Learning Japanese

[shmori7]

Maybe you'll find these links helpful

- Japanese Word of the Day (Learn Japanese - Japanese Word of the Day Widget)
- Japanese Vocabulary List (Learn Japanese with Free Vocabulary Lists)
- Japanese Core 100 Word List (Learn Japanese Words - Core 100 List)

 

[Alpha Baymax]

I don't want to look like a Mr. ignorant here, but why do the Japanese have three variations on their languages?

 

[Annoyance]

I don't want to look like a Mr. ignorant here, but why do the Japanese have three variations on their languages?

It becomes easier to differentiate words. More complicated words spelled with kanji, simple words with hiragana, and foreign words (beer, fork, etc) with katakana.

They aren't variations, just alphabets to associate with sounds like English and any other language.

 

[aqualight]

I'm now in my senior year and one of my subjects is obviously Japanese. I've been taught Japanese since reception (a few years i didn't because a moved schools and they didn't have it for a couple of years) but really in primary school i wasn't taught much, it was more or less going over the same points every year. It picked up a bit when i went to highschool and about the first year and a half most of what i was taught i already knew, but it picked up a bit more. The biggest thing about learning Japanese is that you have to want to do it, motivation is essential. In year 8 everyone in the year was forced to do it (more than 100 people), down to a little over 30 people doing it in year nine, down to about 8 the next year, all the way down to the 2 people this year. If i talk to previous students about Japanese they've all forgotten most of it.

So basically what i am trying to say, if you want to learn Japanese you gotta have passion and it has to be a pretty regular thing so your brain retains the information Because of the fact that my education has a seemingly slow learning curve i don't know if i've ever found it 'hard' but if i ever do badly or not as good as i usually do, it's because i just haven't looked over the information enough. It's just all about practise!

I really do love learning Japanese, i love languages. I hope i can get into learning Korean in the near future as well. I don't have any career goals, i have no idea what i want to be, i just know i want to be trilingual. But ugh, senior year is almost over and i'm going to be having a written exam and oral exam soon weh. I love learning languages but school at the moment kinda takes my energy, hopefully if i go to learn it at uni or something i can find a little more motivation... maybe :/

But because i've learnt it in school, i don't think i really have any resources i can offer you. We use the 'Kookoo Seikatsu' workbooks in conjuction to what our teacher teaches us, that might help? (it seriously took me over a year to realise that kookoo was just 高校, i can't stand looking at 'kookoo' my head doesn't want to pronounce it correctly)

 

[Annoyance]

I've never really liked how some books romanize a continued vowel and confuse more people. I get what they're trying to do but so many kids in my Japanese class have said the same thing: Coo Coo?

Koukou.

About 4/20 of my class actually have experienced some sort of education of Japanese, most likely on our own, some I think took 1 class before.

I'm definitely still learning though. I was writing my hiragana like katakana and I feel embarrassed.

Genki books are great tools if anyone's still looking. This thread is pretty old.

 

[ambrosiah]

Currently enrolled in my first semester taking a foreign language. I chose Japanese because I was always interested in the language's calligraphy; it's absolutely beautiful. I also have a huge amount of interest in Eastern cultures.

I'm actually finding it to come pretty quickly; could be how awesome my teacher is. She doesn't solely have us focus much on practicing Hiragana or Katakana...most of that practice comes through naturally while focusing more on grammar, vocabulary and reading.

Really cool part of my class! My teacher has Japanese foreign exchange students come into class regularly to pair up with and practice. It really helps with pronunciation.

*edit* I see some of you are having troubles with choosing a book. I see mention of Genki. Genki is a GREAT textbook to learn Japanese from, however the way it's designed is meant for teacher to student interaction. It's fairly difficult to learn Japanese from Genki alone. I'd suggest, if you're going the lone ranger route, is to watch a Youtuber. Having someone pronounce it to you so you can say it in your head while imaging symbols is a double reinforcement in memory.

 

[EnchantedDominion]

I don't know Japanese, but as someone who has studied French, German, and Italian, I can say one of the best ways to learn a language is to watch movies in that language. Put subtitles in English if you need to. Music is great too, but since it's in a melody, it doesn't help as much with normal everyday conversation and pronunciation. I do listen to a lot of Italian/French/German music, though.

Even though I don't speak the language, I still have seen quite a few movies from countries throughout Asia. One of my absolute favorite movies EVER is Kwaidan, a Japanese anthology of folklore and ghost tales. It was so good it made it into the Criterion Collection. I think it's one of the most interestingly and beautifully artistic films ever made. I watch it every few months.

[video=youtube;XG5mvupo9Wc]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XG5mvupo9Wc[/video]

A final note, don't just stop at the language. Immerse yourself in the culture: the history, the music, the food, everything. I can see you've done quite a bit already, and I know you're super into modern Japan. But keep going.

 

[Annoyance]

While I admit that I've learned some words or phrases here and there from anime and movies and whatnot, it isn't the best place to learn. Japanese has a lot of different ways of writing things, of pronouncing it depending on multiple different things, etc. You are also limited to what kind of show it is. Just watch shoujo bullshit? Hope you like hearing the word "suki" over and over. Shonen? "Ganbaremasu" Comedy? "Baaaaka"

You won't learn as much unless you sit your ass down and consume whatever knowledge comes your way. Watch youtubers, get the Genki books, get a tutor, talk to some Japanese people. But just watching movies and anime only gives you a small tiny slice of the language.

 

[ambrosiah]

While I admit that I've learned some words or phrases here and there from anime and movies and whatnot, it isn't the best place to learn. Japanese has a lot of different ways of writing things, of pronouncing it depending on multiple different things, etc. You are also limited to what kind of show it is. Just watch shoujo bullshit? Hope you like hearing the word "suki" over and over. Shonen? "Ganbaremasu" Comedy? "Baaaaka"

You won't learn as much unless you sit your ass down and consume whatever knowledge comes your way. Watch youtubers, get the Genki books, get a tutor, talk to some Japanese people. But just watching movies and anime only gives you a small tiny slice of the language.

Japanese grammar takes some time to get used to. It's often hard to distinguish between using "no", which marks possesion and "wa", which marks a connection of nouns or ideas. Best way to practice that is writing over and over again.

Have to admit though, after learning 2 months of Japanese, watching anime really helps learning it further. They speak really fast and if you already have a foundation down, it's challenging to keep up! But you can definitely pick out what they're saying. Some interesting things I've noticed that could help understand the culture in Japan:

Japanese don't say "excuse me". They say "please wait". That one is definitely contextual. And instead of "never" they say "time regarded".