Thread: Tell me about learning Japanese.

Well if you are really serious about learning Japanese then first you have to be or act Japanese. Language learning begins with imitation. If you’re watching a Japanese film or commercial or watching Japanese people in real life, observe very closely how they communicate. Pay close attention to the way they argue, laugh, nod, complain and so on. Try to imitate their intonation. Your friends may find you a little eccentric but that’s okay. This will help you build another personality within yourself- (one suitable for speaking Japanese).

Also try and learn as much about Japanese society as possible. A society in which there are a variety of individuals and races tends to evolve into a diverse culture. The United States is a good example. Quite opposite of American society, Japanese society consists of an overwhelming majority of people from the same ethnic group-Japanese. As a result Japanese society is very uniform and much less diverse than America. Japan is strongly dominated by social protocols and rituals. Getting accustomed to those protocols and rituals is crucial if you want to understand the society and language.

If you are really interested in learning the basics then you must know that Japanese has a very distinct sound system and you should practice on the vowels and pronunciation of the vowels first. Now if you are interested in learning the Japanese writing system along with conversation, I suggest that you start with an elementary writing textbook for nonnative speakers. Even if you are interested in learning the writing system, you should begin with the sound system and basic conversation first. This way you can identify each character more easily. Because writing first and speaking second will never work for learning Japanese. Watch some short anime series without the English Dub and listen for repetitive words. You’ll be amazed how much redundancy is in the language.

In regards to writing the Japanese scripts well it depends on your everyday use for it. The situation may call for a either Hiragana or Katakana. If you are looking forward to understanding and writing the basics then I would suggest Hiragana for understanding the phonetic words within an everyday conversation. I would suggest Katakana because it’s the simplest of Japanese scripts. Also Katakana is better for names that are foreign to Japanese people. For instance most English words I would have to use Katakana to emphasize on the word because Hiragana and Kanji just can’t support the wording. During speech as far as writing when talking to someone Hiragana is the way to go because you can incorporate Japanese particles, which are extremely important in Japanese language. I know it’s a lot to take in but if you follow this you will not fail. If you like you can always PM me and I’ll be happy to help you understand the language better.

Originally Posted by Switch

Well if you are really serious about learning Japanese then first you have to be or act Japanese. Language learning begins with imitation. If you’re watching a Japanese film or commercial or watching Japanese people in real life, observe very closely how they communicate. Pay close attention to the way they argue, laugh, nod, complain and so on. Try to imitate their intonation. Your friends may find you a little eccentric but that’s okay. This will help you build another personality within yourself- (one suitable for speaking Japanese).

Also try and learn as much about Japanese society as possible. A society in which there are a variety of individuals and races tends to evolve into a diverse culture. The United States is a good example. Quite opposite of American society, Japanese society consists of an overwhelming majority of people from the same ethnic group-Japanese. As a result Japanese society is very uniform and much less diverse than America. Japan is strongly dominated by social protocols and rituals. Getting accustomed to those protocols and rituals is crucial if you want to understand the society and language.

If you are really interested in learning the basics then you must know that Japanese has a very distinct sound system and you should practice on the vowels and pronunciation of the vowels first. Now if you are interested in learning the Japanese writing system along with conversation, I suggest that you start with an elementary writing textbook for nonnative speakers. Even if you are interested in learning the writing system, you should begin with the sound system and basic conversation first. This way you can identify each character more easily. Because writing first and speaking second will never work for learning Japanese. Watch some short anime series without the English Dub and listen for repetitive words. You’ll be amazed how much redundancy is in the language.

In regards to writing the Japanese scripts well it depends on your everyday use for it. The situation may call for a either Hiragana or Katakana. If you are looking forward to understanding and writing the basics then I would suggest Hiragana for understanding the phonetic words within an everyday conversation. I would suggest Katakana because it’s the simplest of Japanese scripts. Also Katakana is better for names that are foreign to Japanese people. For instance most English words I would have to use Katakana to emphasize on the word because Hiragana and Kanji just can’t support the wording. During speech as far as writing when talking to someone Hiragana is the way to go because you can incorporate Japanese particles, which are extremely important in Japanese language. I know it’s a lot to take in but if you follow this you will not fail. If you like you can always PM me and I’ll be happy to help you understand the language better.

