Is it the right thing to do? beginner question

haderach · 8 Jun 2007

Hello, i just started learning japanese (few days ago) and i was wandering if i could first learn the verbs and some grammar in romanji before learning the hiragana and katakana? because i find it a lot easier to remember all this in romanji but if it's the wrong thing to do i can stop doing it

aokami · 8 Jun 2007

I get impatient with it, but it seems the majority of successful Japanese learners swear by banning yourself from romaji as much as possible because at some point you will have to "unlearn" it to read kana/kanji more efficiently. It makes sense, and if you have a good ear for it listening to spoken vocabulary first can further your knowledge quickly. What tools are you using? There are a billion out there. Personally I found Japanesepod to be helpful in getting used to hearing conversational japanese a bit, then moved on to dramas and tv shows. Learning to recognize casual placement of particles has been a huge bonus, as most books/software tend to be geared towards vocabulary repetition rather than learning to form actual dialog.

However that is only my meek opinion, as there are a bunch of more proficient people around here

Goldiegirl · 8 Jun 2007

I tried the romaji at first as well as it seemed the easier way to learn. Well it's more like cheating the system. This is just my perspective here, but if you plan on going to Japan, the romaji is pretty much useless, you need to learn to read actual Japanese. Also my teacher swears that people who learn romaji first tend to always sound like a foreinger and learn bad speaking habits that become hard to break. She said that people learn to speak Japanese by trying to learn it in English (romaji) and it just never sounds good. That's just what she told me, and considering she has been teaching for 20 years she could be right. I did as she told and have learned hiragana and am learning katakana, with kanji to follow.

nice gaijin · 8 Jun 2007

By avoiding learning the writing systems, you're only cheating yourself. Unless you want to be functionally illiterate. Almost all Japanese material is written in Japanese, so you would be locking yourself out of 95% of your potential learning material.

Elizabeth · 8 Jun 2007

haderach said:
Hello, i just started learning japanese (few days ago) and i was wandering if i could first learn the verbs and some grammar in romanji before learning the hiragana and katakana? because i find it a lot easier to remember all this in romanji but if it's the wrong thing to do i can stop doing it

I wouldn't recommend before, but doing both simultaneously shouldn't be a problem. Most elementary materials begin with a heavy immersion in romaji, and it is something that's good to have a passing familiarity with since you'll continue to encounter it here and there in a variety of contexts through the years. Make sure the romaji is written in a standard system, though.

Naturally I had no clue what I was getting into, this was even before going online, but the book I started with was a very odd romaji style and man trying to map those syllables onto Japanese sounds I thought I was totally screwed and done for before even really getting started.

nice gaijin · 8 Jun 2007

I recommend the Japan Times "Genki" textbooks. the very first thing they do is begin to wean you off Romaji.

りすの肉 · 11 Jun 2007

Don't rely on romaji. Learn hirgana and katakana as soon as possible and become familar with them to a second nature degree. When you start seeing symbols in your sleep or behind your eyelids, you're ready. Master the character set, then tackle the sytax. You'll be happier in the long run.

Elizabeth · 11 Jun 2007

ewomack said:
Don't rely on romaji. Learn hirgana and katakana as soon as possible and become familar with them to a second nature degree. When you start seeing symbols in your sleep or behind your eyelids, you're ready. Master the character set, then tackle the sytax. You'll be happier in the long run.

And whoever is curious about a few spoken phrases or points of grammar from romaji while learning their kana isn't committing a crime either. That was my experience and I'm perfectly happy today, thank you. In a few years, it's such a minor point how you came by either will probably be completely irrelevant.

Is it the right thing to do? beginner question

haderach

後輩

aokami

Wolfsong

Goldiegirl

先輩

nice gaijin

Resident Realist

Elizabeth

先輩

nice gaijin

Resident Realist

りすの肉

後輩

Elizabeth

先輩

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