[Japan] Learning Japanese

Discussion in 'Off Topic Area' started by Victoria, Jan 8, 2007.

  1. Victoria

    Victoria Pretzel In Training

    After a bit of thought and research I've decided to set about learning Japanese.
    At the moment I'm flicking through various "free online lessons" sites to see what's about but I'm not expecting them to be up to much more than a general idea of the language and a few lists of vocab.

    Can anyone recommend any books/resources/courses/sites/forums etc? Would be very much appreciated :D


    PS Is anyone else here learning?
     
  2. Su lin

    Su lin Gone away

    Theres a really good podcast called Japanese pod ( I think) from Itunes that I started downloading,but the thing with that is you don't get the written resources with it.
     
  3. Cuchulain4

    Cuchulain4 Valued Member

  4. Su lin

    Su lin Gone away

    My,what a lovely singing voice you have there Seany. :love:
     
  5. taekwonguy

    taekwonguy Very Valued Member :)

    wot about chinese? I would love to learn either mandarin or cantonese, any suggestions please?
     
  6. stephenk

    stephenk Valued Member

    The Pimsular series is very good for beginning conversation, and convienent if you have a commute to and from work to listen to it.

    It's expensive, but good.
     
  7. Victoria

    Victoria Pretzel In Training

    Make your own thread :p *kick up the backside* :D

    Thanks very much for the song and dance seany! :love:
    And for the site too :cool:

    Suuuuu, but I don't know anything about iTunes :confused: I'm too far behind technology these days. Do you have to have an iPod or can you use an MP3 player? I got an MP3 player :D
     
  8. Victoria

    Victoria Pretzel In Training

    I do have quite a way to work and am always listening to music, so that sounds like a good idea
     
  9. Chimpcheng

    Chimpcheng Yup... Giant cow head... Supporter

    Your best bet (apart from maybe formal lessons) is to surround yourself with speakers of said language.

    Lots of my 'English' friends work in places where there are loads of chinese, i.e. take-aways, restaurants and the like, as such the primary language spoken will be chinese. You have no choice but to learn. You'd be amazed how much you'd pick up in a relatively short space of time, mostly swear words and stock phrases like 'Gwai Lo' - probably... :D
     
  10. Victoria

    Victoria Pretzel In Training

    Right, I need to find a japanese take-away and not be cooking lunch for the next couple of years :D
     
  11. Su lin

    Su lin Gone away

    Im pretty sure you can use other MP3 players too,and other programmes such as realplayer.Here's the site anyway
    http://www.japanesepod101.com/
    I have the podcasts but not gout round to learning yet. :eek:
     
    Last edited: Jan 8, 2007
  12. Victoria

    Victoria Pretzel In Training

    I thought iPods were actually MP3 players, but apple make... :Alien: Will have a go. Where's iTunes??

    I know what you're saying though chimp. Half sensible for once too ;) That's why it would be worth while me joining a learning japanese forum too :)
     
  13. Su lin

    Su lin Gone away

    Itunes can be downloaded from www.apple.com , wasn't sure if it supports other brands of MP3 players. :p My ipod is soooo much more than an MP3 player (I can watch sneaky vids of Gordon Liu on it too. :eek: )
     
  14. stephenk

    stephenk Valued Member


    Has anyone used or know people that've used these, they look good.
     
  15. Su lin

    Su lin Gone away

    The ones I have listened to sound good, but haven't sat and tried learning from them as yet.
     
  16. Victoria

    Victoria Pretzel In Training

    Not sure if it's just audio. But on the other hand it would be worth it just to get used to the sound, it's not like I'm surrounded by Japanese speakers :(
     
  17. Emil

    Emil Valued Member

    To be honest, Victoria, the only way you're really going to learn how to speak fluently is by having somebody that you can talk to regularly in Japanese, because whilst you may know the phrases, it's the application of those phrases that is the hardest thing to master.
     
  18. CKava

    CKava Just one more thing... Supporter

    Learning to read and write a language you want to speak is usually not a bad idea and would certainly be a good foundation to work from. So if your really in an enviroment where you can't take any decent lessons or get any practice with Japanese speakers then perhaps learning focusing on reading/writing while still doing some oral practice wouldn't be a bad idea.
     
  19. wrydolphin

    wrydolphin Pirates... yaarrrr Supporter

    There are plenty of really good language tapes to be had- which, while not good for proficiency, might at least help you get pronounciation down to the point at which native speakers don't stare at you blankly when you try to speak.
     
  20. Victoria

    Victoria Pretzel In Training

    It'll probably end up as audio such as the iTunes, and a Japanese forum. Though there's bound to be Japanese speakers about the place :)

    Was thinking of one of those language courses you can pick up in somewhere like Waterstones. Any thoughts/recommendations?
     

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