Learn Japanese Fast

[Adam J]

Hi, I need your advice! :?

I'm putting the finishing touches on a new product called "How to Learn Japanese Fast", and want to make sure that I don't leave anything out.

So, will you let me know your biggest question about learning Japanese? It could be anything... even if you think it's silly.

In exchange for your advice, I'll send you a free copy of the product before we release it to the market. (Should be ready in a few weeks.)

Thank you!

 

[seifip]

Is watching Japanese films with subtitles really helpful in learning Japanese?

 

[Adam J]

Do mean with English subtitles? You may pick up a few words that way but you probably need to watch the same movies over and over. Or make a point of stopping the movie when you see a word or phrase of interest and look it up on an online dictionary. As long as you enjoy watching Japanese movies though, you are sure to learn something.

 

[srintuar]

Do mean with English subtitles? You may pick up a few words that way but you probably need to watch the same movies over and over. Or make a point of stopping the movie when you see a word or phrase of interest and look it up on an online dictionary. As long as you enjoy watching Japanese movies though, you are sure to learn something.

I'd say its better to watch 2 or 3 shows than to stop and look up words.

Same with reading, quantity beats quality, by far. You wouldnt want to spend time looking up a rare word youll never see again for years, so do it as little as possible to follow to story.

It is important that you like the shows, if they are boring, it wont help you learn much...

So I'd say
1) go for mass quantities
2) start with easier material (anime, manga) with lots of visual aids
3) transition to more difficult things, (light novels, jdoramas)
4) never look up anything if you can help it

 

[FrustratedDave]

Learn Japanese fast, Now that was funny!
Any more Jokes?

 

[Adam J]

^^^u can get to a basic conversational level in less than six months. I did. It's achievable

 

[srintuar]

You guys are both in Oosaka ?? It must be so much easier for you, with all the immersion.

 

[Adam J]

Yeah, much easier to immerse yourself (or more difficult to escape it!)

 

[Mike Cash]

You guys are both in Oosaka ?? It must be so much easier for you, with all the immersion.

It is a mistake to assume that being in Japan equals being immersed in Japanese.

 

[Adam J]

It is a mistake to assume that being in Japan equals being immersed in Japanese.

True. In fact the bulk of foreigners in Japan manage to almost completely shield themselves from learning Japanese as they teach English, working and living with other foreigners.

 

[Mike Cash]

True. In fact the bulk of foreigners in Japan manage to almost completely shield themselves from learning Japanese as they teach English, working and living with other foreigners.

These days it is more accurate to say "western foreigners" or "English-speaking foreigners" in that situation; we no longer make up the bulk of foreigners (if we ever did).

Out of curiosity...What's your main line? Other than working up a marvelous new method for learning Japanese, I mean.

 

[Adam J]

I run a language school in Osaka. What do you do when your not working up sarcastic comments?

 

[Petaris]

What is the goal of your program? Just spoken ability or written as well?

What I would like to see is something like Rosetta Stone but with definitions for some of the words. That was always my issue, I could understand the meaning of somethings but others I couldn't figure out what they were referring to or when it was appropriate to use that word to describe something. For instance, which word to use when for referring to a male or female of a certain age or in a certain circumstance.

 

[Mike Cash]

I run a language school in Osaka. What do you do when your not working up sarcastic comments?

What sarcastic comment are you referring to? I wasn't aware I had made one.

I drive a truck for a living, but please don't repeat that where my mother might hear it; she thinks I have a respectable job playing piano in a cathouse.

 

[Adam J]

@Petaris- Thank you for your input. It's a course aimed at beginners who want to learn basic Japanese as quickly as possible so I have left out most of the normal cultural information and put less emphasis on grammar and more on phrases and basic essentials. Parts one and two (about three months each) focus mainly on conversation. Although I will include hiragana and katakana charts to learn reading, I won't go into writing (or much detailed grammar) until part three.
I will try to include the meanings and tips on usage for as much of the dialogue as possible. Thanks again for your advise. It's much appreciated.

@Mike Cash- じゃあ気のせいやったんちゃう
Do you live in Japan? If so, that would have to be one the most interesting jobs I've heard a westerner having!

 

[Mike Cash]

@Mike Cash- じゃあ気のせいやったんちゃう
Do you live in Japan? If so, that would have to be one the most interesting jobs I've heard a westerner having!

