Japanese language

[harold29o5 10]

anyone here knows how to speak japanese? and can share some technique on how can easily learn the language.

 

 

>Thanks in advance

[killerinsidee 14]

anyone here knows how to speak japanese? and can share some technique on how can easily learn the language.

 

 

>Thanks in advance

 

There really isn't any secret or easy way to to learn any language. You just need to spend a lot of time studying it.

[Breakthrough 11]

Rosetta Stone

Get this program it works,I used it for a little while and learned a lot.

But like Killerinsidee said You just need to spend a lot of time studying it, and I didn't have enough time.

[SaruDa 11]

The speed you learn the language is proportional to the amount of effort you put in and the amount of interest you hold. Learn the katakana/hiragana syllabaries as fast as you can. Go with a regimented program that has you learning a certain number of words per week, say 20-30(That's about 3-5 words a day, which seems reasonable.) Listen to the language as much as possible, in the form of anime, voiced eroge, etc. Start learning Kanji early. There are so many simple kanji you can learn, from the numbers 一　二　三　四　五　六　七　八　九　十, etc...to the symbols for 'day', 'year', 'month', 'tomorrow', and so forth. The best way to learn would be to just move to Japan and do immersion for a couple months, but if you're learning the way I described it should take a couple years. I don't think you can make it less than that without some hardcore several-hours-a-day shit. Immersion truly is wonderful...but I don't think it works for learning kanji.

 

I hope my rambling is of some use to you. I'm not fluent in Japanese, but I've been learning it for a long time, and am a pretty decent speaker at this point.

[Maxar 13]

Like Saruda said, learn Hiragana and Katakana really early.

At most, I'd say it takes you about 4 days to somewhat have them in your head.

These signs show up the most in Japanese language (well, Hiragana that is) and the earlier you can seriously read them, the better.

 

A method I find very useful, is the one of Heisig's "Remember the Kanji".

It helps you remember the Kanji, by making little stories for with each part of a Kanji.

It only helps you at knowing the english meaning of a word though, but you can practice the Japanese readings, getting untranslated stuff, like eroge (where you can listen how they pronounce the Kanji)

or Manga, where most often the Hiragana are written above the Kanji.

It works pretty good for me, but it might not for everyone.

[harold29o5 10]

i see learning japanese sure is pain huh hahaha

[Arco 10]

Random topic transition: how hard is it to learn english if it isn't your first language? I'm a native english speaker, so I never had to learn it (obviously). The only confusing things I can think of are contractions (like you're, don't, I'm, etc) and words like knife or knight that start with a k but sound like they start with an n.

[killerinsidee 14]

Random topic transition: how hard is it to learn english if it isn't your first language? I'm a native english speaker, so I never had to learn it (obviously). The only confusing things I can think of are contractions (like you're, don't, I'm, etc) and words like knife or knight that start with a k but sound like they start with an n.

 

No idea. English is not my first language. I started learning English in kindergarten till the beginning of high school and now I can speak/write without any problems. Countless hours on Vent/Skype playing MMOs payed off as well . I think it's much easier to learn then Japanese, at least it seems so.

Edited April 15, 2012 by killerinsidee

[Maxar 13]

Random topic transition: how hard is it to learn english if it isn't your first language? I'm a native english speaker, so I never had to learn it (obviously). The only confusing things I can think of are contractions (like you're, don't, I'm, etc) and words like knife or knight that start with a k but sound like they start with an n.

 

To be honest, the things you mentioned aren't a problem for me.

What I think is hard, is just the number of words which stand for practically the same things.

Thanks to that I have to look up like 50 to 100 words in each new Visual Novel I read -__-

And yeah, also the pronounciation of words.

There is a 80% chance that I pronounce it wrong when first reading it.

Like how I just recently learned that you pronounce "Tongue", like tung and not tonsh, or that "doubt" is pronounced daut and not dubbed.

