Best approach

[ShannonR]

I've been trying to learn Japanese on and off for a quite a while now and I've heard of a few approaches that assist in learning Japanese. One predominantly being the AJATT method.

I haven't really found anything that works right for me, as I find it quite difficult to learn the grammar and vocab, I don't really know where to look to learn these.

Please feel free to suggest me anything and I will most definitely try it.

 

[Andromedashun]

Minna no Nihongo has the most completed book-set in my honest opinion.

And if you want to test yourself in JLPT, somatome is one of the best choices.

As for learning software, JPWCE and Kanji-King are pretty good. You also need a handbook dictionary too for Kanji study.

Oh, and I forgot. Memorize Hiragana and Katakana first before thinking of anything later.

 

[ShannonR]

Yeah I know all the kana, but kanji is another story.

I'll see if I can locate some of those books. I've been using the Human Japanese app too.

 

[Andromedashun]

Yeah I know all the kana, but kanji is another story.

Here is my method for remembering Kanji, though I haven't practicing writing yet:
First, try to remember the radical (almost all of them are simple and you don't have to learn the complicated one since the Kanji with it are almost non-existence). Next, use JPWCE or whatever software to find the Kanji you want to find that contain those radicals if you don't know them yet. When you are acquainted with the Kanji, memorize their meaning and try some exercises (Minna no Nihongo has plenty of books like that). When you've memorized the Kanji you've learned, look at the dictionary for each Kanji (the Joujo Kanji books are good). Look at the words contain each Kanji and try to memorize them (reading, meaning), you can guess a lot of them if you know at least one Kanji's meaning that make them up. Try to spell them too, it is one of the most fun part in learning Kanji.

 

[ShannonR]

What do you suggest for vocab and grammar?

 

[Andromedashun]

Well, grammar is... the most complicated thing. It's really hard and require a lot of effort. If you can, I suggest take a class.

About vocabulary, most of them are in Kanji-word arent they? Oh, and I forgot the Katakana too, words with them are like grammar, will give you major headache.

 

[Glenn]

Read and listen to a whole lot of actual Japanese. You can get a grammar book to help understand the grammar, but you really need lots and lots of exposure to the language. That'll get you used to the grammar and give you a feel for it, as well as for the vocabulary and how words are actually used.

 

[ShannonR]

And where would you suggest looking for such a thing, Glenn?

 

[Mike Cash]

The Internet?

 

[ShannonR]

Yeah, I know. I don't know what to listen to or where to find such things? :?

 

[inadera]

I agree with Glenn, it's best to listen to people speaking Japanese often. It's pretty helpful to get you used to the sentence structure. It's not that hard to find the stuffs to listen to for me, since I watch anime quite often and I have Japanese songs. Try to find out the meaning of the words they said (you don't need to understand everything though, but just try to understand it).

I've been doing that for the last few years before actually trying to learn Japanese, and I find doing those kind of stuffs pretty helpful.

As Mike Cash said, everything is on the Internet. Just google it.

 

[Half-n-Half]

Yeah, I know. I don't know what to listen to or where to find such things? :?

Youtube and Keyhole TV are a good place to start. It depends on what interests you, I suppose.

 

[FinancialWar]

OP: check your PM box.

 

[Calum Bowen]

I've been doing a language exchange with some Japanese people every week - just talking in japanese and english and having a kinda relaxed lesson. They also got me some manga which has been really helpful. I'd been reading Japanese for Busy People and it's all -masu and these manga are a whole new world of language - they're teaching me a lot and they're a lot less stale than the Japanese for Busy People books. However, those books are great for explaining grammar and introducing different sentence structures. I think the best thing to do is - a mix of all of these things - read manga for slang/less formal way of saying things + new vocab, read textbook for practising grammar and sentence structures, listen to J-music/watch anime to relax and you'll notice yourself picking up what they're saying. Also it's great to find a japanese person to talk to. There are a ton on various websites looking for 'skype lessons'.

As for kanji, i've been working my way through the JLPT grade lists. I work in groups of about 10 - write down the kanji character, then it's meaning, then it's reading in hiragana, then i might start by writing all of the meanings in a different order and see if i can remember the kanji and the reading, then all of the readings and see if i can remember the kanji and the meaning. Then i hone in on the kanji i can't remember and write them over and over continuing to jumble up the meanings/character/reading to test myself.

good luck! : )

 

[Glenn]

And where would you suggest looking for such a thing, Glenn?

What are you interested in? For news there are NHKラジオニュース and ANNニュース. You can also get podcasts for free from the App Store if you have an iPod or iPad. Also, YouTube is good too, but I think audio only is beneficial since you aren't distracted by images. Video has its place too, of course, but I think you should also just listen sometimes.

 

[gaiaslastlaugh]

There are a ton of links to free resources posted on the koohii forum:

Learning resources - Reviewing the Kanji - Learning Japanese

You can leaf through this and find things geared toward your current level.

My personal recommendations for grammar are the JAPANESE IN MANGALAND books, and Tae Kim's free guide online. Also, old issues of Mangajin. I've flipped through the textbook Genki, and it also looks great.

For kanji, either learn them using the Heisig method, or use an iPhone/Web app to drill them. Personally, I use KanjiBox in conjunction with Henshall's GUIDE TO REMEMBERING JAPANESE CHARACTERS.

From there, get into native material as quickly as possible. The links above will be of great help. If something feels too hard, put it away and come back to it after you've studied some more. You'll find a rhythm after a few months of practicing and finding out what works for you.

Good luck!

-Jay-

 

[ShannonR]

I think I'll take a lot more of a look into podcasts.

 

[Andromedashun]

I just discovered a very good site to study Japanese online, that is, japanesepod101.com. It has tons of lesson from beginner to advanced which are especially good for listening practise. Anyone is a member there?

 

[Yakultcat]

Yes, I'm a member! I find it great for listening practice, as well as for picking up a lot of new vocabulary. It's not so great for grammar though, although I've heard some of the later seasons are much better planned (not actually listened to any to report on this though). If you listen to it regularly I'd check some of the slang used - my Japanese friend laughed her *** off when I used 'asameshimae' - piece of cake - learnt from the 1st beginners season of japanesepod101. Apparently it was slang that was in vogue about six years ago and people my age wouldn't really use it...

 

[Toritoribe]

"Asameshimae" is not a slang but just an idiom which is not frequently used by young people nowadays.
BTW, where did you get the information "vogue about six years ago"? "Asameshimae" has been used from Edo period , i.e., two or three HUNDRED years ago.

 

[Glenn]

And here's the etymology!

朝飯前

Sure enough, 江戸時代中頃 is in there.

 

[Yakultcat]

My point was more that the context of the vocabulary given by jpod101 was not always elaborated upon , especially slang and colloquialisms. As you pointed out, 朝飯前 is not a phrase that's used much by young people, information that wasn't given when the word was introduced, so I sounded very odd using it to my friend.

I didn't say 'new' I said 'in vogue' According to my (female Japanese) friend, some famous (presumably young) newsreader or actress used this phrase and it became briefly popular/okay to use by people more of my generation. Of course, this is a half remembered conversation from a year ago between (at the time) an awful Japanese speaker and an iffy English speaker, so I'm not sure any of that is accurate

 

[Toritoribe]

Then, her information or your memory is wrong, I'm afraid. There's no such "vogue" here in Japan.
I just said that young people don't use "asameshimae" frequently in these days. It's quite a common idiom everybody knows, and is still widely used. If it's used in an appropriate situation, no one would laugh at it even if young people use it. I think it's worth to know for learners.