Tell me about learning Japanese.

[pyroguy305]

I have an interest in learning Japanese. Just enough to understand some anime and also carry on a basic conversation. Should I learn katakana or hirigana first? Also what steps can I take to teach myself and how long do you predict until I reach my goal (I am a fast learner and have a knack for languages, and breaching cultural barriers.)

[Emi Chan]

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.

[AmazeO XD]

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.

[Sandform]

"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?

[Emi Chan]

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.

[AmazeO XD]

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!

[Emi Chan]

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.