Want to learn japanese

[Umega]

Does anyone know a site where I can learn Japanese? At least just get started on it, because I'd love to understand the language in japanese movies and many other things. :D

[Pyro]

You don't learn a language from a website. Take classes in it.

[snyper_freak]

You don't learn a language from a website. Take classes in it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yep, that's what i did. I studied it for 6 years at school, and i know it very well now :) it is cool when you can understand some of those Japenese movies without subtitles :P

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It takes a long time to understand it too, so i hope you're not thinking you'll pick it up in a few months, because you won't :o

[Mercifull]

Southampton University has a great Languages centre. You are better off enrolling in a course for a few years as you'll never pick it up reading a few websites

[Demeige]

Japanese annoys me so much. All those caucasian kids talking about Naruto in Chem. class really gets on my nerves :cry:

[Mercifull]

Japanese annoys me so much. All those caucasian kids talking about Naruto in Chem. class really gets on my nerves :cry:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*pats demeige on head* there there, only a few more years of school and you dont need to listen to the silly kiddies anymore

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

^_^

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Theres loads of anime programs on tv now but the question really is did the kids create the demand first, or did the tv comapnies create the supply in order to just make money? I'm betting on the latter, forcing 99.99999999999999%+ crappy anime into kids. Its the new fad, if you dont like anime then you're not cool. lame.

[Demeige]

 

Japanese annoys me so much. All those caucasian kids talking about Naruto in Chem. class really gets on my nerves :cry:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*pats demeige on head* there there, only a few more years of school and you dont need to listen to the silly kiddies anymore

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

^_^

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Theres loads of anime programs on tv now but the question really is did the kids create the demand first, or did the tv comapnies create the supply in order to just make money? I'm betting on the latter, forcing 99.99999999999999%+ crappy anime into kids. Its the new fad, if you dont like anime then you're not cool. lame.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Guess I'll always be lame then 8) But it's not that I hate anime in general it's just that they keep producing the same recycled crap from what I saw. Samurai swords or giant robots or adventure in outer space...and then they make some bizarre hybrid like a futuristic shooter anime...if it's the year 3000 you would think they might stop using guns and come up with some more creative way of killing each other...why not use...SAMURAI SWORDS :o that's original, no?

[Mercifull]

I mean that most ppl that like anime are lame and only like it because they think they are supposed to :P

 

 

 

The only anime that I liked was Outlaw Star. Everything else is rubbish.

[____]

Southampton University has a great Languages centre. You are better off enrolling in a course for a few years as you'll never pick it up reading a few websites

I resent that statement a bit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can learn the basics of a language by reading material on it. But to leran it fully and be able to speak it and such you'll never be able to unless you take classes in it or get someone to teach you hwo to pronounce stuff.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I found that out with my spanish :P Could read and write it fairly ok but could not understand it when spoken nor could i speak it :x

 

 

 

Needly to say I still can't :P

[adthegreat-]

It also helps to take a trip to the country of which language you are studying. You may think you know a language but when you get to the country its so much different.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Also Japanese is a very hard language to learn (or so i hear) and i think in order to learn it your gonna need more motivation then eavesdropping, because you'll soon start questioning your commitment.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Good luck though!

[snyper_freak]

It also helps to take a trip to the country of which language you are studying. You may think you know a language but when you get to the country its so much different.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Also Japanese is a very hard language to learn (or so i hear) and i think in order to learn it your gonna need more motivation then eavesdropping, because you'll soon start questioning your commitment.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Good luck though!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It is a very difficult language to learn.. But as long as you don't expect to learn it in a few months you'll be fine.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you're going to take a trip to the country, you may want to have a solid understanding of it already, because the Japanese speak insanely fast, and use a lot of shortcuts not taught at school and that. I went there after 4 years of doing Japanese, and i found it took a week or so before i was able to understand most people :?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You'd need a decent stay over there to have any hope of learning a decent amount, at least a month. :) :wink:

[BlueLancer]

You don't learn a language from a website. Take classes in it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You're very correct, but the internet as a source of information (including languages) shouldn't be underestimated. There are many, even among the tip.it'ers, that have confessed these message boards have taught them over 80% of the english language they know. I can confirm it for at least a few people; I've seen the difference between how they wrote 3-4 years ago and how they write now. They literally switched from newbie to fluent.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you're going to take a trip to the country, you may want to have a solid understanding of it already, because the Japanese speak insanely fast, and use a lot of shortcuts not taught at school

