Hello. I am Bramicus. I am a 54-year-old American just starting to (try to) learn Japanese, on my own -- I have never had a formal lesson. I have never been to Japan, but I plan to go for about 10 days in October. I hope to be able to speak at least a little Japanese by then.
I started by listening to the Pimsleur Japanese I CDs. I'm almost through with it and will be starting the second volume soon. I feel like I am learning a lot using the Pimsleur, but I still cannot have a face-to-face conversation easily, perhaps because I don't know any Japanese speaking people, so I have only tried it once (with a teaching fellow at a nearby university). I think it would help if I were able to find a transcript of the Pimsleur lessons to practice with, or would that be counterproductive?
I also just received a copy of Reading Japanese to learn Kana and Kanji. I like the approach of this book because it lets me practice reading in context as I learn.
I have also ordered a copy of Japanese for Busy People, but I haven't received it yet.
I find that learning Japanese, compared to other languages, is in some ways very difficult, yet in some ways very easy, but always fun.
I started by listening to the Pimsleur Japanese I CDs. I'm almost through with it and will be starting the second volume soon. I feel like I am learning a lot using the Pimsleur, but I still cannot have a face-to-face conversation easily, perhaps because I don't know any Japanese speaking people, so I have only tried it once (with a teaching fellow at a nearby university). I think it would help if I were able to find a transcript of the Pimsleur lessons to practice with, or would that be counterproductive?
I also just received a copy of Reading Japanese to learn Kana and Kanji. I like the approach of this book because it lets me practice reading in context as I learn.
I have also ordered a copy of Japanese for Busy People, but I haven't received it yet.
I find that learning Japanese, compared to other languages, is in some ways very difficult, yet in some ways very easy, but always fun.
