Learning Japanese just for "importing" an Wii or DS - I think you underestimate the difficult of the japanese language ( Kanji, Hiragana, Katakana ) even you now to read japanese you will stumble on most websites or onlineshops here in Japan since most of them dont ship outside of Japan.
Anyway - Its good to start learning a new language - For beginners : Best way is learning by book or even better come to Japan and join an japanese class ( once you studied a little bit on your own the hiragana ) Try "Yan San and and the japanese people" ( Book and TV Series ) or Erin ga choosen - Nihongo Dekimasu ka ( TV Course ). Essential for Japanese is the series "Minna no Nihongo" to study from books. ( used in most Japanese schools ) or visit this blog : http://nihongo-dekimasu.blogspot.com
For Those who want to study by DS - Doraemon Kaite oboeru, Anpanman DX, My Japanese Coach, Kanji Kakitori, Beautiful Kanji Writing. but be sure you also study from a book.
@SSBF: Alright, I found you, and I posted something on your "shouts." For some reason, the tab for following and sending PM's is hidden on my computer (Maybe because it's a widescreen, because it works fine on school computers...). I saw you were on when I was! (There's a little green dot on your avatar that means "online") Let me know what you think of the site!
I'm working on a game that's coming out soon! Cipher Trailer
@Irken: Haha, nice pic. However, I don't think those are true Japanese words, just variations of words already in America (I don't know if you know this or not, sooo... ) For instance, the bottom left one should be pronounced: Ah-Pu-Lu Pa-ee. Say that fast, and it sounds just like "apple pie," which is what it is! The same can be said for pretty much all of the words on that picture. It's simple, so long as you know the Japanese dialect. Deflates Ego
I'm working on a game that's coming out soon! Cipher Trailer
@BleachFan888: those words would all be in katakana anyway, so it's whatev'. :3
BEST THREAD EVER future of NL >:3
[16:43] James: I should learn these site rules more clearly
[16:44] LztheBlehBird: James doesn't know the rules? For shame!!!
@BlackDragon: Yeah, I know. I was just tryin' to explain it without delving into that, as to avoid too much confusion... I guess it doesn't really matter though...
He's already mentioned he's just a kid, Adamant. While i do agree that the total-immersion method is the best way to learn a new language, the best he can do in his situation is try to get into some kind of language course where he's at right now and then take the fullest advantage of his time with his cousins in Japan if/when he visits them.
I wasn't suggesting he do it (and you should get some courses under your belt first anyway), just correcting Waltzelf on his ways of getting a proper grasp on a language. There's only one real way to do it, and that is regularly conversing with people who are actually fluent.
Courses are a better place to start than a book or CD.
You don't need a course to start practicing kana, pronunciation and basic grammar. Get that stuff out of the way on your own, and you don't need to pay a tutor to say "look at this stuff and remember it". Going into a course completely blind is just a waste of money.
Learning Japanese just for "importing" an Wii or DS - I think you underestimate the difficult of the japanese language ( Kanji, Hiragana, Katakana ) even you now to read japanese you will stumble on most websites or onlineshops here in Japan since most of them dont ship outside of Japan.
Which is why it's great that there's so many websites in English that cater to importers, so you don't have to worry about that.
With regard to immersion, absolutely. Hebrew is still the language I'm most comfortable with outside of English even nearly a decade since I took an intensive language course in Israel which had no English in it whatsoever. I'd probably rate my French 2nd just because I took two years in secondary school, but I still needed a phrasebook when I went to Paris. Turkish was a bit easier the 2nd trip to Istanbul because I got to practice it more, but the point is to make the effort; I was well-received in Istanbul (not to mention it's easier to get around since a lot of people there don't speak English). I'm planning a long holiday in Japan so we'll see how I do, but I generally carry two phrasebooks to assist: one with more of a dictionary structure and a Berlitz guide which tends to have more commonly used phrases in easy to find categories.
I wasn't suggesting he do it (and you should get some courses under your belt first anyway), just correcting Waltzelf on his ways of getting a proper grasp on a language. There's only one real way to do it, and that is regularly conversing with people who are actually fluent.
Considering I have learned Japanese (or more accurately, are building on a conversational-level Japanese ability), you should probably think again before correcting me on anything.
It's intimidating trying to speak in a foreign language with a native. I was uncomfortable with it for a long time, and this is my girlfriend. On the other hand, self-teaching yourself is incredibly difficult, in the sense that motivation always drops off quickly when you can't see any direct benefits (ie speaking the language to a native).
So a structured course is the best motivation, as it essentially forces you to stay motivated, and you have a non-intimidating guide in the tutor.
Of course once you have the basics, building on them requires a native speaker to talk to. But you can't throw yourself in the deep end of a pool without at least a basic idea on how to paddle.
There. That's advice from someone who has learned the language, and used all three methods.
Going into a course completely blind is just a waste of money.
You've gotta start somewhere. Since the poster is still in school it may be possible for them to take Japanese at school, a local community college or even as a special self-directed course of study. I certainly wouldn't dimiss doing an instructor led course, but you're correct you can at least teach yourself the two basic writing systems.
I wasn't suggesting he do it (and you should get some courses under your belt first anyway), just correcting Waltzelf on his ways of getting a proper grasp on a language. There's only one real way to do it, and that is regularly conversing with people who are actually fluent.
Considering I have learned Japanese (or more accurately, are building on a conversational-level Japanese ability), you should probably think again before correcting me on anything.
Of course once you have the basics, building on them requires a native speaker to talk to. But you can't throw yourself in the deep end of a pool without at least a basic idea on how to paddle.
Again, I'm not saying you shouldn't take courses, just that if you truly wish to "get a proper grasp on the language", as you put it, you need to move beyond them and use the language in real situations.
Well since there is already a thread about this I'll just post my question here, I'm seriously considering starting to learn Japanese, mainly for academic reasons, so I'm not really looking for books how to learn the language as such but I'm just interested in the grammar, because my choice kind off depends on that. Anybody here have some insights in Japanese grammar or know some places which tell how it's structured. I'm not looking for in-depth descriptions just something like "more or less the same as English in structure", "totally different but not that difficult" or "different and difficult to grasp"
I found ALOT of books at our bookstore about how to learn japanese . Some which are comics ! I can believe i forgot this but what does btw mean again ?
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