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I've been studying the japanese language out of interest since about a few years ago, but I'm now taking a break. It would admittedly be much easier to learn it if you were say about age 8 to 12, because Snyper is right: Prepare for a lot of disappointments even if you've learned japanese for a long time, because what you've most likely learned, that's not how japanese communicate, they will think it's a bit weird.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some examples (I assume most users don't have kanji font installed so I'll just write it down plainly):

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That's cool with me, no problem -> Ii ja nai betsu ni

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Konichiwa (thanks) -> Koncha

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The best, coolest etc. -> Saiko

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

shinakereba naranai (I must) -> Shinakucha

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Haha/Lol/funny -> Uketa

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Watashi (me) -> Washa

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That guy -> Yatsu (mild-semi-rude, but can be used casually, compare 'dude')

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yeah/I agree -> Yuppa

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

He's cheating/That's unfair etc. -> Zurui

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are lots more but the point is that you will be probably never taught any of the above in a japanese class because it is deemed "inappropriate" because it is not the literal language, it is the way people talk in every day speech (abbreviating words, having entirely different words, etc).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The japanese people can usually understand you if you speak clearly but it will seem a bit unnatural. You should get a friend who knows english and japanese, so that he/she can teach you the differences. :) Because even if you want to be able to know the language, you might also want to be able to speak it the way real japanese people talk like.

[Lionheart_0]

:( Im in the same boat, i want to learn japenese....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But my school board only offers french and spanish....

[wl_daniel]

OMG!,I think it's a pain to learn Japanese..my head will explode!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's just how many letters are there in the Japanese alphabet,and I only talk about the letters,and it's more like art the letters are so complicated and really confusing.(srry for my english :wink: )

[NorthernHero]

Yeah Japanese/Japan are so cool. Too bad it sounds pain in the [wagon] to learn.

[logic-is-overrated]

We had a chinese girl come to our class. She spoke absolutely no english whatsoever. She had a little translator and the teachers gave her handouts and she had to translate everything. She was literally thrust into an unknown world. Within 2 months she could understand english enough to take notes from the teacher talking but she still couldn't speak that well. Within 4 months she was almost fluent. Of course she must have been studying and taking classes and stuff like that but if you take a vacation to wherever the place is that speaks that language or start hanging around people who like to speak that language a lot then that really is the fastest way to learn.

[blakdragon39]

I wanna learn Japanese also, but my school only offers french... I hate french... I would even prefer Spanish over french, and they're really a lot the same according to everyone. But Japanese would be awsome to learn... I'll try sometime.

[kaibani]

I mean that most ppl that like anime are lame and only like it because they think they are supposed to :P

 

 

 

The only anime that I liked was Outlaw Star. Everything else is rubbish.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

WHAT?!?!?!?!!!?!? Pfft, so not true. I'm not a hardcore anime fan, but I am in Gundam SEED/Destiny, and a little in Tri-gun. I don't like anime because i'm supposed too...but because of the content. I like Gundam SEED and GS-Destiny because of the gundams and drama and the blowing up and stuff. All other anime sucks and are a waste of my time. :P

[kaibani]

You don't learn a language from a website. Take classes in it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can also learn languages by buying the self tutoring CD roms...like I did for french, and Math, which isn't a language but still is considered studying.

[buggienuk]

:( Im in the same boat, i want to learn japenese....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But my school board only offers french and spanish....

 

 

 

i gotta deal with french too, but id rather want spanish then german >.<

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

but yeah, me = anime freaky, and i wanna learn japanese too.... but cant on my lousy school :evil:

 

 

 

any site where you can just start with learning how kanji, and hiri-stuff and katakana work? (dunno the names... so might be wrong lol)

[BlueLancer]

 

:( Im in the same boat, i want to learn japenese....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But my school board only offers french and spanish....

 

 

 

i gotta deal with french too, but id rather want spanish then german >.<

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

but yeah, me = anime freaky, and i wanna learn japanese too.... but cant on my lousy school :evil:

 

 

 

any site where you can just start with learning how kanji, and hiri-stuff and katakana work? (dunno the names... so might be wrong lol)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well, it's not really hard at all. :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Katakana is very basic and it contains 46 characters. There is no occassion in Japanese language where you couldn't use katakana, the characters are universal.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hiragana, too, has 46 basic characters but with a katakana counterpart. It is a bit more difficult to learn as some of the characters look very much alike. Hiragana is important because you can use any of the hiragana to express a sound when read aloud (such as the letter 'a' would be pronounced as the vowel o in the english word 'mom')

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kanji is the most difficult one to learn, and you will probably never in your life get to know all the kanji symbols. Kanji has nothing to do with sounds, they are more like abstract things like "serenity, peace" etc.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not even native japanese adults know all of the kanji, so don't be disappointed if it takes you forever to learn the different symbols (it will take you at least a good 20 years before you can consider yourself at least somewhat 'knowledgeable').

