[jastuk]

I learned 3(ish) languages with actually no real intention. Its nothing mind-blowing - just a story. These concepts should pretty much be well known.

First one - English: I pretty much grasped the concept of English language simply by watching (a lot - and for years) Cartoon Network as a kid (FYI: my parents don't speak languages other than Croatian). And I probably watched all those cartoons over and over as they were replayed. When I got to the point where English was thought in school, I pretty much knew everything they were gonna teach us - it was just brushing out the knowledge correctly, and most importantly - putting it to use. Later, since I was around computers (and even later - internet), it all came to me naturally word-by-word since I was using English actively.

German: During those active cartoon watching days, Cartoon Network got "locked", and I switched to a German program where I watched (german synced) anime. The "putting it to use" part did not happen with German language, so even tho I cant really speak properly today (never studied or used it), I do however find it that I can understand 85% of the time exactly what they are saying (i can even read properly many things). I have a really hard time doing the talking since I've always listened (the cartoons) and never actually talked - never put it to use.

Today, as a 20ish year old guy - I'm studying Japanese (anime history & Go board game - kinda just kicked in), and I find it that I have a really hard time expanding my vocabulary. I am missing all that easy long-time immersion in the language that previously did the trick. Now I gotta hard-study it. I guess I could watch a lot of Japanese movies & anime but I don't really have the time or will to do so today.