Learning Japanese?

[DiscordantNote]

I've been wanting to teach myself Japanese for awhile now, but I was never sure how to get started with it. I already know the alphabet's going to be a big problem for me since I've never tried to learn anything that didn't use the one (Roman? Arabic?) associated with English. I also know nothing about the dialects, so information about that would be helpful.

So far, I know how to say random words (yes, cat, ball, etc.) and spell them with this alphabet. The only written Japanese I can understand, as silly as it may sound, is Katamari Damashii...and that's only due to the similarity between the two symbols. If it helps, I already know quite a bit of Spanish and am at the point where I don't always have to translate it in my head to comprehend it.

Keeping the language in my head shouldn't be difficult, thanks to the amount of things, especially games, which can be translated into it. I just need to know how to learn it in the first place.

[Skynetmain]

I've been in the same boat. I just can't self-teach myself enough to learn Japanese. I've had Spanish, French, and Italian classes and that has stuck pretty well despite never using any of those any more.

I learned kana the hard way, through translation. I translated every single Digimon's name that appeared on the show. So painful. Doing so, I memorized both hirikana and katakana. I still keep a kana guide on hand just in case, but it is still 70-80% recognition anyway.

If you want to self-teach yourself, I found two really great 'quick learning' guides at the school store. They go over pronunciation, romanization, both kana scripts, and even a little grammer. I also have a really good/old (meaning possibly out or print) book, Living Language: Conversational Japanese [ISBN: 0-517-59066-2], on learning Japanese. It starts off just going through basics in kana and syllable sounds while slowly teaching words. The grammer is the real tricky part, but the book walks you through it at a very good pace. All you would need to get by is about a third of that book with the rest for if you want to live there. (It taught me Japanese letter [as in postage] structure which I use all the time).

I recommend trying to find stuff like that if you can't take a class. That is what my brother did, and it really helped him when he got into a Japanese class. Ask me again in Sept since, with any luck, I'll be signing up for the basic class. Hope this helps

[Christopher]

Yarr...it be a miserable toil of hardship and dispair, that it be, learnin japanese.

Trust me on this one, 7 years of anime is not going to do it, you have to have lessons. And not from a book, and not ones merely 50 mins long, you need to do a really full course. Or you can just plonk yourself down in Japan and use the struggle for air method.

[DiscordantNote]

Thansk for the advice so far! I am planning on taking a course in college if the school offers one and if I have time, but I'd pefer to teach myself a bit beforehand. I was able to teach myself bassoon, a highly complicated woodwind, so I know it's possible for me to learn without classes.

[Amethyst]

Learning the alphabets really isn't as hard as it sounds; just read lots of manga and translate EVERYTHING you can. Street signs, names, labels, magazine covers, whatever you can find. It sounds silly but that's how I'm learning. It might also help you to get a good dictionary. I've got two, one for kanji and one for romanization. There's also a really good online dictionary at http://www.trussel.com/f_nih.htm . http://www.thejapanesepage.com also has some really helpful resources for grammar.

Good luck!

[843]

The best and cheapest way (in my opinion) to learn japanese is http://japanese.about.com

I've been there for a month and I can already converse with my japanese friend (just the basics though). My vocabulary has improved drastically even though I started from simple phrases learnt from anime and manga. Now I'm learning hiragana, but I wish I had done this earlier.

[bubblyrubberduck]

Well my friends brother did the struggle for air method. He moved to Japan for college this summer and had to learn it before spring semester started.

I am self taught in ASL (one of the most easy languages to teach yoursel) and I suggest you know more than one language befroe attempting japanesse.

[843]

Well my friends brother did the struggle for air method. He moved to Japan for college this summer and had to learn it before spring semester started.

I am self taught in ASL (one of the most easy languages to teach yoursel) and I suggest you know more than one language befroe attempting japanesse.

Not only must you be able to learn more than one language, you must also familiarize yourself with the pronunciation. No doubt westeners whose English is his their native tongue will have difficulties coping with Japanese pronunciation...

Personally, I know English, Mandarin, Malay and Indonesian. Therefore Japanese is not that difficult to learn.

[Skynetmain]

Not only must you be able to learn more than one language, you must also familiarize yourself with the pronunciation. No doubt westeners whose English is his their native tongue will have difficulties coping with Japanese pronunciation...

I find that once you learn the Japanese syllables it is hard to go back to English syllables, but it make learning new words in English a lot easier. My only problem is that I learned Italian as well, and 'chi' (no I don't mean ki as in lifeforce, although that would be the same pronunciation in Italian) is not pronounced the same. It really bugs my brother since he knows Spanish and 'chi' is still said differently. My father has a hard time with Asian (in general) words since he is geared to the 'Western' mind-set, but fortunately, my mom did a great job bringing diversity into my life so picking up the pronunciation habits of a different culture is easy. Habits I know: German, Japanese, Spanish, Chinese, Italian, Korean. and French. Not English since I mix my slang into a cowboy-So Cal mix with a dash of poser for flavor. (Note: All languages listed are ones I commonly us in my writing minus Russian since that language scares me with its backwards 'R's)

[WIS]

Bah, I wanna learn Japanese so badly. Too bad I'm in a highschool program where all but 2 courses are planned for you. I can take Japanese later on in grade 10, but that would mean I can only take one elective.

I wish I could replace french.

[843]

Bah, I wanna learn Japanese so badly. Too bad I'm in a highschool program where all but 2 courses are planned for you. I can take Japanese later on in grade 10, but that would mean I can only take one elective.

I wish I could replace french.

If you've read the above posts, you'll know that taking courses is not necessary in learning Japanese, albeit recommended

@skynetmain: I haven't attempted any western language other than English since from what I heard from movies (mostly French), the pronunciation can be very difficult for an Easterner like me

By the way, I don't need to learn the Japanese syllables since my mother tongue uses exactly the same ones. We tend to pronounce things the exact same way it's written.

However, I may want to learn a bit of Russian since the alphabets look somewhat cryptic and I love codes

Imagine exchanging notes with these letters... people are going to think I'm twisted or nuts

[kanashimi]

if you're having trouble with the kana, use flash cards and find tricks to remember... Like... hiragana (Particle) o looks very similar to an olimpian (sp?), so remember it as an olimpian etc...

Also, stick up pictures of all the kana everywhere, it helps... Or just use more flashcards ...

hmm... Also try http://www.dartmouth.edu/~kanji/ for kanji stroke orders... And readings...

I would say obviously, the best idea is get solid tools (as in don't use the computer for learning to much, try use Japanese dictionaries from bookstores, maybe find a tutor or get a friend who speaks fluent Japanese to help you...)

And if you ever need help with Japanese, just ask (Though I'm shaky myself )

[DiscordantNote]

Once again, thanks for the help! Though I can't remember a few of the words, it's getting to the point where I can at least recognize them. I'm sticking with romaji for now, but I'll try the flash card method.

Oh, yes. I can now greet someone and tell them it's warm outside. I'm so fluent.

[Ski]

If you're willing to pay, find the George and Keiko Show and YesJapan.com. I have friends who haved used them, and they're really great. About.com Japanese is nice (and free!), but hard to navigate.

[843]

If you're willing to pay, find the George and Keiko Show and YesJapan.com. I have friends who haved used them, and they're really great. About.com Japanese is nice (and free!), but hard to navigate.

Yes, it's really hard when you want to find certain words or vocabularies. I spent hours trying to find basic pronouns (he, she, they) until I gave up and asked in the forums...

However, for beginners, you just need to click on the 'Where Do I Begin' link and you will spend days (or weeks, even months) in that section.