Recommendations on learning Japanese

[kate100]

I've to give my opinion about Japanese Course
The course layout is very nice. Subscribers receive one-to-one attentions. The annual fee of $23 is more than reasonable for the care subscribers seem to receive. There is many mp3 file and flash games.
And... You can find there free hiragana&katakana flash lesson.
Very recommendable.

[Moe Moe Taiga]

I realize that this is a very old thread, but I was wondering: Has anything come out in the past years that would help me learn. Because I would love to learn Japanese (very cliche, I know) so I could watch some R2s. I know of Rosetta Stone and actually have all three language packs. I'd like to hear mainly from people who know Japanese that don't live/haven't lived there. (Sorry to the mods for this massive Necro-post, but I didn't think it was appropriate to start a new thread when this one is stickied.)

[Quarkboy]

Originally Posted by gurugt705

I realize that this is a very old thread, but I was wondering: Has anything come out in the past years that would help me learn. Because I would love to learn Japanese (very cliche, I know) so I could watch some R2s. I know of Rosetta Stone and actually have all three language packs. I'd like to hear mainly from people who know Japanese that don't live/haven't lived there. (Sorry to the mods for this massive Necro-post, but I didn't think it was appropriate to start a new thread when this one is stickied.)

(Although I live in Japan NOW, I learned Japanese before I got here )

There are only 3 ways to learn a language, with the best being a combination of all 3:

1. Classes. If you can take a course at a college or university, do it. Might not be the fastest way depending on the course, but it'll drill the language into you (and having actual tests and quizzes never hurt)
2. Books. For a beginner I'd suggest the series of textbooks called "Genki" which have very good english grammar explanations and a large amount of material (each book covers about 1 year of a college course). For self study I also recommend "Japanese: Step by Step" which is a small, compact text with a ton of information in it, organized very logically.
3. Friends. Make a Japanese friend and try and get them to speak in Japanese with you. Can be done over the internet but better in RL.

Systems like Rosetta Stone are a waste of money, in my opinion. They might help you quickly understand very basic Japanese, but they'll be useless to progress further than that and you'll need to use something specifically developed for Japanese language learning.

[Moe Moe Taiga]

Originally Posted by Quarkboy

(Although I live in Japan NOW, I learned Japanese before I got here )

There are only 3 ways to learn a language, with the best being a combination of all 3:

1. Classes. If you can take a course at a college or university, do it. Might not be the fastest way depending on the course, but it'll drill the language into you (and having actual tests and quizzes never hurt)
2. Books. For a beginner I'd suggest the series of textbooks called "Genki" which have very good english grammar explanations and a large amount of material (each book covers about 1 year of a college course). For self study I also recommend "Japanese: Step by Step" which is a small, compact text with a ton of information in it, organized very logically.
3. Friends. Make a Japanese friend and try and get them to speak in Japanese with you. Can be done over the internet but better in RL.

Systems like Rosetta Stone are a waste of money, in my opinion. They might help you quickly understand very basic Japanese, but they'll be useless to progress further than that and you'll need to use something specifically developed for Japanese language learning.

Thanks, I'll try those books you suggested. The colleges around where I live don't offer Japanese and very few Asian people live around here (Lots of Hispanic people though, too bad I don't want to learn Spanish). And of course I also thought Rosetta Stone was too good to be true, so I got it through...other means.

[Quarkboy]

Originally Posted by gurugt705

Thanks, I'll try those books you suggested. The colleges around where I live don't offer Japanese and very few Asian people live around here (Lots of Hispanic people though, too bad I don't want to learn Spanish). And of course I also thought Rosetta Stone was too good to be true, so I got it through...other means.

There's a good list of resources I wrote up --SNIP-- no linking to fansub sites or howtos.

[zalder]

So please forgive me but I don't have the time to read thorugh this whole thread and my situation is a little special. I would like to be able to read manga in the original language and maybe eventually get paid for translating it (yes I am crazy I know) or at the least be able to travel to japan to observe how they teach on the community college level so I can use it to improve teaching in the United States. So I am starting with Rosetta Stone to learn Japanese it seems to be working amazingly well. I am on the second lesson and begining to be able to recognize hirigani simple ones for young old male and female but the fact that I can do it at all scares me.

What are good supplements that I should use for this? I have computer and internet access for the foreseeable future. Thanks

Oh and if it makes a difference I am really zaldar...just still having issues with the login it seems.

Particular question, the software I am using has all the alphabets romanji to katana I know to stay away from romanji and except for the first time through grammer parts I generaly do, but of the others which should I focus on? Hirigani I am beginig to understand... kanji and furigani scare me...

[HitokiriShadow]

Originally Posted by zalder

Particular question, the software I am using has all the alphabets romanji to katana I know to stay away from romanji and except for the first time through grammer parts I generaly do, but of the others which should I focus on? Hirigani I am beginig to understand... kanji and furigani scare me...

Is hiragana and furigana. Kanji is the only one that ends with an "i".

Furigana is just hiragana when its right next to a kanji to show you how to pronounce it. The three types of characters are hiragana, katakana and kanji, and you need to learn them all if you actually want to learn the language.

Learn the hiragana first, then work on the katakana and kanji. Hiragana are the most basic characters and are everywhere. Katakana is a lot less common but you still need to know them, as they are used for loanwords and non-Japanese names (oh, and onomatopoeia like sound effects). Learn the kanji last. If you really put your mind to it, you can get the hiragana and katakana down pretty well in a few weeks, maybe even less. You'll spend several years learning the ~2,000 "basic" kanji.

I've always been under the impression that Rosetta Stone is really bad for learning Japanese and your post only reinforces that. It sounds like Rosetta stone is just throwing things at you with no real rhyme, reason, or any useful guidance or explanation. The fact that you had to ask how that question about hiragana, katakana and kanji means the program didn't tell you how to go about it. I also noticed that you mentioned nothing about grammar or sentence structure. Has it even explained anything about the grammar, or is it just throwing vocabulary and phrases at you?

You should really look into getting some sort of actual books designed to teach the language. I've been using Yookoso for my classes and its worked out pretty well for me. Just note that HAVE to buy the workbook too; its not just more exercises, that's where all the kanji information is that you need to actually learn it. This thread also has other book recommendations. Actually reading the thread would be a good idea.