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 Posted: Sat Oct 24, 2009 6:50 pm
Japanese 101
If you're like me and just beginning to seriously try and study the language, but you're on your own for the time being, you probably feel a little overwhelmed with everything in front of you like:
Hiragana
Katakana
Numbers
Days, Months, Years
Greetings, common responses (ie Ohayo, Arigatou gozaimasu, hai onegaishimasu, domo yoroshiku onegaishimasu, etc)
Politeness Levels/Formality vs Informality
Vocabulary
Kanji
the list goes on. Obviously, not studying an organized lesson plan makes it harder on you, the self-learner, as opposed to them, the japanese class.
Don't get discouraged just yet. Keep Trying.
In this thread I will post several resources to help aid you, no matter what level you are at. I will continue to update it as I go on my japanese adventure.
Your Checklist Is::
Hiragana Chart
Katakana Chart
Standard Japanese-(your native tongue)-Japanese Dictionary
Pencil (with an eraser, you'll make mistakes)
Time Everyday to practice
Desire to learn
**If you have any resources to ad, please pm them to me so I can ad them in the appropriate part of this guide
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Posted: Sat Oct 24, 2009 6:53 pm
Some Purchasable Tools You May Find Helpful::
If you click on the link and click on the book pic, you get a preview of some of the pages <3
Hiragana & Katakana book sets:
Kodansha's Hiragana Workbook
Kodansha's Katakana Workbook
* I own this set and they were very helpful. They came with perforated, pull-out flash cards made of cardstock so they're pretty durable. This set gives you practice writing words using the characters on every page, and at the end of each lesson, it gives you a review. That was very handy, however, the katakana workbook did not go over katakana in order. This was the only draw back as it made remembering them very hard for a while.
Kodansha's Lets Learn Hiragana
Kodansha's Let's Learn Katakana
* If I had seen this set first, I might have purchased these instead. I don't know if they come with flashcards, but they give you room to practice the characters, give you practice writing words, and practice writing sentences though I'm not sure if it's every page or every lesson or if the book goes straight through the characters then to words, then to sentences.
There are many more workbooks (a lot done by Kodansha) that may be of use.
When I get around to it, I will scan and upload my workbooks, but first I gotta erase my pencil marks. So look forward to that in the future if you don't have the money to go out and buy them.
Kanji Books:
Kanji Learner's Dictionary - Kodansha - The Ebook I have downloaded (the whole book) so I will post it in the online learning resources ^_^
Essential Kanji - 2000 Kanji systematically arranged for learning and reference. I'm actually thinking about buying this one. It looks useful. It's not done by Kodansha lol... unfortunately you can't view the pages of this one, so go to your local bookstore and see if it's there before buying!
Crazy Kanji - A student's guide to japanese characters ... I have not looking into this one, not planning on it
Remembering Kanji Vol 1 - A Complete Course on How Not to Forget the Meaning and Writing of Japanese Characters (this one seems worth looking into... I am considering this one as a possible christmas gift ^^ )
Other Helpful Books:
Barron's Japanese Grammar Covers: Parts of Speech, Verb Charts, Sentence Structure, Useful Phrases, and Pronunciation. I may look into this one
Barron's Japanese Vocabulary - Companion book to the previous one... I may also look into this one.
Kodansha's All About Particles - A Handbook of Japanese Function Words
Dirty Japanese Everyday Slang from What's Up to ******** Off... I have this book and it is AMAZING! It has some really good phrases, goes over several helpful cultural deets and teaches you what no one teaches in the class lol. It gives the sentence in english, in japanese romanji, and in japanese characters. Very useful (except I don't know Kanji)
Other Learning Tools:
Kanji Dictionary: Kanji Sonomama Rakubiki Jiten This seems neat, its a Kanji Dictionary for your DS. Reviewers said it's really nifty except that it doesn't show stroke order. They also said that it may not be good for beginners, but that it is very helpful with learning Kanji when you are a little farther into it. Search around online you can find it for various prices (amazon had it new for $98 but the link I provided has it new for $48 so check around)
Kageyama Method - Dennou Hanpuku: Tadashii Kanji Kaki to Rikun - Platform DS - There is no comments but other game sites rope it in with brain age so it's probably a puzzle game -shrug- Katie, if you can translate it would be awesome!
