Self-Taught In The Language Of The Rising Sun?
- Thread starter Blitzballer
- Start date
At the moment, their economy is not doing well at all, so they really don't want foreigners doing anything but teach English. I'd wait a year or two before going over there, or wait until the economic situation improves a bit. Good luck. Tokyo is expensive.
Japanese is probably the most overrated language ever. Fangirls treat it as some kind of holy language and try their best to speak it from their anime experiences but they just sound retarded.
It's just a language. A stupidly complicated language, but a language.
I could see myself taking a high school course on it for convenience, ("Now I can finally play all those untranslated Visual Novels...") but that will probably be the only thing I'll use that god-forsaken language for.
It's just a language. A stupidly complicated language, but a language.
I could see myself taking a high school course on it for convenience, ("Now I can finally play all those untranslated Visual Novels...") but that will probably be the only thing I'll use that god-forsaken language for.
I learned English by playing Video Games and asking my dad every time I couldn't understand anything. (So basically every time someone said something.) Does that count?
kohei
Pizzaman.
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Emphasis on this.
Also, convenience stores here do not offer convenient prices.
Cham
Cool Trainer
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I went to Japanese school for about 4 years. I learned a lot there and it is very helpful, and I noticed something. I saw most non japanese people attending the school only wanted to learn it for a single purpose, and that is to watch anime. It kind of made me frown upon such fandom. Maybe in other people's eyes my reasons are stupid too, who knows. It just got on my nerves, I wouldn't want to learn a whole language just to watch cartoons. Anyways, that is besides the point. I was trying to say have more motivation than just a show or something you might grow out of. Find a penpal, that is what I did, and it really does help me keep it with me.
Crystal Clair
Shinji lover
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I've actually been learning Japanese since around eighth grade which would make it almost six years since I've been out of high school for sixth months. And believe it or not, I stuck to it pretty well, even though these last six months I've been slacking off. I'm trying to catch up on it though.
My reason for learning it
1. I was always searching for a language to learn
2. So many of my hobbies originate from Japan
3. Japanese is a very interesting language in itself, both visually and technically.
One of my favorite Japanese things to do is to take a verb and making it into a certain form like making iku (to go) into itte mo ii (permission to go), or the reverse itte mo ikunai (not allowed to go) or getting complex with itte mo ikunakattara (on the condition of not being allowed to go). As you can see here, I am no kawaii neko baka desu Japanese learner. I'm serious about this stuff. And so serious that kanji isn't a priority on my list. Learning the grammar and the words are more important to me right now because they have devices that can translate kanji but finding a grammar translator is almost impossible.
And believe it or not, I do not plan to live in Japan. Not long ago I just began appreciating my hometown and the city that my hometown is in (New York City) and right now I can say that I love the north eastern tip of my town more than I love Japan and I am dead serious.
Japan would be interesting to visit though. I'd pick Tokyo and I'd not only do Akihabara but indulge on the traditional culture as well. I have an odd fascination for tatami.
My reason for learning it
1. I was always searching for a language to learn
2. So many of my hobbies originate from Japan
3. Japanese is a very interesting language in itself, both visually and technically.
One of my favorite Japanese things to do is to take a verb and making it into a certain form like making iku (to go) into itte mo ii (permission to go), or the reverse itte mo ikunai (not allowed to go) or getting complex with itte mo ikunakattara (on the condition of not being allowed to go). As you can see here, I am no kawaii neko baka desu Japanese learner. I'm serious about this stuff. And so serious that kanji isn't a priority on my list. Learning the grammar and the words are more important to me right now because they have devices that can translate kanji but finding a grammar translator is almost impossible.
And believe it or not, I do not plan to live in Japan. Not long ago I just began appreciating my hometown and the city that my hometown is in (New York City) and right now I can say that I love the north eastern tip of my town more than I love Japan and I am dead serious.
Japan would be interesting to visit though. I'd pick Tokyo and I'd not only do Akihabara but indulge on the traditional culture as well. I have an odd fascination for tatami.
At this point, I'll probably have to teach myself Japanese. The middle school I went to used to have Japanese. But as soon as I finally got there, they got rid of it. Same with high school. And though I doubt I'll be going to college, I'm sure that if I went they would drop Japanese too. Right now all I have are the Nihingo lessons in Shonen Jump- that's the closest thing I have to being able to teach myself Japanese. That and watching subbed anime.
