Complete Beginner in Japanese

[Remixer]

Hey there,

just wanted to reel in some information on which method would be the best to learn conversational Japanese.

I don't want to learn Kanji, I'd just like to know how to find my way around in everyday life in Japan.

Thanks for any tips



Remixer

 

[LukeSettle]

If you want to know how to get around japan, you might want to learn a few kanji, or at least print out the kanji of places you'll be seeing.

Just go on amazon.com and search for japanese language books.
Also, if you search this forum you will find many, many threads on this subject.

 

[Putrefaction]

IMO the first few Kanji are easy to learn, you should at least learn 1-10, man, woman, child, just things you see around you...bathroom would also be good, haha.

 

[nice gaijin]

most place names are in kanji, you'll want to familiarize yourself with at least a few

 

[Remixer]

Hahhahaa

Looks like I'm screwed then.

I'll compile a list of places I want to go to and terms I would probably use on a daily basis and get a professional translator to write it down in Kanji for me.^^

Cheers for the advice, you guys



Remixer

 

[Imposter253]

Pimsleur I think does fine for learning VERY basic japanese for travellers.

 

[xfusion]

Pimsleur is a good resource to use. If you don't want to spend the money on buying the audio CDs, try recordedbooks.com and do a search on Pimsleur. You can rent audio CDs Courses for $16US/month.
Also check RosettaStone.com. The most inexpensive route with them would be the 6-month subscription for $199.95
You still should get a good grammar book as well. I have - Teach Yourself - Beginner's Japanese, by Helen Gilhooly, which you can find on Amazon. I really like it.

 

[Red5]

Hahhahaa

Looks like I'm screwed then.

I'll compile a list of places I want to go to and terms I would probably use on a daily basis and get a professional translator to write it down in Kanji for me.^^

Cheers for the advice, you guys

hi man ....

it's hard to speak japanese with knowing the letters and kanji like some one speak Arabic without knowing the letters so it's not useful to you ....
but try your best .... but I know this site for conversation in japanese

 

[nekojita]

Learning katakana is a good idea - because you'll be able to pick out some words with it (those taken from English, although not all katakana words are from English/are close enough to be guessed easily).

Also, Japanesepod101 has a survival-phrases section for travellers (free podcasts).

 

[Red5]

Also, Japanesepod101 has a survival-phrases section for travellers (free podcasts).

it's good idea but I frankly didn't use it but I know this site coz I study Japanese in my university , but I used chinesepod and I loaded all site PDF and audio coz in my country don't have Chinese center only in embassy and it's in far city so I decide to learn it by my self , THANKS

 

[Olga-Alyonka]

Learn katakana,most using words and some grammar, all the rest will be learnt in speeking))

 

[Shippo]

learn katakana and hiragana!!! that are the basics for daily life.... and then try to memorize at least the kanji you see everyday. it isn't this hard...
pay attention to the ppl you see and be aware of some 'rules'

=) then you should make it... btw.... the english of japanese ppl is.... ehm... not so good. so don't rely on english