Self-Taught In The Language Of The Rising Sun?

[Blitzballer]

Has anyone on the forum taught themselves how to speak Japanese?

If so, I'd love to know how you accomplished this. Do you have any secrets you'd like to offer? Websites, books, etc.? I'd love to learn, but my school doesn't teach Japanese as a foreign language, so I wanna take the initiative and teach myself!

Even if you aren't self-taught, but have learned the language, I'd love to hear your story! Classes? Private tutor? I'd love to hear!

Finally, has anyone taken Japanese (or any foreign language, for that matter) in college? I'd love to minor in Japanese in college, so I want to know what to prepare for. Easy? Hard? How does it compare to learning a foreign language in high school? Is it upbeat or boring? Is the teacher a big help, or are you basically on your own?

I'd love to hear your stories and appreciate your knowledge! It'll definitely help me in making decisions in the coming years.

NOTE: English is my first language, so advice from people learning from that language is preferable, but I'd love to hear about learning a foreign language in general.

 

[Corvus of the Black Night]

No, because there's nothing particually special about speaking Japanese. It's usually only spoken in Japan, and maybe Hawaii and other Pacific islands. German, English, French, Spanish and even Russian are spoken by more than Japanese. A lot of Otakus think its the coolest thing though, when it's really just a language.

I taught myself Russian a few years back. I don't remember most of it, but it's a difficult language, abeit beautiful. I'm learning German in school, I'm almost done with my third year. I can understand spoken German pretty well, but I don't speak it well. German isn't quite as beautiful as Russian, but it gets the job done. It's a rather blunt language, actually.

From what I've heard, Japanese... is different...

 

[Chibi-chan]

Going to move this over to Japanese Entertainment cause it fits better there.


I've learned a few words through subtitle immersion XD;
That's about it really...

 

[Careful With That Axe Pichu!]

Arigato, arigato! Arigato hai, hai arigato hai arigato, arigato arigato Goku.

Take a course.

 

[Hiidoran]

It has always been my belief that no person can completely learn any language on their own. Reaching fluency level in Spanish myself, I can assure you that interaction between a speaker of the language you intend to learn, native is usually best, is a pretty mandatory step.

I understand where you are coming from. My school didn't begin offering Japanese as an elective foreign language course until this academic year. I always had an interest in the language and had a wish to do something with it in the future, so I found myself a tutor and began taking lessons. I did a lot of independent study along side my tutoring, which I've found to be immensely helpful. Even so, I don't know half as much as I probably should.

I'm currently ready to pursue a major in the Japanese language come this fall, so don't worry yourself too much if you don't learn a good amount of Japanese between now and the time you head off to college. The best advice I can offer you is try and learn the first two syllabaries: Hiragana and Katakana, as well as finding yourself a nice tutor. Some local colleges and universities offer open lectures that you could possibly attend as well. I'm not saying that it is impossible to learn the Japanese language on your own, but it would be pretty difficult…

Nonetheless,
がんばってください!
(Keep at it!)

 

[ShinjisLover]

I can only form about two complete sentences and I know a few words, but it's not much. It's not like I'm actually interested in learning the language (unless I decide to go to Japan), I just watch a lot of Japanimation. (The Japanese versions, usually).​

 

[OokamiShipper]

I recently taught my self how to say a few simple Japanese phrases, just for understanding undubbed anime.
I remember a few years back, my grandmother was trying to teach me how to speak Japanese, but it ended in like...a week, since she had to go back for the summer.
Huh...I lost that pamphlet she gave me...xP

 

[Alakazam17]

Well, I have taught myself hiragana, and I'll eventually get to katakana and kanji. But as for actually putting the letters and making conversation with someone, I believe that would be quite a feat for me to do without any assistance. And even if I do, I'd probably not know it perfectly. It's fairly easy to keep making a certain mistake if nobody is there to point out that you're making it. XD

 

[Corvus of the Black Night]

I'll tell you one thing right now - the reason why I never retained my Russian was because I never used it. Speaking with someone is the best way to fully learn a language.

 

[Careful With That Axe Pichu!]

I'll tell you one thing right now - the reason why I never retained my Russian was because I never used it. Speaking with someone is the best way to fully learn a language.

Basically the way I learned. Never taken a single course of English in my entire life. My native language is Spanish.

 

[Blitzballer]

Yay! I love all the responses! Thanks a bunch!

@Chibi-chan: I was debating whether or not to put it there; thanks for moving it!

@Pokemon Jupiter Version: My plan: Go to college to major in computer sciences, minor in Japanese. Since the industry for electronics (computer software, cell phones, video games) is in Japan, I'd love to visit or move there. I'd have to check it out first.

