What comes first?

[BamaFan2989]

hey guys what is the order in which you should learn things for japanese?

like hiragana then katakana then kanji then verbs then particles....

what is best?

 

[PaulTB]

hey guys what is the order in which you should learn things for japanese?

like hiragana then katakana then kanji then verbs then particles....

what is best?

Whatever order they're given in your textbook.
Generally though
a) You won't learn one thing at a time that often. e.g. You'll be learning kanji / verbs / particles _together_.
b) One exception, it wouldn't hurt to learn hiragana (and possibly katakana) first. Try to get a text book that uses kana.

 

[Emoni]

Here, I'll give you a STEP by STEP guide to starting Japanese. If you put the effort into it, maybe even just an hour a day you will give yourself a great base to start out. An actual Japanese class is the best, but if you want to self study this is what you need to do.

Step #1) Go to this website Anguilla Beaches, In Anguilla Beaches Of Golden Sand Runs For Miles and get the Genki I integrated Japanese course book. I'd recommend getting the book AND the CD as well especially for self study so you can practice pronouncing the woods CORRECTLY. This is the book I am using now (although I'm using the second book). If you get through all the material in this book then you are set. I promise you it is worth every PENNY (or Yen) that you spend.

Step #2) While you wait for the book. Study Hiragana. This is the basis of all Japanese writing at the beginning. Get all the Hiragana down WELL, and make sure you pay extreme attention to stroke order, it is far more important that you might believe, especially when you get to Kanji later. Think of it as strikes in a martial art kata pattern. If you really work at it, you can have Hiragana down in 4 days flat.

Step #3) When you get the book, read every single page. EXTREMELY SLOWLY. Go through every excercize... TWICE. Listen to the cd until you can repeat what is said and understand it completely.

Step #4) When you get confused, have a question, or run into trouble (and you will, no one is perfect) simply come on this board, and ask a clear and descriptive question about the topic. I promise you that any time you do this, you will get the answer you seek.

Step #5) Never stop studying from this point on.

Follow these steps and I can promise you 100% you will learn Japanese. Try to find the easy way out, try to find the cheap way or a "trick" and I can promise you 100% you will never learn Japanese. It is as simple as that.

 

[BamaFan2989]

ありがとう。 thank you so much. do they carry the book, workbook, and cd at book stored you think? thanks alot.

i don't mean to be like retarded, but do i HAVE TO GET Genki? can I get something at my local bookstore?

what about japanese for dummies? hehe ^_^ go check it out.

 

[Stutz]

Japanese for Dummies is a terrible book. Genki rocks, it's what I use, but the CDs are really expensive. Unfortunately, you will want the CDs because you want to be able to pronounce words and get used to speaking. Thank god my university made tapes for $11 that was very inexpensive for me.

 

[Emoni]

Because Genki is the best possible book you could get for learning Japanese on the face of the planet. That is why It isn't easy to find because it is published from Japan, but usually you can get them from college book stores.

 

[BamaFan2989]

are there any other books, that are easier to find and a little less expensive. and i know you said it is the best, and that finding an easy way out won't help, but with is being overseas, hard to find, and expensive, it's hard for a sophomore in high school to get it.

 

[PaulTB]

are there any other books, that are easier to find and a little less expensive. and i know you said it is the best, and that finding an easy way out won't help, but with is being overseas, hard to find, and expensive, it's hard for a sophomore in high school to get it.

Japanese for Busy People is a good basic series, and probably well distributed / stocked. Get the KANA version.

There are accompanying tapes / videos / workbooks and stuff but frankly I think they're overpriced.

 

[BamaFan2989]

is this what you were talking about? Amazon.com: Japanese for Busy People I: Kana Version (9784770019875): AJALT -Assoc. Japanese Language Teaching: Books also if it is notice at the middle the workbook with it, is that what i should get?

 

[Fantt]

Dang... $180 for the CDs!! Ouch! and that's just for the first book.

Any cheaper source?

 

[Dan B]

Bama,

Yes, that's the series and version that Paul is talking about. The combo (text + workbook for $25) is a decent deal. I've got all three levels of Japanese for Busy People (JBP) and I'm pretty happy with it. But I've not bothered getting the CDs.

