Ratamahatta
Established Member
Where I could possibly go to learn japanese? I've been itching to learn the language for a few years now.
Does anyone know
- Thread starter Ratamahatta
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*insert 2 pages of laughter*
Oh boy.... Well, I suggest southern california. Japanese is NOT easy to learn once the language centers in your brain become inflexible. Like when you're 12 years old.
I've been exposed to it for about.... 8 or 9 years now, so I can watch untranslated anime and get the gist of what's being said, and read certain words, but that's about as far as it goes. Then again, I've only barely taught myself Japanese. I bought five books on it, but I mainly use them for reference.
Oh boy.... Well, I suggest southern california. Japanese is NOT easy to learn once the language centers in your brain become inflexible. Like when you're 12 years old.
I've been exposed to it for about.... 8 or 9 years now, so I can watch untranslated anime and get the gist of what's being said, and read certain words, but that's about as far as it goes. Then again, I've only barely taught myself Japanese. I bought five books on it, but I mainly use them for reference.
i can understand some spoken japanese and read/understand some kanji but that;s only because i have a japanese-speaking grandmother and korean shares some of the kanji characters. and from my experience (learning english and little spanish) learning a language is not merely just going through text books and stuff. you have to experience the culture to fully (well, effectively) learn the language. you need to like interact with people and stuff, not just go thorugh drills.
so i guess to answer your question, go to japan. but i highly doubt you'll do that just to learn the language. well, maybe it would help if you have japanese speaking family friend or something.
so i guess to answer your question, go to japan. but i highly doubt you'll do that just to learn the language. well, maybe it would help if you have japanese speaking family friend or something.
I'm honestly starting to wonder if the lanugage/age connection is largely a myth. Do you know of any research that supports that conclusion? I've gotten to thinking that the real problem is that it's pretty much impossible to recreate the conditions under which a native language is learned...
yea it is pretty tough to learn a language without submerging yourself in the culture. and i dont mean just watching animes and eating sushi. that's probably why even though i have a more direct influence (family - live-in grandmother) of the japanese culture, my english and spanish are much better than japanese because of my current surroundings. of course i speak much better korean because i have spent majority of my life in korea.
well, for one thing, adults tend to be more busy since they most likely have to provide for the family...as opposed to children. they go to school. for the purpose of learning. they have more chance of living through the culture that the adults may miss out on. even simple stuff like the nursery rhymes and stuff.
I'm referring more specifically to the idea that the brain undergoes certain age-related changes that result in a reduced ability to learn language. I've seen this idea tossed around before, but haven't heard of any research that supports it (not that I've really looked, but it's harder to Google when one doesn't know the proper terminology).
It was an HS neurology text. It wasn't part of the curriculum, but what else are you going to do when you don't care about school? Anyway, the grammar is like Yoda speak. If you spoke Japanese in english word order, you'd barely make any sense. Can't find my grammar book right now, so I can't think of a humorous example. If you want to learn Japanese, go ahead and try it. 9_9 A first step would be calling the area community colleges and voc schools to see if they offer introductory and advanced courses.
There are a number of online resources that aid in teaching Japanese. A quick search on Google turns up many, but a couple to try are:
http://web.mit.edu/jpnet/redirect.html - highly useful general Japanese language stuff, including easy ways to learn the basic Kana scripts.
and
http://www.japanese-online.com/ with some other useful stuff.
Also, if you can't learn a new language after a certain age, why teach it at MIT?
http://web.mit.edu/jpnet/redirect.html - highly useful general Japanese language stuff, including easy ways to learn the basic Kana scripts.
and
http://www.japanese-online.com/ with some other useful stuff.
Also, if you can't learn a new language after a certain age, why teach it at MIT?
"exposed to it" as in you live with japanese-speaking people?
so when exactly does your brain become inflexible?
An HS neurology text, eh? Were they also teaching HS-level quantum physics, thermodynamics, and electron beam nanolithography classes while I was rotting away at Ponderosa High School (All Hail The Mustangs - pep rally attendance mandatory. Yay school spirit.)?
Anyway, I just find the assertion that "language centers become inflexible with age" a little dodgy. As eatpenguin mentioned, there are a host of age-related environmental factors that make language harder to learn, so I find it a bit hard to believe that it comes down to a distinct and well-understood biological problem. That's all.
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