The Learning Japanese thread

[jeshikat]

It seems from the general chat thread that there are a surprising number of SFF Forum members who either know a little or are learning Japanese. I'm one of them so I figured I'd make a thread for it for us to share tips, learning resources, etc.

I guess to start with, why are you all learning Japanese?

For me, being able to read manga and watch anime without having to wait for subs is something I've wanted to do for a long time but I just kept putting it off. But now I have family moving there so I want to be able to visit for a few weeks and travel around so I'm applying myself to finally learning some of the language.

 

[onlyabloke]

Because the goal is to one day get a job in Japan (as much as my wife protests)! lol

 

[QinX]

I'm not learning, but I've basically got the same wish as Aibo. Being able to understand Japanese without needed subs would be a blessing.
I just have no real clue where to start from.
I'm Dutch, so should I do Dutch -> Japanese or just go English -> Japanese?

Right now I'm just in the I would like to but haven't started yet category.

 

[jeshikat]

I just have no real clue where to start from.

I would say it doesn't even matter where you start, the important part is that you start. In my experience "I don't know where to start" too easily becomes "I'll figure it out later" and what do you know, 10 years have passed and I haven't learned any Japanese except the few words and phrases I've picked up from watching anime.

If I had spent even a very minimal amount of effort, say just 10 minutes a day, but had consistently kept it up for the last 10 years, I'd have done 600 hours of study by now.

Instead I have to start basically from scratch.

I'm Dutch, so should I do Dutch -> Japanese or just go English -> Japanese?

I'm not sure about how it is today, but historically the Dutch and Japanese had close relations: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rangaku

So I wouldn't be surprised if there are good Dutch > Japanese learning materials.

But for English > Japanese materials, I've been using the iOS Human Japanese app as a starting point, Memrise for memorizing vocabulary, and the Kodansha Kanji Learner's Course book for Kanji.

And like I said in the general chat thread: For online grammar guides, the three I see recommended are Tae Kim, Imabi, and Pomax.

 

[onlyabloke]

I started with phrases. For instance the first phrase I ever learned was from a friend (who was going through bit of an emo phase) and it was "Boku no kokoro wa doko desu ka?" Roughly translated it means "where is my heart/soul". After that I got more into phrases, words (curse words, in particular). Now several years later I have a basic understanding of structure and words and can usually figure out what's being said with the right amount of context.

Actually have a tattoo on my chest I got while I was in Japan and the artist was actually quite pleased that I was getting one in his native tongue AND that it was correct! His name was also Yoshi, so that's pretty awesome too!

 

[GuilleAcoustic]

Started in 2001, been very committed to it for a month .... And then postponement started (not today, tomorrow, etc).

15 years flew and I only worked Japanese for a month, pathetic.

My motivation was to be able to read and write it, but this is a very hard task as it needs quite a long time before being able to do it.

I do watch to a lot of anime on Crunchyroll and been surprised at how much my ears have been accustomed to Japanese. Sounds are very close to the French ones, except the "R" that is between a "L" and an "R" from deep into the country side.

"Watashi no namae wa Guillaume desu" :-)

 

[cmyk78]

I'm taking a Japanese class this school year, so maybe I can help in a couple of months.

 

[jeshikat]

Actually have a tattoo on my chest I got while I was in Japan and the artist was actually quite pleased that I was getting one in his native tongue AND that it was correct!

That's one of the things I'm looking forward to with learning Kanji, seeing how many people are walking around oblivious to the practical joke their Japanese/Chinese tattoo artist pulled on them

Started in 2001, been very committed to it for a month .... And then postponement started (not today, tomorrow, etc).

Yes, getting started is tough, but sticking with it is the other half of the battle. Especially when there's other things in life going on it's oh so tempting to take a break on studying for today but that "one day" can quickly turn into months or years.

I'm taking a Japanese class this school year, so maybe I can help in a couple of months.

Nice! It seems most of us are self-studying so it'll be nice to get the perspective of someone doing formal study.

 

[confusis]

I did two years of japanese at high school. Haven't used it since so have forgotten it :/

 

[GuilleAcoustic]

I did two years of japanese at high school. Haven't used it since so have forgotten it :/

Did 7 years of german, from 11 to 18, forgot everything since I didn't use it .