Zaidanhoujin Nippon Kanji Nouryoku Kentei Kounin: KanKen DS - Platform DS - The review says that this isn't so much a game as it is a series of mini-games that really help with Kanji. They said this game can really help those who are taking the Kanji Proficiency Tests and Certifications. So if you're getting there with Kanji, this may be helpful =3
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Posted: Sat Oct 24, 2009 6:54 pm
Online Free (pirated)
downloadables available
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Posted: Sat Oct 24, 2009 6:55 pm
Online Study Tools
(no download required)
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Posted: Sat Oct 24, 2009 6:57 pm
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Posted: Sat Oct 24, 2009 6:58 pm
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Posted: Sat Oct 24, 2009 7:05 pm
this is from the guild Let's Practice Japanese!Resources for if you actually want to pay money to get good study tools:
www.jbox.com
A veritable cornucopia of Japanese products and study tools! Everything from candy to video games to Japanese i-Tunes gift cards! You can really spend ALL your money there, seriously.
www.whiterabbitpress.com
Geared specifically toward study tools. Also, if you have a Nintendo DS, you're in luck! They sell Japanese DS games that are meant for study, and the DS is region free, so it's even legal! heart If you have the cash to burn and are a serious student, I would HIGHLY recommend looking at the electronic dictionaries available there. Especially try to find one that can look up Kanji through what you draw with the stylus.
http://www.amazon.com/New-Nelson-Japanese-English-Character-Dictionary/dp/0804820368
This is a link to Amazon to buy a Nelson's Kanji dictionary. I have an amazing electronic dictionary, but I still find myself turning to the Nelson's very often. A very very useful tool.
www.yesjapan.com
As submitted by juunishikyou: "It's where I learned to write, and a bunch of the grammar I know. I still use it for reference, and I watch their videos. The only reason I stopped was that I got a private tutor." Thanks for the submission!
Human Japanese
http://animeaffairs.wordpress.com/2009/05/07/putting-human-japanese-through-its-paces/
This link is to a review of the iPhone / iPod Touch app Human Japanese. I do not own either device, but from the review, I would say this looks like a good tool for those who love their gadgets. ^_^
Finally, a word (or 50) about Rosetta Stone. I think that this software has a lot of good ideas, but I'm not convinced that it's really worth the investment or the hype. I have 2 main issues with the program; first, it does not teach the writing portion of things well, or really at all. Second, everyone that they have pronouncing words for you or doing dialogue for you sounds hopelessly unnatural. I am firmly against "dumbing down" speech for learning purposes; when you finally listen to people in the real world, you'll have no clue what they're saying. Say it slowly, once, and have the student repeat so that they get all the syllables, but then have a native speaker say the word or phrase at a normal pace. I think that's the way it should be done.
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Posted: Sat Oct 24, 2009 7:06 pm
this came from the guild Let's Practice Japanese
Okay, now for a few free links that I've found useful. These are almost all about slang, because I was never taught this stuff in class, and I often have questions about it.
smart.fm
As submitted by Juunishikyou:
"You make lists and such, and it has three different ways of studying those lists, and looks really good. Also, you don't need to have a Japanese input program to use it effectively. You can study a list you made, or study ones other people have made, and it has some for reading kana. " I will only add here that there is a "dictation" mode that could be good for listening comprehension... if it worked properly. Unfortunately, on both of the lists I've tried, there have been bugs with it, mainly in the reading of certain Kanji compounds, if they don't follow the usual rules.
http://www.angelfire.com/anime4/jslang/jibiki.htm
The Japanese Slang Jiko
At least it's alphabetized. It's answered a lot of questions for me.
http://www.coolslang.com/in/japanese/index.php
Japanese Slang Dictionary
Rather prettier. Organized by Hiragana, rather than alphabetized. Some overlap, but there is more good information there.
http://japansugoi.com/wordpress/common-japanese-onomatopoeia-word-sounds-found-in-manga/
Ah, Japanese onomatopoeia. The Japanese language uses onomatopoeia a LOT. And, really, almost none of it is (I think) very intuitive to an English speaker, and many of them you will not find in a dictionary, either. So, I've found this page to be very useful.
http://books.google.com/books?id=z0nRi62_iIwC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_v2_summary_r&cad=0
A book on Google Books about Kinki Japanese
No, not kinky Japanese, Kinki. rofl Kinki refers to a region (I actually lived there for a couple months), and it has its own dialect. Aka Kansai-ben or Oosaka-ben. It's a Japanese dialect, and probably the most distinctive one. I've always had a very difficult time understanding it (it really is learning a whole new set of vocab here), and this helped me a lot. Technically, it's not free, but even what is available freely as a preview of the book is very helpful.
** A word from Ichigo - I actually have a download copy of Kinki Japanese the full book so look forward to that up in my download resources section <3
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Posted: Sat Oct 24, 2009 7:41 pm
more to come soon
hopefully
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