Anyone know of an effective free way to learn japanese?

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Jack7Of7Spades7

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An online course or something.

I want to learn a shit load of languages over my lifetime, and was planning to learn something else, but I just had some impulse activate inside me that made me dead set on learning japanese as soon as humanely possible. Unfortunately, I'm 14, a freshman in high school which has no language classes aside from Spanish, so I'm kind of stuck.

Also, no colleges are in the area, and with no license I'd have to either get a ride or take the bus, so internets preferred.
 
Well, the first step is to learn the katakana and hiragana character sets, and that's a pain in the ass. Actually, it's where a lot of people stop altogether. When I was 14, I used this book called "Japanese for Busy People," which was pretty useful. And... I learned the characters with it. Of course, since it's a book, it's not free. If your desire to learn a language is eliminated by a $10-20 fee for a book, then you probably didn't want to learn the language all that badly in the first place.
 
[quote name='Jack7Of7Spades7']So what would you suggest I start with, those 2? Where do I go from there?[/QUOTE]

Learn either one first. Then the other. Then learn very basic words. Then learn the grammatical structure. Then tackle kanji and more words.

i admit, I didn't finish all that nonsense.
 
[quote name='Chacrana']Learn either one first. Then the other. Then learn very basic words. Then learn the grammatical structure. Then tackle kanji and more words.

i admit, I didn't finish all that nonsense.[/quote]

Well shit, I'm determind, hell I have loads of free time so why not.

Anyway my mother tried to learn it, so she knows some and has some books, I'll have to check those out.

Also, pronunciation and verbal learning is learned at the same time right? Or will I do that later?
 
I learned pronunciation from anime, which is probably the wrong way to go about it. I tend to yell a lot. Often sexual references.
 
[quote name='Chacrana']I learned pronunciation from anime, which is probably the wrong way to go about it. I tend to yell a lot. Often sexual references.[/quote]
Ah, well I was hoping to get the verbal learning first, then the writing and reading.

To the other guy, thanks, will pm.
 
I have found that www.realkana.com is a pretty good aid in learning the katakana and hiragana character sets. I would recommend learning katakana first, as you don't really need to have any Japanese vocabulary to read words written in katakana (because words written in katakana are typically borrowed (English) words, though that doesn't necessarily mean it is easy to tell what they are). For instance, I don't know much vocabulary yet, but I can read that the green tab on www.sega.jp is for arcade games (アーケードーゲム = ākēdō gemu). It is important to learn the sounds (relatively easy, as their are many fewer possible sounds than English), and it will be hard to recognize any words without knowing how they sound (as the above example doesn't necessarily look like "arcade game", but it actually sounds reasonably close). It shouldn't be too hard to find online resources for pronunciation, just do a google search.
Start learning some vocabulary at the same time, and then once you have a good grasp of katakana, move on to hiragana. Hopefully by then you will have a moderate amount of vocabulary and will actually be able to read some things.
On the other hand, you can just look things up in a dictionary as you read them, so it would work to learn hiragana first if you were going to do that and you might pick up words faster.
 
I'd say learn Spanish first. I'm assuming that language is going to be much more useful than learning Japanese, unless you are set on traveling to Japan tomorrow. I live in Southern California and too many times has Spanish been extremely useful. I actually took a semester of Japanese, it was fun, but then I realized it was mostly a waste of my time. Maybe it's just me, but I find it stupid to learn a language because you like the girls, anime, or any other entertainment related reason. Well, maybe not the first reason. But I don't see Japanese becoming the next world accepted language anytime soon.

konnichiwa bitches.

But if you are really in need of a free resource, like JMac said, use the *cough* torrent *cough*
 
If you're teaching yourself, the best way to learn is going to be from textbooks, and those aren't free. I highly recommend the Genki series, which is what most colleges use to teach the language. Genki 1 and 2 will give you a great foundation, and you should be able to pass the third-level Japanese Language Proficiency Test (a test to measure your skill with the language here in Japan - four levels in total, with levels 2 and 1 being more difficult) after mastering the two books. These should be the only books you'll need for now. Avoid any of the "shortcut to learning" crap out there, or you'll only end up memorizing set phrases instead of learning to speak on your own.

