Japanese

[Pandaemonium]

Also, some supplementary sites you may find helpful:
- <a class="postlink" href="http://jisho.org/kanji/radicals/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://jisho.org/kanji/radicals/</a> (best online dictionary and easy breakdown of complicated kanji by separating them by radicals and some other stuff like example sentences based on words etc)
- <a class="postlink" href="http://www.polarcloud.com/rikaichan/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.polarcloud.com/rikaichan/</a> (If you have Firefox this is a must have. It is a popup dictionary so you can put your pointer next to Japanese text and it will show you what the word translates into. Great for reading Japanese websites.)
- <a class="postlink" href="http://www.musuu.com/index.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.musuu.com/index.php</a> (Collection of Japanese learning links)
- <a class="postlink" href="http://www.jgram.org/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.jgram.org/</a> (Japanese grammar database)
- <a class="postlink" href="http://www.alljapaneseallthetime.com/blog/about" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.alljapaneseallthetime.com/blog/about</a> (A blog on learning Japanese)<br /><br />-- Wed Jun 02, 2010 6:11 pm --<br /><br />

nice1 man - how come the Pimsleur Japanese is better than Rosetta Stone? - an is it free or another pay software?

i was planning on getting some textbooks - ha learning a language seems to be a hell of a lot more expensive than i remember !!

have you lived in Japan mate? or were you just wanting to learn the language? :-)

The Pimseur is better (IMO) because it is much more in depth and it uses interval repetition which I find to be really helpful. Unfortunately it isn't free and may even be more expensive than Rosetta Stone (which is crazy in the first place!).

That is why in the end I recommend the Anki software (free and found at: <a class="postlink" href="http://ichi2.net/anki/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://ichi2.net/anki/</a>), download some shared packs for it, and then following through the Genki textbooks (including the workbooks that go with each textbook). Its a great resource and you can always help yourself by watching movies or TV shows in Japanese to help your understanding.

I planned on living in Japan for some time but I never got to study abroad because of money concerns. So I just studied the language in school and made it one of my concentrations.

 

[N-Word-Joe]

There ya go ....... 30 days to speak japanese!

you'll probably struggle to even get your jobseekers allowance through in that time!

<a class="postlink" href="http://www.google.com/aclk?sa=l&ai=CeiuEgOEGTInJNsGDjAecs6yIAYSP35EBuKy12A3RruFJEAgg0eqAAygNUNjq9bIFYLuOsIPQCqAB-NHY9wPIAQGqBBNP0OGUXuGtJLJ4_tlNQQdv19Th&num=8&sig=AGiWqtxPfLdaGIEeOjYYhBHNqbrsll__9w&adurl=http://www.japanesein30days.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.google.com/aclk?sa=l&ai=Ceiu ... 30days.com</a>

haha ! if bloody only ! all the comments on it are so ridiculously positive and they are only charging £29 for what they imply is stuff better than £379 Rosetta Stone or Plimslur

also i'm in south Cheshire mate - i cant go that far to get lessons each day - its over a 10er for a train ticket to town ! robbin bastards !<br /><br />-- Wed Jun 02, 2010 11:32 pm --<br /><br />

Also, some supplementary sites you may find helpful:
- <a class="postlink" href="http://jisho.org/kanji/radicals/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://jisho.org/kanji/radicals/</a> (best online dictionary and easy breakdown of complicated kanji by separating them by radicals and some other stuff like example sentences based on words etc)
- <a class="postlink" href="http://www.polarcloud.com/rikaichan/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.polarcloud.com/rikaichan/</a> (If you have Firefox this is a must have. It is a popup dictionary so you can put your pointer next to Japanese text and it will show you what the word translates into. Great for reading Japanese websites.)
- <a class="postlink" href="http://www.musuu.com/index.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.musuu.com/index.php</a> (Collection of Japanese learning links)
- <a class="postlink" href="http://www.jgram.org/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.jgram.org/</a> (Japanese grammar database)
- <a class="postlink" href="http://www.alljapaneseallthetime.com/blog/about" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.alljapaneseallthetime.com/blog/about</a> (A blog on learning Japanese)

