#allozy

Again, the only languages I can actually speak decently are English and Korean, so it’s really not that impressive;;

And let me make this clear - my meager knowledge of Japanese isn’t entirely from LL either. I had to teach myself how to read hiragana and katakana for QCing purposes while on a scanlation team, and I only managed to memorize them fully after a combination of constantly reading them in the manga I worked on and flashcard practice in my spare time. I listened to seiyuu radio shows with translated scripts before LL, which helped me slowly pick up some key phrases. The total JP knowledge that I have now is from a decade of exposure to anime, manga, radio shows, games, and more. I mentioned LL in my previous ask because it’s had the most impact on my listening comprehension, not because it’s the sole source of what I know now.

TBH, Japanese fluency is something that literally everyone in the non-JP side of the LL fandom wants. You have no idea how many headaches I’ve seen ONIBE translators go through when they encounter a slang term or pop culture reference...

As for tips on learning the language, I’m going to quote what I said before when I was asked for advice on learning Korean:

Everyone has different ways of learning, so there’s no one method that’ll guarantee the best results (as much as online programs love to tell you otherwise). It also depends on your goals, but for me, the rules of thumb are (1) practice the language super-often, and (2) find a material to immerse yourself in to familiarize yourself with the language. You’re not gonna make any progress on the language if you only practice it one hour per week - that’s why most college language courses hold class 4 times a week compared to the usual 2-3 for a course [...]

If you want to learn how to speak the language, find a community that’ll help you practice speaking the language. You could probably look around on Google […] If you want to pick up on some cultural cues and get a feel for the natural flow of dialogue, you could also watch [TV shows or movies with subtitles]. This is where rule #2 comes into play […] it’s always easier to learn when you have something to keep you interested and motivate you (i.e. “I wanna be able to understand this idol’s songs / read this artist’s comics!”).

If you want to learn how to read and write, there are plenty of free online resources that’ll give you workbook pages, if you’re into that sort of learning method.

It’s great that you have something to motivate you - that’s the first step to learning a language. However, it’s important to remember that learning Japanese isn’t as simple as going “oh hey ‘seiyuu’ means ‘voice actor’ and the kanji for ‘live broadcast’ is 生放送”. Picking up a language is a lot easier said than done, so make sure you set yourself some goals beforehand. Maybe you just want to learn enough hiragana/katakana/kanji to be able to understand some LL tweets, or perhaps you’d like to be able to say a couple of sentences to your favorite seiyuu if you happen to be blessed by the lottery gods and manage to score a VIP meet-and-greet session with Aqours. You’ll be a lot less overwhelmed if you have a clear objective in mind.

And finally, if you’re serious about learning Japanese - just take a course. Really. If that’s not an option, do your best to recreate it on your own. Make flashcards, practice speaking, write often, the whole works. There are so many weeaboos people out there who want to learn Japanese that there are plenty of online resources to guide you. As for textbooks, the Genki series is usually the popular choice.

Side note - don’t use Duolingo (mobile app). It’s bad. So bad. Just trust me on this.

Hi there! Hope you have a good day as well~ ( ・∀・ )ゞ 

My About page actually says what languages I translate from! Though, it appears that no one reads the sidebar pages of my blog (i.e. my About page and Status page), so I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised that I’m getting this question. _(:3 」∠)_ The primary language I translate from is Korean, but I sometimes check the Korean translation of certain LL content (e.g. niconamas, interviews originally done in JP) using the original Japanese source.

I’ve mentioned it offhandedly in asks and in my tags, but I speak English and Korean! Of course, being born and raised in America, English is pretty much my native language. Though, the first language I ever spoke was in fact Korean, thanks to being raised by parents who immigrated from Korea. Once I started school, my English slowly overtook my Korean.

I happen to speak Korean at home thanks to living with a grandmother who can’t speak English. I never received a formal education in Korean (apart from taking a semester of Korean in college for an easy A…um, please don’t use me as a role model for good behavior;;), but since I grew up with the language, certain grammar rules and phrases come naturally to me. For example, if I’m confused about which particle to use in a sentence, I can say it out loud to myself and (for the most part) I’ll be able to choose the correct one based on what sounds “right” to me.

As for Japanese, I have enough secondhand knowledge of Japanese to figure out most sentences with the help of a dictionary. However, it’s not a language I can actually speak, other than basic touristy phrases like “How much is this?” and “Where is the bathroom?” lol. Like with most foreign languages, my reading comprehension is a lot better than my speaking ability, which is good enough for me to be able to read tweets and get the gist of what’s going on during Aqours livestreams. While I did learn some Japanese prior to joining the LL fandom through my past work on a scanlation team, my listening comprehension improved drastically thanks to constant exposure to Aqours niconamas, haha.

I also happened to take three semesters of Spanish back in college, but it’s been so long since I’ve had to actively use that language that I’ve probably forgotten most of it. It’s only thanks to the fact that I live in southern California (which has a large Hispanic population) that I can pass by a street named “Dos Lagos” and go, “Oh hey, are there two lakes somewhere nearby?”

tl;dr: I speak English and Korean, and use both often. I learned English through the American school system, while Korean was learned organically at home. I have a working knowledge of Japanese thanks to the constant exposure I get from consuming LL content and working as part of Team ONIBE.