What do you guys think is the best way to learn grammar? I find it very difficult getting it to stick in my head as there are so many confusing particles and conjugations. Also, I'm currently using Tae Kim's grammar guide, if you can recommend other resources it would be very helpful! Thank you!
Best Way to Learn Grammar?
- Thread starter Fuubuu
- Start date
- 15 Mar 2002
- 16,758
- 2,298
Use a proper textbook prepared by professionals instead of amateur reference materials. Get one with workbooks and drill materials. Genki is frequently recommended.
Quality materials are worth what you pay for them. Tae Kim's Guide is easily worth ten times what you paid for it.
Quality materials are worth what you pay for them. Tae Kim's Guide is easily worth ten times what you paid for it.
letianchen
先輩
- 17 Jun 2013
- 560
- 25
Well after you learn the basics it helps reading books, or short passage/articles, thats what i have done.
- 15 Mar 2002
- 16,758
- 2,298
Share the names of some of the books you've read; others may find it useful.
(If he had learned the basics, he wouldn't need to be asking the question, don't you think?)
letianchen
先輩
- 17 Jun 2013
- 560
- 25
Hi, first I did the whole みんなの日本語 series, I honestly think these textbooks are amazing and if you do the 4 books ( beginner, beginner 2, intermediate 1, intermediate 2) you cover all the huge major grammar points and some of the less major ones which are rather common, on top of this I occasionaly listened to Japanese pod 101, at first it was really hard for me to understand the pace of the talking and I didnt know alot of the words they were saying, but now when I listen to it, its a piece of cake. (You can torrent these mp3 and pdf files online, or pay for them if you want). As for books, anything romance high school related is fine, I read a couple chapters of 恋空. You could probably try reading some shoujo manga too, I have a bunch in my room and they are extremely easy to read after you have done the intermediate books, and you will find a word every now and then you havent seen before. That being said manga probably isnt a good way to remember actual grammar points ( however I noticed that after I learn a grammar point if I read it somewhere else it sticks in my head for a while, even if it is something like a manga), so you can try making your own sentences and this could help you.
- 5 May 2013
- 962
- 509
I highly recommend "A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar Paperback by Seiichi Makino and Michio Tsutsui"
There's also an 'intermediate' and 'advanced', but I found the 'basic' quite enough to get by on. With a basic understanding of Japanese from Tae Kim, or a textbook (or both!), and a good dictionary (and the combination of places like dic.yahoo.co.jp that provide mid-sized J-E and 国語 dictionaries, along with front ends to EDICT such as jisho.org is quite enough to be getting by on), you simply have to tackle native materials. Look up words you don't know, and when you find strange strings of characters that look like suffixes, look them up in the Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar.
Ideally, try reading materials that have an English version easily available to you, like getting the Japanese version of a Manga that you have in English. Do your best to understand a page and refer to the official translation later. Beware of areas of loose translation - jokes often don't translate and are simply replaced, and reactions to 呼び捨てand such are often warped into something else entirely. Dual-language materials with relatively literal translations are available for learners, although the material may be dull, but you can search for 'parallel texts' if you want them.
There's also an 'intermediate' and 'advanced', but I found the 'basic' quite enough to get by on. With a basic understanding of Japanese from Tae Kim, or a textbook (or both!), and a good dictionary (and the combination of places like dic.yahoo.co.jp that provide mid-sized J-E and 国語 dictionaries, along with front ends to EDICT such as jisho.org is quite enough to be getting by on), you simply have to tackle native materials. Look up words you don't know, and when you find strange strings of characters that look like suffixes, look them up in the Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar.
Ideally, try reading materials that have an English version easily available to you, like getting the Japanese version of a Manga that you have in English. Do your best to understand a page and refer to the official translation later. Beware of areas of loose translation - jokes often don't translate and are simply replaced, and reactions to 呼び捨てand such are often warped into something else entirely. Dual-language materials with relatively literal translations are available for learners, although the material may be dull, but you can search for 'parallel texts' if you want them.
Dotanbatan
先輩
- 25 Feb 2014
- 319
- 64
I also had (have) difficulties remembering Japanese grammar. I found the more I read in Japanese the more the grammar started to make sense and I remembered the rules naturally.
For reading, try The Hiragana Times .... It has a good variety of well written articles in Japanese with an easy to follow English translation for reference.
For reading, try The Hiragana Times .... It has a good variety of well written articles in Japanese with an easy to follow English translation for reference.
