Learning Japanese 101

[shivath]

First of all, sorry for the somewhat missleading title. And wasn't sure where to put this thread so hope it came at the right place.

I'm sure some of you have learned what japanese you know from scratch. With or without help from others. I'm more or less just looking for tips and help for learning japanese. It's just one of those things I want to do in life. I've downloaded like 8 gb of audiobooks and ebooks but seeing I don't have any friends that want to learn japanese I will have to do it alone. Honestly, even with all the stuff I've downloaded. I have no idea where to start :p

Aaaaaanyway, to sum it up. I'm sure some of you have looked at learning japanese or actually went through it to the "end". Just hoping maybe some of you could take a few minutes to point me at the right direction as to where to start. And even better, if you got time maybe post some links to websites if you got.


Hope that makes sense to someone...and thanks in advance for any help.

[mori]

starting by learning your hiragana and katakana is probably the advised route.

http://nihongoresources.com/language/lessons.html

nihongo resources has probably the most comprehensive online lessons in terms of quality and ease of use + they start you off right from the beginning with learning the kana before following through a logical structure.

evening classes or a tutor are probably your best bet if you are really serious about learning though, if you can do something like that I'd highly recommend it. I know I learnt way more in classes than I ever managed by myself.

[shivath]

Thank for you the link.

As for classes, I would probably go for that if I could but as far as I know there aren't many places in Norway you can learn japanese in class. I know you can in some university but that's like on the other side of the country and I'm starting a year at a private school here in August.

Again, thank you :) Everything helps. If anyone else got anything to add or suggest, don't be afraid :P

[spacecat]

Well I'm still learning but I'm always happy to help and answer questions. If I somehow forget about this thread and u ask a question I haven't answered pm me. I still have a long way to go but it's fun learning with others for sure :)

[negativzero]

some awful luck you have there!

btw, if you do need any help, do feel free to post up here or Pm me, about any questions. i'm always willing to help anyone learn japanese.

oh yes, if you're in search of textbooks, might i sugest this set of textbooks
http://www.3anet.co.jp/english/books/books_01.html
this is the set of books my university professor is using to teach us. kinda useful too and i'd bet they'll serve you well too.
think you can find them off amazon

[yanniv]

Does anyone know of a good website where I could type in Romaji and get an English definition? I'm trying to work on my vocabulary.

[Shannon]

Can anyone give me that tells your the differences between に、を、へ、が、and　は？ I'm still learning Japanese, and that's really one of the things I like to forget.
Like へ is for directional purposes, etc.
And が for past tense or something?
I forget completely, since I don't have summer classes.

[yanniv]

Can anyone give me that tells your the differences between に、を、へ、が、and　は？ I'm still learning Japanese, and that's really one of the things I like to forget.
Like へ is for directional purposes, etc.
And が for past tense or something?
I forget completely, since I don't have summer classes.

Some quick points:

に is used for location.
を is used for action.
へ is used for direction.
が is used for the subject.
は is used for context.

If you have any further questions, just ask away.

[Shannon]

Thank you very much! ^-^
It's very appreciated.

[Shinrin]

Just curious, are there any way to learn Japanease through Romaji?
Having prononce and translation of it without the Kanji, Katakana etc.?

I'd like to learn Japanease, but the signs scare me off for now.


In other word im curious more towards the speaking then the spelling.

[spacecat]

If thats the case then you're probably better off learning from audio tracks you can download. If you want to do it online that is. If you get a tutor in real life they will teach what you want to know. When me and my tutor first started we focused on speaking and the sheets they gave me had the sentence 3 times, once in english, once in romaji and once in kana/kanji. Romaji is good to see so you know what you're actually saying I guess. If you are only really interested in speaking though I'd suggest using more than text otherwise you may not know if your pronunciation is right.

[Shinrin]

True, still even the stuff about the prononce ain't the most important nor is the spelling for what i'd like to learn at first...
I'd prefeer to know a couple of words and spelling in romaji before ever giving a shot at the kanji, Katakana etc.
How to pronounceing correct is good, but the most important thing for beginners is to be understod, and get what others say.

