*shifty look*Originally Posted by Arashi_Leonhart
Well, not this forum, perhaps. But you'd be surprised.
Oh, and another questionable resource I'd suggest is Nico Nico Douga. Reading the comments helped my speed reading, plus they use simple vocab/short phrases, and you can often infer what the comments are saying based on the video. But it's Internet slang, which may or may not be useless depending on what you're interested in.
Last edited by Reiu; December 31st, 2012 at 12:02 PM.
Motivation is key. If you're not ready to spend years learning, you might as well give up now.
Then comes the frequency. It's better to spend as much time as possible surrounded with the language.
Start out with the Kana(Preferably both at the same time, same way you learn min and maj ABC) Simply, don't forget that they are used for different purposes(Hiragana for japanese "words" and katakana for stranger terms(names included). Then the Kanji. The furigana aren't always used, so you better prepare yourself for that.
A good way to learn the Kanji would be to start writing them over and over. There are websites that shows how to trace them. You do not need all of them to understand a japanese journal for example. You'll still have a lot to learn but if you give yourself time, you'll get the hang of it.
Learn with someone who is fluent in "proper" japanese.What you want to learn is the Teinei 丁寧(Neutral but polite) and the Kenjôgo 謙譲語 in combination with the Sonkeigo 尊敬語(These are used in order to show humility)
It's also important to know how to use the Uchi-soto 内外. Most people who watch anime and read manga or familiar with them but often don't know exactly how to use them.
Ideally learning both written and spoken japanese will help.
Bahahahaha, wut? You gaijin son. That shit's fo suckas.
Plain form, all day every day up in here!
I think it depends on if you're planning to work in Japan. I got through a couple weeks of school and months of daily life in Japan no problem without ever studying the different keigo properly, although I did know them roughly from context in books and etc.
The keigo stuff is only usually important for interviews or meeting important personages. Neither of which I had any experience （縁）with.
And oh god I can't think of what 縁 would properly translate to.
Last edited by Reiu; December 31st, 2012 at 12:11 PM.
^^ This. Good luck learning keigo at all. Even the average Japanese person has trouble with it.
Localizationing stuff
Go sonjidesuka?
Hahaha, you think it's hard figuring out how to explain it on a forum in English? All of my Japanese bosses were trying to explain it to me in Japanese on the company vacation one night when we were all wasted out of our minds. It didn't go well, lol.
You mean ご存知ですか？(gozonji)
/slaps self for being an incurable spelling/grammar nazi
Yeah, this; it's what I did too up until JLPT N3 when I found my own course of study. These are a few other things I used:
I really liked this book.
You can learn straight from it if you want, but it works really well as a supplement book or if you wanna brush up on something. Did I mention I like this book? Because I really like this book.
I like writing.
You write things, people correct you on things you do wrong, you learn, maybe you help them, and suddenly your best friends are a Japanese mother and some guy in a band that shares the same birthday as you.
Grammar dictionaries
These are reference dictionaries, not to be used like textbooks. I used the Advance dictionary a lot when I was studying for the JLPT N2; they're really helpful. Though after some point, I think people should start using Japanese guides to Japanese rather than English guides to Japanese.
Tofugu resource review list
Koichi is cool, some of the Tofugu articles are cool, but don't buy Textfugu. Do not buy Textfugu. No.
Gakuu has a list of resources too
Gakuu has some helpful stuff too; I want to tell you it's worth the price, but his one-time price is still too much imo. I have an account on there, but that's because I got a free Tofugu account a long time ago, and Tofugu members get a massive discount on Gakuu, so I only paid 20 bucks for the Full Membership.
Oh hey, it's a pain but can be situationally useful.
Depends it what kind of field you'd work, it can be useful. Not a must have but can help to know a bit.
