is it worth it to study Japanese just to be able to read some of the untranslated works like those by Ango Sakaguchi or Chuuya for example?
i don't care much about anime and manga anymore and stuff like eroge is (without a few exceptions) also a waste, but works like ango's Discourse on Decadence just seems so interesting
nonetheless i wonder if at least half a decade of daily studying would be worth it for some untranslated works
most classics already have incredible translations thanks to keene, seidensticker...
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No. Learn Punjabi instead.
>No. Learn Punjabi instead
Sanskrit seems cooler
I wonder if I should actually try and learn sanskrit again. I did learn it for like 5 years coz of school. No where near proficient enough to read the epics or the puranas.
But I never developed any appreciation for whatever prose and poetry I did read. Maybe coz I actually haven't even read that much literature or poetry in hindi.
You absolutely learn Sanskrit if you're into any Buddhist shit. Otherwise you'll never become an arhat.
recommend some good literature in punjabi
punjabi lit seems to mainly consist of poetry
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punjabi_literature
Start with Baba Farid, Waris Shah and the Sikh Gurus
Or just read this
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punjabi_Qisse
No, why would you learn that dead language?
How old are you? What made you quit anime?
I've also been considering learning Japanese, at first it was so I could watch anime without subtitles/read manga but now it's because I want to read some untranslated Japanese novels.Very few anime appeal to me these days. I've been waiting for Kyusaku Yumeno's translated works, specifically Dogra Magra for a while now.
>How old are you? What made you quit anime?
19, been learning Japanese for around 3 years, although I didn't learn very well
originally i started because of eroge, but then i realized that there are only a handful of decent writers in that medium
i also didn't really "quit anime" but i just kinda lost interest in the medium because of the hundreds of shows i've seen i would only consider a few to be genuinely enjoyable
>I've been waiting for Kyusaku Yumeno's translated works, specifically Dogra Magra for a while now.
i am interested in that one too!
deepl is fine for news articles or something but not for literature...
>dogra magra
Isn't there a translation to french? I've been looking to read it for a while.
yes, there's a french translation of it
apparently it's not bad either and the paperback is pretty cheap too
I've been wanting to read it forever and I might actually grab the French translation. My French is complete trash but I know Spanish and I read Apollonaire in French and still managed to get the jist of it. If you're speak a Latin language speaker with a bit of French knowledge then you should be good.
What's the name of the VN?
Shiei no Sona-Nyl
also nice quads.
Learning Japanese is not worth it. The stories are horrible. Anime or ur weebshitrubbish will never be kino. I like anime too but it's too cringe for me to enjoy now. I learned Japaenese for a year to read vns, manga ,eroge. Shitt and cringe language culture etc. The character personalities are almost the same. Story is prententious edgelord crap. Slice of anime is good tho. Just let the translators do their work tbh. They have more experience than you. hentai rotted ur brain. you wont be able to learn japanese
So, hypothetically, if an anon were to have a a foundational understanding of French (and to a lesser degree Italian) grammar, vocab, pronunciation, etc. from years of (admittedly somewhat lax as it never led to fluency) study in high school, that anon should pick up French (or Italian) again instead of pursuing Japanese?
And furthermore, what would you say to the anon who, in addition to being drawn to Japanese by the literature (not just novels, but poetry and philosophy), is drawn to Japanese as a kind of divergent linguistic and anthropological curiosity (in this respect relating back to the philosophical side of the literature)? Would this change your view or would you suggest that this (NZ) anon would still be better served looking elsewhere for a way to satisfy or abandon this thinking?
I just use DeepL.
Japanese literature is quite infantile compared to other cultures. Honestly you're better off learning Spanish for the amazing latam lit. niptongue is worthless by comparison.
sorry, but the only spanish writers i am interested in are cervantes and gomez davila and those are already translated and available to me
You are braindead then kek.
>You are braindead then kek.
please forgive me for not being interested in spanish literature
dogra magra san...
complete utter waste of time
every anon who learns japanese inevitably regrets it because by the time they're proficient they realize just how fricking awful anime and manga are and how shit their literary tradition is
their literary tradition isn't shitty and i already enjoy japanese literature
>If you’re asking it’s probably not worth it for you.
i don't know, but i think i'll just continue learning because it feels like something i have to do
i am just unable to give up on this language and everytime i want to give up i just feel like i'm coping
there are many works i'd like to read in japanese – probably enough for a lifetime – and some pop culture stuff would also be enjoyable from time to time
I've started reading Japanese novels in Chinese, because there's no Chinese novel I want to read.