GymLeaderLance99
A Muffin Button
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- The Road to Tomorrow
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I started out being interested in Japanese back in the summer before my freshman year of high school back in '04, which was around the time I found out about the Japanese version of Yu-Gi-Oh! and GX. I found it a really interesting language, and I borrowed this book from a library a few blocks away from me called "Japanese in Mangaland". Each lesson (12 of 'em) had 2 or 3 pages worth of grammar sections, then maybe 2 or 3 pages of examples in manga that use the grammar points, and a page of 10 exercise questions, which I always answered. I kept renewing it and putting it on hold throughout that year, and even up to my Senior year, and I remember I was studying it alongside my Italian classes (I would take the book out and work on it if we weren't doing anything, if we had a substitute teacher, etc), but I didn't start taking notes on the lessons until maybe Lesson 5 or 6, and then I went and wrote in the hiragana and katakana. And Senior year (last year), I started subbing GX using the summaries over on Janime to show at my school's Anime Club (for the people who've only seen the less-than-stellar dub), and this also helped me out.
This year, I started college, and I took the two Elementary Japanese classes, which reinforced what I learned from my book, and even helped me finally memorize the hiragana and katakana, as well as remember a good amount of kanji. If it wasn't for them, I'd still be way behind on it. I'm taking Intermediate Japanese next year, and I'm definitely planning to minor in Japanese, with my major being in Earth and Atmospheric Science at the moment (might change depending on whether or not I can deal with Physics, now that I have to repeat 1 and 2 next year). I've had a bit of interest in teaching, and if I go through with it eventually, I might decide to be a Japanese teacher, just because I found it annoying that my high school only had Italian and Spanish classes, and other people might end up feeling the same if they're in the same situation.
This year, I started college, and I took the two Elementary Japanese classes, which reinforced what I learned from my book, and even helped me finally memorize the hiragana and katakana, as well as remember a good amount of kanji. If it wasn't for them, I'd still be way behind on it. I'm taking Intermediate Japanese next year, and I'm definitely planning to minor in Japanese, with my major being in Earth and Atmospheric Science at the moment (might change depending on whether or not I can deal with Physics, now that I have to repeat 1 and 2 next year). I've had a bit of interest in teaching, and if I go through with it eventually, I might decide to be a Japanese teacher, just because I found it annoying that my high school only had Italian and Spanish classes, and other people might end up feeling the same if they're in the same situation.
yaminokame
やみのかめ
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- Seen Jan 13, 2011
I have now been studying Japanese for seven years (time flies XD) I started to want to learn Japanese, because I knew I needed to find a way out of the mandatory French and Spanish, and I wanted to go with something that not everyone else in the school knew XD My path to how I am today is kind of long though lol XD
1) Everything started with a small dictionary and a basics book (can't even remember the name, but it got me interested and that is really the first step)
2) Then I took a Japanese class at school, and used a book called Yokoso (In my personal opinion, this is not a very good self-study book, only really useful in a classroom setting)
3) From there I moved schools, and with that changed books (Japanese for busy people) I enjoyed this book, and really got most of my true foundation from this series, I think I finished the first and second book.
4) When I started (3), I got the idea to try to emmerse myself as much as possible. My way of doing that, was buying manga in Japanese. My series of choice was "One Piece." Keep in mind that this is a huge jump, and some people can't do it because it's very tedious. I went from not being able to do more than read most of the book when I first started, and 50 books later, can finish a book off pretty quickly with high knowledge of what happened. My point is that it takes effort at first stumbling from page to page, and you need to set goals, but if you keep at it, there is a LOT you can pick up from reading.
5) Around the same time as (4) I started cramming daily at kanji. I bought a kanji book (it really doesn't matter what kind) and picked out a kanji every day and wrote it on a flashcard. Once a day I would add to my pile. Practicing every single day at school over and over again (the entire pile) Somewhere along the line I started to speed it up past 1 flashcard per day, and eventually it ended up at 5 per day. (Kanji is really not something to take lightly, if you know kanji, you can really get the meaning of a word by just looking at the kanji for it, it's VERY helpful and unfortunately most people don't care enough to stick with kanji) If you really get a good foundation in Kanji, you can look at a word you may have never seen before, and sometimes be able to make an accurate evaluation in your mind what it means. It happens :P
6) Got a private tutor. She emphasized Kanji... no joke, it's important lol...
