how to learn japanese

[takiko]

actually, I've learned japanese for 3 years in university.....
but I think my japanese is not that good........
is there anyway to improve?

also I would like to buy japanese novel.......
do you have any novel recommend to read?

[Seiryuu]

I have this hunch that someone will tell you to buy a textbook.

[duron]

A friend of mine once said, if you really want to learn the native language get a native speaking girlfriend

[Nathan]

Originally Posted by duron

A friend of mine once said, if you really want to learn the native language get a native speaking girlfriend

Just be careful not to pick up the female-style speech patterns.

[Ronin4hire]

Originally Posted by takiko

actually, I've learned japanese for 3 years in university.....
but I think my japanese is not that good........
is there anyway to improve?

also I would like to buy japanese novel.......
do you have any novel recommend to read?

What aspect are you having trouble on?

You've been studying longer than me (I've only in my second year in Japanese study) so you're probably more knowledgable than me. However I managed to get a "language buddy" with whom I speak Japanese with in exchange for her practicing her English. This has helped my confidence loads and has also helped me become comfortable speaking. Just make sure you have a dictionary at hand so that you can express new words. That way your vocabulary expands also.

Anyway hope that helps

[MMM]

It's important to keep in mind that Japanese just takes a lot longer to learn for English speakers than, say, Spanish or Italian. Look at a Japanese 4th year textbook, and they are studying what 2nd year French students are. It takes about twice as long. So it is easy to feel like you aren't progressing, but stick with it. 3 years is more than a lot of people make it.

[SSJup81]

I've been studying Japanese semi-formally since October of 2005, and I feel the same way where my skill is concerned, but like MMM said, just continue with studying it.

Of course, the best way to learn any language is to emerge yourself in it, but of course this is easier said than done.

[Payne222]

Yeah, I'm in my 1st year of Japanese and I have the (Kanji) reading and writing level of a kid 1/2 way through first grade. Haha. (^_^')>
But I'm in my 2ed year studying German and I can have full out conversations,
write papers, etc.
It's that most European languages are easier and that's why English speakers
can pick up on it faster. Japanese has all these things which seem crazy
in English.

[biohazardchick]

Yeah Japanese is a hard language to learn. I'm going on to taking my third year this coming fall in high school and I'm still having trouble. When I feel like I'm getting nowhere, I look at my earliest papers and I realize how much I've learned. The first year I took it I got really into it and was already speaking brokenly by the end of the year . Now I can feel myself sliding which is a bit frustrating at times.
Anyways, a good way to practice your Japanese reading is to buy manga in Japanese because it's easy to read and it repeats a lot of the same words through out to help get you familiar with the vocabulary. Hope that helps

[Hip]

My girlfriend is Chinese >.> and she speaks Mandarin Chinese...So I hear SOME of what she says and I understand when she's mad, sad or happy. Or when she's talking about me to her father ><....But someone told me that Chinese is a lot harder to learn than Japanese from an American standpoint...Is that true? cause it doesn't seem like it is in my opinion...But that could be because I'm around it and hear it?