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 Posted: Mon Sep 29, 2008 12:20 pm
Japan, and its language, is experiencing a huge influx of interest in today's world, largely thanks to its entertainment sector. But before people start spouting the words they picked up out of subbed anime, let me say that that doesn't count as "learning Japanese."
Sadly, I know little of the Japanese language and how it evolved, but I would love to learn more. I plan on taking classes while here in college, thankfully. But largely, Japanese evolved from Chinese. That's why the kanji and kana look so similar between the two languages.
Japanese can be written out in two ways: Kanji, katakana, and hiragana (the symbols); and Romaji (spelled out in Roman letters, A-Z.) Most native English speakers prefer the Romaji, since it is spelled out in a form that we are familiar with. Native Japanese speakers use the symbols, naturally, since that is how they learned to read and write.
There are several thousand "letters" in the Japanese language. Many have the same sound, but different meanings, and vice versa. In addition, there are several different dialects among the islands and regions. For example, the people in Osaka might sound different from the people in Tokyo. Same way that America's Midwest differs from the Northeast.
Please feel free to add more information, especially if you've taken Japanese or are planning to do so! All this here was basic knowledge. I hope to be able to add more, myself, when I start taking classes.
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Posted: Thu Oct 02, 2008 6:31 pm
Darn watching Japanese anime with english subs doesn't count!
I also want to learn the Japanese language, my school does offer the class, but either not enough people sign up for it or they can't find a teacher....It has been years sense there was actually a class crying
And I don't know enough to add onto your very knowledgeable summery of the Japanese language.
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Posted: Sun Oct 12, 2008 3:19 am
Oh, how I would love to try to relearn Japanese (I took it for nine-ish years in school). Can we have conversations in different languages here? I'd need to install Japanese on my computer, but still.
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Posted: Sun Oct 12, 2008 6:09 pm
... Lucky! T-T
lol
I would assume we can, provided you find someone who can speak the same language you can. But I don't know; if the rules don't specifically say you can't, then go for it! :3 It's practice, and practice is good. ^^
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Posted: Tue Oct 14, 2008 11:20 am
That is a language I would love more than ever to learn, I have future plan of going to japan when iI start reach my goal of traveling and veiwing the world. I wan to end up living there though. Everything I seem to love comes from there.
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Posted: Thu Oct 16, 2008 3:23 pm
I have learned a little because i have wanted to learn it for a long time and since anime sub titles don't count it only cut out a little ^^ well here is one thing...
Anata Wa Yasashi...meaning "You are nice "
tasukete !...meaning "Help"
there is more but for now that is all I can remember lol ^^
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Posted: Mon Oct 27, 2008 1:21 am
I learned a little Japanese but I have yet to really understand any of it. Next year I will be going to Japan, so I guess I had better get on the ball.... but there is just no time........... emo
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Posted: Mon Nov 03, 2008 2:15 pm
A really good program to help with reading Japanese and learning Kanji would be Wakan, <3 It helped me a few times with their flash cards and all.
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Posted: Thu Nov 20, 2008 11:07 am
OtakuFrigde helped me alot! XD search it on Google
I has alot of the common japanese anime or manga phrases on it smile
xxx
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Posted: Sun Dec 07, 2008 6:36 pm
http://www.thejapanesepage.com/ I think this site is wonderful! They have audio and videos to help learn Japanese. You can even download most of it!
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Posted: Tue Dec 23, 2008 10:08 pm
ello ello!
just thought i'd pop in here and say Moshi Moshi! X3
tis my 3rd year taking Japanese and this thread caught my eye.
though, imma not very good, but yeah...
^-^
ettooo..... annooo....
....shiranai...
ja matta ne!
XD
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Posted: Mon Jan 05, 2009 6:50 am
I know Hirigana, but not Romanji. Strange. |: I'm starting to learn words and other, so I'm not close to being fluent. D: But I can read it ~! It's kinda sad that everyone just knows it from Anime. OTL The language is very pretty, and the culture is also awesome ~!
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Posted: Mon Jan 05, 2009 9:41 pm
I am Japanese and the language is no easy thing, it is harder to learn Japanese than any Romance language for people who are not familiar with Japan or it's culture.
If people would like to start learning Japanese out of the homeland, then a tutor is best (sometimes school classes just aren't what you need), or even by yourself! A good start is with sentence structure, and even daily phrases. Simply "Arigatou" "Omedetou" "Onegai shimasu" and others just doesn't cut it. Try introducing yourself, both formally and informally. Study the culture - and not just through anime (and that's kind of blocking it to only Otaku culture, and not daily life. Many mainstream animes don't really show the everyday practice of lives in Japan). There are many hundreds (thousands?) of books on Japanese language and culture that are bound to help you get the feel of Japan. At best to become kind of fluent the time is at least 5 years of hard work.
There is a complex structure of Japanese language. It spawned from Chinese, as previously noted, so that is why kanji is similar/the same. The easiest start when learning the "alphabet" is to try memorizing your Hiragana, and simple kanji (as it is taught in grade school). Katakana is used mostly for translations of foreign words, so it is best to dabble in that near to the end or in between your studies.
Search for what you want to learn on the internet or books, and try writing them on cue (index?) cards. Study at least twice a day or more each week and build. As long as you have faith in yourself, then you are bound to progress!
Helpful links:
eduFIRE
tofugu
Genki Japan
Itadaki - Furigana for OpenOffice
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Posted: Sat Jan 10, 2009 8:27 pm
Well, I must say that I've learned lot from this fourm already seeing how my friend and I have been interested in learning Japanese for some time now but ave never been sue where to start. Sadly, my friend already has more books than me and and gotten farther by watching ainme with English subtitles as well and w are both only 13.
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Posted: Tue Jan 13, 2009 10:31 pm
Hajimemashita Jiko desu! (Nice to meet you, I'm Jiko)
I'v learned some Japanese from my sisters and anime and am now taking a class in school, I'v only had one class since school started yesterday and its a Monday & Wednesday class but so far it's a fun class.
I love the Japanese language it's pretty and fun to learn as well ^_^
Ja ne! (see ya)
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