Instant Japanese and Instant Ramen

Japanese
#21

I use quality over quantity a lot but what you say also makes sense.
I think combining them is a one way to go about it.
You track items you study and then you also try to keep track of what you need to pay attention to, not ignore yourself when your interest tells that you have to lookup something that is outside of the numbers’ scope. So you basically have a framework that you created for your level, and then you have an understanding of how you should think within it, and if you start just chasing numbers, I see it as a problem of a system at this point.

Basically I think clear systems that match your level are very useful if you can adopt them and grow them as you grow yourself.

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#22

To each their own, but personally I wouldn’t want to learn japanese in a year or so: it’s way too much fun, I want to enjoy the journey and make it long and full of cool moments (and I already met very cool people through it too!)

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#23

That is an apt analogy. Kind of like people using high levels of anabolic steroids for incredible gains or those doing extreme looksmaxing; that are speed running life itself. It is a shortcut with repercussions.

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#24

Ok, I started thinking about the concept of speedrunning, and understood that it’s about beating the game by skipping a lot of stuff.

The problem is, how can we apply it to Japanese? What can be that type of goal and what can we skip? If the goal is N1 or any other level, I think that could work, but again, what exactly can be skipped for efficiency, what will that level give if the studies were planed specifically to pass it?

So ye, this kind of speedrunning is definitely not the thing I would suggest.

But in many peoples minds, including mine, speedrunning Japanese can be about getting all the achievements, doing basically what you would do without speedrunning, but with clear goals (which can be set even without speedrunning and many people do it), and a lot of hours of study on daily basis.

So I think this discussion is mainly arises because of how wide the image of the word speedrunning is. Especially when we are talking about Bunpro forums where everyone is chill and calm

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#25

まぜ麺 > ラーメン

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#26

Hmm, while I really like まぜ麺; is まぜ麺 just a style of ラーメン？
And is 沖縄そば just a style of そば ?
Food for thought.

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#27

it’s an interesting question, I can’t really answer it. But when I think of ramen, I think of noodles in a broth. There’s no broth in mazemen.

that being said, mazemen is often served in ramen shops…

E: is carbonara just a type of mazemen?

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#28

Sorry, I wasn’t being serious.
The concept of ramen/soba/udon is constantly evolving in jp.

But like you said, is carbonara just a type of mazemen; just as, is naporitan, italian pasta :rofl:
I like them both in any case :grinning:

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#29

As for game speedrunning goes, there are plenty of types there.

  • “beating the game by skipping a lot of stuff.” Its called “Any % speedrun”; Skip as much as possible to reach the ending credits as fast as possible.
  • On the other hand there are things called “100% speedrun”, which goes for “complete everything along the way without skipping anything”.

So, ultimately it goes down to the goal your are setting for yourself and ignoring things that are not helping you reach the goal. If we simplify it down and compare any given game to speedrun with learning Japanese (or any other language), the main takeaway is that you can’t learn it twice, while game speedrun is more about doing over and over to get better personal records.

While speedrunning a language sounds cool and imaginative (and I would use it anyway), if we want to go into specifics, we should call that approach “rushing a language”, which clearly defines cutting all the corners just tick off something as “completed” and never use it again :smiley:

As for the main topic, I guess that any approach is fine, as long as its not blind-picked and person in question is aware of potential shortcomings. People have different goals, motivations, situations and different way of learning is more or less effective for them. Just don’t force your ways on others as the best and only way to learn stuff. Unless you are learning a language only to brag about it online, then this sucks :smiley:

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#30

is anyone even saying they are speedrunning japanese? well, probably some :sweat_smile: most just say speedrunning n1 or something, which is a very clearly defined goal that implies cutting a lot of things that aren’t part of the test. i always assume those speedrunners know fully well that this won’t enable the, to actually speak :sweat_smile: only to pass the test. ^^

i remember i speedran the french duolingo course when i got a free three day trial. finished it and got those gold trophies on all the levels, but i know i learned nothing substantial by doing it, it was just for fun ^^

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#31

I’ve most definitely poked fun at speed runners with my satirical nature. Still, I’m not completely against it.

I wouldn’t recommend speed running for most, but it probably does work for some. (the exception). I did know one girl from India who learned it pretty well in 1 year, but she already knew like 5 other languages. She was also pretty and well liked, so that lends you plenty of people who are willing to talk to you. That’s one aspect of language learning people seem to never bring up. But most others who tried to do the speed run failed. One guy attempted to learn 2000 words in a month. Gave up after like 50, lol. Everyone else who I knew that learned it a a high level took them 3-5 years of pretty hard work.

Granted, my experience comes not from a solitary one like most speed runners and immersion bros. Mine comes from years of interacting with students from various different countries and being an in person tutor myself. I think too many opinions on language learning come from a solitary standpoint in this day and age.

#32

i kinda started out trying to speedrun (on duolingo as well :sob:), and it really didnt turn out well, so i took a break, and tried on different platforms before finally coming to settle on bunpro. it ended up taking much longer to get this far than it would have if i had just gone a little slower

moral of the story?
i need to stop eating instant ramen and start going to the gym

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#33

oh I get it. That said, most foods we consider traditional have only been around for a handful of generations anyway. Cuisine evolves quicker than most realize.

#34

Well, if its without the context then I’m usually saying I’m doing the speedrun (not for bragging reasons ofc):sweat_smile:. My “speedrun” is a fairly opposite one though. Instead of reaching the goal in shortest time possible, its about getting as far as possible in fixed time frame, but I guess the pacing is similar. :smiley:

Looking at some lang-learning communities at things like reddit / YT, it seems like there is a lot of people who unironically do it for bragging reasons. At least I hope they also enjoy the learning process though.

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