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Best way of leaning Japanese?

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    Best way of leaning Japanese?

    Other than being in Japan? Tried a couple books and CDs in the past without much luck, would like to try again more seriously as I'm planning to move back to Japan next year plus there's too many games I'm interested in that are not being translated :P I'm thinking of going to evening classes at college, what other options are there? I've been told to look into Rosetta Stone but that costs almost ?600 which is a lot of money if its not very good.

    #2
    At uni I used Minna no nihongo, which is a set of books for each area of the language, with corresponding lessons. So for example lesson 4 in the grammar book will teach you 15 grammatical structures, the same lesson in the reading excercise book will have a reading comprehension text that uses those grammatical structures, and the vocab book will teach you maybe 30 new words which appear in the same lesson in all the other books. As I recall there are about 5 books - kanji, reading, grammar, grammar test, homework book, and maybe another one, I forget. The grammar test one includes listening tests on a CD. It'll cost you a bit, but probably less of a waste of money than Rosetta stone, if learning Japanese can avoid being a waste of money.

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      #3
      Yup agree with Noobish, minna no nihongo is a really good set to use. There's also japanese for busy people but that has a few quirks in it that my teacher pointed out, strange phrases that would never be used in modern conversation. Rosetta stone not so good as the way it teaches might help you remember phrases if you was going on holiday & needed the basics, but it doesn't let you know how the language works that clearly it's rather haphazard which you are going to have problems with later down the line.

      The thing you need to do is keep exposing yourself to it every day, if you lived in japan not much of a problem. Here in the uk you are not going to come across japanese much unless you make an effort. Find programs on youtube or listen to music with lyrics. Practice reading websites, i still find it really hard if people speak fast or mumble in japanese. I get the most practice playing games but it now means my reading speed is better than my listening speed which is not good. not really a reccomended way of learning. Games use odd grammar sometimes & weird sentance structure that you wouldnt use in normal conversation, but it's still good practice.

      Have a go learning both kana scripts first it will help you immensely in the long run.

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        #4
        I want to make a joke about leaning Japanese, but I can't think if anything. Some do it for me

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          #5
          I'd avoid anything that uses romaji at all (i.e. Japanese for Busy People). Kana is so piss easy, there's really no excuse or reason for romaji at all, except laziness.

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            #6
            Theres 2 versions of japanese for busy people theres a kana only one which was the one we were made to use in class, i agree romaji is pretty useless as it just makes things harder later on. Learning kana from the start is best.

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              #7
              Originally posted by EvilBoris View Post
              I want to make a joke about leaning Japanese, but I can't think if anything. Some do it for me
              There you go

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                #8
                I did it from a ton of manga and an electronic dictionary. And the writing practice game I mentioned in the other thread - nazotte oboeru otona no kanji renshu. For grammar I used some Oxford book.

                If you want to learn what people actually say, pay attention to high school anime.

                The biggest thing you need is consistency in you studies. If you can't spend at least an hour a day EVERYDAY on it, don't bother.

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                  #9
                  I do evening classes and they are perfect for me. I tried using books and CDs at home but I always got distracted and never made the time. Class is good because it gets you to focus and you get to practice talking to other people.

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                    #10
                    I'd recommend a class too; I did a year and a bit of evening classes at a local uni and found it worked very well for me. It's also where I met my now-girlfriend! We worked from the Minna no Nihongo textbooks for some of it and as others have said, they're good, however I'm not sure I'd want to dive in completely on my own. If I wanted to take it to the next level I'd probably look at doing the same again albeit at somewhere like SOAS.

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                      #11
                      Evening classes are definitely the way to go, if only because it ensures you get into a routine of sorts. Some people are really good at self-studying, but most people would benefit from classes first of all just to get the basics cemented, and maybe do some self-study on the side if you feel like it.

                      As others have said, avoid romaji. Learning hiragana and katakana is one of the first things you should be doing regardless, and is probably what you will tackle first on any evening course.

                      In the longer term, get into a consistent studying routine. Make sure you study for at least a set amount of hours every week just so you get that feeling of making progress.

                      Outside of the evening courses and textbooks, it doesn't have to cost a penny. Don't bother paying ?600 for Rosetta Stone or anything like that, there are plenty of free materials and resources online to utilise once you've got the basics down.

                      I started with evening courses and ended up doing the language as my degree. Not convinced this was the wisest life decision I ever made, but evening courses are definitely a good place to start and helps you gauge how much time and effort you really want to put into it.
                      Last edited by sj33; 15-01-2013, 09:50.

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                        #12
                        I know katakana but not hiragana so need to get into that. Wife is moaning at me for not trying hard enough. Will check those books mentioned too.

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                          #13
                          I've always wondered how a lot of people end up learning katakana before hiragana to be honest, given that it's the least common of the three writing scripts! I guess katakana can be helpful when navigating game menus though.

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                            #14
                            Winning Eleven player name editing. Started to recognise the characters and flow of it.

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                              #15
                              I learnt hiragana first as that is more useful reading, then you can pick up kanji from repeated readings in books with furigana (hiragana to show the reading of a kanji).

                              I've never taken a class.

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