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Learning japanese | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| sammiad Newbie United Kingdom Joined 5462 days ago 26 posts - 28 votes Studies: English*, Spanish, Japanese | Message 1 of 32 14 December 2009 at 10:18pm | IP Logged |
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I can't really remember how long its been since i started to learn Japanese, but its probably only been 6 months since I've studied some daily.
I'll start with a little backround info which i think is important to the hows and whys. Due to health reasons i spend a lot of time at home indoors and thought i could spend some of the time in a practical way, i could work at my own pace and find some sense of achievemnt and enjoyment from it. I've always been interested in Japanese anime and origami, and with it being so different from English i thought it would be interesting to try to learn it, and see how i got on with it. I haven't got a structured learning method, and being mildy dyslexic and uncertain over what i'm doing , I decided that there is probably a better way to work this. I understand there isnt just one way to learn and i currently dont know how well im doing. The materials i have include bbc teach yourself japanese teach yourseld instant japanese genki 1 remembering the kanji 1 pimsleur rosetta stone I'm ok at recognising hirigana, and have worked through 600 or so kanji (with anki for repeats. I can listen to dvds (films anime and tv through the net), but i find myself bouncing back and forth between thinking i should be working on the seperate pieces ( like the kanji, or listening) and the whole, like sentances and grammar. I don't really know what my aim is , but i know i want to get a better understanding of Japanese , listening reading writing and speaking. I will try to cover my progress with materials in a later post, thanks for reading 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Captain Haddock Diglot Senior Member Japan kanjicabinet.tumblr. Joined 6771 days ago 2282 posts - 2814 votes  Speaks: English*, Japanese Studies: French, Korean, Ancient Greek | Message 2 of 32 15 December 2009 at 6:39am | IP Logged |
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Cheers, and best of luck.
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| sammiad Newbie United Kingdom Joined 5462 days ago 26 posts - 28 votes Studies: English*, Spanish, Japanese | Message 3 of 32 15 December 2009 at 12:42pm | IP Logged |
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Genki 1 was helpful with each section starting with a dialogue then vocab then a grammar bit. But i found the grammar section quite confusing (i stopped reading after te-form), and although i could understand the dialogue understanding the grammar and then the exercises stumped me.
I can see how the book could be helpful but personally not able to understand the explanations i couldnt keep reading it. Rosetta Stone, was quite fun to begin with, from what little japanese i know i found myself matching what was being said to the relivent pictures, there wasnt masses of vocab or any rules or non japanese text (you could choose the font of the questions/phrases as kanji, furigani or hirigana). I'm currently on the 2nd cd and i think that although the core lessons are 30 mins are interesting, the smaller sections split into reading listening writing etc which are 5-10 mins just repeat easy bits so all you had to do was guess the answer or copy the format from their complete answer above. im still working through it though becuase its something in the language so its ok. Pimsleur seems quite clever, it gives you a small sentance or a phrase asks you to repeat it and then later changes it slightly adds another element covered and sees if you can say what it is. so in a 30 min lesson you get a fair amount of hearing and repetition, i loaded up a japanese-english word document so that i could type down some of what was being said. I understand that there are different techniques and some people find it helpful to do things one way over another, but i dont think i really know a way. School was spent doing things with the hope of remembering and guessing. Do people just repeat something until its understood? Because even thats a mixture of many possibiltys, like in what way is it understood, how is it repeated , how does reading something differ from saying it. I'd appreciate any help with techniques, ive looked through the section in the forum and some of it is opinion on things and amazingly learning 3+ languages. So any simple methods for learning how to learn would be great. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Captain Haddock Diglot Senior Member Japan kanjicabinet.tumblr. Joined 6771 days ago 2282 posts - 2814 votes Speaks: English*, Japanese Studies: French, Korean, Ancient Greek | Message 4 of 32 15 December 2009 at 3:30pm | IP Logged |
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To be honest, I didn't find Pimsleur all too useful. When I moved to Japan at the early-intermediate stage and
found I had no conversational skills, I used a combination of audio training textbooks (there are a few in Japanese only) and private tutoring. My feeling for a Japanese beginner is to focus on any hiragana/kanji-based textbook and learn the basic grammar and verb forms. The intermediate stage of Japanese is quite long and will require a multi-pronged approach. I recommend a "normal" textbook plus some kind of audio training and separate kanji drilling. You want to learn as much kanji and vocabulary as possible during the intermediate stage. There are also a few very useful books that don't teach Japanese so much as explain the concepts that are hard for foreigners. For example, Making Sense of Japanese by Jay Rubin is a must. Then for advanced Japanese, you can wade into Japanese TV, books, manga, etc. There are a few advanced textbooks, but not many. Edited by Captain Haddock on 15 December 2009 at 3:32pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| sammiad Newbie United Kingdom Joined 5462 days ago 26 posts - 28 votes Studies: English*, Spanish, Japanese | Message 5 of 32 16 December 2009 at 9:09pm | IP Logged |
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With Christmas coming up I think ill be getting some books so hopefully they will add some missing pieces.