-- Wed Jun 02, 2010 6:11 pm --

nice1 man - how come the Pimsleur Japanese is better than Rosetta Stone? - an is it free or another pay software?

i was planning on getting some textbooks - ha learning a language seems to be a hell of a lot more expensive than i remember !!

have you lived in Japan mate? or were you just wanting to learn the language? :-)

The Pimseur is better (IMO) because it is much more in depth and it uses interval repetition which I find to be really helpful. Unfortunately it isn't free and may even be more expensive than Rosetta Stone (which is crazy in the first place!).

That is why in the end I recommend the Anki software (free and found at: <a class="postlink" href="http://ichi2.net/anki/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://ichi2.net/anki/</a>), download some shared packs for it, and then following through the Genki textbooks (including the workbooks that go with each textbook). Its a great resource and you can always help yourself by watching movies or TV shows in Japanese to help your understanding.

I planned on living in Japan for some time but I never got to study abroad because of money concerns. So I just studied the language in school and made it one of my concentrations.

I'll have a go at that Anki software - if i aint making much progress i think i'll spring for either Pimseur or Rosetta Stone - on the fact alone that Pimseur uses repetition might wave me for that one over Rosetta.

fair play mate, you might get a chance to get out there at some point though ! don't give up on it if its a dream (Y)

 

[Dr.Faustus]

The 'Lets Learn' series is very good for script; the three scripts, Hiragana (for general use), Katakana (for mostly foreign translation words) and Kanji (Chinese characters used in modern Japanese to usually to represent concepts or emotion) have different uses. Flash cards can also be useful to learn if you have difficulty retaining the characters. This is a good grammar guide- <a class="postlink" href="http://www.guidetojapanese.org/learn/grammar" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.guidetojapanese.org/learn/grammar</a>. This website is good for absolute basics- <a class="postlink" href="http://www.japanese-online.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.japanese-online.com/</a> (though you have to sign up). Beyond that I recommend picking up magazines etc (though they are quite expensive) from somewhere like <a class="postlink" href="http://www.japancentre.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.japancentre.com/</a> and do the boring part- bashing through it with a dictionary. As for pronunciation the intonation is very difficult to learn when to use appropriately- listen to anything you can once you have some understanding of the language (there is plenty of material on youtube etc).

<a class="postlink" href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lets-Learn-Hiragana-Japanese-Writing/dp/0870117092/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_c" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lets-Learn-Hira ... gy_b_img_c</a>
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lets-Learn-Katakana-Japanese-Writing/dp/087011719X/ref=pd_sim_b_1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lets-Learn-Kata ... pd_sim_b_1</a>
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lets-Learn-Kanji-Joyce-Mitamura/dp/4770020686/ref=pd_sim_b_2" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lets-Learn-Kanj ... pd_sim_b_2</a>

(If you have a mac, this is useful)- <a class="postlink" href="http://redcocoon.org/cab/j4macwriting.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://redcocoon.org/cab/j4macwriting.html</a>
(Also, remote I know but if you wish to study about society and law in Japan out of interest this is helpful too- <a class="postlink" href="http://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/</a>)

-- Wed Jun 02, 2010 11:11 pm --

RosettaStone is very expensive considering what it is; though you may find a dubious copy at Northern Computer Markets (Bowlers) for much cheaper.

cheers man, thats a brilliant reply - ive had a scout around and have found out a bit about the writing styles - its just learning all the effing things

i'll probably try and learn how to speak the language a bit 1st - then move onto some of the writing - i plan to move there in about 5-10 years - so that should give me plenty of time to learn the language well - the writing and characters can come at the later stage in that time scale - although i guess it would be easier to learn it all progressively instead of the speech, then writing in 2 separate chunks


interestingly, while searching the internet all night, it appears that a hell of a good way to learn Japanese - or at least build up and maintain a level is by watching a shit load of Anime and Manga ....... that could be the most grueling part of the whole language learning !!

