Trying to learn Japanese!

[Guest snow_wolf96]

I'm new to the otaku boards and I know the veterans don't think much of the noobs here, but I need help. I want to learn some Japanese. I don't really want to learn the entire language, anything you can tell me is fine. I always wanted to learn Japanese, so please help me! :D

[KingEarthEater]

Japanese isn't that easy to learn. People can't really help you over the internet or anything. You may be able to learn some words or something, but that isn't really learning the whole language at all. I think if you really want to learn a language then you should put your own time on the subject and go to a book store or something and read about it.

Seriously, if you want to learn the whole language or a majority of it, then you should learn it on your own time (I'm not saying that people here don't know the language), because there aren't many people willing to help you learn something like this. You should learn it a different way than this. For example, a book will be good because you could always go back and read it. A disk might be good, but it will take some work sitting there and actually memorizing it more than learning it.

I don't know much Japanese at all, but what I do know, I learned from books and disks. Because people can't really help you that much (and if they do, you have some real dedication to the language, haha). I'm just talking from experience, but its really up to you. I never really got any help from people (maybe they were just rude, but be serious) because I never really had the dedication to the language at all. (I'm just saying that it won't help much at all)

[Center]KingEarthEater[/Center]

[eleanor]

[color=dimgray] Turn back now, you fool.

Especially if you're over the age of 18. [/color]

[Roxie Faye]

[color=#9933ff]Truth be told, I don't actually know how many of us know Japanese - fluently. wristcutter does (or has lead me to believe so), and I think Panda as well, but I'm unaware of anyone else who does. O_o;

Please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but for some reason I have this insane idea in my head that you think we're all otaku/anime fan elitists that are completely submerged in Japanese culture and couldn't care less about anything else (thus speaking Japanese well); and this notion, just for the record, is completely untrue. I'm willing to venture that at LEAST 1/3 of the members have a disinterest in anime, or barely care about Japan; we don't have a lot of Japanophiles around here. =) We're all just people, groovin' and chillin' together. lol. Welcome to OB.

Um... to answer your question anyway, I would also say that books and tapes are a great way to learn, if you're really dedicated and interested. There's a book series called "teach yourself" and they have tons of different languages, including Japanese. There's even a version of the Japanese "teach yourself" book with cassette tapes to help with pronunciation and accent. I'm recommending these because they are what I used when I was (trying) to study Japanese.

But honestly, if you really, really want to learn the language, I think you need to take a class. Either at school or university, or privately in your area. I've taken Spanish for about six and a half years now (in school), and I would say that I could probably hold a conversation with a Spanish speaking person for a good while, because of what I've been taught over the years. And the only point this story has is that, as annoying as taking Spanish as a language was, in a class for 45 minutes every day, I have actually reaped the benefits. I can only imagine that as a dedicated student, if you took a class in Japanese, with a teacher who knows not only the language, but the ways in [b]which[/b] to teach, you would benefit much more.


P.S.: Or you could always just move to Japan and try to get the hang of it. I hear cultural immersion is really the way to go. (Although, seriously, it DOES work. lol.)[/color]

[TheResplendent]

[FONT=Tahoma]I know [b]Raina[/b] from the boards is fluent in japanese, other than her I don't know if anyone else is either (probably are). She helps me out a lot though. It's a complicated language, but not impossible to learn. I've been studying it independantly for a few years now, and i'm turning 22 in July and am making pretty damn good progress. It's the only other language aside from Latin that i've been interested in studying on my own, both languages are terribly interesting to learn :). You need to have an open mind and a lot of patience, it isn't something you can learn succesfully thinking your gonna pick it up like spanish when they teach it to ya in high school.

Here's a little something to help out, but won't cover every aspect of conversation: [url]http://www.byki.com[/url]

It's helpful for a lot of languages, not just japanese.

You never learn a language quicker then when your actually in the native country though. It's like the ultimate form of expediting.[/FONT]

[Ezekiel]

[quote name='BKstyles][FONT=Tahoma'] It's the only other language aside from Latin that i've been interested in studying on my own, both languages are terribly interesting to learn :). [/FONT][/quote]

[SIZE=1]I love you, BK, Latin and Japanese are the only two language I've been interested in learning, too.

I myself don't know very much Japanese; my boyfriend can speak it almost fluenty and can read it perfectly, though I find it hard to motivate him to teach me. I'm currently scouting around for a language school to teach me as I believe having a tutor is much better than learning from a book. If you seriously want to know the language fluenty, you should probably do the same.

As it happens, the University course I'm taking is to train me to be an english teacher in Japan, so I'll be learning the language anyway and spending a year over there for work experience. Like BK said, being in the country makes it so much easier to pick up the language. You should take a holiday and find out more about the history and culture, too.

Have fun anyway ^_^[/SIZE]

[Raiyuu]

I'm self-taught through a mixture of books, software and websites, and I'd call myself semi-fluent ... I could take directions to places or buy things in shops or restaurants, but not hold a deep and meaningful conversation. I'm sort of fluent in tourist Japanese. Oh, and I could probably talk about Bleach since I translate the manga weekly so I have a good grasp of the series specific vocab in there.

My biggest asset is the BBC's Japanese Language and Culture set, which is a bookshelf-busting workbook and a 6-CD pack. Get the book [url="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Japanese-Language-People-Course-Book/dp/0563519495/ref=sr_1_14/026-0137225-1578864?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1180521830&sr=1-14"][u]here[/u][/url] and the CDs [url="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Japanese-Language-People-Audio-CDs/dp/0563519517/ref=sr_1_15/026-0137225-1578864?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1180521830&sr=1-15"][u]here[/u][/url].

