Trying to learn Japanese

[brownkidd]

I'm pretty new to this site, but after crawling through a deal of threads, I've noticed a few people on here can read or speak Japanese.

I was just wondering if anyone has tried teaching themself and how easy it is.

I'd at least like to teach myself to read it so that I can play imported games and read Japanese mags and manga. Is it even possible to learn to read it without knowing how to speak/pronounce it?

Any tips or pointers on where to start would be much appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[Eldrei]

There's a lot of weeaboo sites on the net that can help you.

I'd at least like to teach myself to read it so that I can play imported games and read Japanese mags and manga.

Most of them are hentai AFAIK.

 

[Melody]

It's not easy to learn entirely because of the writing system they use.
It's easy to learn how to speak Japanese, but totally a different ball game if you intend to learn the writing system so you can read/write.

That being said, I don't know many people on PC who speak it fluently enough to be willing to teach it to people. I suspect most of the people here at PC who do speak Japanese are those who learned it natively. (As their first language, or second language alongside the first in their own home, starting at a young age.)

I'd believe the people who do know the language fluently would better be able to tell you how difficult it really is, but from my point of view, it seems pretty challenging.
(But that's why I've promised myself that I would learn it someday before I die, because it's challenging, and I've always wanted to express myself in more than one language, because I feel that just one language cannot seriously convey all that I feel, efficiently and clearly and sometimes.)

 

[dithyrambos]

I've tried it, and am still going strong. There will be differing opinions on this, but I think learning Japanese is relatively easy. From personal experience, I've encountered very few problems with pronunciation, as there really are very few sounds to learn, and the kana scripts are amazingly easy.

Intonation, on the other hand, has produced a few challenges for me. And the kanji. Dear goodnes, the kanji! You need to know roughly 1,000 kanji to be able to read at a 6th grade level. :| So far, I know about thirteen kanji. This is definitely "the meat" of learning to read Japanese and will take years to master, but the important thing is to study constantly and consistently.

There are a lot of (non-weeabo) sites that can help you. If you're interested, I can link you to those?

Another tip I'd give is to incorporate the Japanese scripts into your life. I listen to a lot of Japanese music, and I keep the original Japanese names of songs in my iTunes so that everyday I'm on the computer I see Japanese (and also because I hate incorrectly tagged music). However... I wouldn't really recommend music as a good way to learn to speak the language, haha. Though it has helped improve my pronunciation of the "Japanese" r.
​

 

[Esper]

I tried to teach myself without the aid of a teacher and most of what I taught myself ended up being inaccurate in one way or another. I had to take classes before I got a good enough foundation from which I could learn on my own. I went for the whole package (reading, speaking, writing) so I don't know exactly how well a person could do on their own if they just wanted to learn reading, but in my experience reading is the easiest part so maybe it's possible. I can read and recognize more kanji than I can write or remember on the spot. Keep in mind that I'm not fluent even though I've spent a lot of time learning.

As for tips, try to learn from a native speaker or at least a fluent one. It's great if they know a bit about languages in general so they can help you understand points of the language that might be unfamiliar and confusing (like the lack of articles). Websites are great and all, but when something doesn't make sense you can't easily ask it to explain the material to you (unless it's one of those forum type websites). The other major tip is to study and practice EVERY DAY. Learning Japanese starts with having to learn entirely new alphabets (or syllabaries if you want to get technical) so you're starting much further behind than you would be if you were trying to learn Spanish, unless you can read Chinese, in which case kanji should be a lot easier for you than it is for the rest of us.

 

[Waddle_Dee]

Has anyone tried the Rosetta Stone?

 

[Eldrei]

Has anyone tried the Rosetta Stone?

No. What is it? A stone flower?

 

[A Pixy]

No. What is it? A stone flower?