 

[jeshikat]

Ouch. Were you fairly fluent by the end of those 7 years?

 

[GuilleAcoustic]

Not even close . Sadly had no interest in languages at this time. I was well under average in English too. I only had interest for Science and RPG/Magic.

Youth .... Sometimes I'd like to go back in time and kick my young self in the nuts lol.

 

[onlyabloke]

That's one of the things I'm looking forward to with learning Kanji, seeing how many people are walking around oblivious to the practical joke their Japanese/Chinese tattoo artist pulled on them

Funny story about that. There was this Asian guy in my math class in college (that I dropped out of) who was telling us a story about his cousin who joined an Asian gang and wanted to get this massive tattoo on his back. So he takes it to the artist and the artist is like no problem. So after like weeks of tattooing, it turns out the artist forgot one tiny little mark. Instead of it meaning something badass and gangster, you know what it meant?

Wash pan.

Dude had a tattoo that said "wash pan" taking up his whole back.

Not even close . Sadly had no interest in languages at this time. I was well under average in English too. I only had interest for Science and RPG/Magic.

Youth .... Sometimes I'd like to back in time and kick my young self in the nuts lol.

I couldn't agree more. If middle/high school me knew what I knew now...

 

[jeshikat]

Dude had a tattoo that said "wash pan" taking up his whole back.

Lol, so did he get it fixed or just left it like that?

 

[Soul_Est]

I'm in. Got to start this year.

 

[veryrarium]

I wish I could help you guys in some way but I never learned how to teach Japanese. I'm pretty sure non-natives who learned to become fluent in Japanese know how to explain the subtle difference in meaning and in usage between GA and WA (HA) better than we natives who just know when to use which.

 

[Kooki]

I lived in Japan when I was a kid, from 2 to 6 years old (1991-1996), moved to Brazil and portuguese (this country language) was so hard for me that I asked my parents to speak to me only in portuguese.
When I was 15 I lived in Japan for one more year, though studied in an english speaking high school. It was alright to get some japanese back at head.
Though, when I was 16 I could read a lot, I can't read almost no Kanji anymore... living there really helps as you absorb some of it through "osmosis".
Well, as most you in this thread, I like anime and this is the only reason I haven't forgotten EVERYTHING again. I can watch the mindless of the animes without subs, but I'd never understand something like Ghost in the Shell. :v

"Tip": If you wanna learn and also have the opportunity to live there (for the sake of studying/academic/work), I'd totally recommend.

 

[veryrarium]

I'm not sure about how it is today, but historically the Dutch and Japanese had close relations: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rangaku

This of course is true during the Edo era, but this:

So I wouldn't be surprised if there are good Dutch > Japanese learning materials.

I highly doubt. Any up-to-date Dutch > Japanese studying materials or abundance/scarcity of such things available today probably have no correlation with that part of history. My understanding is that the difference between colloquial and formal written Japanese back in the Edo era or before were pretty significant and through the number of education reformations in the post Edo era (since the wave of Westernization) we have adapted our written Japanese to close the gap and I believe most of the linguistic literature from that time isn't inherited or revised. by the way I know there is this treaty between Netherlands and Japan from 1896 (which is past the Edo era) based on which the two nations mutually have the most favored nation treatment, I can only speculate but this may have had more impact on the availability of Japanese learning materials in Netherlands now.

 

[QinX]

I'm also somewhat curious if the "obsession" with Germany in a lot of Anime stems from WW2 or if it goes even further back. It comes up in so many anime, both populair shows and the regular shows. I quite like how Japan is a culture all on its own but seems to take cues/influences from a lot of western countries. It seems more obvious because of the language difference. Here in Netherlands we have so called loan words, words we see as part of Dutch but that are actually taken from other languages such as German, English and French. Japan also seems to have a bunch of loan words but because of the differences between the languages it is way more obvious.

Or am I talking a bunch of nonsense?

 

[jeshikat]

Any up-to-date Dutch > Japanese studying materials or abundance/scarcity of such things available today probably have no correlation with that part of history.

I kinda figured but I wasn't sure.

I quite like how Japan is a culture all on its own but seems to take cues/influences from a lot of western countries.

That's true of many Asian countries though but I think it's not as obvious because only Japanese media (mostly in the form of anime and manga) crosses back over to western countries.