@Hiidoran: I go to a relatively small (500+ students in MS & HS) college-prep school, so there isn't a lot of choice in languages. We've got French, Spanish, and Latin; I take French (and I love it!). Classes are just outstanding when learning a foreign language. From the people I've talked to, Katakana and Hiragana are more important/easier to learn than Kanji, so I agree with you on a lot of fronts. Thanks for all the advice!

@Careful With That Axe, Pichu!: That's crazy! I met a Russian girl who took exchange programs to different countries, and really learned the languages. When I met her, she was able to rattle off Russian, Swedish, French, Japanese, English, German, and another language I can't remember. She was truly an inspiration!

I noticed a few people say that you have to really use the language to learn it (or I just completely made that up). There are a few companies or something-or-others that will send English teachers to Japan to teach Japanese people. They actually tell them not to speak Japanese! I'm a beast at English grammar (as, hopefully, apparent through my text), so if it took doing that to get to Japan, I would.

 

[Azumi]

I learn my Japanese from watching anime and reading subs. Then I check if it's actually that meaning. But it's still not counted as self-taught.

BUT my Japanese writing is self-taught. I get a Japanese book and I can recognize most of the hiragana/katakana.

 

[digi-kun]

Hmmm, at some point i ended up going with raws and watching the subs later on to check if it's right, though it's better to start with some actiony anime (Bleach for me) because the language isn't that complicated and there's not much of it besides the screaming and yelling

These days i just watch the raws and only get the subs via batch when the series finishes

 

[Yingxue]

I don't really watch anime anymore. I know about 75 Kanji, all Hiragana, all Katakana, etc.

My understanding of their grammar is kind of limited, though, as there are parts that are quite confusing to me.

@Alice: I wish you luck. The Japanese are very, very reluctant to hire foreigners for any jobs other than teaching English. Right now, I've heard they're paying foreigners to leave the country because their economy is junky.

You'll probably have to write a resume in Japanese if you're looking for a job like that. I've debated moving over there after I get out of school and get my Bachelor's, it's a difficult decision.

 

[Blitzballer]

My understanding of their grammar is kind of limited, though, as there are parts that are quite confusing to me.

@Alice: I wish you luck. The Japanese are very, very reluctant to hire foreigners for any jobs other than teaching English. Right now, I've heard they're paying foreigners to leave the country because their economy is junky.

You'll probably have to write a resume in Japanese if you're looking for a job like that. I've debated moving over there after I get out of school and get my Bachelor's, it's a difficult decision.

Ah-ha! Now, I've been able to basically teach myself Japanese grammar (to reiterate: I'm a beast at grammar), it's the vocabulary that I'd like. Haha; that was sarcasm.

Yeah, I've heard the Japanese culture is very xenophobic, which isn't something I'm looking forward to, but hopefully city life is a bit different. I'm not sure about how they look at Americans, but I know we're VERY close allies.

Now, about the foreigners: I've heard the opposite. The people don't care for them, but the gov't begs them to come, even though they don't do much to help them. International schools usually aren't credited there, which isn't helpful.

Hopefully, a foreign exchange program would be a good idea while in college. I've met a few people that live in Japan, and they've basically told me, "Japan is great. You can come live in Japan!" One person I'm friends with (whose parents own Kubota Tractors, if anyone knows what that is) told me to move to Okinawa. She lives there and said something to the extent of it being illegal to own guns, or something similar? Apparently, you can completely leave your house with the door open, and not have to worry about a thing!

Usually when you think of foreigners, you think of the lower-class or less fortunate looking for jobs. I'd do perfectly fine here in America; I just want to live in Japan. Maybe I'd be treated differently based on those circumstances?

 

[.inLOVE]

I've been teaching myself steadily. I listen to programmes/tv shows and music in Japanese, and listen to my Japanese friends' conversations.

 

[Legobricks]

You won't see it outside of Japan but be aware of hentaigana.

She lives there and said something to the extent of it being illegal to own guns, or something similar?

You'll find most countries disallow firearms.

Going to move this over to Japanese Entertainment cause it fits better there.

Oh sure, and I'll go put a Finnish thread over in Other Entertainment.

 

[Aegis]

I took a Japanese class one summer when I was 11, but I didn't continue after that since the teacher sucked XD; Since then I've really learned... almost nothing :( I'm taking a class next year in school though.

 

[Evilyn]

I just know a few words that are used in anime pretty often. Like "kuso" and "urusai". xD

 

[BakingBluePotatoe]

For a couple years.... watching subbed anime, and using https://www.dicts.info/2/english-japanese_romaji.php and there's a huge list of the words and thier meanings somewhere in the section I think...

Just take it step by step.

Ganbatte, Alice-san!
(Go for it!)