Learning Japanese

[Light]

After reading through the Foreign Languages thread, I can see there's lots of interest in the Japanese language. I figure that here we can share links, tips, and help each other out in the complicated process that is learning Japanese.

Here are the links I collected from the thread, supplimented by a few more that I've found myself:

Japanese Podcasts
Lessons, Kanji Lists, and a Dictionary
Kanji Drilling Java Application
Free Online Japanese-English Dictionary
Japanese Sound Effects
Lessons in PDF Form
Kana and Kanji Learning Resource
Learn Japanese - Japanese Language
The Japanese Page
One Japanese Lesson Per Day
Learn to speak Japanese, learn katakana and the o-koto
Kanji Cards

Resource Lists
List of Online Resources From Jim Breen
Japanese Language Learning Resources

Learning RPG's
JRPG
Knuckles in China Land (Not just for Japanese)
Slime Forest

Tools
JWPce (Japanese Word Processor)
Pop-up Web Dictionary

Memory Techniques (Some specific to learning languages, some not)
MindTools
Memory Master

Books
Making out in Japanese (ISBN: 4-900737-09-7)
A dictionary of Japanese Particles (ISBN: 4-7700-2352-9)

[Zach]

Learn Japanese - Japanese Language

[PhoenixOwl]

*Subscribes to thread.*

I use The Japanese Page.

[Magnus]

I would also suggest adding links to different memory/study techniques. Like the one I described in my post in another thread. Wish I had known about these when I studied a new language last time (Japanese actually).

Don't have any good links though. Perhaps somebody else could help? Should this be a separate thread?

[Light]

Originally Posted by PhoenixOwl

I use The Japanese Page.

I'm actually in my third attempt at learning Japanese. The first time I didn't know much about the language at all, so when suddenly the lessons were in Hiragana and Katakana, it threw me off. The second time, I used the Japanese Page, but I wasn't sure where to go after learning the kana. This time, I've found it helpful to use lessons written by one person, at Nihongo Resources (which has a nice JP-EN dictionary too).

Originally Posted by Magnus

I would also suggest adding links to different memory/study techniques. Like the one I described in my post in another thread.

I remember Steve linked to a good site that taugh memory techniques like that, but it seems the place no longer works. Any links to techniques like that would be wonderful.

[Vinny]

Nice thread. This will definitly help all of us in our learning process!!
Japanese is awesome!

[Light]

Just a thought, but if anyone has a good article on how to enable your computer to type Japanese, it'd probably be a very nice thing to have in here.

I haven't gotten Japanese input working, myself. (For some reason, Dell rather brilliantly doesn't give you the Windows XP CD with your computer. They give you a reinstall disk, but it's not the same thing, it doesn't have the necessary files. >.< )

[aelle]

NHK provides one japanese lesson per day, in various languages.

Light, can't you type just by switching the language bar to Japanese?

By the way, I have a problem with that too... Can you use the Japanese language bar without it considering you have a qwerty keyboard??? I have a French keyboard (azerty) but when I want to type in Japanese the PC automatically considers I have an American keyboard.

[Light]

Originally Posted by aelle

Light, can't you type just by switching the language bar to Japanese?

I don't... have... a language bar. It was a struggle just to get this thing to display Japanese.

[GenkiRichard]

Hello,

My mind also jumped to languages when I learned about the Photo reading course, and they do have a language book on the site:

EasyLearn Language Programs for effective language learning

But it's not for Japanese! I think it would be useful though.

I've been in a Japan for a while now, and one trick I use for learning Kanji is to use the POP辞書 site and yahoo news.

You simply hover over a kanji and it gives you the reading and meaning. Very useful.


I just popped into the forums really to check out the Business & Financial board , but then stumbled on this thread, which is quite a coincidence as it is developing a site for learning Japanese that I was looking for the business & financial advice.

Basically I've got a load of talking computer games that we use for teaching kids English, but they also work great for learning Japanese. So I am looking at giving more of them away free on my website and (hopefully!) paying for things via adsense. Anyway, there are hiragana/katakana games and numbers/shopping and a couple of others up there already: Learn to speak Japanese, learn katakana and the o-koto If people are interested I'm sure it will give me more motivation to get more games up there!

And if anyone has any Japanese questions, please feel free to ask, I can always find out if I don't know the answer myself!

Be genki,

Richard

[Patrik]

There is a program called JWPce that helps you with typing japanese.
It is free, just do a web search and you will probably find it.
ganbatte ne

[TechnoGuyRob]

Some of my favorite RPG's for learning Japanese Kana and Kanji are:

JRPG
Knuckles in China Land (not just for Japanese)
Slime Forest

[Light]

Originally Posted by Patrik

There is a program called JWPce that helps you with typing japanese.
It is free, just do a web search and you will probably find it.
ganbatte ne

Wow, thanks a ton. This is perfect.
JWPce (Japanese Word Processor)

Originally Posted by TechnoGuyRob

Some of my favorite RPG's for learning Japanese Kana and Kanji are:

JRPG
Knuckles in China Land (not just for Japanese)
Slime Forest

I had Slime Forest for a little while, but I found that just plain flashcards worked better for me.

[Daniel Terhorst]

If you haven't checked out Rikai.com's Kanji Cards, they're well worth looking at.

-- Daniel Terhorst

[Light]

List of resources updated.

Almost forgot, thanks GenkiRichard, that pop-up dictionary looks really useful (not to mention your site).

And those Kanji cards at rikai should be really helpful too.

[Ibanez]

As for paid software there is Pimsleur and Rosetta Stone.