A language teaching software. Apparently, it isn't suckish. o3o

 

[Cherrim]

Honestly, I'd suggest picking up a good Japanese-English dictionary if you intend on learning it yourself. I did that when I was about 12 and it had a good kana table that I learnt hiragana and katakana from. Just keep that nearby and import some manga you're interested in. I learnt so much from trying to translate various Yu-Gi-Oh manga and books because it was something I was interested in at the time and it made all the difference. Most manga aimed at kids & teens will have furigana, which is kana (usually hiragana) written above or beside any kanji. They're a godsend when you're starting out. :P

I know that by having a good dictionary (most will give you basic "lessons" on how the language works, at the very least) and a simple "how to write kanji" book that taught me the simplest kanji and how to write them, and also the stroke order for the kana, I actually managed to teach myself the first year of a Japanese course when I finally took it later on. (I pretty much knew everything that was taught except for some vocab words.)

But! It all kind of depends on what kind of a learner you are, though. I learn best through reading so naturally I ended up becoming really good at reading Japanese, but writing it from scratch is really hard for me, and speaking it is even worse. D: So I can't really give much self-teaching help for oral Japanese. u_u;

Also if you want to invest in textbooks, I think the Genki series of elementary Japanese is excellent. :> You can order them online... somewhere I'm sure, and if you really can't find any local classes (which is the ideal way to learn the language), then they're probably a good second.

And finally, moving this into the Japan forum. :p

 

[shu]

nintendo ds has a game that teaches you japanese i own it it works good,but i would also buy a japanese-english dictionary too

 

[brownkidd]

I've tried it, and am still going strong. There will be differing opinions on this, but I think learning Japanese is relatively easy. From personal experience, I've encountered very few problems with pronunciation, as there really are very few sounds to learn, and the kana scripts are amazingly easy.

Intonation, on the other hand, has produced a few challenges for me. And the kanji. Dear goodnes, the kanji! You need to know roughly 1,000 kanji to be able to read at a 6th grade level. :| So far, I know about thirteen kanji. This is definitely "the meat" of learning to read Japanese and will take years to master, but the important thing is to study constantly and consistently.

There are a lot of (non-weeabo) sites that can help you. If you're interested, I can link you to those?

Another tip I'd give is to incorporate the Japanese scripts into your life. I listen to a lot of Japanese music, and I keep the original Japanese names of songs in my iTunes so that everyday I'm on the computer I see Japanese (and also because I hate incorrectly tagged music). However... I wouldn't really recommend music as a good way to learn to speak the language, haha. Though it has helped improve my pronunciation of the "Japanese" r.
​

Well then, I'll definitely look into studying different Kanji. Any links would be super helpful not just for me, but anyone else reading this thread would like to learn Japanese.

I've also heard that there's some manga workbook that teaches Japanese with different worksheets and quizzes, but I have no idea what it's called.

Thanks everyone for all the input and suggestions! ^___^

 

[Alice]

I'm learning Japanese as well, and I wouldn't mind sharing some of the sites I found.

This site is great for getting the basic grammar down.
https://guidetojapanese.org/learn/complete

And if you don't know Hiragana/katakana yet, try using wikipedia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hirigana
I learned it in one day by writing it all down in the table they show, and then writing down the lyrics to one of my favorite songs in hiragana and then katakana. You don't have to be accurate about what they're saying or anything, it's just about actually using the kana, so you'll remember it.

This is pretty helpful if you want to improve your accent:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3K3kt_hkvAM

Everyone else says that this site is really helpful, but it didn't work very well for me. I think it's because I didn't have anything to associate the words to... when I picked up a word from watching anime, it always stuck with me really well, because I sort of.. connected it to something that I really liked. Either way, it seems to work for everyone but me, so I'll still link it to you lol.
https://smart.fm/goals/19053

Hope all of this helps! (I wish I had someone to figure this all out for me when I was first starting lol.)

 

[Esper]

Also if you want to invest in textbooks, I think the Genki series of elementary Japanese is excellent. :> You can order them online... somewhere I'm sure, and if you really can't find any local classes (which is the ideal way to learn the language), then they're probably a good second.

I should have mentioned this. The Genki books are the best, clearest, most helpful textbooks you could have. They're not cheap though.

