]

Happy to help - and happy to meet a Bulgarian speaker!

[@riaboyes1299]

I remember in my Anatomy and Physiology class my teacher told us that after the "critical period" of language learning was over (she said it was eighth grade, although I've learned in psychology that it's actually quite debated) that you'll never be fully "fluent" in another language and will ALWAYS have to translate back into your native language. This really had a negative effect on my foreign language learning for a while, honestly. It's even more of a shame since she happened to be a Spanish teacher as well...

[@organicjapanesewithcuredol49]

This is simply not true. It is true that most people will never lose their "foreign accent" if they learn as adults or teens. But most people who live and work in a country where their second language is spoken - provided they are interacting regularly (not in a native-language "bubble") - and especially if they are largely isolated from their native language - do almost always think in their second language while they are using it. Inner "translation" is simply too inefficient for functioning at a relatively high level.

[@ta4music459]

What the teacher said is rubbish. I essentially became fully fluent in English when I was well past 30. I never translate, and I *can't* translate. I'm terrible at it. My English language section is completely separate from my native language section in my brain. I dream in English as much as I do in my native language. Couldn't do that if I had to translate.. I learned all my vocabulary by reading and listening, particularly reading - I read tons and tons of books (because I wanted to read them - not because I wanted to learn English). No dictionary, just read, let the images flow.. (before that I read "easier" material, e.g. magazines I really liked).

[@vgamedude12]

@ta4music459 Your English is better than some natives here it seems. Hearing stories from those like you is good for all of us.

[@CaptainWumbo]

The critical period could refer to two things: the problem with children who never learn a native language being unable to learn language later in life (so called feral children), or the problem of hearing close pairs in a foreign language that have no such distinction in your own language (studies which are typically restricted to trying to teach Japanese speakers to hear r vs l in english over a period of a few weeks). It has nothing to do with acquiring a second language as an adult to fluency, a phenomenon so common no one could question it. Limitations in our ability to hear a foreign language can make things difficult at first, but context typically makes up the difference the same way it does with any homophones and I don't think it's all that convincing from a few short term experiments that it is really impossible, it just isn't easy--mainly because context renders it unnecessary and therefore hard to self regulate.

[@cry9438]

The teacher is an amateur, I've come to a point where I prefer to use English to express myself because my brain automatically serves which phrase fits to I'm feeling and it's cringy to say in my native native language.

[@hitomi-chanisshywithstrang56]

Immersing myself Pekora-chans video, It helps me a lot... Peko

[@organicjapanesewithcuredol49]

Excellent. The way forward is exactly this - finding things you really enjoy and immersing in them!

[@michaelhoffmann2891]

"Sometimes I wonder if all my friends have been imaginary" (Calvin&Hobbes). Seriously now, the problem with Tadoku is that the interesting stuff is still above my level and the material at my level is just mind-freezingly boring and inane. 😴 What the world needs is scifi and fantasy transcribed to JLPT5-ish level!

[@kairu_b]

ありがとうございます先生

[@cravarc]

What if you do seidoku and then, some time in the future, come back and use that same material for tadoku? Would that work or would your hazy, already-existing familiarity of the text ruin the effect?

[@X33Ultras0und]

I definitely need to do some tadoku reading. I've only apparently done the other one seidoku was it?

[@organicjapanesewithcuredol49]

Yes, seidoku 精読 - I understand. It is quite challenging for some entities (myself included) _not_ to make certain of everything. But it is an important part of acquiring language.

[@user-uc9gi2xf8r]

What worked for me in English is the ridiculous amount of reading. Now I'm next to finish my first anime and, you know when you feel you're making progress? I feel like that. ALSO, please aid me!! Why's the following sentence allowing for this? I mean the には after the 見せる. I know particles attatch to nouns, no why? 接客のプロ意識を見せるには絶好のチャンスやと思うけど.

[@organicjapanesewithcuredol49]

Strictly speaking there should be a "nominalizing" の before the に but these things sometimes get dropped in informal speech.

