I want to learn Japanese

[Bikyeo]

Adventurer17

Im still a beginner but something that helps me out a ton is a program
called Drive Time Japanese. It comes with four CDs and a book.
It gives you a great stepping stone in learning the language.
Youll have to learn more after you learn that but like I said,
its a great start. I like it because I can listen to it in the car
when Im driving to work. Plus, I learn better by listening not
reading. Plus it gives you culture facts at the end of each
lesson too!

Quick question. Ive learnt that arigato means thanks and arigato
Gozaimasu means thank you very much but what does domo arigato
goazaimasu mean?

どうもありがとうごあさいます。 most formal way to say thank you. It's actually rarely used i've never used it before honestly lol. I can teach you lol i'm a tutor for japanese^^ So i have a lil teaching exp. i also know korean^^

[MistressEnvy]

PrincessNeko

Here's a rather helpful dictionary:



Also, the textbook that was most recommended to me was the Genki series.

Here on Gaia, there is a language learning resource somewhere around here that should be pretty helpful. Something mint... question

So why do you want to learn Japanese?

I want to learn because I've always thought that it was an interesting language.

[MistressEnvy]

cemap95

Hello. All of my Japanese is self-taught and I have read several books and tried out many iPod apps. The one I found the most helpful for everyday conversation was Lonely Planet's Japanese book. It comes with a CD which I found utterly useless but the mini-book was really helpful.

I also have and app on my iPod from Mirai Languages and it's the Japanese one. That is extremely helpful if you don't know a lot. There's always the Idiot's Guide to Japanese, which helps you with pronounciation and stuff. Anime is good if you can catch on to the more slack phrases but I would suggest sticking to the books for the beginning. It takes way to long to have an actual knowledge base from anime. (Believe me, I have been learning the language for 5 years now and I have learned a lot more in the last two than the 3 years of watching anime and writing down notes).

This is getting long but one last thing. It's a good idea to know your hiragana, katakana, and kanji. Cue cards or writing the symbols out repetively are helpful. I have a set of cue cards for katakana and hiragana and since I'm not so great at katakana, I test myself when I read manga to see if I can guess what all the sound effects mean before seeing the T/N at the bottom.

OKAY! That's all I had to say. I could teach you if you want but I'd much rather do it in a forum than a PM. (^_^)/ 　がんばって！

I wouldn't mind learning from you if you are willing to teach me.

[myclubistheclub]

Livemocha.com and Interpals.net are good places to learn. They're free and you can find free tutors on both sites.

[Shiraishi Shiori]

May i learn too ? :3

[Tsumi no Omocha]

MistressEnvy

Dana is markedly more respectful version of San. Its used mainly to refer to people much higher in rank than oneself,

dana? I've never heard that suffix before for names… unless you meant 〜殿 (~dono), which is only really used in government or business letters. 〜様 (〜さま, ~sama) would be a better suffix if you wanted to show more honor/respect to someone than 〜さん (~san)

[cemap95]

MistressEnvy

cemap95

Hello. All of my Japanese is self-taught and I have read several books and tried out many iPod apps. The one I found the most helpful for everyday conversation was Lonely Planets Japanese book. It comes with a CD which I found utterly useless but the mini-book was really helpful.

I also have and app on my iPod from Mirai Languages and its the Japanese one. That is extremely helpful if you dont know a lot. Theres always the Idiots Guide to Japanese, which helps you with pronounciation and stuff. Anime is good if you can catch on to the more slack phrases but I would suggest sticking to the books for the beginning. It takes way to long to have an actual knowledge base from anime. Believe me, I have been learning the language for 5 years now and I have learned a lot more in the last two than the 3 years of watching anime and writing down notes).

This is getting long but one last thing. Its a good idea to know your hiragana, katakana, and kanji. Cue cards or writing the symbols out repetively are helpful. I have a set of cue cards for katakana and hiragana and since Im not so great at katakana, I test myself when I read manga to see if I can guess what all the sound effects mean before seeing the T/N at the bottom.

OKAY! Thats all I had to say. I could teach you if you want but Id much rather do it in a forum than a PM. ^_^)/ 　がんばって！

I wouldnt mind learning from you if you are willing to teach me.

I would love to teach you and anyone else who wants to immerse themselves in Japanese. Would you like mw to make a new thread? Or continue on this one?

[K0NNICHIWA]

i can help you with that

[Mamoru_Hatake]

Eeeeee! Japanese is fun! (Well, kanji isn't always fun...)

I'm currently studying in Japan!

Japanese people speak very fast, so it's very important to practice listening skills! But to start out, you should probably just start with memorizing hiragana and katakana. Then you'll be able to read sentences. From there you could start learning simple grammar.

It might actually be helpful for you to buy a textbook. The one used by many schools is called Genki I. It has a workbook too for more practice!

[MistressEnvy]

cemap95

MistressEnvy

cemap95

Hello. All of my Japanese is self-taught and I have read several books and tried out many iPod apps. The one I found the most helpful for everyday conversation was Lonely Planets Japanese book. It comes with a CD which I found utterly useless but the mini-book was really helpful.

I also have and app on my iPod from Mirai Languages and its the Japanese one. That is extremely helpful if you dont know a lot. Theres always the Idiots Guide to Japanese, which helps you with pronounciation and stuff. Anime is good if you can catch on to the more slack phrases but I would suggest sticking to the books for the beginning. It takes way to long to have an actual knowledge base from anime. Believe me, I have been learning the language for 5 years now and I have learned a lot more in the last two than the 3 years of watching anime and writing down notes).