ill write down that "making sense..." book and look into it for the new year. kanji training is the only thing that i've kindof got a handle on, i normally read a page or so , then see if later i can remember the kanji from the word. then write it down, then a third time later from the word write it on a flashcard. then add them to anki. unfortunately i tend to forget quite a few after a while and if i miss a few day i get 100+ cards (like today). In the past ive tried looking for a local tutor but havent had any luck with someone who can come and teach me. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| jondesousa Tetraglot Senior Member United States goo.gl/Zgg3nRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6267 days ago 227 posts - 297 votes Speaks: English*, Portuguese, Japanese, Esperanto Studies: Latin, Mandarin, Spanish | Message 6 of 32 16 December 2009 at 9:40pm | IP Logged |
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sammiad,
I would highly recommend kanji.koohii.com if you need help remembering kanji. You can log in to a free account and look at stories created by other users who are also using the Heisig method. This website was indispensable when I began my kanji studies. Best of luck. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| sammiad Newbie United Kingdom Joined 5462 days ago 26 posts - 28 votes Studies: English*, Spanish, Japanese | Message 7 of 32 18 December 2009 at 3:26pm | IP Logged |
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jondesousa, Thanks very much, I think I sometimes glide over the words and combine it with the line drawing of the kanji which is harder to remember if there iwnt a story involved, so i think ill have a look at some after ive registered.
And Captain Haddock, I already own that book and tried to read it but i got cofused near the start with the "ga" section, and filled it in the bookcase. It might have been a little advanced for me, and/or i started reading it expecting a clearer textbook. A couple of days ago i made an effort to get some vocab down, using iversons method (involving writing and covering up and re writting) i havea growing list. 6 at a time, and kindof linked like seasons, plate and kitchen , road village . the kanji isnt linked with it but only on those words that i know. Through someone elses link (i cant rmember who) i got to smart.fm and started 2001 kanji odyssey and japanese core 2000, which includes vocab, context in sentances, kanji spelling and plays whats said also. Ive not been using the site long and wondered does it review after a while ? Becuase i feel like i would need that. Edited by sammiad on 18 December 2009 at 3:40pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| jondesousa Tetraglot Senior Member United States goo.gl/Zgg3nRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6267 days ago 227 posts - 297 votes Speaks: English*, Portuguese, Japanese, Esperanto Studies: Latin, Mandarin, Spanish | Message 8 of 32 18 December 2009 at 3:41pm | IP Logged |
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sammiad,
KO2001 is quite good. I enjoyed using it. I tried using smart.fm's Core2000 lists but I found that KO was a good start for now. Could you post your experiences with Iverson's method as you progress? It is something that I have been meaning to try but haven't yet. I'd like to see another persons perspective on it as well. Good luck and happy studying. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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