7) Somewhere during this time, I started getting into music. Find a song you like, go online and try to read the lyrics in Japanese as they sing it. Not only does it help your reading flow, when you do go to Japan eventually, you will be building a Karaoke arsenal (it's a fun and very good way to interact with Japanese people that are your age)
8) Started watching Anime. This is gradual, and it is very hard to moderate yourself. At first I watched it with subtitles on. Then with due time I realized that I was doing more reading than listening (even though I was listening a little bit) That is when I decided to move to watching it with subtitles, and then subtitleless so that I could focus on words. Eventually it lead to no subtitles at all. (If you are watching a Japanese movie with Japanese subtitles, it's fun to watch it through without any subtitles at all, then turn on the Japanese subtitles for a second time through so that you can ensure how much you comprehended)
9) Bought an electronic dictionary. OMG does this help. The problem is that they cost quite a bit of money. If you have one though the amount of learning that you can do is amazing. If you are going to read any manga as I had said at an earlier step, this really helps get you started. When I first got the dictionary I was using it all the time, but today I barely ever use it at all. You have to wait on it, it's a pretty slow, but worth-while progression. The downside to the electronic dictionary is that if you use it for too long, you will get sleepy!! It has that effect on you lol... kind of like information overload XD
10) Now this one depends on where you live. I live in America, so I did some research and found places near me, but for other people in other countries, you're going to need to do some research to figure this one out. I looked-up, and participated in the Japanese Language Proficiency test. I live in America, and the closest locations to me are either Chicago or New York. Both of these locations hold the test, which is administered once a year. 4th level is the lowest, and 1st is the higest level. I started off taking the level 3 test, so I do not know the compexity of the level 4 test very well. I would say that a person who graduates high school level Japanese would be able to take and pass level 4. If they are a really good student, level 3. As far as college goes, there is such a wide range that it is hard to put a general idea on it. I think that most of the people in my class (in college) may be able to pass level 3 of the test. There is a huge ability gap between level 3 and level 2. Level 2 is a lot more difficult than level 3. I have heard that level 1 is a lot harder than level 2 as well. To this day, I have only taken level 3 and level 2, so that is the only area I really know well by personal experience. There are websites online that can prepaire you for each level. The point is that it is a good way to evaluate where you are, and where you need to imporve.
11) I started an internet Learn Japanese! thread on a website... it lasted for about a year-ish, but I quit when I got out of highschool. The good thing about doing something this drastic, is that you learn as you post updates. The more you work with the information and try to explain it to others, you will find that you learn more and more about it. It's a fun way to give back to the community, and help yourself at the same time.
12) Went to Japan. This is only good if you know how to use it. Unfortunately I cannot say what are good methods of learning while you are in Japan, it differs from person to person. Just know that the sky is the limit. You just have to make sure that you make the best use of your surroundings. The first time I went, I would use my electronic dictionary to read signs, which helps a lot. As of today, I have gone to Japan four times, and regardless of others that say going to Japan does not help learn the language, I bring something back with me every time I go.
13) This is the whole reason that I am on a Pokemon website lol XD I started picking up video games in the foreign language. It is an extention of reading Manga and watching Anime. Being able to play out a story on a game is difficult, because sometimes you need to know important information. It is a good way to help navigate you along the path of understanding the language by using it all the time. Even though I had previously bought Pokemon Blue in English when I was still in elementary school, I bought FireRed and Emerald when I went to Japan for my 3rd visit, and do not regret it one bit.
13) Going hand-in-hand with (12) I did a summer homestay for a month and about a week. It is a really fun way to get to know some culture and have fun. Host families genually care greatly for you, and want to see you happy. As long as you try to communicate with them, no matter how much you are embarassed to use your Japanese with them (it happens a lot) they are a great tool for you to get used to speaking Japanese. They really do want to help in any way they can.
14) After homestay, I moved onto novels in Japanese. That means no furigana XD They are difficult, but once you get the flow, you get used to them and they get interesting.