I agree with what oleander said about learning katakana first - you'll be able to see more immediate results when you're able to read katakana-ized English words. It took me about three days of practice to learn katakana (I had a lot of free time at work), and a mere one day for hiragana, but I'm very good with languages, so your time may vary. Oh, and when you finally begin studying kanji, invest in some flash cards.

Watching anime is very good for listening comprehension, but I wouldn't rely on it too much for learning the actual language. Japanese relies a great deal on subtlety, and with so many different dialects, male and female speech patterns, and levels of politeness being thrown around all over the place, you may end up sounding like a fool if you just repeat something that you saw in an anime.
 
[quote name='akilshohen']learn hirigana first if you want to start right. katakana isn't really necessary[/QUOTE]
This is terrible advice. There's no way you can live properly in Japan without knowing katakana - it's absolutely necessary.
 
I've studied spanish, chinese and japanese, and i really think the best way to learn is with other people. and some stuff you really gotta hear before you can pronounce correctly. try searching itunes for japanese pod podcast, its free and you get to hear real japanese people talk and then talk slowly.

edit:
http://www.japanesepod101.com
 
[quote name='Kirin Lemon']This is terrible advice. There's no way you can live properly in Japan without knowing katakana - it's absolutely necessary.[/QUOTE]

Yeah, maybe if you live in a big city with lots of Americanized restaurants and such. :roll:

Out here in the sticks its all hiragana, kanji, and the crazy local dialect that completely butchers the language.

Interesting fact: most of the Japanese people I've met/taught DESPISE katakana.
I was pretty surprised by that.

I highly recommend you learn Hiragana first, so you can get the sounds/pronunciation down. Then learn Katakana if you want to, and then move onto basic vocabulary and simple phrases. Once you're semi-comfortable with all of that, you should start learning kanji for the words/phrases you know.

頑張って下さい！
 
[quote name='Gameboy415']Yeah, maybe if you live in a big city with lots of Americanized restaurants and such. :roll:

Out here in the sticks its all hiragana, kanji, and the crazy local dialect that completely butchers the language.[/QUOTE]
I'm sandwiched right between Kobe and Osaka (a 15-minute train ride to either one), so... yeah. But I think "international" restaurants might better describe them - basically any foreign dish gets the katakana. Oh, and foreigners can't even spell their names unless they know katakana, so... there's another good reason to go with that first. Like I said, it gives you a better sense of accomplishment early on.

Sorry to hear you're stuck in inaka, hopefully you're making the best of it. One of my other friends is going stir-crazy.
 
If you think hiragana and katakana are a bitch then don't even try. I took two levels of Japanese in middle school and learning the hiragana and katakana was pretty easy, but when it got to learning kanji I didn't have the patience. We had to learn to write a bigass complicated character (with correct strokes), how to pronounce it in Japanese, how to write it in hiragana, and what it means in English.

I'd love to re-learn it, but damn that kanji. I'd probably have more patience now, but now I don't have the time....
 
Yeah. I need to learn Japanese too. I got this job at Toyota, but I need to learn Japanese for it. I suck at learning languages, but I will try my best. I bought the Rosetta Stone Japanese CD which is supposedly the best way to quickly learn Japanese. I will see if it works.
 
ask your parents to get you rosetta stone japanese for christmas... this is the best program for languages i'mt old, my husband has used it for other languages and it is the program the military buys to help their linguists...

if you really want to do languages and do so later in life the military loves linguists. but for the love of god if you do that go ground air force, because, well they have the easiset job of it.
 
[quote name='Kirin Lemon']This is terrible advice. There's no way you can live properly in Japan without knowing katakana - it's absolutely necessary.[/QUOTE]
you would still be better off if you only knew hirigana as opposed to only knowing katakana. It's good to know, but you don't have to know it as well as you would hirigana. It's only for names and foreign things, and at even then it's mainly just to give a work a instant distinction.
 
[quote name='pacifickarma']Go crash on CheapyD's couch for awhile![/quote]

Gee, you really think he'd let me?

