Learning the Japanese Language

[Malakai]

I have just started learning the language in the last few months through self study, using text books, audio cds/books, and various "alternative" methods.

Right now, I've pretty much completed the grammar books and have learned through Romaji, and I'm about halfway through Hiragana and will soon move to Katakana, then Kanji and then study idioms and also work on building up a better vocabulary. I also use PC programs and some audio books (not the pimsleur method though)

I would like to hear from some of the Japanese speakers here, with how they've learned, what they thought was good or bad with their methods, and if they did not learn, why they got discouraged or quit.

Thanks

 

[GaijinPunch]

You really can't substitute one for the other, I hate to say. 3 years of university level Japanese can take you places, but to get a real grasp of the language, unless you can surround yourself with Japanese people that don't speak English, you'll need to spend some time in Japan. And of course, through all of this, you should be studying on your own (some uni classes go very slow... don't be afraid to be that asshole that studies ahead. ).

Don't let that discourage you though, as you don't know what lies ahead. I guess what it comes down to is reading and writing can be self-taught, listening you CAN pick up from movies (but conversation is better) but the speaking part is hard to learn outside of Japan.

Good luck!

 

[Dud]

I watch a lot of Japanese movies, and I have picked up some from that and other sources, reading through a JPN>ENG dictionary etc...

But I am terrible at it. I can't even maintain a conversation very far past the greeting.

mata shiterun da yo

 

[Malakai]

After studying the basics of Romaji, as well as some audio books, I have tried to watch a few anime vcds of mine. At first, It was nearly impossible to differentiate one word for another, but eventually, some words, particles, names, I started to hear. You pretty much have to know the words being spoken to know what to seperate from the rest of what is said. So, as it got better, it was only limited, because my word vocabulary in Japanese isn't that great yet.

Even though there are a lot of Japanese people that live nearby, around the University of Florida, I just don't know any of them. The only Japanese people I know were born in America and don't speak Japanese.

My main goal right now is to be able to read and write in the language. I'm probably a little over halfway through with learning Hiragana, then will be going to Katakana, which hopefully won't take too long. Then, from what I've read, I have to learn around 1000 every-day Kanji, which is a little more discouraging, but I'll take my time and hopefully will be able to learn.

It's a goal that I'm determined to accomplish. I've wanted to do it for many years, but got sidetracked when I was interested before. I've got a few anime, that's almost completely in Japanese, and a lot of Japanese video games from the famicom, super famicom, mega cd, and saturn systems, to practice with when the time comes.

I promised myself that if I could learn this, I would also start learning one of the languages of the cryllic writing system. My original plans were to learn both at once, but Japanese is so complex, to me atleast, that I just don't think I'd have time, or room in my brain for that matter, to learn both at once lol

 

[SkankinMonkey]

I've been studying in the University for 3 years, and before that I had a decent amount of self study. I also watch a bunch of old 80's crap japanese movies to improve my comprehension.

Remember, subtitles are bad for you.

I plan on studying in Hiroshima next year.

 

[SamIAm]

Originally posted by SkankinMonkey@Fri, 2004-11-12 @ 01:07 AM

I've been studying in the University for 3 years, and before that I had a decent amount of self study. I also watch a bunch of old 80's crap japanese movies to improve my comprehension.

Remember, subtitles are bad for you.

I plan on studying in Hiroshima next year.

[post=123602]Quoted post[/post]​

A situation remarkably similar to my own. I am in my 4th year of Japanese study now, after having taken college classes in Japanese while in high school (my high school and university are 3 blocks apart, so they have a some cool cross-study programs). Next year, I'll be in Kumamoto.

The summer before last I was in the Yamagata prefecture in a tiny town called Oe teaching English. It was only for 3 months, but absolutely nobody in this town spoke English. I spent about 1 month doing home-stays with various families, and that along with things like dinners with neighbors and social events did more for my Japanese than the two years of studying I had done beforehand (in a very tough program, no less).

My advice to anybody: learn as much vocabulary as possible. Nouns, adjectives and verbs, you know the stuff. You would be amazed at how far you can get with elementary grammar if you just know enough common words. On the other hand, you can fully understand all the highly advanced grammar patterns out there, but if you don't know some word that is crucial to what you want to say, you are totally screwed. "I hurt my back." Is not a particularly complicated sentence, but what do you do if you don't know the word for back?

 

[lordofduct]

This language well low on my list of languages to learn. Im gonna do german and french first. probably never get jap, to obsessed with math! Anywhere in the world they will understand my math!

 

[Malakai]

None of the public schools here have Japanese courses. In fact, most only had Spanish in high school, and some had french, german, and italian. I know a lot of people that took 4 or 6 years of Spanish and still don't know the language. I've also had quite a few friends take italian and german in high school or college, with very little success. That's one of the reasons why I didn't take any of those courses in school. That just seems wrong to me. What in the world are they learning in the classrooms, and why is it so important that they take a language and not become fluent in it?

I would love to go to Japan, but that's just not an option for me right now. One of my cousins moved to Munich, Germany probably 6 years ago, with no knowledge of the German language. She said she had to communicate with people, by pointing at things and various body movements. After about 6 months, she was speaking pretty good German, and now that's all she speaks, until she comes to visit the US 1-2 times a year.