Learning Japanese

[Godelsensei]

[quote name='Dagger']I'm sure I'd be a little better at French if I sat down to watch some French movies every weekend.[/quote]

Just so you know, the French version of Disney's Aladdin is simply [i]amazing[/i]. "Prince Ali" was, like, the best few minutes of francophone song of my life.

If you really want to help build comprehension of a language, you can't just watch anything. Start with shows/movies for little kids, that feature uncomplicated vocabulary and grammar. If you can't watch the Japanese equivalent of, say, Rupert or Arthur, you definitely can't watch Ghost in the Shell or Speed Grapher and expect to get anything out of it. (Not that you're likely to get much out of the latter, anyway, but hey. : P)

[DBZgirl88]

[COLOR=#004a6f]I took Japanese this year as my elective. I enjoyed the course, but it was rather fast paced.

My biggest problem was speaking and listening. It takes too long for me to form my ideas into words, and I can't understand spoken Japanese unless it's spoken very slowly. I don't do very well on the listening section of tests, and I'm awful at the oral excercises in class.

However, I have a pretty good Japanese accent. When I drill what I want to say, it comes out very well. We have to record ourselves saying a dialogue, and my Japanese teacher told me I actually sound Japanese. :D

Anyway, I highly recommend this textbook: [URL=http://bookclub.japantimes.co.jp/english/genki.html]Genki[/URL]

[I]As used at the prestigious Harvard, Stanford and Sydney universities, GENKI Vols. I and II gives the first-time student of Japanese a solid grasp of the four basic language skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing) in 23 lessons.[/I]

In addition to vocabulary and grammar, a set of Kanji is presented with each chapter. I love how this texbook just fits together. The Kanji taught in each chapter is relevant to the theme and vocabulary of the chapter, so while you're doing your grammar excercises, you get to practice the kanji along with it.

The book uses the standard japanese textbook font, for both Kana and Kanji. That way, it will be easier for you to learn to write.

You can also get a notebook (that's where the grammar excercises are), which has practice sheets for hiragana katakana, and the kanji taught in each chapter.[quote name='Xander Harris']That book looks really well done, Wristcutter. What books do you recommend for hiragana and katakana?[/quote]If you want to learn to write, just practice, paractice, practice. There's plenty of websites and books that have hiragana and katakana charts. They even have arrows show the proper stroke order. This site has pretty good hiragana and katakana Lessons: [url]http://japanese.about.com/blhira.htm[/url]

I'f you're interested, I've made a few animations showing how each hiragana is written. Here a a few examples:

[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v149/Chabichou/a.gif[/IMG] [IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v149/Chabichou/i.gif[/IMG]

I made a few for kanji, but I think it would take a looooong time to get all of those done.

I think these animations would be very beneficial in learning to write. I've seen animations on other Japanese sites, but they use the Mincho font, which does not resemble handwriting, especially the kanji. Luckily, I managed to get my hands on the [URL=http://www.dhost.info/Chabichou/NTk4kp.ttf][B]standard textbook font[/B][/URL], and I'm using that for my animations. So, once I get all my animations done, I'll PM you Xander, and anyone else who's interested.[/COLOR]

[Dagger]

Wow, Chabi, those animations are really impressive and clean-looking. I would definitely love to see more. Are you planning to do the same thing for katakana?

~Dagger~

[DBZgirl88]

[COLOR=#004a6f][QUOTE=Dagger]Wow, Chabi, those animations are really impressive and clean-looking. I would definitely love to see more. Are you planning to do the same thing for katakana?

~Dagger~[/QUOTE]Why thank you, Dagger. They would be cleaner if I hadn't used bold (why did I use bold?). I made other ones with a more simple font and took off the bold, but they're not with me right now. They're saved on the school P.C.

Yes, I'm planning to make some for katakana as well, and like I said before I made several for kanjil. In fact, I made all the numbers up to 9. Now that exams are almost done, I'll have a lot more time to finish off the animations.[/COLOR]

[Xander Harris]

Yeah, Chabi, those are awesome! :animesmil

Thanks a lot for the textbook recommendation... might be pricey, but if I get serious about this, it's the way to go.

