Abstract
In this decade, the number of learners who study Japanese as their second language without any formal educational system has increased. This paper aims to investigate their learning method and learning belief. An interview with a Korean student was held and analyzed by a qualitative research method called Thinking at the Edge. The interviewee was a self-learner who learned Japanese through watching Japanese animation via the Internet for three years when he was in junior high school. His learning method involved picking up Japanese sounds and studying Hangul characters in dictionaries. From this experience, he realized that listening was most important for learning foreign languages. When the interview was held, he was a university exchange student in Japan and learning the way he did before. He would pick up Japanese sounds spoken around him and consult a dictionary. In cases where he could not find a dictionary immediately, he did would do so upon coming home. According to him, learning the Japanese language was not for a special concrete purpose but for something more substantial, such as self-growth. This research reveals that the methods and beliefs of self-learners differ from those of students who are under educational systems.