And while I'm at it I should have also said that it's great to learn Japanese with someone else. When you understand a part of grammar or how to write something you can teach it to the other person and by doing that reinforce it in your own mind. It works for you, too, in case you forget something simple they can help you out immediately. It's also good to have someone else if you get distracted/bored/discouraged/etc. Find a buddy.

Here is a pretty comprehensive online dictionary. It's more of a reference though, so it's not going to teach you much. There's also a Firefox add-on that gives you instant access to a dictionary when you hover over Japanese text. Again, it's limited, but still useful.

 

[IIMarckus]

I've had success with James W. Heisig's "Remembering the Kana" series for hiragana and katakana. Recently started on his kanji series, and it seems to be a great help for memorizing the symbols.

 

[Wish]

I would also add that studying on your downtime (commuting, your wait in the doctor's office) works wonders. I keep some vocabulary flashcards in my iPod Touch. This will keep you refreshed on vocab in the middle of the day so you won't forget them.

 

[Buoysel]

It's one thing to learn it, its something totally different to be able to remember when you want to.

I too am learning Japanese. I am learning it 100% off of the net. I live in a small town, and there are not local classes or groups. As lightning said, find something that interests you. If it is Pokemon then import a game, or some manga. Learn Katakana and Hiragana first. Knowing how to read it will really help out. But don't make it too big of a task for yourself. Take on one "group" at a time, for instance the vowels. Once you have them memorized, and can write them move on to the next ones say you do the vowels, then move to "ka" "ke" "ki" and "Ku" and so on and so forth.

As you go along learn words if you can, focus on one word at a time until you remember it.

The biggest thing once you have learned katakana and hiragana is to expand your vocabulary. Add in some kanji and you'll be fluent in no time.

がんばって！Ganbatte! Good luck!

 

[brownkidd]

Thanks for all the links and suggestions! Hopefully this helps some other people on the boards as well.

This is a very n00bish question, but which written form is the most common? For example, do most Japanese video games use Kanji, or Hirigana? I only ask because I plan to put my reading skills to the test by playing imported games and reading manga as I learn.

 

[Wish]

Depends really. I know the Pokemon series uses Kana (Hira and Kata). You need to know a certain amount of Kanji in order to read newspapers and survive in the Japanese society. I would start learning Hiragana then later Katakana. After mastering, I would go onto Kanji.

 

[Buoysel]

Thanks for all the links and suggestions! Hopefully this helps some other people on the boards as well.

This is a very n00bish question, but which written form is the most common? For example, do most Japanese video games use Kanji, or Hirigana? I only ask because I plan to put my reading skills to the test by playing imported games and reading manga as I learn.

Kanji is used most often. Hiragana is used when the Kanji is forgotten. Katakana is used for foreign objects, or for made up things like Pokemon.

Kanji are used for expressing "meaningful" elements such as nouns and stems of adjectives and verbs.

Sentences will most likely be made up of a hybrid of Kanji and hiragana, so I suggest you learn hiragana first. (there are over 2,000 kanji)

I also forgot to post a link.:https://japanese.about.com/library/blhira.htm

Browse around there, you can find useful links such as how to write katakana and hiragana.

 

[Furanty]

I'm also learning Japanese. As an agglutinative language, the grammar is quite easy. Verb conjugation is not really a problem and as a Pokémon Fan, you are often confrontated with this fantastic language.
I have to say, that it's kinda easy to learn the Kana (Hiragana and Katakana). After one, two weeks you are able to read them. And then it goes rather fast. You will make mistakes and you certainly will learn from your mistakes.
Okay, Kanji. There are over 10,000 of kanji. But you only have to know about 2,000 to read a newspaper.
If someone is really interested in learning this language, he will master it. I, for me, am interested in learning languages. I'm a native German speaker, learned English a few years (it's a quite easy language), and am learning Spanish und Japanese know. After that, I would like to learn some Scandinavian language. I guess I'm gonna choose Swedish...