Learning Japanese

[Dragonsbane]

What is the best way to learn Japanese ? I know there is always the for dummies books but I have had no experience outside of a class room with other languages, so any opinions are helpful.

 

[Duncann]

My friend had some success with that Rosetta Stone program. At least thats where he started out learning anyway.

 

[nayrkcin]

Is Rosetta Stone really worth it? I've only seen it on tv ads at 3AM.

 

[cochesecochese]

Genki. If you finish the whole program you'll have a great foundation.

 

[timiddy]

I second Genki. A bit pricey to import, but excellent textbooks/audio/workbooks.

 

[alongx]

get a workbook for the basics of writing and phonetics. may want to subscribe to a Japanese language podcast for supplemental info

 

[Dragonsbane]

I am planing to take a vacation there next year and i dont want to be entirely dumb and def to the language.

 

[jabberwakki]

Going there is when you start learning. I studied Japanese for 4 years before I went there. I went there thinking I knew everything, but when I got there, I realized that I didn't know anything. Now I can hold down a conversation with my girlfriend's dad, and be like, "ain't no thing..."

 

[Marion517]

There were language centers in my town, and had really affordable classes. But, Japanese was a predominant minority, so that might not be the norm where you are at. If you're going for longer than a week, you'll pick up a lot more by just listening and interacting, like Jabberwakki said. Just worry about the basics, figure out basic question forms, hi/bye/thanks, and where is the bathroom. In my experience, those are the only things (women: add 'How much') you need to know before travel. Every thing else is just pointing and smiling.

 

[gimmepilotwings]

I would love to "find" a copy of the Japanese version of the Rosetta Stone.

If anyone knows how to "find" it, let me know.

 

[Staind204]

Is it true that Japanese is one of the hardest languages to learn?

 

[dyeknom]

[quote name='Staind204']Is it true that Japanese is one of the hardest languages to learn?[/quote]

No. English is. Genki is good. I studied Japansy for 4 yrs and still refer to my beginner Genki stuff.

 

[moiety]

Someone asked a similar question a few months ago, so let me link you to my response. Hopefully you will find it helpful.

Using the books, websites, etc that I listed in that post for about a year of study, I was able to pass the JLPT 3 this past December. Though not a measure of fluency, it's still a great way to help structure your study.

頑張って！

 

[DD83]

[quote name='gimmepilotwings']I would love to "find" a copy of the Japanese version of the Rosetta Stone.

If anyone knows how to "find" it, let me know.[/quote]

Hey, I found a copy for you.

 

[darkcecil32]

Pimsleur is definetely the way to go if you just want to learn how to speak. It teaches you critical phrases.

I was/am not a huge fan of rosetta stone. it uses pictures to make words metonymous...as I am not a visual learner, it was a huge turn off for me.

The genki books are fairly hard to attain.

Btw- I am taking Jpn 102 in college atm. It has been a breeze at this level. With just watching years of anime alone, I probably could've jumped straight into intermediate and had been fine. If you regularly watch anime/have some exposure to japanese, you will learn a lot faster than you'd expect when picking up the proper grammar and correct ways to say things. It's just a matter of having constant exposure/practice to the language.