Self-Study Japanese?

[Imma Be]

I want to self learn Japanese. Not as a class because I would not be allowed to do that, but just because I have always wanted to learn it.

So I was wondering if some people could give me a list of books I can buy to help me learn, websites, videos etc.

I looked up Japanese in the search bar, but all the posts there are like over a year old so I couldn't get much out of it.

So any help on how I can self study Japanese would be great!!! I watch Anime, read manga, watch Live Action Anime in Japanese I listen to Japanese music and I also watch some TV shows in that language. I do all my projects on Japanese culture as well. So I'm exposed to it a lot, which means that I can pronounce stuff pretty well.

But any help to actually learn the language would make me very happy!!

[!ndigo]

Watching subbed anime is good but if you don't know any Japanese you might tend to tune out the sound and just focus on the writing so its not ideal for a beginner.

If you know a bit of vocabulary and grammar its lots of fun to try to pick out the parts you know and match them to the text (in some cases the writing is entirely different than what was originally said)

I am learning out of the Japanese for Young People book and think its pretty good.

I have also used Japanese in Manga Land and Kanji de Manga but they are a bit less structured.

Another good thing to do is make an account on LiveMocha, they have basic Japanese lessons for free and you can chat in Japanese with other users

But honestly the very best way to learn the language would be to find a native speaker who is willing to teach you.

[pumkinns]

i learned a few japanese words and sentences by watching anime. subbed in english. it's awesome. to help more:

1- get a Japanese-english dictionary

2- learn the basics which you can find them online from a translator (basics like hello, goodbye, good morning, how are you today? ..... etc) of course keep on practicing these with people.

3- start watching anime subbed in english.

4- learn cursing words, so you would know when someone is cursing at you.

5- when you feel you are learning a bit, find a native japanese speaker, and have a chat with him/her.

animes that i recommend (for you i say stay away from bleach and Naruto *FOR NOW* because they are too long, and start with an anime that has a completed short series; like =

*my favorites* and yes i do watch A LOT of anime

Full Metal Alchemist

Death Note

Soul Eater

Vampire Knight

[Imma Be]

Thanks ^__^

I think that I will do that. I just really love Japanese, everything about it. I do all my projects and papers on it. I want a way to get closer to the language I love so much. So learning it is what I will do.

Thanks for the advice and tips. ^__^

[Bishup]

Japanese is all right but highly over-rated. I like the culture too and I find Japanese enjoyable but the amount of English loan words is ridiculous. Japanese are very introvert and very xenophobic so I would argue it is not very rewarding to learn because some people might simply refuse to speak to you on the basis that you are white and foreign. Luckily I never experienced this and the people I was with were very kind and very extrovert.

If only my school offered Chinese.

[Imma Be]

^ lolz

i'm not white. I'm african american. But I get your point.

But I love everything about Japan anyway.

[Bishup]

Japan is awesome. I just love Tokyo and Sushi omg. It's good. If you want to learn Japanese how about looking at this http://www.guidetojapanese.org/learn/grammar. It's the holy grail of online Japanese language learning tools. I love it because the Grammar rules are so well layed out. It had some sample phrases after each grammar rule so it is really useful. Enjoy! As for books, I'm not really experience but for my class we use Minna No Nihongo which is pretty nice actually.

[charlidea]

I live in Japan and have done or the past 6 years. I knew nothing about Japanese when I came, and although I can hold conversations with people and live just fine, I would definitely say that I'm still not fluent and thats after living here and being around the people 24/7.

Also, what Bishup said about them being xenophobic is true. You can learn to speak Japanese, and yes, there are open minded Japanese people (they tend to be teenagers mostly, who are curious about the west), but sometimes it's just easier not to talk to people.

My honest advice if you really want to learn is don't bother with textbooks. They haven't really helped me at school, and believe me, I've been through a lot of them. Instead, try to find someone you can speak/write to in Japanese who will be willing to correct you if you make mistakes. You learn Japanese a lot faster if you apply it rather than learn it, and Japanese grammar rules change so frequently that there's no point in studying formal Japanese.