[@user-uc9gi2xf8r]

@@organicjapanesewithcuredol49 Thank you for the fast reply!!! Yes, I had attributed it to the fact that this character speaks very rudely when he shows his true colors. So the ellipsis of the の would be something to be expected. I just wanted to ask for your advice, so I'm happy I got it somewhat right!

[@redriot5513]

That's a very awesome method that's probably helped so many people, thanks for this!

[@nekolee5776]

1:22 BRO I JUST LOST A BRAINCELL AND GOT IT BACK

[@Sashin9000]

Does anyone here have any recommendations for very easy japanese material to practice tadoku with?

[@shichika4888]

こちらこそありがとうございます! もともと英語で翻訳することが面倒くさいので，自分は単語の意味だけちゃんと理解してみますw わかりやすい単語だから，頭の中で翻訳することはないですね。 失礼ですが頼みがあります。 It would be great to learn the word 的 and its usage from you. 理由は先生の説明が好きですw

[@organicjapanesewithcuredol49]

「的」は割に簡単なコンセプトだと思っていたけど、数人が説明を求めたから説明するべきだと思います。視聴者様が問題部分を教えてくれるのは大事なんです。ありがとございます。

[@SevenPillarOfFolly]

Hooray! thank you for this one, I spend all my time thinking "how do I say this in Japanese".. failing to find the right words and normally end up just blankly staring at some poor Japanese person while mumbling um, and I know my grammar and vocab' are better than that.

[@inconnn]

i do both "tadoku" and "seidou" except with shows. sometimes i just watch the show, other times i look at every word and i try to figure out what it means. i have an extension for netflix that helps me do this but it doesn't like agglutination that well. you probably know what it means but it's just the real name of so called "conjugations". it also sometimes provides the wrong translation of words but thankfully it allows me to look up the word in jisho directly from where it says the translation. also what happened to sanseido? i don't have nearly enough vocab to use it yet but i want to be able to use it when i get far enough.

[@organicjapanesewithcuredol49]

Sanseido closed their online dictionary with promises that a more up-to-date version would replace it. It hasn't appeared yet (though they did design a favicon for it). It's only been a month or so, so let's hope it is on the way.

[@maxxrenn]

good video

[@imortalones]

ye dont want to be a translator would like to speak it

[@SlavicRatnik]

Its been one month and a half since I stopped studying Japanese, I really wanna go back but idk where to start should I do a fresh restart, I still know Katankana and Hiragana but I guess you can say that I forgot a few of grammar works. A reason why I stopped was I don't see myself going to Japan. Like I don't have the money and I don't know what to do in my life.

[@organicjapanesewithcuredol49]

If you are going to restart, you might want to try my structure course. It's actually a good chance to make a fresh start without the misleading confusion of Western "Japanese grammar": kzbin.info/aero/PLg9uYxuZf8x_A-vcqqyOFZu06WlhnypWj

[@SlavicRatnik]

@@organicjapanesewithcuredol49 thanks.

[@nordgeit]

Oh This one's fresh

[@arpitkumar4525]

Sensei, I have a question but it is not related to this video. I read this sentence in Shirokuma Cafe - 僕　ワルに憧れてるから I don't understand the usage of に here. I know it marks ワル as the target of 憧れてる but meaning wise does it have any difference from を? Will 僕　ワルを憧れてるから mean the same thing? I always get confused at the subtle implication of に particle and think that を could also be used here.

[@organicjapanesewithcuredol49]

Both を and に can be used, but に is _far_ more common. Probably because を feels like treating the person as an object. See this video kzbin.info/www/bejne/nYfUpGeKr9asidk

[@arpitkumar4525]

@@organicjapanesewithcuredol49 Ok. Thank you so much Sensei. I think I have not seen this video. I will watch it now! Thanks!

[@DanneoYT]

Something that’s me translate less is thinking of images

[@Forchune]

I've tried to learn Japanese off and on a few times now and I always stop due to the same issue. Pretty much every resource out there teaches you Japanese by going through the Japanese->English->Context steps. Are there learning resources out there that go from Japanese->Context or Context->Japanese? I suppose that making learning resources like that is hard and immersion is really the way to go...