Websites I've found useful include:
[url="http://www.kanjistep.com"][u]Kanji Step[/u][/url] (useful for picking up basic kanji - use the kanji-a-day mailing list, it's great for learning the essentials)
[url="http://www.thejapanesepage.com"][u]The Japanese Page[/u][/url] (also has kanji lists with stroke orders, plus on and kun readings in kana and romaji; also has good concise lessons on the basic grammar points)
[url="http://www.learn-japanese.info/"][u]Nihongo o Narau[/u][/url] (grammar lessons with printable worksheets - again, good to pick up the basics)
[url="http://japanese.about.com/library/blgrammar.htm"][u]Japanese Grammar on About.com[/u][/url] (once you've picked up the basics this site is good for ironing out any points you aren't sure about - has lists of fully conjugated verbs and adjectives which I found really useful)

Hope some of that might be helpful.

[Ikillion]

[COLOR=#0e1030][SIZE=1][FONT=Trebuchet MS]What little I know of Japanese comes mostly from books and various online sources. Those helped a lot,but since I suffer from a horribly low amount of Zeal at times I usually give up and do something else. I can hardly read and Kanji and the only reason I can barely read any is because I play a lot of imported games.

The only other language that I can say I'm pretty good in is Latin. If I had to gauge myself I could say I could hold a simple conversation (As long as there was no complex vocabulary used). I've been taking it for the past two years as my foreign language at school and am trying to learn what I can on greek on my own.

Anywho, the only real advice I can give you on learning Japanese is to really make sure you want to learn it and not just give up half way though. Even after taking a language for two years I still only just a bit of it. Like others have said, its better if you have an actual teacher to teah you than to learn it by yourself but the latter can be used in some cases.[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR]

[Fyxe]

[size=1]Depending on how old you are, it could be easier to learn Japanese. For instance, if you are younger, there are a lot more sources. A lot of high schools and colleges offer it in their foriegn language programs. However, if you are out of college, finding a class may be a little more difficult, not impossible, but very difficult.
I think one of the best ways to learn is to experience it yourself. Find someone in person that knows Japanese, and take lessons from them. Finding someone wouldn't exactly be a cake walk, either, though. Haha.

If those things don't work out for you, there are always computer courses or CDs/DVDs you can buy, and also books. But it's harder to learn from books, considering you cannot hear how to pronounce it.

It may not be completely easy, but nothing worth it is easy. Good luck. :)[/size]

[2010DigitalBoy]

[QUOTE=Lunox][color=dimgray] Turn back now, you fool.

Especially if you're over the age of 18. [/color][/QUOTE]

[COLOR=DarkOrange]That's my advice, lol. I'm in my second year of japanese in high school and not only is it really hard, but we're still just learning the basics for geting around in Japan and having a simple conversation. It's not possible to learn the language without being in Japan - just like English it's got so much caked over the regular way of speaking. I mean, it's not like you can just take a Japanese class and all of a sudden poof your subbing anime and reading japanese manga. It's super-difficult >_<[/COLOR]

[DeathKnight]

[color=crimson]Learning Japanese will take effort. I plan to take it in college just because, well, it would serve a utilitarian purpose for me. I enjoy Japanese media more than German or French or any other form of media so having some understanding of it makes sense to me.

So if you want to dedicate yourself for a good period of years then you'll be able to have, hopefully, a good working knowledge of the language.[/color]

[Saya Minatsuki]

[color=limegreen]If anyone wants to learn Japanese go to learn-japanese.net trust me I've been looking up free online language courses and this is THEE best one I've found. It's divided into three different levels and offers study guides and help.[/color]

[SaiyanPrincessX]

[SIZE=1]I have a friend who has been there, and another friend who lived there her whole life untill last year. I'll be going there for two weeks coming up very soon.

Japan is a very expensive country.

From what I have been told by my friend who lived there; they're very friendly with American's. If you need help getting somewhere they'd be happy to help.

You don't tip after a meal in Japan, thats a no-no.

Transtic Nerve was also fluent in Japanese aswell, I believe.[/SIZE]

[Japan]

[COLOR=DarkRed]I've been studying Japanese for about three years now. More if you do not count the actual classes that I've taken. Taking classes help you to excel a lot more than if you try to study on your own. That's at least the case because then I have a reason to study.

What really helps me is spending time with my Japanese friends at the college. Plus my friend, Takuya challenging me to speak full Japanese sentences withstudents from Osaka come who do not know any English when they come to visit the college for a week.

Just work on your own for now and hopefully you can take a class or meet some Japanese people where you live.[/COLOR]

[Guest ShyGuy123]

Have you notice here in otaku people stay trying to act japanesse but their not. I'm not saying that you are trying to act japanesse I'm just saying people are putting some japanesse names as their user and their not even japanesse. Thats just wrong lol.

[Japan]

[quote name='ShyGuy123']Have you notice here in otaku people stay trying to act japanesse but their not. I'm not saying that you are trying to act japanesse I'm just saying people are putting some japanesse names as their user and their not even japanesse. Thats just wrong lol.[/quote]

[COLOR=DarkRed]So you think people should go on and have usernames like ren and stimpy and USA? That's just as sad. If they have a hobby, let them have it. Is it wrong to learn a language? Having hobbies is better than having no life.[/COLOR]