Green Tea Forum

Canundrum69 · Posted: Feb 06, 2007 3:28 pm Post subject: Learning Japanese

THis is a bit tough for me, because I have ecently beome aware that I seem to be turning into a JapanOphile (of sorts).
I have recently aquired an interest in Japanes food and drink, I have even started reading a lot about Japans History and Architecture. and so following suit I started trying to learn to speak Japanese.

THis is difficlt for me anyway, since I really have no one around to speak it back to me. SO i have been listening to a variety of "Learning Japanese CD's and MP3's" .. THey teach you how to say the words, but don't explain much and it is all somewhat related to Tourism.

I can try some of it out on my friends and family but of course they look at me sideways and giggle.

I don't have enough time right now to devote to a dedicated class at a college. But if I did I am not sure i can muster the courage to actually go.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

"Watahsi wa Amerikajin no Baka Desu"

Kevangogh · Forum God Joined: 19 Jul 2005 Posts: 916 Location: Japan

There are a lot of routes to take, depends on your goals. If you primarily want to learn how to read and write, then you should probably take college classes. You can do it on your own if you are really disciplined but a class helps with that. If you want to primarily learn to converse, then I don't think college is the way to go, at least that's my experience. I knew people who graduated with college degrees in Japanese that would be hard pressed to order something at the 7-11 in Japan. In my case, I could speak Japanese pretty well before I went to college so I just focused on reading and writing.

For conversation, the pimsleur cd's are pretty good, if not expensive. You can definitely learn basic conversation with them. I learned French with them well enough so that when I went to France last fall I could get around pretty well.

That, and a good book. "An Introduction to Modern Japanese" by Mizutani is a better than average book I think.

By the way, your last statement is not actually correct. It should be (if I'm getting your meaning right), "Watashi wa baka na Amerika-jin desu" as the "baka" is a na type of adjective. That said, it's not something I would actually advise using in real life, heh.

Canundrum69 · Posted: Feb 07, 2007 11:10 am Post subject:

Hahaha
I appreciate the response......
Yes I am primarily concerned with being able to converse.
but I am not so much interested in how many tickets i can buy or where the best amusement park is. .... all of this is well and good but is not practical for me at this juncture.

I will see about grabbing Pimsleurs and see what its got

Thanks for correcting my grammar, that is the biggest problem i am finding with these CD's they do not tell me how to really sructure a sentence, so i have to try and guess.
and they don't explain the small words, the wa's and na's and no's etc.....
I guess part of the problem also is tha i am maybe subconsciously expecting some simplified form of learning, like some of the tutorials the make for grade school english classes ....

that's just me, and I still feel like a stupid American Wink

Thanks again

Kevangogh · Forum God Joined: 19 Jul 2005 Posts: 916 Location: Japan

It's nice to learn grammar and all, but honestly the best way to learn a language is to get the feel of it through use. You get to know where to add a "wa" or a "ga" naturally, even though you may not know exactly why it is supposed to go there - you just know. Grammar is important to learn, but nothing takes the place of use.

When it comes to CD's, it depends a lot of the system they use. I can say that the Pimsleur CD's are a very good system, you defintely can learn with those while you are driving to work, etc. They're pricey though.

Chip · Posted: Feb 07, 2007 2:05 pm Post subject:

...anyone know if Rosetta stone CD's are any good. I have seen commercials for them.

Kevin, what you say makes a lot of sense...how does a baby learn to talk...through listening and use...with no concern for grammar.

Canundrum69 · Posted: Feb 07, 2007 2:21 pm Post subject:

sandi · Posted: Jan 17, 2008 5:35 am Post subject: pimsleur, rosetta, podcasts, etc

I took a variety of approaches to self study. Using varied tools keeps my mind interested and makes it "stick" better. Seven years ago, I started with the Pimsleur CD's and have now converted them to MP3s that I can listen to them anytime, anywhere on my iPod. I also have used Rosetta (I&II) over the past 5 years, but it requires setting aside time on the computer and if you have a small screen (and aging vision) it is somewhat difficult to follow the small images. It is challenging though and am glad I started with Pimsleur (I-III) which helped me to make more sense from the Rosetta images. My versions of Rosetta don't have any options for written practice. Six years ago I bought an inexpensive "Power Japanese" PC program and really enjoyed the "puzzle-game" format (guessing the written characters correctly after listening and vice versa). When in Japan is was so much easier because everytime I saw a sign I would make a game out of recalling things I had studied. Another helpful took was my Wacom Tablet- I used the Windows Paint program to practice my characters. I was GREAT because I could vary pen pressure to get the correct effects and the various colors and settings for the "paint brush" kept it fun.
Now back in america I have to rely on music or podcasts and forego the visuals. I am trying to find new podcasts but it is quite difficult from here. I sometimes go to the yahoo.jp site but most japanese podcasts are linked to the japanese iTunes version (and doesn't work in the america iTunes version) and my podcaster program (Media Monkey) can't use the iTunes link. So if anyone over there has podcaster links to post I would love to have them! Thanks, Kevin for the 2 Enka podcasts I found on your site last year.
Sandi
Shizuoka Sencha Hatsumi - Monthly Delivery Service

greenisgood · Black Belt Joined: 20 Jan 2008 Posts: 112

I haven't really tried learning Japanese yet but I used to use Rosetta Stone for free on my local library's website. Of course the dirty capitalists ended the library subscriptions but now my library directs to the free online alternative Mango languages. Although the learning style is not as wide-ranging in options as Rosetta Stone (which included audio, visual, text-based, and verbal if you have a microphone), I have found that its good for learning basic phrases and the structure of the language. Its perfect for a mostly audible learner like myself.