[elainevdw]

Best Japanese textbooks, ever: Genki - An Integrated Course in Elementary Japanese

And considering the age range of these forums, many of you should consider the Jet Programme.

Edit: Almost forgot MSN-Mainichi Daily News. The WaiWai column is particularly funny!

Also, read Japan: A Reinterpretation by Patrick Smith. It's rather harsh, but if you're going to be learning the language, you might as well educate yourself about the culture, so you're not one of those "Everything I Need To Know About Japan I Learned From Rurouni Kenshin" people.

[travelhappy]

Another approach to learning Japanese is to, erm, move to Japan.

My girlfriend Lindy, originally from Florida, lived in Japan for three years teaching English. As a result she has some sterling Japanese friends and speaks Japanese pretty well... although her former students seem to speak English much better.

Lindy wrote an in depth article about how to go about teaching english in Japan on my site Travelhappy which might be useful.

Best,
Chris

[Light]

I got a few links to those memory techniques from this thread. Added them to the list at the top.

[Steph]

This site lists heaps of different learning resources
Japanese Language Learning Resources

[Magnus]

If you want to buy Japanese study books (big industry in Japan, wonder why? ) I have two not-so-obvious recommendations. The information in the second one, you won't find online.

Fistly, the famous: Making out in Japanese (ISBN: 4-900737-09-7). It contains Japanese slang and is quite funny to read. It's very easy to comprehend since it's all written in romanji. It's a good gift for anyone remotely interested in Japan (well, not your mom perhaps). Some of the phrases are not useful unless you can carry on the conversation. But it can help you get away from "desu-masu" all the time when you get some Japanese friends. It won't really explain _why_ the phrases are built up like that. Also take care with the dirty slang, a lot of Japanese people didn't even know those.

Later on, after learning your basics, you might wanna look this one up: A dictionary of Japanese Particles (ISBN: 4-7700-2352-9). It is really what took me above the basic Japanese courses. This one will make you understand why and how to speak casually/formally in Japanese. Note, this might not be for the casual learner, but it is Really good to have if you're serious or you study/live in Japan. You should have some other learning material as well in addition to this one.

It covers many (all?) particles and sentence patterns. In many cases you won't find them in the normal textbooks. You will also understand why some expressions work like they do. If you knew enough nouns/verbs and all the stuff in this book, you'd be better off than many Japanese!

If nothing else, you can find out how to be angry/rude: so you know that guy who is yelling at you is probably a Yakuza .

Another tip I have is to that if you study seriously: try to learn Kanji from the very beginning! I regret I didn't spend more time on it. My conversational skills are miles above my reading skills. Reading books is a GREAT way to learn a language. I owe most my English fluency to the fact that I almost exclusively read only English fiction books from the age 13 and forward. Nowadays I mix more but no Japanese fiction at all.

Light: Do you want this in it's own thread? I think it might be a good idea too keep it here, to collect as many resources as possible!

I already found a wealth of material that I didn't know existed. As well as the urge to start maintaining the knowledge I already have. Thanks everybody!

[Light]

Originally Posted by Magnus

Light: Do you want this in it's own thread? I think it might be a good idea too keep it here, to collect as many resources as possible!

I think it's perfect for the thread. The more resources the better. I added the book links and Steph's great link to the top post.


Right now, I've learned some particles, basic verb grammar, and basic sentence grammar. The lessons I'm using also have a nice word list at the end of each lesson, so I'm going through those. However, maybe someone here can help me with a problem.

I'm having a hard time understanding the difference between the subject marking particle (が) and the topic marking particle (は, pronounced わ). Can anyone offer some clarification?

[GenkiRichard]

Hi Light,

Don't worry too much about the "Ga" and "Wa" difference. "Ga" is usually used for emphasis, e.g. no that one is mine!

But...it's one of those things you pick up with habit. Most Japanese native speakers don't have a set rule to follow and every month we go through merry go rounds of different people proof reading articles and one person changes the "ga"s to "wa"s then the next person changes them back. Sometimes the same person changes their own "wa" and "ga"s around several times!

Shimpai shinakute ii yo!


Be genki,

Richard

PS. One more resource for the list, I used the Living Language course when I first started. It's a bit boring but is good for bulking up your vocab.

And the Canon Wordtank can't be recommend enough, carry it everywhere, put in every word you come across then use the quiz function to test yourself whenever you have 5 minutes free.

[Light]

Thanks for the explanation. I also found this succinct explanation at the Japanese Wikibook:

Originally Posted by Japanese Wikibook

The difference between は and が is a matter of focus: は gives focus to the action of the sentence, i.e., the verb or adjective, whereas が gives focus to the subject of the action.

Very often the grammatical subject may also be the topic. In this case, は normally replaces が.

[Mark Lapierre]

As travelhappy said, living in Japan is a fantastic way to learn the language, as long as you do try to learn it. I've heard of people who taught in English in Japan for a year without learning more than the basics (which most people could pick up after a week of effective study).

As an alternative to living in Japan, staying in Japan temporarily while learning Japanese is also great. Last year I holidayed in Japan for a month, the first two weeks of which were spent staying with a Japanese host family (very lovely people, can't speak highly enough of them) while attending a small Japanese language school. The school was called Asahi Nihongo (no, not the beer), and the whole thing was arranged via STA Travel.

I had the most amazing time and met some wonderful people; it's easily my most enjoyable experience to date. (well, my most enjoyable fully clothed experience )

Ganbatte!
-----
If trees could scream, would we be so cavalier about cutting them down?
We might, if they screamed all the time, for no good reason.
--Deep Thoughts Jack Handy