I live in Gunma. There's nothing particularly interesting about my job. Freight is freight. Point A is Point A and Point B is Point B.

 

[Adam J]

I mean interesting as in unusual. Almost everyone teaches English and a handful work in bars.

 

[srintuar]

It is a mistake to assume that being in Japan equals being immersed in Japanese.

Are you saying you are not "immersed" ?

Perhaps, you go out of your way to find English speaking venues ?

 

[Mike Cash]

Are you saying you are not "immersed" ?

I always make an effort to write clearly and precisely. I said nothing about myself; I was speaking in general terms.

Perhaps, you go out of your way to find English speaking venues ?

The only English speaking venue I find myself in at all is our annual JREF Meet at MM's house. My work is conducted 100% in Japanese. Japanese is the language in my home and my children are monolingual Japanese speakers. I think I am adequately immersed, thanks very much.

 

[srintuar]

I always make an effort to write clearly and precisely. I said nothing about myself; I was speaking in general terms.

:?

Japanese is the language in my home and my children are monolingual Japanese speakers.

Now that's interesting: did you try to speak any English with them , or did you make a special effort to avoid it ?
I know cases where parents specifically avoid teaching a second language to their kids to avoid them being "distracted" or taking anything away from their primary language they'll need to use in everyday life. Personally I always that that is もったいない, being
biased towards multilingualism myself.

Others do their best to teach a second language to their kids, but
find that the kids reject it at a certain age...
I'm interested in how you see it.

 

[Mike Cash]

We're one foot over the line for hijacking the thread already, so perhaps it would be best not to get into that here. Unless, of course, the OP has no objections.

 

[Adam J]

Go for it. I'd be interested in your views on the matter as well. I have a two year old daughter that I'm trying to teach English but it's not as easy as I had invisioned to say the least.

 

[Mike Cash]

Go for it. I'd be interested in your views on the matter as well. I have a two year old daughter that I'm trying to teach English but it's not as easy as I had invisioned to say the least.

As I see it, when it comes to kids that little, we can't "teach" them a language. We can facilitate to one degree or another their acquiring a language, but it is up to them whether they choose to acquire it or not.

When it comes to language acquisition little kids are the ultimate cold-blooded pragmatists. If they sense a need for picking up a language, they will. If they don't, they won't. My children knew I understood Japanese, heard me speaking Japanese, and saw no point in acquiring what in their eyes was just some strange gibberish their father could speak when he felt like it. Trying to explain the benefits of learning a language useful around the world falls on deaf ears when the ears are attached to people who don't yet have any notion that the world extends more than a few blocks from their house.

When my kids were about 3 and about 1 and a half we went to the US to live for about a year and a half. The kids switched from monolingual Japanese to monolingual English in just a few months. My son picked up English at preschool and his sister then picked it up from him. Within about three months of moving back to Japan they were monolingual Japanese speakers again and have remained so until the present (now 17 and 15). Neither of them has any recollection that there was ever a time they spoke English.

The number one annoying thing that parents in a situation such as mine have to hear is the stereotypical gushing about ハーフがかわいい！！ The number two annoying thing is people admonishing us for not "teaching" our children English, followed with a list of the benefits and several anecdotes of friends of friends they know whose children are bilingual or trilingual or whatever. These people have never been in a position to do this themselves....no no no....but they know all about it.

My kids were born here. They have grown up here, attending regular neighborhood schools. They will in all likelihood live their lives here. It strikes me as natural and appropriate that Japanese should be their first language. They are required to study English from junior high, but to what degree they decide to apply themselves and make practical use of it is entirely up to them.

 

[Petaris]

Thats interesting. We want to bring our son up to be bilingual no matter where we live (US or Japan) but I'm not sure how successful we will be.

 

[Damicci]

It's funny you mention the ハーフがかわいい！ Notion as my recent trip back showed me how true this is. My son and wife went back in December last year to visit family and I followed in Feb. While there EVERYWHERE we went that is all we heard. "OMG he is so cute." "He looks like a doll" "Wow he is ridiculously cute" Got to a point where I started thinking we need to get him into TV somehow. He was also the popular kid in his weekly playgroup. I am not sure what the fascination is but it is very much there. Just thought I would add my story in here.

As for the multi-lingual thing. In my sons cases I think it would benefit them as they will have interactions with both Japanese and English speaking people. So learning both wouldn't hurt.