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 Posted: Sun Jan 20, 2008 10:38 am
My dad found out in December that he is being transferred to Okinawa. He wants to learn as much Japanese as he can before he/we leave (no guarantee we'll all be going). Problem is I don't know how quickly he can learn or where to start to find out. Anyone have any suggestions?
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Posted: Sun Jan 20, 2008 10:44 am
Learning Japanese takes many many years to perfect. You could get a textbook like Genki I or Minna no Nihongo, those are some good textbooks. When is he leaving? If he has a year of time, he can get up to upper-beginner or even intermediate Japanese (depending on how fast he learns and such). www.thejapanshop.com <---You should search there for textbooks, they have many textbooks.
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Posted: Sun Jan 20, 2008 10:48 am
Even if you study Japanese, you won't necessarily understand what they say back depending on the age of the person since Okinawa has a very different regional dialect dating back from when it was an autonomous state.
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Posted: Sun Jan 20, 2008 12:17 pm
I know about the difference in dialect and I have textbooks, but like I said: He wants to learn as much as he can before leaving. We have only until August.
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Posted: Sun Jan 20, 2008 4:45 pm
Hermonie Urameshi I know about the difference in dialect and I have textbooks, but like I said: He wants to learn as much as he can before leaving. We have only until August. Honestly, I believe the only advice anyone can give you is to get a textbook that will teach you that regional dialect, and Japanese in general. All I can advise is that you study study study...
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Posted: Mon Jan 21, 2008 1:43 pm
Forget it. I'll ask somewhere else. stare
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Posted: Sat Mar 01, 2008 11:07 pm
Twelfty Zhou Even if you study Japanese, you won't necessarily understand what they say back depending on the age of the person since Okinawa has a very different regional dialect dating back from when it was an autonomous state. I heard from my Japanese teacher that she couldn't understand the Okinawa dialect AT ALL but that they ARE starting to teach them how to speak normal Japanese.
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Posted: Sun Mar 02, 2008 5:22 am
Moosickal Sox Twelfty Zhou Even if you study Japanese, you won't necessarily understand what they say back depending on the age of the person since Okinawa has a very different regional dialect dating back from when it was an autonomous state. I heard from my Japanese teacher that she couldn't understand the Okinawa dialect AT ALL but that they ARE starting to teach them how to speak normal Japanese. Anyone born there in the last 50-60 years (at least! probably more) was taught standard Japanese in school. As for your dad, I really recommend "Japanese: The Spoken Language" (and its accompanying sound files, which can be found for free as Ohio State's digital language lab website) for learning the kind of speech that he would need in a professional environment, and to learn how to speak right away (assuming you follow it right). It's not a book for writing and it has limited vocab, but it's great for being able to build your speaking ability. The only drawback is getting through all three volumes in a quick amount of time. But even if he doesn't, he would be able to say a lot of useful things from the beginning, and it's very effective and thorough. I would just supplement it with other lists of vocabulary that might be useful, like going to a bank to an open an account or something (the books cover a lot of true-to-life situations, but not banks).
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Posted: Sun Mar 02, 2008 2:33 pm
For someone in your dad's situation I'd recommend "Japanese for Business People" I think he may fit the target audience. As for how much he can learn is up to him-Obviously the more you study the more you learn, but the pacing and lessons of the above mentioned book are reasonable and enjoyable, so I think its very doable . It just depends on how motivated he is.
And yes dialect is a problem...but not impossible. For one, as 'bad' as it is, Okinawa is VERY Americanized to the point that apart from Guam and Hawaii, mainland Japanese almost see visiting Okinawa as visiting America, despite the fact its their own country. Of course I am more than a strong proponent for learned the language, so props to your dad, but if need be he will more than likely be very understood if he spoke English (same in Tokyo and other large cities stare )
I have a British professor who lived in Okinawa for 5 years. He loved it. He's still alive. Obviously its doable.
So yes, Japanese for Business People, or Busy people. By Kodansha. They are easy and very beginning oriented.
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Posted: Mon Mar 03, 2008 9:37 am
japanese for busy people is perfect for people who want to know the businesslanguage. Its also good for the rest of the family. But it all depends on the brains how fast you can learn. It took me 1 month to learn all of book 1
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Posted: Sat Mar 29, 2008 11:34 am
We're not looking for something business oriented. More everyday life. I'm trying to figure out how I can teach them myself because my dad is too busy to read much at all, especially when he gets back from Arizona next month. Then we'll be starting to pack all the stuff that is going on the plane with us and what's staying behind.
We're military so he'll almost always be talking to Americans at work, but if there's a chance (which is highly possible) that any of us needs to speak Japanese...and down near Naha they speak more Okinawan than Japanese. (They ARE different languages. Only about 70% alike. That's enough for them to be different.)
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Posted: Wed Jul 23, 2008 7:38 am
it takes time to learn and can't be rushed, i'm teaching my little sisters and even going slow they are getting it better than if i were to go fast^^mm..search on youtube, you should get something...type in hiragana or something
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Posted: Thu Jul 24, 2008 2:45 am
I'm sure if you're going to live there, you'll pick up the spoken language in no time, if you interact with the locals. They say actually going to the country is the best way to learn.
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