Sounds like a plan! Anime and Manga are a good way of immersing in the language, however they are written for dramatic effect so the conversations may not always be as they would in normal discourse (it certainly helps a lot if you are interested in them though). I would offer the caveat that it is much easier to try and interact with both the spoken and written elements at once (the language being as it is)- in fact if you formally learn it (either on a course or with a personal tutor) they will request that you learn the Hiragana and Katakana symbols/characters before you start. The approach is up to you though.

 

[Captain_]

my mate dan has gone mad on learning japanese in the last year,
he has complied quite a large amount of learning material and decided to make a forum for people who live in manchester wanting to find information and talk to like minded mancs.

the forum address is <a class="postlink" href="http://www.japanchester.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.japanchester.com</a>

 

[JULES]

I studidied japanese for 18 months. went to night school in b`ham and loved every min of it. on the first night 30 people turned up and the lovely japanese lady said in three or four weeks there will be about ten or twelve left. she was right. this is a complicated language that requires a lot of study, if you are not 100% sure you want to do this.......dont waste your time! however it is possible to be able to hold a v basic conversation after about six months of hard study, but on the easy side it is phonetic, after i learnt hirigana and katakana I could read quite easily but not understand it! kanji on the other hand iswell fukicn nigh on impossible, unless of course you can remember 1000`s of characters. If I remember there are only 2 words used in jap and english, typhoon is one cant remember the other, so any latin base language is totally useless!!! if youre serious give it a try, it was great fun and I will admit it was the highlight of my week for 18 months, but I believe if you want to be fluent you are looking at many, many years study!!!!!!!

gambatte kudasai (probably got that wrong)

 

[MCFCTrick]

Had a Japanese girlfriend for sometime, and even spent time over there (Amazing place btw) but still only mastered the basics....as for writing....forget it, lol. Not too bad in our alphabet, but the kanji script is way hard!

Good luck! (As Jules said?)

 

[N-Word-Joe]

Had a Japanese girlfriend for sometime, and even spent time over there (Amazing place btw) but still only mastered the basics....as for writing....forget it, lol. Not too bad in our alphabet, but the kanji script is way hard!

Good luck! (As Jules said?)

i think that is how i will start mate - just doing the english letter writing, can't remember the name, R something O_o

but will learn how to speak it relatively well - then when i have enough time i will have a go at learning the proper ways of it all

downloaded a free copy of Rosetta Stone - it looks like its a version from the 90s, and all menu's are in Japanese - so its pretty useless .... gonna have to fork out for the expensive stuff, gutted but should be fun and challenging nonetheless.

 

[Evil Roy Slade]

Try this site: http://www.studyjapanesejapan.com

Apparently is will take 2200 lessons to learn Japanese to a decent standard with about half that time preferably spent learning in Japan.

 

[Paulski]

downloaded a free copy of Rosetta Stone - it looks like its a version from the 90s, and all menu's are in Japanese - so its pretty useless .... gonna have to fork out for the expensive stuff, gutted but should be fun and challenging nonetheless.

Okay, either do that, or spend some time on the net finding the torrent. Or probably Manchester Central Library will have some stuff.

 

[N-Word-Joe]

downloaded a free copy of Rosetta Stone - it looks like its a version from the 90s, and all menu's are in Japanese - so its pretty useless .... gonna have to fork out for the expensive stuff, gutted but should be fun and challenging nonetheless.

Okay, either do that, or spend some time on the net finding the torrent. Or probably Manchester Central Library will have some stuff.

yeah the copy i downloaded was a torrent but it was dead rubbish - almost nothing like what the new stuff seems to be like