Would help alot for when i watch raws i suppose... Well it's over 8 am... so i better be off to sleep Good morning or rather good night(been up since 2 pm yesterday)

[yanniv]

Here is a VERY good website to practice your Hiragana and Katakana. Once you've mastered those two, move on to the Kanji section (bottom right of home page) and try your luck there.

www.realkana.com

[shivath]

Figured I could post this...if any admin/mods feel it shouldn't be here then feel free to delete. Which you would anyway, lol. I haven't tried this torrent myself and the site under says it doesn't have any seeders. BUT on miniova at least it says it has seeders. Consider yourself warned you might not ever finish it.

12 gb of ebooks, audiobooks and programs.

http://www.torrentz.com/5a6bd65813a1eddb8d2bf2e3b9e19213142a4a48
http://www.mininova.org/tor/182496

[spacecat]

Here is a VERY good website to practice your Hiragana and Katakana. Once you've mastered those two, move on to the Kanji section (bottom right of home page) and try your luck there.

www.realkana.com (http://www.realkana.com)
This site is fantastic, i highly recommend it also. Thanks for sharing Yanniv.

[shivath]

Here is a VERY good website to practice your Hiragana and Katakana. Once you've mastered those two, move on to the Kanji section (bottom right of home page) and try your luck there.

www.realkana.com

Thanks for this site :D Really liked it and I find it easy to use to learn little by little if that is what I want. But one little question;

Under Hiragan and Katana it says 'wa' then 'o' under it. Is this just a typo or what's going on with that? :) Seeing I looked at another chart where it says 'wo' for both. Just want to try to avoid learning the wrong thing.

www.realkana.com for first and http://japansugoi.com/wordpress/hiragana-charts-for-japanese-learners/ for second.

Thanks in advance.

[Riekie]

Thanks alot for the links everyone! will put them in 'Favorites' immediatelyXD

[Saffire]

Thanks for this site :D Really liked it and I find it easy to use to learn little by little if that is what I want. But one little question;

Under Hiragan and Katana it says 'wa' then 'o' under it. Is this just a typo or what's going on with that? :) Seeing I looked at another chart where it says 'wo' for both. Just want to try to avoid learning the wrong thing.

www.realkana.com for first and http://japansugoi.com/wordpress/hiragana-charts-for-japanese-learners/ for second.

Thanks in advance.My understanding is that it's pronounced differently in certain circumstances. When used as a particle, it's pronounced "o", in names it's pronounced "wo". When practicing I tend to write it as "wo" just to distinguish it from a normal "o".

[shivath]

My understanding is that it's pronounced differently in certain circumstances. When used as a particle, it's pronounced "o", in names it's pronounced "wo". When practicing I tend to write it as "wo" just to distinguish it from a normal "o".

Thank you for the reply :)

[Axie]

realkana.com is amazing! I'm already learning, thanks yanniv and everyone for the links. X3

[shivath]

realkana.com is amazing! I'm already learning, thanks yanniv and everyone for the links. X3

I know how you feel. I was "scared" of hiragana and katakana. Didn't REALLY want to start looking at them but I'm surprised how well it's going so far with the help of that site. Only bad thing is I'm getting a headache of all this signs, lol. Guess it could just be all the time infront of the computer :rolleyes: Need to get some flashcards or something.

[Ametatsu]

*tries out everybody's links*

Another two useful sites:
http://www.timwerx.net/language/index.htm (grammar - adjective forms, loads of verb forms, and a really good explanation of particle use. All in romaji)
http://www.learn-japanese.info/indexgk.html (grammar/vocab)

[shivath]

Finally "done" with learning the hiragana and katakana. At least I can READ them. I don't do too many mistakes testing with them but of course I never expected to be "perfect" right away. I guess none of you needed to know this but at least it shows it's possible to learn these, lol. If I can do it, everyone can.

Now I'm going to try to stick to the nihongoresources.com (http://nihongoresources.com/language/lessons.html) lessons. I had a quick look at the next thing and it looked as confusing as hiragana and katakana did at first :rolleyes:

Thanks again to those that added links and other info here.