Why did/are you learning Japanese?

[MazaKay]

Anime was were my intrest bloomed then I made a best friend that lives in Japan ,thankfully she is safe, we video chat everyday and well I want to be able to talk and email her in Japanese. Shes my best friend and she already knows my language so I want to learn hers. Also becuase I am going to visit her soon so I want to be able to speak with her and to know whats going on. Heh smile  

[Gabby_lover19]

I started learning Japanese for fun, but now I hope to go into business programs and possibly be put in a major company that does it's international business with Japan. heart  

[Yugane]

I learnt Japanese because of animes, sure I want to be able to translate what the characters say without seeing the subs lol
Japanese is also easier than Mandarin / Chinese so... sweatdrop  

[WeAreFish]

I have three Indo-European languages under my belt, so I thought I should do something completely different. But also the anime... always the anime... neutral  

[Kaleidoscope_Prism]

Anime got me interesting, stayed for the culture and how the language sounded. ^^  

[Shannon Kyra Liannanon]

Love the culture
Plus, I wanna learn multiple songs in Japanese...
And sadly, I'm the only one who has seen only one anime, and that dubbed for the most part
But the dubbing was good, only a few characters have truly different voices, but they make sense
EDIT: oh, and I wanna learn it so that I can import Japan-only releases and know what the hell I'm doing  

[Mevnie-Enn]

Originally my mother's cousin (who's traveled to Japan multiple times and studies Japanese and Japanese culture) sparked an interest to Japanese stuff in me.
First I wanted to draw in a manga-style, then I started reading (translated) manga, I had watched e.g. some Pokémon and Moomins (it was Finnish-Japanese) before getting actually interested about anime and all.

It has been until recently that I've finally started studying Japanese more properly. I've gone a bit over the anime & manga phase, but Japanese music, culture and video games fascinate me, so that's the current reason for me to learn Japanese...
And also for the sake of learning another language, I love studying different languages & cultures. (Hawaiian would be interesting too.) biggrin  

[OneiriCat]

I'm starting to try to learn Japanese (I don't have much time/ almost none at all) because I may study in Japan, through a Scholarship (even though it doesn't require me knowing Japan before I go) and because I'm interested in languages, and Japanese seems very unique, and nice in the way it is built, and also because it seems convenient, because of videogames, anime, music, etc..  

[ThunderBirdPirate]

What first got me interested in the Japanese language was the music! W-INDS to be exact. From there, I've been reinforced by the culture, anime, and manga.  

[Obiwan-in-a-pudding]

i learned Japanese because I am part Japanese, so I wanted to know the language. also because there are alot of animes that are not availiable in English subbed or dubbed, so i want to watch those too. i learned slowly by watching Animes subtitled in English. now i am a mangaka, my book is not avaliable in America yet.  

[thedizzybear]

When I was 7 years old, I began playing a MMORPG called Ultima Online. My dad left me alone to make my character, and I picked the Asuka server, because it sounded neat. I had already played the game before, and I knew what to do. So, I logged in and ran straight to the bank. I was surrounded by people speaking Japanese. Kanji was flying all around my screen.

I called my dad into the room. I was scared I had broken the computer. He explained me that I made a character on the Japanese server, and that people from some places in the world used a different writing system. This writing system was called kanji, and it was the major writing system of Japan. It came from China and was adapted by the Japanese people to suit their specific needs.

I was fascinated. I stared at the screen for hours. I had an obsession with languages in general, but this was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. The shape of the kanji were amazing to me. I was mesmerized.

After that, I was somewhat obsessed with the Japanese language. Around 10, I started loosely studying. I only retained a few words and no written ability. It's stayed a steady interest of mine over the years. I can now read/write hiragana. I know a bit of grammar. I majored (for a short time before transferring) in Japanese. I was very proud of my test scores and rank in my class.

I haven't studied in almost a year. Most katakana escapes me, and I can't remember half the kanji I learned to save my life. I'm getting back into it now, because it is something I always wanted to learn. I'm pregnant, and I don't want to have my baby knowing I've done next to nothing that I've wanted to do in my life. I want to be able to talk to my child and say, "You can do the things you dream of doing as long as you try." I want my child to watch me learn and better myself. I don't want to sit back and just say, "Oh, tomorrow...I'll do it then."

So, that is why I am here. Have a great day! Thank you for your time.  

[Sweater Panda]

I'm learning Japanese because I love the history behind it. I love Japan in general actually. The landscaping from what I've seen in paintings and photographs are amazing! I'm also a big fan of Asian food. I love sushi! The Japanese culture and etiquette has intrigued me for many years. I feel like learning Japanese to bring me closer to this amazing culture. I do watch anime, but that's not the only reason I wish to travel to Japan. In fact, I'm learning some Japanese from watching anime and listening to Vocaloid.  

[Kakigoori_Oujo]

I chose to learn Japanese because one, I like learning languages and two, I was introduced to anime and Japanese was used in it. Then after many years, I went to Japan for a year to put the language I was learning to use.  

[littlest girly]

i guess you could say it all started with anime.the theme songs,the lovely animes itself,the people.personally i thought it was a personal language and one day i wanted to watch anime without having to put it in english dub or sub but the main reson is a while back i had a friend who lives in japan.she taught me a little bit lke greetings/colors and what not but then she told me she had to move so we made a vow that when i get older ill learn japanese and meet her in japan and we can live together.pretty childish but yuzuka was my best friend  

[kairokuroneko13]

My aunts and my grand aunt told me when I was a kid, that I had Japanese in my blood. That's why I am learning Japanese again. I also used to speak it too when I was little.