Anyone learning Japanese?

[Codelyy 1,281]

こにちわ！

I've always wanted to learn Japanese. I first started around 2 years ago but only continued for around 3 months before getting distracted by other things (Uni mainly). I'm back to learning it now though! and I thought I'd make this topic to meet some others that may also be learning, or are already fluent . As I've heard, one of the best ways to learn any language is to actually speak it with others. It's far more fun then reading words out of a textbook.

Plus I think possibly seeing others speak the language far better would encourage me to continue learning

[Blackfire Blaze 118]

I've wanted to learn it for a long time, but I have never seriously devoted any time to it, sadly. I would like to be able to read it (moreso than speaking), so I can play japanese video games and read light novels that never get translated. I've watched anime subbed for years so I have kind of a short-list, half-baked anime vocabulary of words and phrases I've picked up, but I almost never speak it out loud (unless I'm in full weeb-mode and talking to myself or my monitor), lol. 

That's really cool that you're studying it seriously. This thread might be interesting; I'll keep an eye on it! 

[Codelyy 1,281]

6 hours ago, Blackfire Blaze said:

I've wanted to learn it for a long time, but I have never seriously devoted any time to it, sadly. I would like to be able to read it (moreso than speaking), so I can play japanese video games and read light novels that never get translated. I've watched anime subbed for years so I have kind of a short-list, half-baked anime vocabulary of words and phrases I've picked up, but I almost never speak it out loud (unless I'm in full weeb-mode and talking to myself or my monitor), lol. 

That's really cool that you're studying it seriously. This thread might be interesting; I'll keep an eye on it! 

You should totally learn if you can find the time! Even 15 minutes a day is better then nothing

[CameoShadowness 251]

My younger sibling used to but after our mom ruined their studies (they had special cards) they stopped.

[cuteycindyhoney 13,282]

I can pick out a word or two, from all the subtitled anime I watched over the years, but that's it. Just spoken. Not written.

Edited July 19, 2020 by cuteycindyhoney

[Magic Note 2,734]

I'd love to learn Japanese but it's so difficult to learn. Namely translating words from Japanese to English. Kanji in general is difficult to translate without a guide.

[Stardust 640]

Yeah I learnt the basics but i'm brushing up on improving particularly on kanji recognition. Duolingo is decent enough at least.. it doesn't take up much time lol. And then there is watching japanese videos with japanese subtitles and that. 

Although I took a break and now trying to improve Chinese lol. 

Also Japanese at very low level like reading hiragana should be easy enough, it's an alphabet of sorts. My friend learnt to recognise and read. Then I guess katakana. It gets much harder from there though lol I guess the first few kanji are simple then there is more and more. Also you will want to write more complicated sentences probs.

 

Edit: this chart is cool

 

Edited July 19, 2020 by flurry

[Codelyy 1,281]

10 hours ago, Magic Note said:

I'd love to learn Japanese but it's so difficult to learn. Namely translating words from Japanese to English. Kanji in general is difficult to translate without a guide.

From what I've heard, it's always best to try and completely forget about English when learning a new language (Especially Japanese). Treating it as if it's your first language since then you'll spend more time learning then trying to translate. There is a lot of Japanese that just doesn't really translate

[BlankFlank777 199]

I started learning Japanese about 7 years ago when I started watching anime but I've slacked A LOT so I'm still pretty much a beginner. I've been getting back into studying it lately but I only know probably around 500 words at this point.

[Dreambiscuit 8,022]

I started learning Japanese last year in April. I was doing very well with it but got distracted during the holidays and wasn’t able to keep up with it. I picked it up again early this year and have been at it sporadically (again because of various distractions). The basics are pretty easy to learn; Hiragana and Katakana for example can be learned very quickly, but Kanji is a whole different matter with thousands of characters to learn and understand. I’ve tried many books and other resources like Duolingo and Rosetta Stone, but I’ve had the best luck with the Japanese From Zero books. These lay a nice groundwork for Particle use, context and LOTS of other goodies. Also, ‘Learn Japanese From Some Guy’ is a great streamlined book that will give you a lot of info very quickly and simply without bogging things down too much (it’s expensive but there’s a cheap version for download). Books will teach you how to read and write very well, but speaking requires LOTS of practice. There are lots of online sources to help with this (JapanesePod101, italki, TheLanguageExchange and a few others). Rosetta Stone is good for speaking but it’s very visually based; teaching by logic rather than giving you a specific groundwork of the ins and outs of the grammar. Duolingo, though not speech-based, is also okay if you’re good at learning by logic and memorization and connecting the dots yourself. I have a CD set from Pimsleur which is teaching me how to speak the basics conversationally, but it is very basic so far. If you want a simple way to keep a toe in the water, just grabbing a simple travel guide like Lonely Planet Japanese Phrasebook and Dictionary is great for minimal requirements; it’ll keep you interested and it’s especially useful if you already have a rudimentary understanding of the language. If you want to practice speaking with a real person, the online sources can be very spendy or completely free, so shop around if you’re interested. Speaking may be the best way to learn, but having to speak it by necessity is really going to get it done. So maybe plan a trip to Japan sometime in the future (just make sure you bring a suitcase big enough to carry me along for the ride!)

[ZiggWheelsManning 7,297]

Amazed by everything you said Dreamy  

[Cash In 21,493]

Right now no, I only know a couple of Japanese words. It is something that I'd like to try learning at some point though.

[Dreambiscuit 8,022]

Since I last posted here, I found my greatest resource for learning the language, and that’s the Michele Thomas Method: Japanese. It’s a collection of audio recordings (you can get various boxed sets) from which I learned more in two weeks than in all my other studies combined. It’s ultra-intuitive, real and natural, just like learning it in the field. It’s better than Pimsleur’s audio courses because Pimsleur goes too fast and its native speakers don’t speak slowly enough for beginning listeners to understand and digest what they’re hearing. The only problem with Michele Thomas Method is that they only take you up to low-intermediate level and then the course stops. They never made intermediate to advanced courses which is extremely frustrating because no other courses I’ve found can pick up on that level and have the same effectiveness. Human Japanese (Intro and Intermediate) is excellent as another approach; it’s a computer program with lots of interactive features and very useful.  

[Fluttershutter 2,114]

This guy explains a lot of the nuances language classes don't.

 

[Guest]

At times I wish I could learn Japanese because it sounds awesome, but with everything that I'm currently doing with grad school- I rather not XD

[ZiggWheelsManning 7,297]

Don't worry buddy, one day you'll have the courage to learn the language eventually