>>11799030
>a nip even told me that a lot of japanese people don't even know what a lot of their onomatopeia mean so i shouldn't worry about learning them.
LOL. LMAO.
Your first mistake is taking advice from native speakers who are going to tell you whatever they think will make you feel better about yourself.
Your second mistake is not realizing that there are shit tons of 擬声語 and 擬態語 freebies everywhere you look which will give you a powerful memory to associate with them so that they aren't just random-sounding babble to you. Take Digimon for instance:
>コロモン -> コロコロ (Koromon is a chubby, ball shaped creature that looks like it rolls around)
>トコモン -> トコトコ (Tokomon toddles about on its stubby little legs)
>アグモン -> アグアグ (Agumon bites away at meat, aguaguaguaguagu sfx ensue)
>ガブモン -> ガブガブ (Gabumon gulps down food)
>ピヨモン -> ピヨピヨ (Piyomon is a bird, tweet tweet tweet)
>パタモン -> パタパタ (Patamon flap-flap-flaps its tiny wings)
>トゲモン -> トゲトゲ (Togemon is a prickly cactus)
>ピョコモン -> ピョコピョコ (Pyokomon bounces up and down a bit like a rabbit)
>プカモン -> プカプカ (Pukamon floats through the air like a ghost)
>モチモン -> モチモチ (Mochimon looks soft and doughy, like mochi)
>ギザモン -> ギザギザ (Gizamon is spiky)
>ゴツモン -> ゴツゴツ (Gotsumon is a craggy, rugged rock creature)
>メラモン -> メラメラ (Meramon is a sizzling monster made entirely of fire)
Obviously this is an extremely small selection of just the obvious ones you'd run into while playing a Digimon game or watching the early Adventure anime, but once you know them and remember something that evokes its meaning, you "own" them and have more free mental overhead to acquire ones that aren't so straightforward.
It's so obvious which Japanese learners are just fakers who don't actually engage with Japanese content on a regular basis VS the ones who make immersion the cornerstone of their learning.