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snoopi88 (Offline)
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Lightbulb What's the best way to learn Japanese?? - 02-11-2008, 02:49 PM

hmm...heard from alot of pple that the best way is actually to go to Japan and stay there....You will naturally learn Japanese...

But i believe alot of us can't go to Japan...so any suggestion to learn it the best way...

watching J-dramas?
Listening to J-music?
or...?

i personally feel that translating lyrics might be of help in the vocabulary and grammar...but speaking and written is different?like informal, formal and the most polite form??

maybe someone can suggest..?
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02-11-2008, 02:55 PM

Quote:
Originally Posted by snoopi88 View Post
hmm...heard from alot of pple that the best way is actually to go to Japan and stay there....You will naturally learn Japanese...
I disagree - all you will hear is native speech so will barely comprehend anything!

As I have said to everyone who asks this, the ONLY way in my opinion is go to a language school, or get a private tutor to teach you.

Obviously, living in Japan gives you many chances to use what you are learning which speeds the rate at which you learn, but it is still a slow process!
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02-11-2008, 11:22 PM

Actually, I've heard you can easily live in Japan for years without knowing any Japanese at all.. which is scary. (But I guess people live here in America alright speaking little/no English, so.. >.>)

There are no schools where I live that teach Japanese, so I'm teaching myself.. it's not impossible ^^
Instead of trying to find the best source for learning.. don't settle on any one source at all ^^

I checked out every "Learn Japanese"-type book from every library within an hour of my house, over time.. some of them I really liked, and some were so horrible I didn't read past the first chapter.

The website in my sig is linked there because it is my absolute favorite game/tool for learning kana and kanji.. it's super-helpful (in my opinion), so I want people to see it and try it out :3

Watching Japanese anime/television/etc helps to pick up vocabulary, and eventually grammar.. and music is also useful.

As long as you're enjoying it and switching it up, you'll continue to make progress, I think. ^^


Finding a native speaker to practice with would probably be very helpful.. but I've yet to find one.
I registered at blogs.yahoo.co.jp.. sometimes I log on and try my hand at reading blogs written by Japanese people, and writing them comments. XD;


[LRNJ] Fight slimes, save a princess.. learn Japanese. O(≧∇≦)O

Last edited by Togii : 02-11-2008 at 11:26 PM.
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02-12-2008, 12:00 AM

Quote:
Originally Posted by Togii View Post
Actually, I've heard you can easily live in Japan for years without knowing any Japanese at all.. which is scary. (But I guess people live here in America alright speaking little/no English, so.. >.>)
A few of the guys I go drinking with have been here for about 6 years and never studied any Japanese. They have not had too many problems but, for obvious reasons, can't engage in any form of communication

Yeah, English is ok if you are in McDonalds, but it doesn't help if your cellphone bill is all wrong and you need to get it sorted
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02-12-2008, 12:34 AM

well the best way to learn is t by practicing and if u live there for awhile without talking to any1 i doubt u will u will be able to learn it any quicker
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02-12-2008, 01:23 AM

games can really train your reading and listening. Mostly of the novel games are voiced and have text to read. but mostly with a little hentai content, if u dont mind, XDDDD


白鳥は哀しからずや、空の青、うみのあをにも、染まず ただよふ。 
美魚さんは白鳥、僕は青、ぼくらは交わらない

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02-12-2008, 08:36 AM

Quote:
Originally Posted by snoopi88 View Post
i personally feel that translating lyrics might be of help in the vocabulary and grammar...but speaking and written is different?like informal, formal and the most polite form??
I don`t recommend lyrics at ALL. For one, as they`re not using normal patterns, are usually fairly "artistic" and leave out important bits, they`re incredibly difficult to *properly* translate. You`ll find "translations" all over the net, but most of the time they`re not really accurate - as they`re lyrics and not actual speech or literature far too much ends up being guessing.
And even if you DID somehow amazingly manage to translate it properly word-by-word, they use patterns not used in normal speech so it`s not going to help you there. Lyrics are good for learning new words MUCH MUCH later in the game when you understand the grammar and can recognize the difference between common and lyrical patterns.

Quote:
Originally Posted by chachava
I disagree - all you will hear is native speech so will barely comprehend anything!
And I disagree with you.

How does a baby learn to speak any language? They don`t comprehend *anything* at first, and the entire world is new to them... But yet, a typical child will learn to speak fluently in about 3 years. If we discount the actual time it takes for a child to gain the physical and mental skills required to be able to speak in the first place, we`re talking less than 6 months. Children removed from their native language environments and dropped into a different language are often indistinguishable from their peers in 3 months - without the use of any language study courses, etc.

When you are in an environment where you don`t understand anything, your brain will go into overdrive to try and link bits together and make sense of things. It actually slows you down to try and translate in some form. Unless you are ignoring the language and searching for English (One of the most common things that happens with the "been in Japan 10 years and can`t speak a word!" people) you will naturally learn from the most commonly used phrases and words - just like a child does - and you will acquire the language quite quickly.

On the contrary, if you`re in an environment where you understand about half (as it`s in your native language) and don`t understand half (in Japanese) - make a guess which half you`ll come to depend on for information and which half will become background noise...

-------------------------------
As for a suggestion;
If you can`t actually come to Japan, I would make use of realistic manga. If it takes place in the real world, in a modern setting, without characters who have speech impediments, you can almost guarantee that it will use normal patterns of speech. Literary Japanese is different from spoken Japanese, so normal books aren`t of much help. Manga is usually written in *all* spoken forms and often has furigana on the kanji.
As the pronunciation of hiragana is pretty much static, if you`re certain of that then you can have a good idea of how things are said.

Nothing, however, compares to actually HAVING to use the language to survive and communicate though.


If anyone is trying to find me… Tamyuun on Instagram is probably the easiest.

Last edited by Nyororin : 02-12-2008 at 08:40 AM.
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02-12-2008, 05:27 PM

i think a counter question is more appropriate-
how well do you want to learn japanese?
i get the impression that most people would be happy with memorizing a tourist phrasebook. but, if by learn japanese you mean you want to speak, read and write like a japanese, i'd say go to school for 6 years, then work in japan, then marry a japanese boy/girl....and so on.
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02-18-2008, 12:44 PM

if you really wanna learn japanese (like i am at the moment)
i found this really good learning thing !!!!!

just download this , its really easy to use
i started about 4 weeks ago and already ive made really good progress !

Learn Spanish, French, Italian, German And Other Languages With Free Software

^_^ hope it helps
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02-18-2008, 02:11 PM

Wow thanks, I'll try it out.
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