[@organicjapanesewithcuredol49]

I am not entirely certain what you mean. I teach Japanese structurally so that what we learn is not "English equivalents" but what the Japanese actually does in Japanese. This _must_ (like any other method) be followed up by immersion. No method is anything but a stepping-stone to immersion but I believe mine is the only one that treats Japanese as Japanese and not a string of English equivalents: kzbin.info/aero/PLg9uYxuZf8x_A-vcqqyOFZu06WlhnypWj

[@verveblack]

would these techniques work in all languages or are some just beneficial for japanese? my first language is eng if that helps....

[@organicjapanesewithcuredol49]

The techniques in this video should work for any language. Some of the material in my other videos is Japanese-specific.

[@thedoctordb5765]

Wow... I can't really fathom actually getting to this point. Like, I really want to, but it seems so out of reach. I had never even thought about this step but it seems like the most obvious step toward fluency. I just automatically read a sentence of Japanese (that I can read) in my head as English. It doesn't really feel like I'm doing extra work, it feels like I'm seeing the Japanese as the translated version when I can actually read it. I do the same with Spanish. I'm not exactly fluent in Spanish but I was able to read it well enough to pass a standardized test in it lol. But this idea is like next-level submersion and I just hope I can actually achieve it one day instead of just being an instantaneous translator for myself.

[@sunu4735]

Lexicon definitions explain a word, but they don't truly define a word. Every word or symbol is defined negatively, by what it is not (similar to machine learning, failing is learning). This is both a philosophical and linguistical point. So exposure/immersion and then later try to remember what one have experienced is the basic way to learn anything. One don't store memory, one recreate memory every time one try to remember.

[@organicjapanesewithcuredol49]

I agree with you about learning (I was using it here in the sense of "gain new information" - but generally I would define "learning" more broadly). I would put the question a little differently. We learn a fact once but "learning" the fact is only part of the problem. The main problem is not retention but rapid retrieval. We have many facts in storage, many of which we can barely remember. So it isn't just storing new facts, but exercising the retrieval of already stored ones to the point where it is really useful that is the main challenge.

[@sunu4735]

@@organicjapanesewithcuredol49 I claim one don't store memories, one recreate them, similar to drawing a picture. One look at the object, then try to draw that object on paper, by focusing on the difference that stands out, the linework, ignoring all the colors, just getting the form right. In this way one recreate the memory that starts as a question: "What is the difference between the object and it's environment, what defines the object compared to the rest?"

[@sunu4735]

@@organicjapanesewithcuredol49 I claim one don't use language, one is used by language. This is what it means to live in language, language is not a tool, it is a house of being, where one is trapped. The problem is not how to make language useful, rather the question is how to work against what one's old language push one to do. This means one have to go against one's own spontaneity. Learning a new language is like moving to a new house, one have to get used to things not being in their right place.

[@organicjapanesewithcuredol49]

@@sunu4735 This is a very interesting perspective and I think there is a lot of truth to it.

[@janstarsalbion]

I got a hard time reading hiragana, katakana, and kanji when reading. Must i skip reading it? is it that i need to only know the meening without reading them properly?

[@organicjapanesewithcuredol49]

If you are having trouble reading hiragana and katakana it really is too early for wide (fast) reading. You should be reading but making sure you know every word - certainly the pronunciation in hiragana/katakana. This is the basis. Kanji take longer but if you only half-know kana you've got to rectify that first. Reading is a good way of doing it but don't skip them. Your first job is to get them fully functional.

[@user-hf6jm4tv2v]

I extensively watch japanese youtube videos and rarely stop to catch what I didn't get, would that help stop translations?

[@organicjapanesewithcuredol49]

Yes. This is what I call "top down" watching. I generally recommend some "top down" and some "bottom up" watching - kzbin.info/www/bejne/oquof3WNq8yZfKM - but a lot depends on what works best for you

[@sahilpalekar]

Konnichiwa Sensei...What are your thoughts on listening to Japanese songs in this regard?

[@organicjapanesewithcuredol49]

For this purpose very good, provided you understand the songs (and its fine to go over the lyrics carefully first). Then let the Japanese sing its way into your soul.