I know what you mean about listening and speaking as opposed to writing and reading. I often had the same problem in Spanish class.

That's funny what you say about the accent... I'm the same way. If I'm with someone who speaks differently for any length of time, I typically can speak with their accent...

Have a good weekend,

James Bierly

[DBZgirl88]

[COLOR=#004a6f][quote name='Xander Harris']Thanks a lot for the textbook recommendation... might be pricey, but if I get serious about this, it's the way to go.[/quote]Lol, it looks pricey, but I did the currency conversion and 3000 yen is only about 28 U.S dollars. Not bad if you ask me.

It's too bad you can only order it from Japan. The shipping charge will be rather pricey. The price will double.

I bought my book from my University's bookstore, and you know how Universities like to suck your money for all it's worth. I payed $69 canadian for mine,and it's not even hardcover![/COLOR]

[wrist cutter]

I did something similar to that for all the hiragana and katakana and 52 kanji. The only difference is that it isn't animated. Examples:

Hiragana:
[img]http://www.sweethypocrisies.com/lovestation/crap/japanese/ki.jpg[/img]
[img]http://www.sweethypocrisies.com/lovestation/crap/japanese/wa.jpg[/img]

Katakana:
[img]http://www.sweethypocrisies.com/lovestation/crap/japanese/ke.jpg[/img]
[img]http://www.sweethypocrisies.com/lovestation/crap/japanese/ra.jpg[/img]

Kanji:
[img]http://www.sweethypocrisies.com/lovestation/crap/japanese/what.jpg[/img]
[img]http://www.sweethypocrisies.com/lovestation/crap/japanese/school.jpg[/img]

[DBZgirl88]

[COLOR=#004a6f][quote name='wrist cutter']I did something similar to that for all the hiragana and katakana and 52 kanji. The only difference is that it isn't animated. Examples:[/quote]Wrist cutter, none of the images you link to are showing up. The site you're linking to is blocking hyperlinks.

This is the message I'm getting:[QUOTE]You're here because you probably tried linking to a page or image on my site without permission (aka /). Sorry, jackass.

If you followed a link and wound up at this page, you're just the victim of a jackass. Not quite as bad.
Try heading to Sweet Hypocrisies to see if you can find what you were looking for.[/QUOTE][/COLOR]

[Xander Harris]

[QUOTE=Chabichou][COLOR=#004a6f]Wrist cutter, none of the images you link to are showing up. The site you're linking to is blocking hyperlinks.

This is the message I'm getting:[/COLOR][/QUOTE]

Huh. Maybe you have a virus, Chabi. :animedepr It shows up in my browser fine...

[DBZgirl88]

[COLOR=#004a6f][quote name='Xander Harris']Huh. Maybe you have a virus, Chabi. :animedepr It shows up in my browser fine...[/quote]Lol, no I don't have a virus. I am certain this site blocks hotlinking (sorry, I said hyperlinking before). It happens sometimes that some people can see it and others can't. I used to have that problem when I hotlinked pictures from my wesites. I was able to see them and others couldn't. Strangely enough, they are showing up now. I have no clue why. Maybe it depends on your internet settings?

Anyway, my animations are a little big aren't they? I should make them smaller. I uploaded them to my image host, and it made their thumbnails smaller. They look alot better this way. A lot smoother than before. So you wanna see more animations Dagger? Here ya go: :animesmil

[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v149/Chabichou/Japanese/Hiragana%20Animations/edd718cd.gif[/IMG] [IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v149/Chabichou/Japanese/Hiragana%20Animations/thu.gif[/IMG] [IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v149/Chabichou/Japanese/Hiragana%20Animations/thi.gif[/IMG]
These three were made with the kaisho font and bold

[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v149/Chabichou/Japanese/Hiragana%20Animations/tha.gif[/IMG] [IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v149/Chabichou/Japanese/Hiragana%20Animations/the.gif[/IMG] [IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v149/Chabichou/Japanese/Hiragana%20Animations/thsu.gif[/IMG]
These are made with the textbook font without bold.

