Language learning advice please?
Hi,
I have recently started self-learning Japanese as I’m fascinated by both the language and the people.
I’ve come across some good websites for learning the first sylabbury (or alphabet)namely Hiragana.
One website in particular here uses Mnemonics to help remember the characters, such as the Hiragana symbol for ki looks like a key etc.
However they advise to learn to read them first rather than write them down, so you recognise them and are able to read with much less effort.
I have found this to be true but based on what you guys out there have found would you give this same advice? I’m worried I may find it harder to actually write the symbols out if I don’t learn them verbatim at the beginning
Cheers
I have recently started self-learning Japanese as I’m fascinated by both the language and the people.
I’ve come across some good websites for learning the first sylabbury (or alphabet)namely Hiragana.
One website in particular here uses Mnemonics to help remember the characters, such as the Hiragana symbol for ki looks like a key etc.
However they advise to learn to read them first rather than write them down, so you recognise them and are able to read with much less effort.
I have found this to be true but based on what you guys out there have found would you give this same advice? I’m worried I may find it harder to actually write the symbols out if I don’t learn them verbatim at the beginning
Cheers
0
Comments
With written characters, some people need to engage muscle memory by writing things down. Some people don't.
Use the approach that makes the information stick in your head. That's the correct approach.
But, writing out can help you remember what they look like and how to recognise them, so it might be of benefit for that reason.
From this you will build up an understanding how the structure of the language is created. How the nouns and verbs are located and how the are set within the context of asking questions, the tense of the statement etc.
The best way to learn is by simple repeating the lessons over and over again. So it is suggested you spend 1-4 hours a day each day of the week going through the lessons. I would suggest a language tape well more likely an MP3 these days. Then play it while you travel to work and back again maybe during lunch. The more you hear the language and practice reapeating it back the quicker you will learn.
I used the Michel Thomas tapes which I thought where very good. I would play 2-3 sections a day and then repeat them every few days for weeks. Once you have a good understanding you can start adding your own words and creating your phrases. Once you can speak it well enough only then start to look at reading and writing Japanese.
I did a few lessons and also a set of two books
https://www.google.co.uk/search?pws=0&gl=uk&q=japanese+for+busy+people&gws_rd=ssl
Nonetheless, my basics were very useful in 6 months in Japan.
However, only in shops and out and about away from the company.
All of my colleagues wanted to practice their English rather than me practice my Japanese. It was very frustrating.
If you want to learn to write simple characters, maybe learning stroke order and direction would be useful. But as I said, I never got that far.
https://www.google.co.uk/search?pws=0&gl=uk&q=hiragana+stroke+direction&gws_rd=ssl
Overall, I loved learning spoken Japanese. It's handy being very regular.
I have a general question now about Japanese if I may?
Basically when you ask someone 'where are you from?' it's 'anattawa America gin des ka?', with the anattawa and des representing the 'you' and 'are'.
But if you answer 'No, I'm not Japanese' its 'iiee, watashiwa America jaarimasen'
(sorry about the pigeon romanji)
But where has the 'des' gone? Surely the amswer to are you American is no, I am not American?
What I meant to question was when you ask someone "Are you American?' it's 'anattawa America gin des ka?', with the anattawa and des representing the 'you' and 'are'.
But if you answer 'No, I'm not American' its 'iiee, watashiwa America jaarimasen'
(sorry about the pigeon romanji)
But where has the 'des' gone? Surely the answer to ';are you American?' is no, I am not American? So why is the 'des' there in 'you are' but not in 'I am not'?
Your examples and questions have complicated answers that touch on politeness.
1. desu is more complicated. It's a polite copula. Don't translate it to mean "is" or "are".
For example 「元気」("genki") and 「元気です」 ("genki desu") both mean "I'm well", but the second one is polite.
2. Your example should be:
「アメリカ人ですか？」 「いいえ、アメリカ人じゃない」
in romaji it's "amerika jin desu ka?" "iie, amerika jin jyanai"
You'll notice the lack of anata and watashi in both those sentences. One, anata is rude, don't use it.. just pretend there isn't a word for "you" in japanese, because they're all considered rude. Two, using "watashi" when it's not necessary makes you sound egotistical. It's obvious from context who you're talking about, so you can (should) leave it off.
3. arimasen or ありません is only used for inanimate objects. It means "doesn't exist" or "don't have". So your example was saying "american" was a thing that doesn't exist. jyanai is the stem that you want to use to negate "american".
Finally, you had asked for some resources for learning. Here are some good ones:
Rikaikun - chrome extension that lets you translate kanji by hovering over it.
Jisho - good japanese/english dictionary
Real Kana - excellent website for practicing katakana and hiragana.
Wani Kani - website for learning kanji. You can learn about 50 kanji for free, then you have to subscribe.
Tae Kim's Book - the ultimate book for learning japanese.
Google's IME - For Windows, this is how you type 日本語 with a standard english keyboard.
Finally some youtube things:
Japanese Basic I - Video series from the 80s that is cheesy as hell, but pretty useful for beginners. The entire series is on that channel.
Ekubo Basic Japanese - (Ekubo means "dimples", makes sense once you see the teacher).. this channel contains a ton of classes. stick to the Ekubo classes. It's also really good immersion since she only speaks japanese.
Hi,
Thankyou for such a comprehensive answer (no pun intended
Can I ask how long it took you to master Japanese as it's obvious that you have a very strong knowledge of the language yourself?
I have a supplementary beginners question, if I may.
In Western culture, when meeting friends or arriving at place of work or telephoning a known colleague, it is common to greet people with "Hi/Good Morning. How are you?"
In many years of working for a Japanese company with many Japanese expats and visiting Japan myself, I never heard "Ohio gozaimasu. O-genki desu ka?" or "Hai, genki desu"
It seemed us gaijin were the only ones who used these phrases.
Why would that be? I never got to the bottom of it.
I'm far from fluent... I've only been studying Japanese for about a year.
I had those resources ready in a bookmark folder because, like you, I did it on my own.
Here's a few more from that folder:
nihongo dekimasu - watch skits about a new student in school, do quizes about what you saw, etc.
japanese class - learn kanji and practice by reading snippits of news articles.
Lang-8 - write japanese (or any foreign language) and have others correct your grammar. You can then help out by correcting English for people.
We stood in line and, when it was my turn to be introduced, I dutifully recited "omeni kakarete taihen ureshii desu". Judging from the director's reaction, whatever I said wasn't what I hoped I'd said! Maybe it was just my accent or intonation or maybe I'd been set up. I never found out.
Sumimasen.
It means "I'm very happy I could meet you (person of a higher status)".
Definitely appropriate for meeting with an important director at work. So it could've just been the pronunciation.