Need advice, or rather suggestions
March 15th, 2010This is what I have:
Pimsleur Japanese Audio Cds
Eurotalk/World Talk Japanese (Japanese computer games)
Japanese for Dummies (book)
Japanese in 30 Hours (book)
A Guide To Learning Hiragana & Katakana (book)
A Guide to Reading and Writing Japanese (book)
Pre- Ordered - Drive Time Japanese Cds (learn japanese in the car)
This is why im not in a normal Japanese class:
Once again, to be blunt, I narrowly graduated High School and was next to dead last in my class, right now im struggling through some low level computer certification classes at a local college, and my GPA is complete garbage. Japanese classes tend to only be offered by universities and ive had 4 of 4 aps completely rejected, im devising alternative strategies as of now.
This is what im doing:
Right now ive been forcing myself to hours of repeated hours of audio cd listening, and reading through my "Japanese for Dummies" book to grasp the basics of the Japanese language, and its structures of sentences. Ive been told by some people (not experts, because I dont know any) that getting down the basics of speech is good before diving into elements of reading and writing, so thats what im doing. (even though i have some writing books already)
So, I want to know primarily if there is anything im missing, anything else I need to buy, and am I doing this in the correct order more or less? Or is it completely wrong? If it is wrong what do I need to fix this issue?
kthx!
but alright then, hiragana it is
You should be able to type Japanese on Just a normal PC running XP. Do you have a language bar on the bottom of your screen, saying ENG or something like that? If not use help to try and find it. Someone else can probably tell you how to do it better than me though :) I'm not so good with computers.
That doesn't make any sense. :? I can't understand what you mean. :?
Once you have a basic understanding of how japanese is read, I think then you can start with basic grammar. Then focus on making sure you know hiragana and katakana, and then a bit more grammar. You can start adding kanji gradually to your lessons as you learn more and more grammar and vocabulary.
It's unfortunate that you bought all these books, because the textbook I HIGHLY recommend is genki (http://genki.japantimes.co.jp/index.en.html).
What I meant when I said kana spelled from romanji, is like using the same sounds in the romanji, for the Kana symbols and turning it into a word.
like wa-ta-shi would be the kana symbols for each sound put together into one word? right? or am i just being dumb again
And yeah ill look into that genki thing, i just dont absorb and process information to well (otherwise i wouldnt be using a dummies book). I have to read and study things over and over again, in extreme excess for it to sink in, which is why I buy so much junk.
It seems that you are really enthusiastic about learning Japanese. Good Luck.
I have to agree with everyone else that the first step you need to take is to learn Hiragana. Try as much as you can to avoid writing anything in roumaji. Hiragana is a set of phonetic characters used to write in Japanese.
Watashi would be written in hiragana as わたし, although in Japanese it will actually be written as 私 (in Kanji), although the hiragana may be written on the side for spelling. わたし is still proper japanese though, and its what you should write yourself.
Roumaji is not used by Japanese and not necessarily phonetic as there are many systems using hiragana as soon as possible will save you a lot of worry. Have you worked out how to use teh Japanese IME in your language bar on your computer? To learn hiragana just practice writing out words by hand, looking up the kana when you forget them.
I also agree with absolutely everything Chabichou says, although I didn't use Genki myself.
Learn hiragana before you learn katakana. (That is a katakana workbook.)
You asked about spelling out a word in kana with the romanji pronunciation. Writing in kana is a spelling-issue not a grammar-issue.
Spell out a word in kana with the romanji pronunciation? I am not sure what you mean, but you should spell out a word in kana with the kana pronunciation. Use flash cards. Listen to words and write them in kana. Get rid of ABC's as soon as possible.
Furigana helps me in remembering kanji and my vocabulary. Normally, manga has the furigana but i dunno about storybooks.
http://www.nihongoweb.com/Hiraganapro/index.html
It seems that you are really enthusiastic about learning Japanese. Good Luck.
I have to agree with everyone else that the first step you need to take is to learn Hiragana. Try as much as you can to avoid writing anything in roumaji. Hiragana is a set of phonetic characters used to write in Japanese.
Watashi would be written in hiragana as わたし, although in Japanese it will actually be written as 私 (in Kanji), although the hiragana may be written on the side for spelling. わたし is still proper japanese though, and its what you should write yourself.
Roumaji is not used by Japanese and not necessarily phonetic as there are many systems using hiragana as soon as possible will save you a lot of worry. Have you worked out how to use teh Japanese IME in your language bar on your computer? To learn hiragana just practice writing out words by hand, looking up the kana when you forget them.
I also agree with absolutely everything Chabichou says, although I didn't use Genki myself.I downloaded a pack to allow the basic support of vieweing Japanese characters on this computer but actually couldnt figure out how to enable the typing them. So I bought a second computer with Japanese Windows xp and a Japanese/English keyboard so I could practice typing on it.
but alright then, hiragana it is
I also just ordered:
http://lp-group.com/store/tl_katakana.html#features
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-2/110498/b.jpg
Since you seem to think that Kana is so important.
Does anyone else have any suggestions for improving my learning methods?
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