15) Just recently I have started getting into translating. It is hard sometimes because you know that there is a better way to translate what you are trying to, but you just can't figure out how you want to say it. It is good experience though. I started off using my translator quite a bit to confirm information before I finilized it as a translation, but you it starts to get easier, and quicker the more you try.
16) Almost as recent as (15), I eventually moved from watching Japanese movies with stories, to not only watching movies with stories, but also Japanese comedy shows. These are indeed harder than Anime and full-length movies. Aside from the sheer speed of talking, it gets difficult to actually get the joke XD Also, there are limited visuals, therefore you can not always get a clear visual image of what they are talking about sometimes outside of the words themselves. Again, very hard, but it helps stimulate you mentally because you have to move from putting what you see to what they are saying, to only listening to what is being said.
17) Though this is yet to happen, I will be doing a study abroad for one year starting in August. This is just one of the steps in the learning process, and I think that it will help a lot!
18) Use it as much as possible. When I first started, I never spoke it, just read it and wrote it. That really screwed me over later on down the line because I had no confidence in speaking, which was a huge hinderance. My teacher at school now (btw we are using Japanese the Spoken Language as a text book, which personally I do not reccomend for self-studying) is notorious for calling people on their cellphones and forcing people to call their classmates and make them hold a phone converstaion in Japanese (classmate to classmate is usually "WHY AREN'T YOU IN CLASS!?!") I used to be scared to death about talking on the phone in Japanese, but with practice you get used to it. Again the problem that you get with the phone is static interference and such where you can't always pick out every word they say. With practice it gets easier even though all of the limitations of the phone.
Well, believe it or not, that is seven years of my life jam-packed into 18 points lol... if there is one part of advice I can give, it's don't give up. I almost was ready to give up at one point, but I just took a break and then re-looked at it in the morning. Though it may feel that you are getitng nowhere at times, just don't give up! The process takes a while!! I hope that this has somewhat helped ^^
1) Everything started with a small dictionary and a basics book (can't even remember the name, but it got me interested and that is really the first step)
2) Then I took a Japanese class at school, and used a book called Yokoso (In my personal opinion, this is not a very good self-study book, only really useful in a classroom setting)
3) From there I moved schools, and with that changed books (Japanese for busy people) I enjoyed this book, and really got most of my true foundation from this series, I think I finished the first and second book.
4) When I started (3), I got the idea to try to emmerse myself as much as possible. My way of doing that, was buying manga in Japanese. My series of choice was "One Piece." Keep in mind that this is a huge jump, and some people can't do it because it's very tedious. I went from not being able to do more than read most of the book when I first started, and 50 books later, can finish a book off pretty quickly with high knowledge of what happened. My point is that it takes effort at first stumbling from page to page, and you need to set goals, but if you keep at it, there is a LOT you can pick up from reading.
5) Around the same time as (4) I started cramming daily at kanji. I bought a kanji book (it really doesn't matter what kind) and picked out a kanji every day and wrote it on a flashcard. Once a day I would add to my pile. Practicing every single day at school over and over again (the entire pile) Somewhere along the line I started to speed it up past 1 flashcard per day, and eventually it ended up at 5 per day. (Kanji is really not something to take lightly, if you know kanji, you can really get the meaning of a word by just looking at the kanji for it, it's VERY helpful and unfortunately most people don't care enough to stick with kanji) If you really get a good foundation in Kanji, you can look at a word you may have never seen before, and sometimes be able to make an accurate evaluation in your mind what it means. It happens :P
6) Got a private tutor. She emphasized Kanji... no joke, it's important lol...
