The key to learn something and succeed on it, is to love what you are doing and one of the best way to love what you are doing is to add some fun on it and enjoy it. when i start learning Japaneses, it was really hard for me so i tried many times but it always end up by giving up, until i realized that i need to add some fun to not get bored and give up, so i start using Japanese drama on learning and the results was good.
Learning with Japanese dramas works because:
- Japanese dramas are just fun and entertaining. You can reserve them for times when you’re just too exhausted to do anything more intense.
- Dramas also tend to use natural conversational Japanese.
- Dramas aren’t out of reach for anyone, it’s possible to hear the Japanese you do know and infer the rest just by paying attention!
- Dramas are a wonderful way to get culturally fluent. Talking about a popular Japanese drama is a great way to connect with Japanese friends. Just think about all the English conversations you wouldn’t be able to participate in if you didn’t know any celebrities.
this is my top 5 JDrama that i recomanded to you to watch and learn from it new vocabulary and also it gives a good introduction to the Japanese culture.
1- リッチマン、プアウーマン (Rich man poor women)
it's a comedy romance about the 29-year-old Toru Hyuga (Oguri Shun) a wealthy man. He first started to run an internet website from his small room and his hobby began to make a lot of money. Nowadays, he doesn't like to socialize and if somebody comes to him he suspects that they may want his money. Sawaki Chihiro (Ishihara Satomi) attends a job fair and by an unexpected occurrence begins to work for Toru Hyuga. Sawaki Chihiro soon realizes that Toru Hyuga isn't so bad. There's pureness in him and also a good deal of loneliness. She then begins to have feelings for him.
2- マイ★ボス マイ★ヒーロー (My boss My hero)
it's a high school comedy drama about Sakaki Makio, also known as "Tornado" who is a tough 27-year-old high school drop-out. By academic standards, he's pretty dumb. His father decides to force him to return to high school to receive his diploma and he asks an old friend who happens to be the principal of a nearby school to admit Makio. If Makio doesn't graduate, the position of boss will be given to his younger brother, Mikio.
Furthermore, he must pose as a 17-year-old during school hours and in the presence of any classmates or teachers outside of school. If his cover is blown, it would be the end of his high school career as well as his hopes to become boss. Things start out rough and tough as Makio's violent temper is tested. As the lessons and days go by he learns there is much more to school than just tests and studying.
3- １リットルの涙 (1 Litter of tears)
This drama is based on the real-life struggles of a 15-year-old girl named Aya who suffered from an incurable disease, but lived life to the fullest until her death at 25. The script is based on the diary Aya kept writing until she could no longer hold a pen. The book that later followed, entitled, One Litre of Tears has sold over 1.1 million copies in Japan alone.
Fifteen-year-old Ikeuchi Aya is an ordinary girl, soon to be high school student and daughter of a family who works at a shop that makes tofu. As time passes, unusual things start happening to Aya. She begins falling down often and walking strangely. Her mother Shioka, takes Aya to see the doctor, and he informs Shioka that Aya has spinocerebellar degeneration - a rare disease where the cerebellum of the brain gradually deteriorates to the point where the victim cannot walk, speak, write, or eat. A cruel disease, as it does not affect the mind.
4- ライアーゲーム (Liar game)
it's a drama full of psychological thriller and gambling and mystery. it's about a scrupulously honest college student named Nao Kanzaki receives a package containing 100 million yen (about 1 million USD) and a note that she is now a contestant in the Liar Game Tournament. In this fictional tournament, contestants are encouraged to cheat and lie to obtain other contestants' money, with the losers forced to bear a debt proportional to their losses. When Nao's first opponent, a trusted former teacher, steals her money, she seeks assistance from a con man named Shinichi Akiyama. Though they manage to defeat him, Nao and Akiyama decide to buy out his debt and advance through different rounds of the Liar Game Tournament against merciless contestants, while at the same time attempting to free their opponents from debt and defeat the Liar Game organization from within.
5- ごくせん (Gokusen)
it's a comedy high school story of a young, idealistic teacher who enters Shirokin Gakuen with hopes of making a difference in the students' lives. However, Yamaguchi Kumiko is in for a rude awakening when she finds that she will be the homeroom teacher of 3-D, the hardest class to maintain in the school. The students have multi-colored hair, sloppy uniforms, and show absolutely no respect to her. The leader of the class, Sawada Shin is lazy but bright and shows some interest in Yamaguchi when he notices that she is very different from other teachers. The students try to bully her to make her quit, but their attempts don't get them very far.
What the class and the rest of the school does not know is that Yamaguchi Kumiko is actually the 4th generation heir to the Ooedo Group, a notorious yakuza clan. Even though her family would like her to take the title of Ojou when her grandfather dies, they have accepted the fact that Yamaguchi would rather be a teacher.
Eventually, the students learn to respect their quirky teacher because of her devotion to them, and even give her a nickname: Yankumi.
The above are my recommendations, and include particular dramas which were very successful in Japan, but the best kind of drama to watch is one which attracts you. This can either be through the people who were cast or through the kind of story-line that you like.
If your Japanese level is intermediate or higher I would recommend watching without subtitles, but if you are a beginner you can still watch with subtitles and enjoy these great TV dramas.
After watching with subtitles it is a good idea to watch again without subtitles, soon enough you will find that your Japanese comprehension has improved!