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I've studied the kanji for maybe 3 years now, and I can barely remember perhaps 150 to 200 symbols (not including place names like "Tokyo" which are a bit easier to remember if you see them often enough). This is the clearest image I was able to find on google image search for the kanji symbols for this city. http://phototravels.net/tokyo/tokyo-kanji.gif

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Romaji is very common in today's Japan, meaning the japanese language, only written in roman letters (the ones you are reading right now). I think it's safe to assume there isn't much more you need to know about it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you want to learn about it, you really should take professional classes but there are a few good online sites too, free of charge. http://www.kanjisite.com will teach you at least some of the basics, such as the numbers (which are quite easy to remember). :) Have fun.

[Ruzbeh]

We had a chinese girl come to our class. She spoke absolutely no english whatsoever. She had a little translator and the teachers gave her handouts and she had to translate everything. She was literally thrust into an unknown world. Within 2 months she could understand english enough to take notes from the teacher talking but she still couldn't speak that well. Within 4 months she was almost fluent. Of course she must have been studying and taking classes and stuff like that but if you take a vacation to wherever the place is that speaks that language or start hanging around people who like to speak that language a lot then that really is the fastest way to learn.

 

 

 

That's nice, but English is much easier than Japanese. But, yeah, I can imagine that's a great way to learn a different language.

Well, it's not really hard at all. :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Katakana is very basic and it contains 46 characters. There is no occassion in Japanese language where you couldn't use katakana, the characters are universal.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hiragana, too, has 46 basic characters but with a katakana counterpart. It is a bit more difficult to learn as some of the characters look very much alike. Hiragana is important because you can use any of the hiragana to express a sound when read aloud (such as the letter 'a' would be pronounced as the vowel o in the english word 'mom')

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kanji is the most difficult one to learn, and you will probably never in your life get to know all the kanji symbols. Kanji has nothing to do with sounds, they are more like abstract things like "serenity, peace" etc.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not even native japanese adults know all of the kanji, so don't be disappointed if it takes you forever to learn the different symbols (it will take you at least a good 20 years before you can consider yourself at least somewhat 'knowledgeable').

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I've studied the kanji for maybe 3 years now, and I can barely remember perhaps 150 to 200 symbols (not including place names like "Tokyo" which are a bit easier to remember if you see them often enough). This is the clearest image I was able to find on google image search for the kanji symbols for this city. http://phototravels.net/tokyo/tokyo-kanji.gif

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Romaji is very common in today's Japan, meaning the japanese language, only written in roman letters (the ones you are reading right now). I think it's safe to assume there isn't much more you need to know about it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you want to learn about it, you really should take professional classes but there are a few good online sites too, free of charge. http://www.kanjisite.com will teach you at least some of the basics, such as the numbers (which are quite easy to remember). :) Have fun.

'

 

 

 

You are awesome.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By the way. You really only know 150-200 Kanji? That's not much, is it? You need to know ~1000 Kanji characters if you want to read stuff like Japanese newspapers and stuff. And it's true that Japanese people themselves have problems with Kanji (it's comforting to know the Japanese have problems with it too so you know that they're ordinary people with ordinary memory).

[BlueLancer]

Now, I'm not quite sure if it's common in non-metropolitan areas of Japan, but while I was staying in Japan for 3 weeks, I often traveled by subway. I constantly saw people, teens, businessmen, reading a newspaper and sometimes politely asking an elder man or woman to remind them about what a certain kanji symbol meant. So yes, they are mortals with a certain memory capacity too. :P

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

First I thought it was slightly funny, but you can't compare it with the english language because in english everything is composed of letters. In kanji you have to remember thousands of symbols as if they were complex letters. And it's impossible for me to read a newspaper yet, I only understand a very small part of it if I pick up one (not to mention the problem that printed kanji look different from hand drawn ones which makes it even harder to read before you get used to it)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Example: In english, it's easy to distinguish the words "man" and "woman", just add or take away 2 letters. Try this in japanese, the symbols are different like day and night. That's going to be a lot of stress if you want to learn japanese.

[Faux]

:( Im in the same boat, i want to learn japenese....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But my school board only offers french and spanish....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You're actually lucky. We were FORCED to study French. No other choices :x I'd rather learn Spanish.

[Ruzbeh]

You're actually lucky. We were FORCED to study French. No other choices :x I'd rather learn Spanish.

 

 

 

Yooo. French iz coo', mang! Not as nice as Japanese, but French is a nice language too, not as nice as some French teachers say it is though (to them, it's probably the best thing that ever happened to them :lol:).