lol, had my jap test this week, totally forgot what i drafted up the night before for the writting tsk :S
Ok, I need some tips in learning Japanese. I'm taking the impossible route and trying to learn it myself ( since unfortunately I have no idea about any actual Japanese classes where I live, and even if there were any, I'm fully committed to my current course of study so I unfortunately have no time at the moment to take one). So I guess what I'm asking is how should I start out? What are the best ways to go?
I started out with self-study too. I agree with Ange. The first thing i learned was hiragana and katakana. It makes learning MUCH easier if you can start by reading the language (even if you dont understand what you're reading). You kind find lots a books on japanese that have all the japanese text in romanji, but i think its more effective to dive right in and always read japanese in hiragana/katakana. Aside from that, just by yourself some text books and slowly work through them. Patience is the key. You're not going to be able to learn the language in a week.
It's up to you, really. Hiragana is probably the most useful, as it's used far more than katakana, which is mostly just used for foreign words (mostly...). But both have the same amount of characters, and neither really takes that long to learn, I think. Learn whichever interests you first!
For in-depth information on hiragana, go here. For in-depth information on katakana, go here. I'd personally try to explain both myself, but these two websites do a far better job explaining them. B-)
From personal experience, I learned hiragana before katakana, but that was strictly because learning both at once would've been too much to digest. Both are important when learning Japanese, so people should learn both when first studying Japanese. If anything, people should focus more on katakana since they don't appear as often as hiragana. In all seriousness, it's one thing to forget some kanji, especially at the elementary level, but to forget material as fundamental as katakana would definitely not speak well of the person's capacity for Japanese. Of course, that's my personal opinion of it all. B-) For in-depth information on hiragana, go here. For in-depth information on katakana, go here. I'd personally try to explain both myself, but these two websites do a far better job explaining them. B-)
I disagree. You're going to have a really hard time seriously studying Japanese if you can't read hiragana. Not being able to read katakana won't cause you much trouble when it comes to learning grammar, for example. If you can't read katakana, it'll hurt your vocabulary a bit, but that's it. Of course, if you can't even be bothered to learn both hiragana and katakana you're going to be completely screwed when it comes to kanji, so yeah... Here's a nice website that'll let you practice both hiragana and katakana at the same time (or seperately if you prefer): http://dmdl.uvm.edu/cmoran/japanese/index.html
It's funny, I had to sit down and memorize hiragana, but I actually managed to just pick up katakana and learn it without ever really studying it. I was surprised at that; I didn't think I could just pick up part of a language without sitting down and memorizing it. Of course, the downside to not having studied it, for me, is forgetting how to write "ne" and totally forgetting the existence of "nu"...but I'm close enough. I'm just amazed at myself every time I can make out an English word or phrase in katakana. Like "relax room collection" on some toys or something...such a random phrase, yet I was able to make it out. xD Anyway, I have a particle test on Saturday. I'm actually not too worried about that though. It's the kanji test the next week that's troubling...T_T.
Hiragana and Katakana is an easy to learned maybe its can take 14 days, as if I learned it. the book that i read is Yasashii Nihon-go and also Minna Nihon-go 1. about Minna Nihon-go 2, I still looking for it. because My friends said that if we can knowing Minna Nihon-go 1, we can speak or read almost of Kanji's Words. For beginner Yasashii Nihon-go is suitable for learning japanese. because there is a step by step, from the start we learn about hiragana and katakana including how to speak and the structure how to make a sentence, also the meaning. About Minna Nihon-go is only hiragana, katakana, and kanji words, No meaning. that is fantastic book. we should know what the sentences are said. it test us tobe perfect for learning Japanese. One Thing please for Everyone who's have the book (Minna Nihon-go 2) please share it. i'm very happy if I know the book is. ----------------------------------------------------------------------
nice topic.. i used to have japanese-english dictionary.. if my plan pushes through.. i'll take formal japanese language lessons..
I have a question, I need to learn/know a word, since I'm going to Japan soon and i think I'll need it. Does anybody know how to say "to"? As in: where's the train to..."
i think everytime i go back, i feel the great need to self study Japanese weeks before my departure date, i review phrases that i use often, and memorized a handful if useful ones, i do feel the need to learn at a more formal setting,in a classroom, cause i do feel i have a lot to learn, and reading the characters will be more helpful.
^Yes. I also desperatly review every Japanese word and phrase I know and write things in my calender which I think I'll need. I have about a week of freetime before I go to Japan. (where all my exams are over and such) where I plan to learn as much new stuff as possible. Thanx a lot Pretty sure that'll come in handy.