Well, it seems to be a rather hard language to other people though.

I'm in a class that specialises in foreign languages, and we have business english and such, and there are just three people (including me) that can actually speak and understand english.

Like how we made a rollplay one day, with one person being a receptionist, and one a visitor in a hotel.

The receptionist should ask for the visitor's hometown.

What do they say?

"What is the visitors hometown?".

Yeah right. That is what you say while actually talking to the visitor -__-

[Arco 10]

To be honest, the things you mentioned aren't a problem for me.

What I think is hard, is just the number of words which stand for practically the same things.

Thanks to that I have to look up like 50 to 100 words in each new Visual Novel I read -__-

And yeah, also the pronounciation of words.

There is a 80% chance that I pronounce it wrong when first reading it.

Like how I just recently learned that you pronounce "Tongue", like tung and not tonsh, or that "doubt" is pronounced daut and not dubbed.

 

Now that you mention it, it would be really confusing to try to pronounce a lot of words after just reading them. Take 'facade', for instance. It's pronounced 'faa-saade', not 'fa-kade' like it looks. Even native speakers like me mispronounce words they've only ever read before, so I guess english can be mean like that lol

[SaruDa 11]

Now that you mention it, it would be really confusing to try to pronounce a lot of words after just reading them. Take 'facade', for instance. It's pronounced 'faa-saade', not 'fa-kade' like it looks. Even native speakers like me mispronounce words they've only ever read before, so I guess english can be mean like that lol

Not sure if your pronunciation means 'fuh-sahd', because that's how I pronounce it.

[ultimumknight 10]

It's not that I speak japanese though I can understand (reading & listening). It's mostly due to VN's, Eroge, Anime, Manga and books.

[Arco 10]

Not sure if your pronunciation means 'fuh-sahd', because that's how I pronounce it.

 

Yeah, that's what I meant (I suck at writing pronounciations). That brings up another thing that could be confusing: the whole toe-mate-o vs. toe-mah-to thing. Lots of people pronounce lots of vowels in lots of words differently, and there is no right answer to how to pronounce them sometimes. English pretty much sucks to learn, now that I think about it lol

[Kamidori 10]

u need passion , a burning passion , and that is eroge my friend

[Dan. 11]

English originally comes from Germanic roots, but with a lot of Latin and French mixed in. It has so many words from other languages (like façade) and so many weird spellings and pronunciations (like doubt) that you can't tell what a word sounds like from the way it looks.

 

Also, it's probably much harder to learn English when your first language is Japanese than it is too learn Japanese when your first language is English. English has so many more sounds than Japanese and you only need to memorize kanji, but you have to learn all the sounds that each letter and combination of letters can make.

[SirHenry 10]

Random topic transition: how hard is it to learn english if it isn't your first language? I'm a native english speaker, so I never had to learn it (obviously). The only confusing things I can think of are contractions (like you're, don't, I'm, etc) and words like knife or knight that start with a k but sound like they start with an n.

 

Speaking from personal experience, i learned English by playing tons of videogames and reading lots of books (about videogames) while having a dictionary at hand.

It took me around 3-4 years to be able to read an entire book without needing to resort to a dictionary, and that was when i was 12 or something. Honestly, when people ask me how did learn English so easily, i tell them that it wasn't easy. But i kept at it because i was having fun reading things like "Earthbound" or some Asimov book.

 

IMO, when learning a new language, the most important thing is motivation. I found mine in videogames and Sci-Fi novels.

A few months ago i found my motivation to learn Japanese in Jun Maeda and Romeo Tanaka novels. Of course, that was just a few months ago so i'll get back to you about Japanese in a few years...

 

BTW, Spanish is my first language just FYI.

[Caelistas 12]

English originally comes from Germanic roots, but with a lot of Latin and French mixed in. It has so many words from other languages (like façade) and so many weird spellings and pronunciations (like doubt) that you can't tell what a word sounds like from the way it looks.