You would have Faith as your avatar.

"Should I learn katakana or hirigana first?"

Hiragana will probably make up most of the words you need to know for basic conversations. Katakana is, apparently, used for foreign words that the original system of sounds they had didn't cover.


http://www.freejapaneselessons.com/lesson01.cfm

These will help you to learn the very basics of Japanese. Spelling, counting, dates, time, and the use of particles like wa and ga(although you may have to get very acquainted with a few English words related to grammar if you aren't already familiar with them.).


I'm sure you'll find anime includes these words and phrases nearly all the time.

The site I've linked you to includes many phrases I'm sure you'll find in anime, especially if you are watching fighting anime.

Ogenku desu ka? How are you?
Hai, genki desu. I am fine.
etc.

This site, http://www.learn-japanese.info/indexv.html, has a much larger collection of vocabulary terms.

It also has a very nice grammar tutorial as well.

All of these sites are free. I would recommend use as many sources as you can to learn your new language. I'm still in the process of learning Japanese as well, so let me know how it goes for you.

You could also go to chat rooms or play mmos where Japanese is the default language and learn that way, but you would first have to learn the characters extremely well. To figure out how to type in Japanese go to a search engine and type in "how to type in Japanese on " and then type in your OS. There should be a system compliant with your current keyboard, though you will have to learn how to retype.

What other langauges do you know?

Originally Posted by AmazeO XD

You would have Faith as your avatar.

I have Faith in my signature but my avatar is me dear. Also Faith is of Korean decent she may be Eurasian but I'm pretty positive she's Korean.

Originally Posted by Switch

I have Faith in my signature but my avatar is me dear. Also Faith is of Korean decent she may be Eurasian but I'm pretty positive she's Korean.

I mean, your sig. And I know that's you in your avatar. You so hawt!

Originally Posted by AmazeO XD

I mean, your sig. And I know that's you in your avatar. You so hawt!

Thank you dear! and you already know you're a hottie also.

So you want to learn Japanese...

Old, but funny

Originally Posted by Switch

Thank you dear! and you already know you're a hottie also.

Let's have crazy bunny love.

Switch, I had been wondering if that was you as your avatar. And I agree with Amaze.

@Sandform. I took four years of Spanish, went on some trips that required me to speak it, and had many Spanish-speaking friends.

I've been real busy in school but I've been working on learning the Hiragana alphabet in some spare time. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to do this? Flash cards? Write it out multiple times?

Thanks guys.

Originally Posted by pyroguy305

Switch, I had been wondering if that was you as your avatar. And I agree with Amaze.

Yes that is me and thanks for agreeing with AmazeO. He's a sweet guy.

Originally Posted by pyroguy305

I've been real busy in school but I've been working on learning the Hiragana alphabet in some spare time. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to do this? Flash cards? Write it out multiple times?

Thanks guys.

I would definately suggest learning and understanding the basics of the language first because there is no way possible to learn Japanese script without having some understanding of how the language is spoken. I would suggest focusing on learing to speak and understand the langauge first and then you will be further along with having a better understanding of the script.

Interestingly enough, I found this. http://www.dreamviews.com/community/...ead.php?t=6585

Wow sandform. big thread. Oh yeah and for guys learning japanese. Make sure you get a male tutor... you don't want to end up sounding like a japanese Transvestite.

There's a half decent program called Pimsleurs approach. The whole program is based on learning japanese by hearing it spoken by native speakers. It's also helpful to make friends with a japanese person studying abroad... They can teach you slang and how to properly pronounce their specific dialect. I use to have a japanese roomate that spoke a dialect that sounded a little slurred.

Also. DON'T LEARN FROM ANIME. Ok, Maybe it's ok for learning a few words and phrases. (i've picked up a few myself). But don't copy too much the tone. Think about it. Imagine a foreigner learning english from nothing but disney cartoons and then coming over here and talking like Elmer Fudd or goofy. NOT COOL.


If you know some basics of writing japanese. Theres a site called Lang-8.com. You can basically write some short paragraphs in japanese and then native japanese speaking will correct your mistakes. You can correct and help people learning english as well.

hope this helps.