Hope that helps a little, if you want to know anything else, then let me know, I'd be glad to help out,

[vilankz]

Once you learn some basics and know how to put some sentences together, I suggest going to lang-8.com (for anyone whose learning any language and wants to perfect it). You can blog there and native speakers will come and correct you It's extremely helpful. If you're not that confident in your Japanese yet, then including an English translation (or whatever your native tongue is) is really helpful because they can double check what you're trying to say

[Yashanin]

I would recommended to take at least some sort of classes outside school. It helps you to stay more motivated because you have a teacher, I've been watching all sorts of anime series and listening to Japanese music ever since I was in 6th grade and from there I only learnt some words, swear words and common expressions like 'Makenai!' 'Onegai''Arigatou' 'Kawaii desu ne' 'Usatte yo'. It wasn't until I started taking Japanese classes 6 months ago, weekly, that I could actually form sentences and talk. Use Japanese series and music as a motivator and a reminder but don't use it as the only mean to learning. I'd highly recommend taking classes.

[Imma Be]

Thanks for all the responses!

They were all very helpful.

I think I will take a college class for it during the summer, and see how it helps me.

[Peanut Butter Jelly]

how do you even have time for this?

[Imma Be]

lolz

I'll be doing it in the summer when school is over.

If I did it during the "IB season" I would die.

[ninety]

lolz

I'll be doing it in the summer when school is over.

If I did it during the "IB season" I would die.

No you wouldn't! I've been self-studying Japanese for the past 5-6 years and I only started taking proper Japanese classes about 2-3 years ago. I've temporarily stopped with the Japanese classes because my teacher isn't teaching anymore, but I tell you - self-studying a language during IB is totally possible! In fact, for me it's a great hobby/distraction and source of stress-relief when I need a break from IB! In fact, I just took the JLPT N2 exam last week

I wouldn't recommend self-studying in the early stages of language learning (as I did), because this is the point when you grasp the fundamental framework, grammar and other basics to the language. If you don't have a good, fundamental framework, it's hard to build on top of it. For important things like this you need to learn in a structured way from a teacher of some sort (but having said that Tae Kim's Japanese guide is pretty good). Watching anime and dramas and picking up grammar from there isn't good at this stage - you'll start assuming a lot of things about the language, and while some of them might be right, other times you'll be terribly wrong and you won't even know! For example, anime characters tend to use informal language with everyone, from strangers to close friends. In real life nobody does this because it's extremely offensive. Besides, anime characters tend not to speak using complete sentences (e.g. dropping particles, using contractions like 'jya nai' -> 'jyan') so you won't be able to learn much grammar.

BUT, once you get to an intermediate level you can start using anime, movies, dramas and other things as sources of reference. If you can, try watching them without subtitles. If you hear a word you don't understand, just check it in a dictionary. These days I watch everything Japanese without subtitles.

I self-studied for a couple of years and then when I finally started taking formal lessons, I realised just how terribly embarrassing my Japanese was. I had to learn from the basics all over again, to correct all the things that I'd picked up from various places and other stuff that I'd assumed about the grammar, vocab, etc.

A surefire way to improve drastically in a short period of time is going to Japan, and then speaking Japanese with everyone you meet. Don't be embarrassed to ask for directions or to talk to strangers. Even when hotel staff try to talk to you in English, reply to them in Japanese. Every time I go to Japan I find that my Japanese improves by A LOT. Also it's true that the Japanese tend to be quite xenophobic. I'm just lucky that I don't get that much discrimination form Japanese people because although I'm Chinese, I'm often told that I look quite Japanese.

Oh, and another thing about xenophobia: even the Japanese expat families that live near me seem to have a very close-knit circle, and they don't seem to buy local products at all! They get all their food and day-to-day stuff from Japanese brands. But this is all just based on my observations...

Apologies for the long ramble. Oh, and if you need any help with Japanese, feel free to PM me

Edit: I second Bishup's recommendation 'Minna no Nihongo'. Our Japanese class has used the entire series from the first book to the last and it's quite good. Gotta love the awkwardness of the characters in their kaiwa videos. The only problem with the series is that it practically has no explanations for the grammar, and it's got minimal translations, except in the vocab list at the start of every topic. It's because the series isn't targeted at self-learners - it's meant to be used with a Japanese teacher.

Edited July 8, 2011 by ninety

[A lei :3]

This is a really good thread thanks for all the advice guys. I'm really interested in learning Japanese but I never thought about the xenophobia issue before I am african by the way. I have studied chinese for the last 3 years and this summer I was in Haerbin in northern China for two weeks absolutely loved it, local people so friendly and willing to speak chinese to me. I'm actually starting IB this winter. I can't decied whether it is worth me doing japanese ab intio, anyone who has done it what is the difficulty level and do you think it is worth it? thank you.