Page 1 of 1

Learning Japanese

Posted: Fri Mar 24, 2006 12:14 pm
by Snake700
Does anyone know any websites where i can learn Japanese because i´m sick and tired of waiting for Snatcher and Policenauts to be translated

Posted: Fri Mar 24, 2006 12:37 pm
by Cyan Garamonde
Well, here's one: http://www.thejapanesepage.com/howtowow/index.php
I haven't browsed it that much, but I guess it's good.
The best thing though would be to take some real lessons I think...

Posted: Thu Mar 30, 2006 12:41 pm
by Tao
Yeah, if you're really interested in learning the language, the best thing to do would be laying down some money for a real lesson in a classroom environment.

Posted: Thu Mar 30, 2006 2:55 pm
by Cyan Garamonde
One should be sure to try and get a good teacher too. My Japanese teacher is, well, Hungarian XD
Okay, nothing wrong with that, but it still feels strange. I still think it's best to take lessons from a native.

Posted: Thu Mar 30, 2006 4:43 pm
by Artemio
I a gre with that Cyan. Look for JICA places or recommended by the embassy. The place I learn from here at Mexico has only Japanese native speakers that don't speak my language, that helps a lot.

Posted: Fri Apr 14, 2006 2:46 pm
by Marc
Learning Japanese has more rewards than just being able to play games in their original language (a considerable benefit in itself). It also exposes you to an extremely unique and interesting culture.

I would certainly recommend getting some instruction from a native speaker at first. Here's a little bit about my history with Japanese.

I started studying by myself with a book in 1997 (can't remember the title nor find it anywhere), which I found a little difficult. It was all romaji, which probably isn't the best way to go. I recommend learning hiragana and katakana first. After you learn to write them, then move on to learning kanji.

In 1998, we hired a private tutor (the wife of one of my mom's colleagues) to come to our house every Thursday for 2 hours. This was great because it gave me a chance to practice with a native speaker. We continued doing this until the fall of 1999, when she and her husband returned to Japan. From then until 2001, I continued to study by myself with books (I'll list some at the end).

In 2001, I got accepted to the University of Edinburgh, where I have studied Japanese and linguistics since (going to get my master's in June). Again, a great benefit here was the classroom instruction with both native Japanese and second-language learners (2 professors from England in their 30s and 40s). The latter are good at explaining ideas and words that a native Japanese might struggle with (but eventually the best way to grasp them is through a Japanese language dictionary, i.e. one that explains them in Japanese). I found myself usually ahead of the other students, so most of my time was spent with books (again) doing individual study.

From 2004 to 2005 I studied in Tokyo at Sophia University, living with a host family. It's very hard to understand certain aspects about the language and culture without going to the country itself (true for any course of language study).

After returning to Edinburgh I completed my dissertation on an area of Japanese and linguistics, which is actually based on a videogame and something that I'll be putting online sometime in the future. :)

Now, I feel classroom instruction to be not the best way to spend my time. You get to a certain point where there's little else you can learn in a classroom that you won't get by reading newspapers, language books, hearing the language through film and TV, and getting out to the country and practicing.

Anyway, here are the most useful books for learning Japanese, in my opinion:

Writing System:

-The Kodansha Kanji Learner's Dictionary (you also might want to check out the New Japanese-English Character Dictionary, from Kodansha, which I hear is good, but I haven't used it myself so I can't comment on it).

This is great beginning reference tool for kanji. The only downside is it doesn't use kana for its entries but romaji instead.

-The New Nelson Japanese-English Character Dictionary

Any serious learner is going to need to pay up for this beast at some point. Weighing several pounds, it has just about every kanji character you'll ever come across in Japanese.

-Basic Kanji Book Vol. 1 and 2 (Bonjinsha)

Great way for practicing kanji. Also see the Intermediate volume after a few years' study.

As for hiragana and katakana, it doesn't really matter which you use, virtually all of them are the same - they show the stroke orders and have spaces for writing practice. The most important is getting the right stroke orders when you first learn them. Some people don't and have to therefore unlearn their writing habits and learn the new ones (if they want to be writing them in the "correct" order - I suppose at the end of the day no one's watching you writing so it doesn't matter that much).

Grammar:

-A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar by Seiichi Makino and Michio Tsutsui

This is what really made the finer point of Japanese grammar clear to me. It helped me crack the language, so to speak. Also see A Dictionary of Intermediate Japanese Grammar by the same authors. That one goes into even more depth and is, again, indispensible.

-Nihongo Bunkei Ziten (Kuroshio)

This grammar dictionary lists every single Japanese grammar structure in existence, including some that are no longer used. The only downside is it's all in Japanese, so don't go anywhere near it until after a few years' of study.

If you don't go for classroom study, you'll need something in addition to grammar dictionaries - you'll need books that walk you through the structure of the language and its characteristics. The only books I can comment on are the ICU Japanese for College Students books, since those are the ones I used in college. They're all right, but there are probably better books out there now. Try checking out Amazon for some ideas.

Hope that helps! Good luck. :) Feel free to ask any questions.

And by the way...Snatcher's already been translated. :P

Posted: Fri Apr 14, 2006 2:58 pm
by Cyan Garamonde
Thanks a lot Osiris! I'll definitely take a look at these books.

Posted: Fri Apr 14, 2006 3:25 pm
by Marc
I forgot to mention, 2 great books for colloquial Japanese are Mangajin's Basic Japanese Through Comics 1& 2. Definite plus for their enjoyable presentation.

Posted: Thu May 04, 2006 2:11 pm
by Artemio
For people that are about 1 year into Japanese, I'd recommend this Nintendo DS based dictionary, it has great Kanji handwritten recognition...

I'd also recommend Dokusha and pDict for the Palm.