7) Somewhere during this time, I started getting into music. Find a song you like, go online and try to read the lyrics in Japanese as they sing it. Not only does it help your reading flow, when you do go to Japan eventually, you will be building a Karaoke arsenal (it's a fun and very good way to interact with Japanese people that are your age)
8) Started watching Anime. This is gradual, and it is very hard to moderate yourself. At first I watched it with subtitles on. Then with due time I realized that I was doing more reading than listening (even though I was listening a little bit) That is when I decided to move to watching it with subtitles, and then subtitleless so that I could focus on words. Eventually it lead to no subtitles at all. (If you are watching a Japanese movie with Japanese subtitles, it's fun to watch it through without any subtitles at all, then turn on the Japanese subtitles for a second time through so that you can ensure how much you comprehended)
9) Bought an electronic dictionary. OMG does this help. The problem is that they cost quite a bit of money. If you have one though the amount of learning that you can do is amazing. If you are going to read any manga as I had said at an earlier step, this really helps get you started. When I first got the dictionary I was using it all the time, but today I barely ever use it at all. You have to wait on it, it's a pretty slow, but worth-while progression. The downside to the electronic dictionary is that if you use it for too long, you will get sleepy!! It has that effect on you lol... kind of like information overload XD
10) Now this one depends on where you live. I live in America, so I did some research and found places near me, but for other people in other countries, you're going to need to do some research to figure this one out. I looked-up, and participated in the Japanese Language Proficiency test. I live in America, and the closest locations to me are either Chicago or New York. Both of these locations hold the test, which is administered once a year. 4th level is the lowest, and 1st is the higest level. I started off taking the level 3 test, so I do not know the compexity of the level 4 test very well. I would say that a person who graduates high school level Japanese would be able to take and pass level 4. If they are a really good student, level 3. As far as college goes, there is such a wide range that it is hard to put a general idea on it. I think that most of the people in my class (in college) may be able to pass level 3 of the test. There is a huge ability gap between level 3 and level 2. Level 2 is a lot more difficult than level 3. I have heard that level 1 is a lot harder than level 2 as well. To this day, I have only taken level 3 and level 2, so that is the only area I really know well by personal experience. There are websites online that can prepaire you for each level. The point is that it is a good way to evaluate where you are, and where you need to imporve.
11) I started an internet Learn Japanese! thread on a website... it lasted for about a year-ish, but I quit when I got out of highschool. The good thing about doing something this drastic, is that you learn as you post updates. The more you work with the information and try to explain it to others, you will find that you learn more and more about it. It's a fun way to give back to the community, and help yourself at the same time.
12) Went to Japan. This is only good if you know how to use it. Unfortunately I cannot say what are good methods of learning while you are in Japan, it differs from person to person. Just know that the sky is the limit. You just have to make sure that you make the best use of your surroundings. The first time I went, I would use my electronic dictionary to read signs, which helps a lot. As of today, I have gone to Japan four times, and regardless of others that say going to Japan does not help learn the language, I bring something back with me every time I go.
13) This is the whole reason that I am on a Pokemon website lol XD I started picking up video games in the foreign language. It is an extention of reading Manga and watching Anime. Being able to play out a story on a game is difficult, because sometimes you need to know important information. It is a good way to help navigate you along the path of understanding the language by using it all the time. Even though I had previously bought Pokemon Blue in English when I was still in elementary school, I bought FireRed and Emerald when I went to Japan for my 3rd visit, and do not regret it one bit.
13) Going hand-in-hand with (12) I did a summer homestay for a month and about a week. It is a really fun way to get to know some culture and have fun. Host families genually care greatly for you, and want to see you happy. As long as you try to communicate with them, no matter how much you are embarassed to use your Japanese with them (it happens a lot) they are a great tool for you to get used to speaking Japanese. They really do want to help in any way they can.
14) After homestay, I moved onto novels in Japanese. That means no furigana XD They are difficult, but once you get the flow, you get used to them and they get interesting.
15) Just recently I have started getting into translating. It is hard sometimes because you know that there is a better way to translate what you are trying to, but you just can't figure out how you want to say it. It is good experience though. I started off using my translator quite a bit to confirm information before I finilized it as a translation, but you it starts to get easier, and quicker the more you try.
16) Almost as recent as (15), I eventually moved from watching Japanese movies with stories, to not only watching movies with stories, but also Japanese comedy shows. These are indeed harder than Anime and full-length movies. Aside from the sheer speed of talking, it gets difficult to actually get the joke XD Also, there are limited visuals, therefore you can not always get a clear visual image of what they are talking about sometimes outside of the words themselves. Again, very hard, but it helps stimulate you mentally because you have to move from putting what you see to what they are saying, to only listening to what is being said.
