what is the best way to learn japanese?

[KyleGoetz]

Originally Posted by angelmod

the languages i speak are: german, french, arab, english + 2 arabic dialects.

btw: i know my english is a disaster

IN that case, my point sort of still does stand. And, no, your English is very good. I never would have assumed it wasn't your native language had your first post not had your location as "Germany" (and then I think there was one minor error that otherwise could have been chalked up to "accident"). Especially with phrases like "my English is a disaster," which sounds very native.

Given that you live in Germany, I'm assuming you learned German as your native language and started studying English from a young age. It doesn't hurt that if you live far enough west in Germany, you'll naturally know some French, too. You might have even studied it in school for all I know.

Now Arabic + 2 Arabic dialects still stands up. I'm willing to guess you're ethnically Arab and this is why you speak at least one of these (and the other two were easy to learn, just like German->English is sort of easy and English->Dutch isn't too bad, either).

On the other hand, Japanese will be nothing like anything you've ever learned, and you're not learning it through absorption or in school like you have done before.

You need to mimic those two methods: use it as much as possible, and study it like you study languages in school.

Robinmask raised a good point about the writing systems, too. English, French, and German all share the same alphabet (with German merely having an extra one, ß). Arabic is a more difficult writing system than the Roman alphabet, but far easier than Chinese/Japanese.

So I want to point out to you that, in my experience, a significant hurdle to becoming good at speaking Japanese will be kanji. You'll hit a wall as an intermediate and spend years there unless you manage to learn 12–1400 kanji by then.

As for your current beginner status, I've said before to you: study it like you study any other subject in school: use it daily, read about it daily, do practice problems out of a textbook daily.

[Realism]

Originally Posted by angelmod

ive triyed so many years to learn japanese alone without help, nearly every night getting with an mp3 player in my ears listening to japanese lessons (pimsleur)...but it doesnt work i cant hold anything of it in my brain.
i cant find a native speaker for conversations.
watching japanese movies?...most of time they use a slang.

Ok.....you can't remember a thing....even you listen to Japanese lessons.

I'll tell you why you can't remember them..


It's because those lessons are boring as hell. What are those Lessons like??

私は田中と申します？？
私の車が青いです。。。

Are those your lessons??



You must listen to things you're interested in.....what are you interested in? If you're interested in ......soccer....then listen to Japanese soccer podcasts. Trust me...then you'll wanna know EVERYTHING they say.


Oh...and your comment about movies using slang??

That's just plain wrong.

Movies use regular Japanese. Seriously think about it....you think a movie script can be accepted if all they use is slang??


Even a Yakuza movie, a samurai movie uses regular Japanese for the most part....

[angelmod]

Originally Posted by Realism

Ok.....you can't remember a thing....even you listen to Japanese lessons.

I'll tell you why you can't remember them..


It's because those lessons are boring as hell. What are those Lessons like??

私は田中と申します？？
私の車が青いです。。。

Are those your lessons?.

unfortunately i cant read or write in japanese but my lessons are from PIMSLEURS.

if they dont use any slang in the movies than its good for me, so i know im learning the right prononciations.

[RobinMask]

Originally Posted by angelmod

unfortunately i cant read or write in japanese but my lessons are from PIMSLEURS.

if they dont use any slang in the movies than its good for me, so i know im learning the right prononciations.

I can't be bothered to write out something I've recently written. . .

hi,do you want to live in Japan too?

I'd check out the sixth page of that thread if I was you. It is a very bad idea to learn a language from anime, movies, music etc. I'm sure other members can give a more detailed and accurate explanation that I can, but basically if I was you I would learn from a textbook, study course and preferably a real teacher.

Even if the movies don't use slang, they will never fully explain to you the grammatical nuances of a language, or the various counters and how they are used, or about various homonyms that may confuse you. Don't learn from movies, learn from a teacher.

[KyleGoetz]

Originally Posted by angelmod

unfortunately i cant read or write in japanese but my lessons are from PIMSLEURS.

if they dont use any slang in the movies than its good for me, so i know im learning the right prononciations.

I'll say it one more time, then I'm done: How did you learn English? Learn Japanese the same way.