;_____;
Now Loading...[15:09] <KnightTurtle> "I WILL NOT DIE FOR THE BEAUTY OF MATH. MATH IS MY SOUL AND BLOOD, MY PASSION. MATH IS WHAT KEEPS THE WORLD RIGHT. I WILL ON FOR THE BEAUTY OF NUMBER CRUNCHING, THE MIND NUMBING ABILITY OF CALCULUS, THE SOUL OF THE BARE BASICS OF ARITHMETIC"
[21:21] <+EnigmaticFellow> we derive fun from integration
Lol, Reiu tryin' to school McJon. >.<
Well, I am learning Japanesse too. The best I recommend you is to learn the sounds (As a spanish speaker it was pretty easy for me because we have the same sounds in romanization, but it can go very wrong for a nativ english speaker).
Then you should go with Hiragana and Katakana. I used this one for Hiragana and this one for katakana.
Once you learn how to write it, you shpuld play a japanesse version of POKEMON. They don't use Kanji, and if you have played the game before (and as me, know almost every dialogue) once you finish the game you will read both kanas really easy. You can even get some vocabulary from it (even if you don't understand anything (like me), it sure is useful).
Know th funny part. with the kanji, I use the tagai ni jisho. It is super useful because it even teache you the order with animation, colors and everything. It even teach you which words use that kanji and how they sound in every case.
For the vocabulary part, you should learn them as you learn Kanji. Also, I recommend learning how to write them at the same time you learn how to read them. It helps you memorize them and you don't do the same work twice. Later (when you know like 50 kanjis) you won't need to check the order of the strokes because you will use them naturally.
And yes, I mentioned order of the strokes because you need to learn how to write them in order.
For grammar and stuff, Tae Kim is really helpful.
After that, reading manga and books with images will help for vocabulary, and stuff how people talk.
Then read stuff in japannese and you will be done.
*Pro tip: Learn with someone else. Some competition, and conversation is always helpful. If you can do stuff like teaching your language to a japanesse so (s)he teaches you, do so.
If you can resist the impulse to skip all of the dialogue and get straight to the battles >___> that's what happened to me.
I would recommend learning the kana first absolutely, and learning grammar alongside kanji. I also agree that learning with someone else is very helpful.
And, depending on what you want to do with your Japanese knowledge, you should focus on different things. For example, if you want to just be able to read manga/watch anime, knowing things like stroke orders is slightly less important than other things.
Now Loading...[15:09] <KnightTurtle> "I WILL NOT DIE FOR THE BEAUTY OF MATH. MATH IS MY SOUL AND BLOOD, MY PASSION. MATH IS WHAT KEEPS THE WORLD RIGHT. I WILL ON FOR THE BEAUTY OF NUMBER CRUNCHING, THE MIND NUMBING ABILITY OF CALCULUS, THE SOUL OF THE BARE BASICS OF ARITHMETIC"
[21:21] <+EnigmaticFellow> we derive fun from integration
Will do.
Never been a problem with me, I guess I'll see about getting a Japanese copy of pokemon Black and/or White for the PC.
Also, will I be able to understand what words they're saying in game or will I need to learn what certain Japanese words mean before that's possible? Or is it just a quick way to get a bunch of Hiragana and Katakana lines to practice reading with?
Last edited by The Curious Fan; December 31st, 2012 at 11:11 PM.
No, you won't. His advice is terrible. With no vocabulary and no grammar you will understand nothing and the entire ordeal will be an exercise in pointlessness. The only possible thing you could take from it is kana reading practice, which is still pointless because fuck, it's kana. If you need more than a couple days to master it just give up.
I feel I have gotten the hang of reading Hiragana/Katakana, what next?
Grammar?
Now Loading...[15:09] <KnightTurtle> "I WILL NOT DIE FOR THE BEAUTY OF MATH. MATH IS MY SOUL AND BLOOD, MY PASSION. MATH IS WHAT KEEPS THE WORLD RIGHT. I WILL ON FOR THE BEAUTY OF NUMBER CRUNCHING, THE MIND NUMBING ABILITY OF CALCULUS, THE SOUL OF THE BARE BASICS OF ARITHMETIC"
[21:21] <+EnigmaticFellow> we derive fun from integration
How to use dictionaries?
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