Japanese verbs are close to the end of a sentence while English and Romance languages have it early on the beginning most of the time, unless Yoda is speaking.

That means that while you are reading English subs, you are not reading what the Japanese character is saying in the moment, but what he will say, and, after that, the character says what was already translated.

It would take a lot of effort for you to notice this without doing some research/learning on the side.

For example, when a character says "Yatta!" and you see it happy and jumping and all, after he did something, you can learn that the expression "Yatta!" means something like: "Yes! I did it!", judging by the physical language and overall situation.

However, when it comes to what I said above, encountering characters saying long-ass sentences will be a challenge if you are planning on understanding what they are talking about and establishing a connection between what is being said in the subtitles and the sounds that are coming out of the characters' mouth.

I don't know how it goes for Chinese, but I bet the best way to learn that language is to learn some sentence construction and basic vocabulary and then you will be able to expand your Chinese vocabulary, practice and get a hold of the language by watching, reading and listening to stuff in Chinese.

I don't think it does harm to do everything at the same time though: study the language and get exposure to Chinese content. But I bet it would be better if you do some separate study and not just expect to learn from dramas, movies, etc.


Maybe if you were a baby/child with that sponge-brain of those days and/or living in China it could be possible I suppose - as long as you make effort.

I know that you have to learn a shit-ton of Chinese characters in order to be fluent at reading, even more than those needed for Japanese, so I wish you luck.

Nope its all a blur but i have picked up on how to address elders/teachers/younger people and "heh" "mm" can mean many things...

I agree with this. I've learned some japanese a few years ago and my level has been "unstable" ever since (from "I don't remember a word" to a short internship in Tokyo and back to "I don't remember a word"). Animes didn't help me that much for vocabulary but sometimes, if you know some japanese already, you will think "Oh, we can say it like that too!". It helps. And it also helps your listening skills, so it is useful once you know at least the basics. 

Same thing for english or other languages, I learned some english and then got better thanks to series and movies, but you have to understand a bit already if you want to listen and analyze instead of just reading subtitles. 

As someone who massively thanks television for learning multiple languages, I learned that the best way to learn the language is by studying the basics of a language (the grammar structure, small but good vocabulary of the common words), and then watching lots and lots of television with audio of the language you wanted to learn. Do not turn on subtitles of a language you're already familiar with because you'd focus on those instead of the audio. The best thing to do would be to have both the audio and the subtitles be of the language you're trying to learn, it really helps when you subconsciously link the subtitles with the sound. Just keep watching these frequently, preferably on a daily basis, for a few months (or more/less depending on the language), and you'll eventually catch on to it. It might seem very off putting at first, because you'll barely understand anything, but trust me, after a while it just starts flowing. I've used this method to learn Hebrew, and I'm currently using it to learn French, my 4th language :)

Listening effectively is an extremely important skill when learning a new language. While watching a show with subs can help you get used to and comfortable with the sounds/tones, speaking patterns, and certain words, it won't solve your need for a basic understanding of it first. After you begin learning the rudiments of its grammar and vocab then I would say to watch the shows. In the beginnings of teaching myself Japanese, Korean, and Spanish, I found that listening to the music of the language really helped out too but again it was only after I learned some of its rudiments. And also try to surround yourself with as much things as you can find in Mandarin (for ex: books, movies, news articles, etc.) and try to talk to people who are fluent.

At first learning those languages I mentioned felt really overwhelming but I overcame that feeling by reminding myself of why I wanted to learn those in the first place. And it gave me motivation, a drive to want to continue with my studies. I think that's one of the most important things, motivation, because learning a new language can be easier with it.

No. It only helps if you know some words, and you can construct the rest of the sentence.

It definitely helps if you already have a basic understanding of the language. Just hearing a language and being busy with it makes sure you don't forget stuff as easily. You'll also start to recognize stuff and the subtitles can help to confirm you're right in your recognition.

On the other hand, you can't learn a language JUST by watching shows.

I have been learning japanese since a few months, but that is through a japanese course. Watching anime with subtitles does help a bit, but only because I have basic knowledge of the language. You won't get anywhere just through subtitles.

It does help if you are actively trying to learn the language

There are a lot of words and phrases that I picked up from watching with subtitles, but of course, you will need to learn it properly in order to actually learn the language

I can't fathom how anyone would learn a new language from noneducational material with unofficial translators ...

I'm in the same boat as you for trying to learn some Mandarin and finding a book on integrated Chinese is far more effective in my experience ...