Anyway, so I learn katakana, then hiragana, and through that process I get the verbal part down?

Also, anyone have a comment on that CD that's been mentioned? I want to make sure I'm not being mislead for the LULZ.

Because if I am, I'll [insert 4chan meme] all of you.
 
When I was taught hiragana and katakana in class they made the symbols into pictures that related to the sound somehow (as an easy example, ki was a key). It was really lame, but I think it might have helped.
 
[quote name='Kirin Lemon']If you're teaching yourself, the best way to learn is going to be from textbooks, and those aren't free. I highly recommend the Genki series, which is what most colleges use to teach the language. Genki 1 and 2 will give you a great foundation, and you should be able to pass the third-level Japanese Language Proficiency Test (a test to measure your skill with the language here in Japan - four levels in total, with levels 2 and 1 being more difficult) after mastering the two books. These should be the only books you'll need for now. Avoid any of the "shortcut to learning" crap out there, or you'll only end up memorizing set phrases instead of learning to speak on your own.[/QUOTE]Best advice in this whole thread. The Genki books are fantastic; I've been using them for years now.
 
Katakana is the best starting point. A lot of signs in Tokyo are written in that. And they spell out Engrish words.

If you learn all those characters, move onto hiragana. Then play some old Japanese versions of videogames that are mainly familiar franchises more popular to Westerners and you'll start understanding what the text says. Castlevania Dungeon even has an article on learning Japanese just by playing Castlevania. Most of the characters spell out English words, and until you start dealing with kanji, you should be alright.

Another cool gaming related aid is to look up some of the late Kao Megura fighting game FAQs on GameFAQs. Compare a lot of them and you'll start picking up words. Once you know what all the Street Fighter names mean, look up some King of Fighters move lists and you'll see familiar words. His FAQs were cool because he took the time to translate a lot at the bottom.

If that doesn't work. Books on tape!
 
I decided to downlod the Rosetta CD, which by the way came with a bunch of other languages, some very useful (like Korean, there are many Koreans in the area).

Hopefully I like the program.

How long til a topic gets purged on CAG? I figure if the CDs turn out bad, there is tons of great advice in this topic.
 
OP - I wish I started learning when I was 14. Take advantage of all this time! You will thank yourself later.

I have been studying over the last couple years so I will offer you my advice from my recent experiences.

Don't bother with Rosetta Stone. The speakers are not native, and I didn't find the program very helpful. You may find it helpful, but I wasn't impressed with it.

Someone recommended www.japanesepod101.com. I love JPod101. They are enjoyable to listen to, the speakers are native, and best of all the podcasts are free. They offer subscriptions to access all the accompanying content, so you may want to look into that to further solidify what you learn in the lessons. There are a range of audio lessons available from Newbie to Beginner to Intermmediate. They are working on an Advanced series soon, which will be good. Their forum is free and the community is very supportive.

Learn the hiragana and katakana. It doesn't matter which you learn first. Just pick one and go with it. I learned hiragana first and had no trouble with katakana afterwards. The method I used at first was pure drilling. I learned one column at a time, and continued to add a new column and review old columns until I could write the tables from memory. Then, start reading. Read anything, even if you can't understand it. This will solidify the kana in your mind.

Once you have this base, now it's time to venture into the kanji and grammar. Check out these sites. I've found them very useful. There are lots of sites out there to help you with everything.
JLPT Renshuu (kanji and vocab based on the JLPT's)
www.guidetojapanese.com (excellent grammar resource)
Jim Breen's WWWJDIC (great online dictionary)
Japanese Verbs (unfortunately only in romaji but covers a lot of verb structures)
Charles Kelly's Japanese Study Materials
MLC Language Center (check out the Free Materials page)

Hope that'll help you get going. Remember it takes time and effort. You will definitely get frustrated at times, but always look back and see how far you've come, as that will motivate you to continue on. You'll be surprised to find that Japanese is really quite easy (e.g. the verbs are very simple, and there are only 3 [commonly used] irregular verbs!).

