The Benefits of Japanese Language Immersion For Acquiring The Language

If you want to acquire the Japanese language, then you need to include immersion into your study regime, the benefits this can bring simply outweigh anything that can be gained from any other type of study.

It really is the key to success and I will go through these benefits so you can see exactly why this needs to be an important part of your studying. 

How Is “Acquisition” Different?

I think it is important to understand what acquisition is. This word can be thrown around and interchangeable with a few other words when it comes to language learning, but if we step back and look at what it actually means, there is a difference. 

Acquiring a language means you understand it in an implicit way. If you think of you of your native language, you hear something and just understand it and you form a reply on a subconscious level.

You almost don’t understand that you just understand everything at this implicit level (which sounds like a strange thing to say) The language is just in your head and you don’t really understand how and you don’t think about how it got there or how it works. This is an acquired language.

This is very different than a language you have learned, where things will be more conscious, you need  to think about how things works, such as grammar rules, translating words or concepts and also thinking about how you will form a reply, it’s just a very different experience.

Of course all acquired languages sort of go through this clunky conscious processing for a while, and some people end up here by accident through just working hard, but either way, there is a difference to the comfort you have around the understanding of the language.     

Immersion Is How You Acquire The Language

When it comes to reaching this “acquired” state, you will need immersion. Simply being sat with textbooks and other learning type materials is not enough to acquire Japanese.

You can certainly learn Japanese with these other techniques and it will help you to start acquiring things, but in reality, the magic happens when you actually take the time to immerse with Japanese, there really is no other way.

This fact alone is why it is so beneficial for you, the single act of immersion is going to make you the most progress when it comes to acquisition. Listening, or reading hundreds of hours worth of Japanese is just going to change your deep subconscious level understanding of the language like nothing else can.

You Will Hear Japanese As Japanese

A large part of why immersion is so beneficial is because you are hearing Japanese as Japanese, and what I mean by that is that it is very natural.

When you are looking at learning materials things can be quite contrived. The speech is slow, and overly simplified and very often not very natural.

Things may also be very “textbook” when it comes to the grammar, meaning very correct, but also not really how things are used in the real world.

Immersion doesn’t have any of this, it’s just raw Japanese, for the Japanese. Watching actual Japanese television is going to show you the “real” language and how it used day to day and this is much more valuable than you might realise, especially when it comes to acquiring the language.

You are going to hear all the natural patterns and speed of speech and this is exactly what you need.

(You can read more about – How Important Is It To Listen To Authentic Native Material In A Second Language?)

Your Brain Naturally Decodes When You Immerse

A lot of the benefits around immersion are due to the fact that it works at a subconscious level. While you can do a lot of active thinking when watching something, really your brain is working at a deeper level, trying to decode everything you are listening to. 

Your brain will be trying to link what you hear to what you already know and comparing it to everything and just generally trying to make sense of things.

This is exactly the process of language acquisition I was talking about at the start and immersion is forcing you to do this and the more you do, the better you become.

You are actively training this style of thinking and this is exactly why it so effective.

You Will Get A Lot Of Repeat Exposure

A large part of reaching this acquired state in the language comes down to being very comfortable with things …and the best way to get comfortable with something is to see it many, many times and immersion offers this. 

You are going to see the same words over and over again, you are also going to see the same patterns and structures too and while it might not seem this way, due to the size of the language, it is happening.

The massive scale of things is also why it can be a slow process, you brain needs a lot of time to realise it is seeing the same patterns over and over again.

If you think about your own language, you can almost predict the next word when someone says something. This isn’t because you are a mind reader, it is because you have had SO much exposure to your language that know the patterns of the language and can then accurately predict what is likely to come next.

This is the power of repeat exposure and immersion is going to give you this level of comfort in Japanese. 

You Will Be Exposed To More Than A Text Book Will Give You

While textbooks can explain a lot to you, they are quite limited. They might show you a grammar pattern and explain clearly how it works and even show you some examples …but that is it.

When you do immersion, you will see these same grammar patterns thousands of times and there is probably an infinite number of examples you can be exposed to.

You are going to see the words and grammar you are taught in the textbooks in so many more different contexts through immersion and this just makes it more beneficial to your overall progress.

You will also find immersion just exposes you to so much more in general, you have access to the whole language, where as the textbooks generally stick to one little area of the language, such as only the N5 vocabulary, and while that’s fine, there is so much more than this, which immersion will give to you.

You Will Hear The Different Accents

Immersion also has the benefit of giving you access to different accents and different styles of speaking.

As you will be watching content made by natives, for natives, you will actually hear how the real people of Japan sound and you will also hear how this differs from anime and also how the teachers pronounce things.

These differences are often subtle, but they are there and the more you immerse, the more you will become aware of them and the more you will get use to them.

This is going to be especially beneficial if you’re planning to go to Japan, You ears will already be tuned into the locals and you should have less problems understanding them.

You Also Get Exposed To Japanese Culture

Immersion also has the benefit of showing you a lot more of the culture. You may get bits and pieces of this from textbooks, but really immersion is going to give you this properly.

You are going to see how people talk to each other and how they use more polite language in different settings as well as many other aspects of the culture.

A lot of this is also going to be at the subconscious level, so you are more acquiring this knowledge rather than being explicitly taught it.

You will probably notice the results of this more when you visit Japan and actually automatically do some of the cultural things, such as bow at some one. All those hours of immersion sort of tell you deep down that you need to do this, without being told.   

(You can read more about – How Important Is Cultural Immersion When Learning A Language?)

Immersion Is A More Relaxed Way To Learn Japanese

You will also find immersion is a more relaxed way to learn Japanese. Just sitting there and studying can be really draining and while this is needed at times, it is much nicer to just sit back and immerse and let your subconscious do all the heavy lifting.

You will also find using the language is more relaxing when you have actually started to acquire it. You can just automatically understand things, rather than having to actively translate.

You Can Watch Things You Like

Immersion also allows you to watch things you like. You can sit and watch hours of your favourite anime and this is still a form of studying.

This makes the whole process more pleasant and also usually means you can do a lot more, as it’s easy and enjoyable. It doesn’t feel forced and like hard work, which a textbook can certainly feel like.

This small fact does make your chances of success much higher, which is pretty beneficial, let alone the fact that this approach is going to allow you to acquire the language in the end.   

Conclusion

As you now see, there are many reasons why acquiring the language through immersion is extremely beneficial for you.

It really is one of the best approaches you can take. You can certainly get a lot of benefits from doing other things, but I think regardless of what you end up doing, immersion needs to play a pivotal role in learning Japanese to a high level, simply as this is the only way are going to be able to move your knowledge into that “acquired” state.

(You can rad more about – How To Create An Immersive Japanese Language Environment At Home)