Quote Originally Posted by Clouded Sky View Post
I'm going to jump in with Levian here and say that a basis with a good textbook and classroom education is a HUGE advantage. That's not to say you can't learn a language by diving in - as a matter of fact, that really helps too. (Of course, I'm talking about living in Japan here, none of this "I'm learning from manga" crap - that's what I think that is, crap) When I read something with 俺は in every sentence, it hurts me. A) It doesn't need to be repeated, and B) In the absence of "pleasant company" it reads to me as more rude than anything.

I'm saying this because I live in Japan right now and my speaking has improved by leaps and bounds. So has my writing, but that's because I'm still taking classes, with teachers and textbooks. Without that I still wouldn't understand the backgrounds on a good half of the things I am able to say. And I still suck at Japanese.
Absolutely everything I know I've learned from two places. Japanese people, and Japanese games. Sure, I'm not totally fluent in Japanese, but I've got enough down now to communicate and to understand whats going on in conversations with J people I happen to meet. I've never even been to Japan before. People who rely on book work and teachers and don't actively go out and try to acquire the language don't get far. I've seen so many kids struggling with Japanese class because it was too complicated because they didn't know better than to read little descriptions and try to answer dumb questions.

1. 俺 is not bad when you're posting on an internet forum. Everyone says that in japan.

2. Quit saying manga is crap. It's an awesome learning source.

3Lets continue this argument in Japanese so that
a. we can practice
b.if you're better than me then I'll shut up and you're right.