Willing to learn Japanese - where to start?

Hello, I am a teenager willing to learn Japanese. Where do I start?

A good start would be to read through the many old posts here that have tons of info on where to start. You will see books listed that will help you. Once you get into your studies , people here are pretty good at answering any questions you may have. Be aware , it's not an easy language to learn and will take real work and effort on your part to succeed. Hard to find , but once in a while night school classes will have a class on Japanese and it might pay to check if any colleges in your area have classes open to the public. Good luck !

Welcome to the forum, @Liberation_Drums!

This is an old thread, but it contains plenty of relevant info:

My advice to you would be to not try learning Japanese. There's really not much point to it. In general only Japanese people speak Japanese. Unless you think you will be marooned on some Japanese island some day don't bother. That being said,

There are many steps and resources you can use to learn Japanese by yourself. Here are some of the most common ones:

• Learn the Japanese alphabet. There are three basic writing systems you need to learn to be able to read Japanese: Hiragana, Katakana, and Kanji. Hiragana and Katakana are phonetic alphabets that represent sounds, while Kanji are symbols that represent words or concepts. You can start by learning Hiragana and Katakana first, as they are essential for reading and writing Japanese.
• Learn the concept of Kanji. Kanji are complex characters that can have multiple meanings and pronunciations depending on the context. They are derived from Chinese characters and can be combined to form new words. Learning Kanji can be challenging, but it can also enrich your vocabulary and understanding of Japanese culture.
• Learn Japanese grammar. Japanese grammar is different from English grammar in many ways. For example, Japanese sentences usually follow the subject-object-verb (SOV) word order, while English sentences follow the subject-verb-object (SVO) word order. Japanese also uses particles to mark the function of words in a sentence, such as topic, object, direction, etc. Learning basic grammar rules and patterns can help you form correct and natural sentences in Japanese.
• Collect and use Japanese vocabulary. Vocabulary is the key to expressing yourself and understanding others in any language. You can learn new words from various sources, such as textbooks, apps, websites, podcasts, videos, etc. You can also use flashcards, mnemonics, or spaced repetition systems to memorize and review words effectively.
• Learn Japanese pronunciation. Pronunciation is important for communicating clearly and accurately in any language. Japanese has five vowel sounds (a, i, u, e, o) and 15 consonant sounds (k, g, s, z, t, d, n, h, b, p, m, y, r, w). You can practice your pronunciation by listening to native speakers and repeating after them. You can also use online tools such as Forvo or Rhinospike to hear how words are pronounced by real people.
• Read easy Japanese news. Reading is a great way to improve your comprehension and vocabulary skills in any language. You can start by reading easy Japanese news articles that are written for learners or children. These articles usually have furigana (small Hiragana characters) above the Kanji to help you read them. They also have simple sentences and vocabulary that are suitable for beginners. Some examples of websites that offer easy Japanese news are NHK News Web Easy and News in Slow Japanese.
• Make a Japanese learning journal as writing practice. Writing is another useful skill that can help you improve your grammar and vocabulary in any language. You can make a Japanese learning journal where you write about your daily life, your thoughts, your goals, etc. in Japanese. You can also write summaries of what you learned or practiced each day. This can help you review and consolidate your knowledge.
• Do speaking exercise. Speaking is the most practical skill that can help you communicate with native speakers in any language. You can practice your speaking skills by finding a language partner or a tutor online who can help you with conversation practice. You can also use apps such as HelloTalk or Tandem to chat with native speakers via text or voice messages. You can also record yourself speaking and listen back to check your pronunciation and fluency.

These are some of the steps you can take to learn Japanese by yourself. Of course, there are many other resources and methods you can use depending on your preferences and goals.

BingBot?

thomas said:

BingBot?

Click to expand...

Hi LD and welcome to the forum.

Watch this video. Tell me what you think of it.

mdchachi said:

View attachment 101823

Click to expand...

I'm genuinely not trying to be confrontational, but it's bad enough that people these days are trusting notoriously unreliable AI bots for answers to their questions.

Can we at least source our answers if we're quoting AI and not pretend that a generic bot response was actually genuine advice thought out by a knowledgeable human?

You have a moderator badge so I would imagine most newbies here will consider anything you say to be coming from an expert on Japan/Japanese (whether or not you would consider yourself that), so if you're just going to give a Jaybot-esque response (and yes, I know BingBot is a more advanced version of the ChatGPT engine, blah blah, etc., that isn't the point here), at least maybe explain where your words are coming from so people can take them with the necessary grain of salt and verify if they so choose?

Hopefully he's just busy with school work and will come back again.

bentenmusume said:

I'm genuinely not trying to be confrontational, but it's bad enough that people these days are trusting notoriously unreliable AI bots for answers to their questions.

Can we at least source our answers if we're quoting AI and not pretend that a generic bot response was actually genuine advice thought out by a knowledgeable human?

You have a moderator badge so I would imagine most newbies here will consider anything you say to be coming from an expert on Japan/Japanese (whether or not you would consider yourself that), so if you're just going to give a Jaybot-esque response (and yes, I know BingBot is a more advanced version of the ChatGPT engine, blah blah, etc., that isn't the point here), at least maybe explain where your words are coming from so people can take them with the necessary grain of salt and verify if they so choose?

Click to expand...

What if the bot response is vetted by a human? I read through the response and didn't find anything harmful there or even particularly wrong. Admittedly the advice was generic and not all that useful but I'm not going to spend time typing out a thoughtful response for a one-sentence drive-by poster. Especially since my primary advice was in the not-bot-generated first sentence. But because I respect your feelings about this, I'll try to remember to add something like "According to Bing" before pasting in auto-generated advice.

mdchachi said:

What if the bot response is vetted by a human?

Click to expand...

Then you can say it was a bot response vetted by a human.

Just like if I posted a DeepL translation that was vetted by myself, I would say so and not try to pass it off as my own work/words (not trying to say or imply you had malicious intent, but the point remains).

mdchachi said:

I read through the response and didn't find anything harmful there or even particularly wrong.

Click to expand...

I agree that it wasn't particularly harmful or wrong -- in this case.

mdchachi said:

Admittedly the advice was generic and not all that useful but I'm not going to spend time typing out a thoughtful response for a one-sentence drive-by poster.

Click to expand...

Just to be clear, I wasn't asking you to do this. I just think a line should be drawn between human responses and AI responses.

mdchachi said:

Especially since my primary advice was in the not-bot-generated first sentence.

Click to expand...

And as posted, there's no surefire way to tell the difference. (I could tell, but that's only because I'm familiar with your posting style and what a ChatGPT answer sounds like).

mdchachi said:

But because I respect your feelings about this, I'll try remember to add something like "According to Bing" before pasting in auto-generated advice.

Click to expand...

Thank you. That's really all I'm asking for. I just think we (both "we" here on JREF, and "we" in terms of humanity as a whole) need to be careful that the lines aren't blurred too much.

Otherwise, what are we even doing here? Just set Jaybot loose on the whole site and we can all "retire" since human interaction and expertise doesn't count for anything anymore.

(Just to make it clear, I respect you as well -- otherwise I wouldn't bother responding -- and my posts aren't meant to be "digging in" or "calling you out" but rather just an expression of my views for the record and all that.)