Oh, and here are the Kanji animations I mentioned. The nuimbers from one to eight (sorry, I said to nine earlier, but I forgot I didn't make it yet). They are in kaisho font and bold.
[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v149/Chabichou/Japanese/Kanji%20Animations/thichi.gif[/IMG] [IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v149/Chabichou/Japanese/Kanji%20Animations/thni.gif[/IMG] [IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v149/Chabichou/Japanese/Kanji%20Animations/thsan.gif[/IMG] [IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v149/Chabichou/Japanese/Kanji%20Animations/thyon.gif[/IMG]
[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v149/Chabichou/Japanese/Kanji%20Animations/thgo.gif[/IMG] [IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v149/Chabichou/Japanese/Kanji%20Animations/throku.gif[/IMG] [IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v149/Chabichou/Japanese/Kanji%20Animations/thnana.gif[/IMG] [IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v149/Chabichou/Japanese/Kanji%20Animations/thhachi.gif[/IMG]

I'm planning to stick to the texbook font, like I said earlier. It resembles handwriting a bit more that the kaisho font.

Wooo! I'm getting dizzy looking at all of the animations together![/COLOR]

[Latharix_sama]

Hah! All I have is a Japanese/English dictionary! and watching anime in japanese. and having major otaku friends. But really I don't know much. I know how to pronounce the words and I know quite a few words and phrases, but I don't know any of the grammar or even how to make sentences and carry on a conversation.
I'll just have to do with the big shipment of do it yourself books I've recently ordered until I can take Japanese in college! That's about four years or more! :bawl:
And of course you can learn from untranslated manga. It's a whole lot easier if you have an english version handy, just in case you don't understand something. Finding untranslated manga with bigger, more easy to read font is also good.
If you are in a college where they offer Japanese classes, I would sign up at the first opportunity. I too, plan on finding a college that offers Japanese courses and has a study-abroud plan so I can go to a corresponding Japanese college. To get in all I have to do is teach English when I get over there. I just hope that I'm teaching little kids over there instead of people my age, or worse, OLD PEOPLE! ::shudders::
I wish with all the blood, guts, and bone marrow in my body that it's kids we'll be teacin' over there! :lecture:

[r2vq]

Japanese has the easiest grammar structure I've ever had to learn.

I've taken classes for three years, but they weren't University level. When I get the right age and University I'll definately take those though.

A program I'm using right now to help me is JWPCE. It's a Japanese Word Processor, not the best my Microsoft Word does better, and a great Kanji dictionary. It's free for download, so Google it. ^^

Chabichou, your animations remind me of a Kanji teaching program called 555 Kanji. Take a look see. ^^ I think yours are better though.

-ArV

[Xyandar]

I am actually in the same situation as you are Wristcutter. You, however, are more lucky than me. My life dream is to travel to Japan and learn all about their culture, history, arts, religion, meditation, and language. I watched "The Last Samurai" last night. That movie greatly interested me. I love how the meditation process worked and how he learned so much. I even learned a few words from watching that movie. I have always been interested in going to Japan to learn. I'm hoping to running to a library sometime so I can find a decent book about the history and culture of the Japanese.

[DBZgirl88]

[COLOR=#004a6f][QUOTE=r2vq]Chabichou, your animations remind me of a Kanji teaching program called 555 Kanji. Take a look see. ^^ I think yours are better though.

-ArV[/QUOTE]Oooooh those are nice. I like how they have it grey at first and then they draw over it. It's good how they make use of arrows too. It would be better if they numbered each arrow after the stroke is drawn.[/COLOR]

[chrono-flash]

Ok, my friend is trying to teach me japanese (she lived there for 9 years) and we need something to have a set teaching pattern(like a book). What is a good book to use? Preferably in a $20-$30 range. Thanks!

[color=navy][size=1]I merged your thread with the pre-existing "Learning Japanese" topic. Next time, please glance over the first page of the forum so that you can avoid making duplicate topics. Thanks!

- Dagger[/size][/color]