17) Though this is yet to happen, I will be doing a study abroad for one year starting in August. This is just one of the steps in the learning process, and I think that it will help a lot!
18) Use it as much as possible. When I first started, I never spoke it, just read it and wrote it. That really screwed me over later on down the line because I had no confidence in speaking, which was a huge hinderance. My teacher at school now (btw we are using Japanese the Spoken Language as a text book, which personally I do not reccomend for self-studying) is notorious for calling people on their cellphones and forcing people to call their classmates and make them hold a phone converstaion in Japanese (classmate to classmate is usually "WHY AREN'T YOU IN CLASS!?!") I used to be scared to death about talking on the phone in Japanese, but with practice you get used to it. Again the problem that you get with the phone is static interference and such where you can't always pick out every word they say. With practice it gets easier even though all of the limitations of the phone.
Well, believe it or not, that is seven years of my life jam-packed into 18 points lol... if there is one part of advice I can give, it's don't give up. I almost was ready to give up at one point, but I just took a break and then re-looked at it in the morning. Though it may feel that you are getitng nowhere at times, just don't give up! The process takes a while!! I hope that this has somewhat helped ^^
Last edited:
蜃気楼
Jirachi Fan
- 246
- Posts
- 16
- Years
- Seen Feb 27, 2010
Learning language is not as easy as programming languages, because programming languages are designed to be as easy as possible.
I first studied grammar, then, I will learn Japanese in high school.
I may go to Japan after I finished university.
I first studied grammar, then, I will learn Japanese in high school.
I may go to Japan after I finished university.
- 13
- Posts
- 15
- Years
- Netherlands
- Seen Jun 14, 2016
good japanese teaching stuff
Well i'm learning japanese ( how to read and speak ) from a friend of mine
she grew up in japan when she was little so i asked her once to help me learn it ( it was actually 2 monts ago xD )
and now i can read all of the hiragana letters, but i also used some workbooks
that i got from a site and they really helped alot ( it has hiragana in it and katakana )
mlcjapanese.co.jp/DownloadF/Kyouzai/HiraganaKatakanaWorkSheet.pdf
and also the site has many helpfull japanese teaching stuff so check it out :D
and now because i'm making such good progress she invited me
to go with her to japan in october :D i can't wait :D
Well i'm learning japanese ( how to read and speak ) from a friend of mine
she grew up in japan when she was little so i asked her once to help me learn it ( it was actually 2 monts ago xD )
and now i can read all of the hiragana letters, but i also used some workbooks
that i got from a site and they really helped alot ( it has hiragana in it and katakana )
mlcjapanese.co.jp/DownloadF/Kyouzai/HiraganaKatakanaWorkSheet.pdf
and also the site has many helpfull japanese teaching stuff so check it out :D
and now because i'm making such good progress she invited me
to go with her to japan in october :D i can't wait :D
yaminokame
やみのかめ
- 213
- Posts
- 14
- Years
- Age 35
- 岡山県
- Seen Jan 13, 2011
I used to use the MLC website too to study for the JLPT! :D It's such a helpful website ^^
- 13
- Posts
- 15
- Years
- Netherlands
- Seen Jun 14, 2016
cool i always thought i was the only one who knew the site haha :p
but it is very helpfull yes :D
so if anyone wants to start learning japanese i would start with that site
they have many many things where you can learn from :D
Snivi
..•.¸¸•´¯`•.¸. ஐ
- 20,089
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- TULSA, OK, USA
- Seen Nov 26, 2021
No. I would like to learn but it would probably hurt my brain. XD
There is no possibility to learn japanese at german schools, so I tried to learn it by myself. I know a few words now, but there is no grammar. I thought about buying a CD or something like that that teaches me, but I haven't done it yet. Dx
I think the writing with japanese letters will be the hardest thing to learn, but I'd be happy with speaking it. I love the letters, and I know some of them and I can write a few words, but thats it. Also, japanese people talk really fast and I think I wouldn't be able to understand a word while talking to them. anyway. Let's practise! =]
I think the writing with japanese letters will be the hardest thing to learn, but I'd be happy with speaking it. I love the letters, and I know some of them and I can write a few words, but thats it. Also, japanese people talk really fast and I think I wouldn't be able to understand a word while talking to them. anyway. Let's practise! =]