I need clarification please :)

[Libya]

Hello
my name is abdallah and i am from Libya ( NORTH AFRICA )

i am really interested in Japanese , i have been aching since a long time to learn a practical language and since i got into anime last week i really fell in love with the language .

my current goal is to learn enough to listen + understand hiragana and maybe some kanji ----> in order to accomplish what i want which is watch anime without subs (( just a stepping stone to dive in the language ))


there for i am really confused since there are no course in my country to learn Japanese, i have to do everything online (( no books in the library as-well )) so after a long journy i have stubled on this forum ,and this is what i want to ask :

1- which are the best books to start from zero ?
2- do i have to learn alot of kanji ?
3- how do you differ the verbs from (future ,present ,past) ?
4- is there any guide or thing that lists for me 10 words to learn/memorize each day ?


thank you in advanced

i have alot of other questions in my mind that i cant put right now , i'll just eave them to another time !

 

[Yakultcat]

Hi Abdallah (^^)/
I'm only a beginner myself, so I'm sure someone experienced will come along to answer your questions. In the meanwhile...
1) If you're self studying, a textbook like "Genki" would probably be good. In my classroom we use the Minna no Nihongo textbooks, and they are quite good, but I think they work better when you have someone to go through the grammar/exercises with you. If you don't want to get a textbook there are plenty of online learning sites. The main one I can think of is Japanesepod101. There's also Tae Kim's Guide to learning Japanese which I find pretty useful. (Just search both in google).
2) If you just want to be able to understand Japanese (spoken only) it's not essential to learn kanji, but it would probably be very helpful in your learning process. I find that knowing the kanji for vocabulary often helps me to remember them much more easily.
3) The verb ending differ between tenses e.g. taberu (to eat) is present/future casual positive, while tabenai is present/future casual negative. However these endings will differ between different sets of verbs. There probably is a thread on here somewhere about this if you search for it...
4) I've heard of word a day sites... Japanesepod101 has this. Also Japanese Word of the Day . I know a good list site, but it's in kanji, sorry! :sorry:
Good luck with your studies!

 

[Libya]

thank you
about the verb site is it always fixed like in english you ad d/ed in the past and ing in the continuous
or is it other way ?

 

[Toritoribe]

See the following wiki page.

Japanese verb conjugation - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Libya]

at the moment i am getting hang of this
so i have 2 questions :
if i want to make a statement "i will shop/i will go shopping"
what should i add to " watashi wa kaimono suru "

i mean do i have to add something like will/later ?

i forgot the other question :s that i wanted to ask , but i will do it later

 

[Elizabeth]

at the moment i am getting hang of this
so i have 2 questions :
if i want to make a statement "i will shop/i will go shopping"
what should i add to " watashi wa kaimono suru "

i mean do i have to add something like will/later ?

For "later" you can append "ato de" to the beginning but it really isn't necessary unless there is a set time involved or it is clear from the context what the action will be following. Usually there is some type of time stamp similar to English or it gets confused with "I go shopping" (on a regular basis). But, yes, grammatically "Watashi wa kaimono (wo) suru (yo) is perfect. Congratulations !

 

[Toritoribe]

at the moment i am getting hang of this
so i have 2 questions :
if i want to make a statement "i will shop/i will go shopping"
what should i add to " watashi wa kaimono suru "

i mean do i have to add something like will/later ?

i forgot the other question :s that i wanted to ask , but i will do it later

"Kaimono (wo) suru" is an action verb, so the dictionary form doesn't express simple present tense. As in the wiki page I linked in my previous post, it's for present habit or furture tense, depending on the context.

Watashi wa mainichi kaimono (wo) suru.
I shop everyday.

Watashi wa ashita kaimono (wo) suru.
I will shop tomorrow.

Plus, "Kaimono (wo) suru" is also a volitional verb, so it can mean "I'm going to shop".

 

[Libya]

thank you alot

but i must ask , are there good in-depth books to help me learn the basics ?