Topic: Aliens' way of learning

[GiovaneDinamitardo]

Here you are something for which lose sleep  

Lamù speaks fluent Japanese.
His father too.
Her friends (Ran, Benten, Oyuki) too.
Rei was able to put together just 10 Japanese words only with the help of a scroll.
Lamù's mother speaks only the language of oni.
Lamù's aunt (hence her mother's sister) speaks fluent Japanese.

Two questions:

In which way the aliens learn a foreign language?

Above all, how come that Ten (a preschool child) is able to speak their language and also a stranger one fluently  ?!?

[FallinG_StaR]

Oh... Now that's a good one... XD

I'm really cant explain it... but I'll go with alien technology...

But that can all be just a parody to some cultural stuff... I don't really know...

Rei could be your typical foreigner... can't speak the language... but learns it from books/travel guides some words.

Lum's mom... the typical house wife... doesn't know much besides her native language... (comparing to the 80's japanese house wife)

Lum's aunt... She's a well travelled lady... going to several parts of the universe... guess it's only natural she knows japanese... Aren't all aliens in anime like this??? XD

As for the rest I'll go with... It's fiction... there's no need to explain it... XD

[Kroptik]

Imagine the official second language in Uru is Japanese (or something close to it). That would mean most people would know it.
Then Rei would be the typical student that never bothers to learn it in school. xD
About Ten, he already speaks fluent Onian (I guess...), so why not Japanese too. He seems kind of gifted in the speech department. :|
And Lum's mom, I'll just go with Falling's answer for that.
Though with Lum's father being a warlord and Lum's aunt being a interplanetary firefighter, I'm sure they'd learn Japanese too (and probably other languages never mentioned.


About this topic though (while were here), it's amazing how most animes just skip this part about aliens and stuff knowing Japanese right off the bat. The only anime where I've seen this not happen was Zero no Tsukaima (the anime only I believe, Saito only started understand everyone else after one of Louise's backfired spells).

[veehive]

I thought about the Onian Technology route -- which would explain Ten's fluency -- but then, in the episode where Lum loses her ability to speak Japanese (hit on the head with a rice cooker) all she would've had to do was go to the Onian Cranial Input Method Editor and re-install the Japanese language database (or slip another BabelFish in her ear, to take another route to the same destination) to regain her command of nihongo. She didn't, so that spoils that argument.

I believe it's as Professor Falling postualted previously: at most, this is a parody of the mandatory ESL in Japanese schools (and the cultural fallout in its wake).

But, when all is said and done, methinks this applies best:


 :*) 

[FallinG_StaR]

But, when all is said and done, methinks this applies best:


 :*) 

Indeed... And btw... why does God hate cat girls so much??? XD

[veehive]

Because GOD spelled backwards is DOG (I guess?) 8)7

[UruseiNeo]

In Teen Titans, Starfire kisses a person to learn their language XD

(Does Teen Titans count as Anime?)

[veehive]

How many fingers do they have on each hand?

[UruseiNeo]

4 and thumb, same as every other animated action show.

That's not a very strong decision point for action genres :p

[veehive]

Just an early test, to see if the Teen Titans production staff was still rooted in Western animation dogma. Would've provided evidence against lumping Teen Titans in with the genre of anime if they were only 3-fingered.

[cata]

Lum, Benten, Ran, Oyuki learn japanese at school;
Rei is to busy with food that didn't give a damn about school;
Lum's mother could be the same as Rei, except the food part;
Ten's mother is a good student (just a feeling);
Ten is intellectual gifted (just a feeling because he's bad at flying) LoL
Lum's father knows because he's a King, Chief, whatever.