[StonerPenguin]

@ Realism
I don't watch a whole lot of Japanese movies (though I've seen a few), but I do watch lots of J-drama. There is a considerable amount of slang in the ones I watch and I normally watch school life drama.

@ AngelMod
I hate to break it to ya but Pimsleur is not the best way to learn Japanese. I've listened to Pimsleur a year or two ago and really didn't like it because it goes to ridiculous lengths to avoid grammar. For example on one of the first CDs I remember them saying "How do you say English?" *pause* "Eigo" "How do you say English in a sentence?" *pause* "Eigo ga". This is incorrect because it leads you to believe you need to attach 'ga' to 'Eigo' in sentences but that's not true. For example;
「イギリスでは何語が話されていますか。」 [IGIRISU de wa nanigo ga hanasarete imasu ka?]
"What language is spoken in the United Kingdom?"
「英語です」 [Eigo desu]
"(It is) English"

Or;
「父は高校で英語を教えています。」 [Chichi wa koukou de Eigo wo oshiete imasu.]
"My father teaches English at a high school."
You didn't need 'ga' in these sentences. You need to study grammar, I suggest you visit here; Chapter 1 | TheJapanesePage.com or here; Basic Grammar | Tae Kim's Guide to Learning Japanese

You may wanna get yourself a textbook

[angelmod]

oh yes a textbook is necessary indeed.
im not learning only from watching movies, its just another source...im using different ways excepted a native speaker.
the place where i live here in germany havent any japanese peoples.

btw: thanx for the helps and advices.

[Realism]

Originally Posted by StonerPenguin

@ Realism
I don't watch a whole lot of Japanese movies (though I've seen a few), but I do watch lots of J-drama. There is a considerable amount of slang in the ones I watch and I normally watch school life drama.

Depends on what you think is a considerable amount...

Is 10-30% really that much??

I watch a lot of J-Drama as well....and the amount of actual vocabulary they use far far outweighs the slang...no matter how much slang they say.


Even if you watch Naruto or Bleach...rarely do they use that much slang...most of it is just normal stuff.

[RobinMask]

Originally Posted by Realism

Even if you watch Naruto or Bleach...rarely do they use that much slang...most of it is just normal stuff.

Sure, if you don't include Nel's baby-talk on Bleach, or the constant "dattebayo!" in Naruto as slang or inappropriate Japanese to be teaching a beginner . . . If I sat through an episode of either I'm sure the slang, colloquialisms and contractions of speech would far outweigh any benefits to having sat through said episode studying it.

Plus, seriously? It's an anime! Would you tell someone learning English to sit through cartoons to learn? Yeah, I can just see Elmer Fudd or Daffy Duck being great to teach to English leaners, and likewise Naruto isn't good for Japanese learners. The language is nearly always exagerated.

[Realism]

Originally Posted by RobinMask

Sure, if you don't include Nel's baby-talk on Bleach, or the constant "dattebayo!" in Naruto as slang or inappropriate Japanese to be teaching a beginner . . . If I sat through an episode of either I'm sure the slang, colloquialisms and contractions of speech would far outweigh any benefits to having sat through said episode studying it.

What is there to include? I never seen Bleach but things like "だってばよ！” consists of what.....5% of the actual dialogue they say??

Let's say that Naruto says "dattebayo!" 5 times an episode....that's like 1% of the time that he will use that word....everything else that he says will be actual vocabulary and real Japanese.


If you sat through an episode you will pick up the slang the fastest...because they're the easiest to remember. I don't recommend sitting through an episode. I recommend UNDERSTANDING every single sentence that is coming out of their mouths. Understanding, and listening comprehension are the most important thing. Even if you have to listen a thousand times a day...just understanding is so important.


And plus, I'm sure Elmer Fudd and Daffy Duck speaks absolutely fluent English. Sure, they may have childish "inflections" in their tone that suggests that it's a kids' show. But mostly...it's still the same stuff.

A cartoon character may talk like " Hey you, get off my chair!"

While in real Life you say "hey...please get off my chair"

Is there really that much of a difference here???



Whatever....just do what you think helps you