 

Also, it's probably much harder to learn English when your first language is Japanese than it is too learn Japanese when your first language is English. English has so many more sounds than Japanese and you only need to memorize kanji, but you have to learn all the sounds that each letter and combination of letters can make.

 

True, my native language is dutch so it was super easy to "learn" english, seeing as dutch (and german) are veeeery similar to english. (English, dutch and german were once 1 language about +-600 years ago (give or take)).

 

For example a lot of common words:

 

vork - fork - forke

appel - apple - apfel

eten - eat - essen

 

I could go on and on really

[Xenoxblades 10]

No idea. English is not my first language. I started learning English in kindergarten till the beginning of high school and now I can speak/write without any problems. Countless hours on Vent/Skype playing MMOs payed off as well . I think it's much easier to learn then Japanese, at least it seems so.

 

Yep, I think that too.

 

 

The speed you learn the language is proportional to the amount of effort you put in and the amount of interest you hold. Learn the katakana/hiragana syllabaries as fast as you can. Go with a regimented program that has you learning a certain number of words per week, say 20-30(That's about 3-5 words a day, which seems reasonable.) Listen to the language as much as possible, in the form of anime, voiced eroge, etc. Start learning Kanji early. There are so many simple kanji you can learn, from the numbers 一　二　三　四　五　六　七　八　九　十, etc...to the symbols for 'day', 'year', 'month', 'tomorrow', and so forth. The best way to learn would be to just move to Japan and do immersion for a couple months, but if you're learning the way I described it should take a couple years. I don't think you can make it less than that without some hardcore several-hours-a-day shit. Immersion truly is wonderful...but I don't think it works for learning kanji.

 

I hope my rambling is of some use to you. I'm not fluent in Japanese, but I've been learning it for a long time, and am a pretty decent speaker at this point.

I'll try what u said. I didnt have a starting point, now I can do sth in the meantime!

[Ryu 15]

If you study an averange of 3-4 hours a day, you need at least 3 years of study to understand a simple newspaper and up to 6 years yo dominate the languague (that if you study every single fucking day)

[RJei 12]

If you study an averange of 3-4 hours a day, you need at least 3 years of study to understand a simple newspaper and up to 6 years yo dominate the languague (that if you study every single fucking day)

 

Damn, out of all 3 languages I environmentally learnt since I was a toddler, why couldn't 1 of them be Japanese!?

[Caelistas 12]

I would gladly trade in my french speaking/reading/writing skills for the same abilities in japanese.

 

And before you ask, yes my french is good.

[Hime_Takamura 10]

Rosetta Stone may be good, but it's so expensive. I use a free site called Livemocha. I can't say how good it is for learning from scratch, but it's pretty good. It's easier for me since I took 3 years of Japanese in high school. but you can get help from native speakers on there. Highly recommended.

[Dan. 11]

Rosetta Stone may be good, but it's so expensive. I use a free site called Livemocha. I can't say how good it is for learning from scratch, but it's pretty good. It's easier for me since I took 3 years of Japanese in high school. but you can get help from native speakers on there. Highly recommended.

 

I used Livemocha for Spanish in high school. Being able to talk to native speakers was great. I also recommend it.

 

Oh, and Rosetta Stone is only expensive if you pay for it...

[Lanselot 10]

Lulz, I'm in the middle of learning japanese, and... what a paaaaain xD

When I finished the hiragana and started with the katakana, I was so full I kept confusing them @_@

 

It's my 4th language, so my head starts to be somewhat full of languages, but I don't wanna give up o:

Btw, if anyone needs help with spanish, guess I can help. I'm a native speaker, so I guess my level is quite good.

Edited May 30, 2012 by Lanselot

[OneManArmy 82]

It's my 4th language, so my head starts to be somewhat full of languages, but I don't wanna give up o:

Holy shit, you sure have a talent for languages. Mind to learn german? Or try one of those complicated native american ones.