Try reading as much as possible. Whenever you see a kanji you don't know, look it up. Actively looking up words increases the chances that you will remember it next time.

I can also recommend the Genki series. There is also Minna no Nihongo, which is relatively the same but covers some things that Genki does not. Look into those for textbooks. If you get Japanese for Busy people, make sure to get the Kana version.

Also, look into getting a kanji dictionary (such as Kodansha's Kanji Learner's Dictionary). Also, Kodansha's Furigana dictionary is quite useful as well.

Well, I hope I've helped in some way. Good luck and feel free to PM with any questions if you have any.
 
moiety's advice is excellent. Read it again.

The only things I'd add to it is whether you go hiragana or katakana first (it really doesn't matter) do listen to native speakers while you do. Otherwise, you'll have to unlearn some things later.

Rosetta Stone is a fun tool and might be a decent supplement. I used it for Swahili. However, it is decidedly unfriendly for any language that doesn't use the English alphabet. I had some exposure to the Japanese Rosetta Stone -- after I already knew hiragana and katakana -- and thought it was pretty demanding, and also thought that people with no previous exposure to Japanese would be in over their head.

[quote name='option.iv']I'd say learn Spanish first. I'm assuming that language is going to be much more useful than learning Japanese, unless you are set on traveling to Japan tomorrow. I live in Southern California and too many times has Spanish been extremely useful. [/quote]

This is true; however, it's also true that you should learn what you have a passion for, whatever reason gives you that passion. Learning a new language, even for someone for whom it's relatively easy, is a big deal and you won't get far if you're not feeling it.

And besides: Japanese is probably the most useful language to learn for videogames :D
 
As far as learning kanji goes, I would recommend Remembering The Kanji series by James W Heisig. I know a lot of people don't like these books, but I found them useful. They don't teach any grammar at all, they're just for learning kanji. You won't even learn any vocabulary until the second volume. The idea is to familiarize yourself with the meanings and writings of the characters before actually using them. They are designed for self study and don't require you to have any previous knowledge of the Japanese language. You can download the first part of book 1 for free here:

http://www.ic.nanzan-u.ac.jp/SHUBUNKEN/publications/miscPublications/pdf/RK4/RK4-00.pdf

You should be able to find the first volume cheap, but the second and third volumes are out of print and a pain to find.

If you do decide to try Japanese For busy People, you should definitely get the workbook as well. Whatever you use, make sure to avoid romanji. Although I've never used them, I know other people (besides those who posted in this thread) who really liked the Genki books.

If there is a specific book or learning software you want to try, just ask your parents to buy it. I'm sure they'll be thrilled that you're interested in studying a foreign language on your own and want to help you out.
 
I have been trying for years to learn japanese too. I learn some then just don't have the time to keep up with it then forget it.
 
Heisig's method is a good, but keep in mind you will not learn the readings of the kanji, which is one of its major criticisms. I agree that this is an effective method to learn their meanings, and even how to write them. I would recommend using this jointly with other methods of study, but do not rely solely on it.

Heisig relies on mneumonics, which is something you can easily do on your own. For example, I remembered 古い ("furui", adj. for something old) because 古 looked like a gravestone. Make up associations that are meaningful to you.

sendme- I was the same way. I decided that I had to work towards some goal in order to push me to stay with it. I opted to go for the JLPT 3 this winter, and that motivation alone drove me to study and keep at it. I work full-time and have a long commute, so I can definitely relate about time. But at the same time I want to be studying because I find the language so interesting. Somehow I manage to find time, though it's not always easy! ;)

I realized I didn't even touch on practicing speaking. Check out Skype, which is a program that allows you to speak to other people. http://www.language-exchanges.org/ This is just one community you can use to find language partners.

If you can find Pimsleur Japanese I through III online for free, check those out (don't bother paying the $300 price tag per set). The lessons are 30 mins long with native speakers. The lessons are designed for you to repeat back what they say and also answer questions, etcf. And with www.japanesepod101.com you can always repeat back the dialog and vocab words they present.

Sorry for another long post. This is just something I'm really involved in right now and want to share with anyone who's looking to start learning.
 
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