This is getting long but one last thing. Its a good idea to know your hiragana, katakana, and kanji. Cue cards or writing the symbols out repetively are helpful. I have a set of cue cards for katakana and hiragana and since Im not so great at katakana, I test myself when I read manga to see if I can guess what all the sound effects mean before seeing the T/N at the bottom.

OKAY! Thats all I had to say. I could teach you if you want but Id much rather do it in a forum than a PM. ^_^)/ 　がんばって！

I wouldnt mind learning from you if you are willing to teach me.

I would love to teach you and anyone else who wants to immerse themselves in Japanese. Would you like mw to make a new thread? Or continue on this one?

Awesome :3
But you can start a new one if you want, that is up to you.

[digital m u f f i n s]

I am currently learning it and am struggling. It's so complicated sometimes. v.v'' I am definitely sticking around here to [cough]stalk[cough] those fluent in it who could give pointers. <<

Yookoso is a good textbook too. << A whole bunch of exercises and there is a workbook too. :]

[Adventurer17]

Bikyeo

どうもありがとうごあさいます。 most formal way to say thank you. Its actually rarely used ive never used it before honestly lol. I can teach you lol im a tutor for japanese^^ So i have a lil teaching exp. i also know korean^^

That sounds terrific I would love that! I do have another question. I noticed on my leaning CD that most sentences are ended in desu. But there is the occasional sentence where it ends in desu yo. What does that mean? And when should I use it?

[Caerthakatha]

Adventurer17

That sounds terrific I would love that! I do have another question. I noticed on my leaning CD that most sentences are ended in desu. But there is the occasional sentence where it ends in desu yo. What does that mean? And when should I use it?

The use of 'yo' as a sentence ending particle can take many forms -- 'desu yo' is just one: for
men you can see 'da yo'; for women it's 'wa yo' or 'no yo'. I can think of three main uses for this
particle off the top of my head:

① To strengthen a command; 'tabenasai' versus 'tabenasai yo'.
A command tagged with 'yo' has more force and authority behind it. While 'tabenasai' is simply
'Eat it', 'tabenasai yo' is 'Just eat it, already!'. It sounds more aggressive and frustrated with it.

② To strengthen an opinion; 'absolutely' and 'so'.
This is relatively straightforward. We've all had that moment when we've heard a teenage girl
say something like, 'Ohmygosh, that's so true! I completely agree with you.' Well, 'yo' does the
same thing in some Japanese sentences. Take, for example, 'sou nan da' ('That's right.'); if
you add 'yo' to make 'sou nan da yo!', you get something that means simply, 'That's absolutely
true!' And if, for example, you're telling a friend about a film you've seen, you'll say, 'Ano eiga
wa ii yo!' ('That movie's so good!').

③ To emphasise new information.
The third is tricky to grasp, but you see it a lot. I think of it as a warning or advice giver, and as a
shortcut I just see it as 'you know'. You'll see it a lot as things like 'Abunai yo!' ('It's dangerous!'),
'Muri da yo.' ('It's just impossible!) and 'Muzukashii yo.' ('It's difficult, you know'). It acts as a sort
of exclamation mark or underline. 'Kore wa pen desu' ('This is a pen.'); 'Kore wa pen desu yo!'
'This is a PEN. Just in case you don't know that already.')

I hope I've cleared it up just a little bit. This is something most people struggle with in Japanese
-- I myself still sometimes hesitate over it even now -- because it doesn't correspond exactly with
English. It's one of those things you have to pick up from experience and see in action to really
understand when to use it, because no English translation can really sum it up.

[sortida91]

me too!
sortida91

[cemap95]

MistressEnvy

cemap95

MistressEnvy

cemap95

Hello. All of my Japanese is self-taught and I have read several books and tried out many iPod apps. The one I found the most helpful for everyday conversation was Lonely Planets Japanese book. It comes with a CD which I found utterly useless but the mini-book was really helpful.

I also have and app on my iPod from Mirai Languages and its the Japanese one. That is extremely helpful if you dont know a lot. Theres always the Idiots Guide to Japanese, which helps you with pronounciation and stuff. Anime is good if you can catch on to the more slack phrases but I would suggest sticking to the books for the beginning. It takes way to long to have an actual knowledge base from anime. Believe me, I have been learning the language for 5 years now and I have learned a lot more in the last two than the 3 years of watching anime and writing down notes).

This is getting long but one last thing. Its a good idea to know your hiragana, katakana, and kanji. Cue cards or writing the symbols out repetively are helpful. I have a set of cue cards for katakana and hiragana and since Im not so great at katakana, I test myself when I read manga to see if I can guess what all the sound effects mean before seeing the T/N at the bottom.

OKAY! Thats all I had to say. I could teach you if you want but Id much rather do it in a forum than a PM. ^_^)/ 　がんばって！

I wouldnt mind learning from you if you are willing to teach me.

I would love to teach you and anyone else who wants to immerse themselves in Japanese. Would you like mw to make a new thread? Or continue on this one?

Awesome :3
But you can start a new one if you want, that is up to you.

I have a base of sorts already. Ill be able to get something up either tomorrow or Monday. Im looking forward to having some students. ^_^