The Chinese literary tradition prefers poetry to prose, though they have prose masters like han-yu, have you looked at all into the poetry?
If you’re asking it’s probably not worth it for you.
i've spent 349 hours so far this year reading jap novels (yes i track it like an autist) and i can categorically say that it is NOT worth it
dear god stop now while you still can. you have no idea what you're getting yourself into.
some things just have to be done
if i won't learn japanese i will feel a sense of regret until the rest of my life
if i learn japanese then i'll always find some enjoyable media
dogra magra seems rather hard but i wish you good luck anon
maybe you could watch the movie first to improve your understanding of the book
that regret is nothing compared to the regret of sinking thousands and thousands of hours of the only life you have into learning japanese
please dont make the same mistake i did
i already learned jp for a few years and really get your advice but don't worry
I know enough about Japanese that a French translation filtered through my tiny French mind would still be more coherent than trying to read it in that insufferable, never mind the kanji, context heavy Japanese syntax.
i thought you had a tiny spanish mind and not a french one(?)
My French mind is tiny. But I have a galaxy tier Spanish mind so it evens out.
>i've spent 349 hours so far this year reading jap novels (yes i track it like an autist) and i can categorically say that it is NOT worth it
"I read too much of one thing and got bored omg not worth it." are the people on here braindead
yeah, as opposed to the super productive things most IQfy anons do with their time. they're certainly not fricking women.
Lol you are a b***h. Fricking women is easy. Do you also brag about brushing your teeth or wiping your ass.
>Do you also brag about brushing your teeth or wiping your ass
I actually brag about cleaning my ass using a bidet.
Whether it is anime or books, no form of media or entertainment is enough to truly warrant learning a language. I know in my case at least I would not be able to stay motivated if my only reasons for learning a language were reading a few books here and there.
A language is only worthwhile to learn if you feel that a part of you can/does belong to that language. Each language has a sort of "flow" or essence that you have to catch a hold of and allow yourself to sink into. Sorry if this is vague but it is the only way I can think of describing it.
Study Japanese philosophy, culture, and society a little bit and figure out if you could sink into that world or not. You will know if learning the language is worthwhile intuitively so long as you don't force it/lie to yourself.
>Whether it is anime or books, no form of media or entertainment is enough to truly warrant learning a language.
i heavily disagree with this although i get what you are trying to say
don't worry, i am not only interested in japanese media but also japanese culture in general and would mabye also like to check out the kyoto school thinkers someday
i also think that the language is incredibly beautiful
It's probably not worth it but it's not very hard to learn Japanese. Try it, you might find something that makes you want to live another day.
Just Japanese? Not really. There's some great material but it's just as limited as eroge (much must be said about how there's also a lot that's lost in translation, same as eroge; Mishima only clicked for me when read in the original). Japanese is the language of the otaku first and foremost.
But it's a great springboard towards Chinese, and those bug men do have a fantastic literary canon.
Are you talking about Classical Chinese or are there also interesting modern works?
You actually made me very interested!
Are there many Japanese ressources to learn Classical Chinese? Does one need to learn Mandarin Chinese for that?
If you don't want to read all that much you'd be better off taking a second job and hiring a translator to translate those few books you're interested in for you.
>is it worth it to study Japanese just to be able to read some of the untranslated works like those by Ango Sakaguchi or Chuuya for example?
If you are drawn to it, then yes. To me, to receive and convey information by means of using alternate tongues enables a different mode of, sometimes untranslatable, thoughts and concepts. Even in relatively mild, low-brow media, you will often miss much of the significance or subtext by consuming written media by means of a translation. This is especially notable in contexts of poetry or intended vagueness which might have many interpretations that would otherwise be obscured or 'forced' by a translator. The greatest pleasure in acquiring a language like Japanese is becoming more and more aware of the things your native language will not clearly convey, or otherwise, how they think and feel.
>i wonder if at least half a decade of daily studying would be worth it for some untranslated works
もう小説や雑誌は、読んでね。この人生は短かいってな。時間を怠けて捨てないで。臨終の床で後悔は最悪情けない、アノン。
>もう小説や雑誌は、読んでね。この人生は短かいってな。時間を怠けて捨てないで。臨終の床で後悔は最悪情けない、アノン。
All right, you got me. Thank you Anon, I'll give my best!
One of our own Anons translated a book. Go check it out
https://warosu.org/lit/thread/S18617995