I'd recommend that you get a Kana practice book first (search Amazon--I used the "Easy Kana Workbook" and thought that it was great). You'll have a hard time using the JBP series without a throrough knowledge of Hiragana, and preferably Katakana, too.

Dan

 

[BamaFan2989]

so basically i should just get the whole series in steps? i think i will do that.....

oh yeah about the cds, i don't think they are worth it. i mean they are, but i can find some stuff on the internet, or buy some cheaper cds.....

 

[Fantt]

Ooh... this site has Genki for cheapish. CD set for $30!

Oh, fudge... They're the light, dumbed down versions.

 

[BamaFan2989]

what is the order in which to buy the japanese for busy people series?

 

[Fantt]

Ummm... maybe I don't understand your question, Bama. The books are Vols 1, 2 and 3. In what way are you confused?

 

[BamaFan2989]

well there is like a kana version, and regular or something, i saw two textbooks of vol 1 and it was like $59 and $20..... so like kana first or just vol 1?

 

[Fantt]

Vol 1 comes in a Kana version and a non-kana version. You should only be interested in the Kana version, but, before you even order it, you need to learn the kana - at least the hiragana. Expect it to take a week or two at a minimum to learn them well enough to be able to use the book. Without any audio, though, you will learn to read hiragana and you will learn a vocabulary and some grammar, but you won't be able to speak to or understand a Japanese person.

Here's the book to use to learn the kana. Or just try yourself - there's plenty of webplaces to learn them.

 

[BamaFan2989]

what about audio off the internet?????

there is some on japanese.about.com do you know any other places?

 

[Fantt]

I'm not aware of a lot of free, legal japanese learning audio on the internet, perhaps someone else is.

 

[PaulTB]

I'm not aware of a lot of free, legal japanese learning audio on the internet, perhaps someone else is.

There are lots of bits here and there but not much really _substantial_.

You can at least get how the kana are pronounced (which you _need_ to know) off various sites. One fairly cheap source of sound is to buy past JLPT papers - around January they are usually on sale as the test is over. You actually get two JLPT level papers bundled together with a cassette tape.

JLPT level 4 is really basic so it should be a reasonable source for a beginner.

Incidently I disagree about buying a kana workbook. You can get kana practice sheets to print out free off the Internet and really all you need is paper, pen, and diagrams of how to draw them.

 

[BamaFan2989]

yeah i think you are right, so i am going to go to my local books a million and try to find a workbook for me.

 

[Emoni]

From a message I recieved it seems there is some differences in the CD's at least from the Genki set I have.

The way I have them is two main books, I and II which I also bought the I and II work book for. Both books each had a CD from the college for them for the drills excersizes and such. That is two CD's.

Just the first main book should be enough to start on if you are on a budget until you find out where to go from there. Only about 30$ and trust me it is WORTH it. You might be able to find sound clips and such off the internet for sounds as well as kana sheets for how to write correctly.

 

[Elizabeth]

yeah i think you are right, so i am going to go to my local books a million and try to find a workbook for me.

Why don't you check out the genki web site before deciding on the main book or any accessories ? I learned quite fine through various channels : the JBP series, Youkoso, Minna no Nihongo, paid tutors, children's readers, tons of magazine advertisements....mastery is largely a matter of exposing yourself to anything dealing with the language as much as possible all day everyday. Or more reasonably, at least 2 hours a day after you have the kana down.

genki-online.com

 

[BamaFan2989]

i have, but how much it costs and the shipping isn't in my budget right now, lol. so i am going to start with something a little bit easier.

which do you guys think is better, learning the hiragana and katakana without worrying too much about the sounds, learning the sounds then the hiragana and katakana, or learning them at the same time, but might take a little longer?

ありがとう！！！

 

[Fantt]

You will learn the sounds as you learn the kana. It's easy because each Kana is a sound. A, ka, na, ma, chi, tsu, and so on. You still need to hear them pronounced by native speakers but, don't worry about that as much as learning the kana. You'll learn the sounds eventually.