[@sahilpalekar]

@@organicjapanesewithcuredol49 Understood. Thank you so much. Your way of teaching is so unique and helpful. Subscribed!!

[@organicjapanesewithcuredol49]

@@sahilpalekar Thank you and welcome!

[@AmandaBear26]

My brain doesn't usually translate Japanese words to English because...it's lazy. And restructuring a Japanese sentence into a grammatically correct English one takes a lot more work than my brain likes to do.

[@INTJames]

How would you ask someone, "how do you say _____ in Japanese" during a conversation if you don't know how to say something

[@organicjapanesewithcuredol49]

In formal speech (assuming you are showing the item) これは日本語で何と言いますか。

[@INTJames]

@@organicjapanesewithcuredol49 very much appreciated that will be useful, thank you! Your course and book are the best out of anything I've ever found, I wish I found you sooner!

[@organicjapanesewithcuredol49]

@@INTJames Thank you!

[@magicalgirlanimefan]

What if we forget words in Japanese?

[@okal2468]

Well do you forget words in your native language?

[@magicalgirlanimefan]

@@okal2468 Sometimes.

[@okal2468]

@@magicalgirlanimefan no I mean like really simple conversational words

[@magicalgirlanimefan]

@@okal2468 Not really.

[@okal2468]

@@magicalgirlanimefan Yeah well it’s because you’re fluent so when you’re fluent in Japanese of course you’ll forget like a normal words from the language but to the point where you can’t form sentences won’t happen if you reach atleast an n4-n5 level of jp

[@ostracostio64]

I think you hearted a bot

[@organicjapanesewithcuredol49]

Ah they should ban bots ... just a minute, what am I saying?

[@glicogeno4550]

it seems to me, too advanced level. I think the brain needs time to make connections and connections are based on repetition, not always reading the same material, it's boring, but similar material, less boring. then you can go on. i'm a traditionalist. but if anyone can try this method i will be happy to know the results.

[@organicjapanesewithcuredol49]

It may be too advanced. It isn't really possible to start this until you have the ability to do so. This means (in the Organic economy) knowing basic structures of the language and having worked through quite a lot of material in a granular way (looking everything up, putting the words into Anki etc) thus building the vocabulary and structural grasp you need for rapid consumption. However some basic J-J definitions and simple conversation one can start at an earlier stage if one wishes.

[@glicogeno4550]

@@organicjapanesewithcuredol49 When I become N3, maybe I have enough vocabulary, kanji and grammar to do it, now it's too early.

[@muppo]

Cure dolly discord server?

[@organicjapanesewithcuredol49]

I'm afraid I don't have time for that, but my Patreon is currently open to non-patrons too.

[@freshmilkshower3310]

この動画助かった！　お疲れ様でした！ 確かに言う通りです。　私は日本語を覚えるためのディスコードを若干読むけど、日本語しか話さないチャンネルがたいてい静かのままだ。 www.reddit.com/r/SpeakJapanese/ も同じことだ。　ドリー先生の視聴者がペラペラに目指しているのに、コメント欄も余程英語だ　（この動画以外に、私も有罪ですけど。。。） アドバイスを受け取っています！　ここから、コメントする時に出来る限り日本語だけ書いて頑張ります!

[@organicjapanesewithcuredol49]

「日本語しか話さないチャンネルがたいてい静かのままだ」よく分かります。あいにくそれはいつものことなんです。欧米人は日本語のコミュニケーションが大嫌いらしい。 私も妹も日本語だけの掲示板やLINEグループを作成けど同じ結果でした。時々誰かが来てグループを熱心に携わってくれるけど、もうすぐ失望で辞めます。 問題ですね。やる気がなければ解決策はないと思います。

[@user-pc5kg3le7l]

[@user-yi2oc9ne1d]

I'm the fist pogchamp

[@JJ-jt7mx]

いいえ！！！

[@mihard7788]

フィストｗ いい綴ね

[@polamireiselv3536]

Need lovely 😍💋 💝💖❤️