Why a Japanese fansub group? / How the heck can we use Japanese subtitles to help us learn the language?

I'm writing this post as an introduction to Baka Neko Subs with beginning Japanese learners in mind. If you've read AJATT then you'll know this is more or less a rehash to describe the purpose of this group and the goal I have in mind for it.

So, we've already got a ton of fansub groups dedicated to making subtitles for popular anime and drama, bridging the gap for non-native speakers or people not currently studying the language. Why would we need one to help create Japanese subtitles?

The answer lies in the philosophy of the website that inspired this whole endeavor: All Japanese All the Time. The message it holds can be boiled down to this:

Maximize your fun immersion to the language + frequent review with text and audio = getting used to a language = mastering it

Simply listening to Japanese, even if you don't understand all of it, will give you the ability to adapt words and sentence patterns that you can use to understand and communicate properly. Through constant listening, you will naturally get used to the language. "Learning" a language has nothing to do with rote memorization aimed at passing class tests*.

Since a maximum amount of listening exposure is part of the process of adopting Japanese as your own, watching Japanese media that interests you is essential to discovering various words and sentence constructions. 

Exact subtitles in the original language will aid you in this process as it will improve your comprehension which in effect will boost your listening abilities and reinforce your reading skills as well.

As much as subtitles in another language can help explain what's going on, they are still only approximations and interpretations of what's being said. No matter how excellent a fansub is, it will never be able to convey 100% of the original meaning or feeling intended simply because it is in another language.

So, this begs the question: how exactly can we use subtitles to learn the language of our favorite shows and movies?

This is where frequent review and a few handy programs come into play. 

SRS, or short repetition systems, allows you to review and retain information by constantly exposing it to you. For what it's worth, I would vote Anki as the best resource. 

The best thing about this powerful learning tool is that it is free and can be easily made and more importantly easily shared. With repeated exposure comes understanding, which then leads to mastery as what you review becomes ingrained into your memory with long-term exposure. 

Using subs2srs, we can create decks from the subtitles we create shows and movies. These cards will contain the audio from the show/movie along with the text from the subtitles. This will act as the ultimate prize for making the subtitles--they allow us the frequent exposure needed to fully intake vocabulary and grammar found in dialogue.

This is the reason why I created Baka Neko Subs. Only through collaboration can we tackle otherwise impossibly time-consuming endeavors, and only through group teamwork will we improve in our individual language endeavors.

I'll be posting tutorials on what each step of the process of fansubtitling endeavors. Whatever level you consider yourself in Japanese, you will gain more experience and in turn both benefit and contribute to. It's as simple as that.

*While this has been widely discussed on the Internet, I personally believe in the positive role classrooms can play in language learning. That being said, I do believe the role language classes play in language acquisition should evolve to include more time for actual exposure. While quizzes, grammar explanations, and reading passages can solidify your knowledge of individual grammar points, only genuine exposure that you enjoy is the secret to continually growing in the language you hope to learn.