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| What's next? |
| Kanji |
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10% |
[ 1 ] |
| Grammar |
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60% |
[ 6 ] |
| Vocab |
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10% |
[ 1 ] |
| Phrases/expressions |
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20% |
[ 2 ] |
| Polite/casual speech |
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0% |
[ 0 ] |
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| Total Votes : 10 |
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 Posted: Wed May 11, 2005 8:39 pm
Okay. I'm not sure what I should focus on next. I study Japanese primarily by myself, though my mom always helps out by speaking to me in Japanese and correcting me when I make mistakes. But I've had no set lesson plans and kinda studied different areas all over the place. Here's pretty much what I do/don't know:
- I know hiragana and katakana, that's no problem.
- I'd say I know about 200 kanji, mostly completely random. I can read all of them, but I can't necessarily write them.
- I'm horrible with grammar. I mean, I know the basics: word order, particles, verb forms, but not much other than that.
- I know a lot of vocab, though I have a bit of trouble with counting (not numbers, but stuff like how long, thin objects are counted as 一本、日本、三本, and flats objects are counted as 一枚、二枚、三枚).
- I need to study more common phrases/expressions, that's for sure.
- Sometimes I have a bit of trouble with polite/casual speech. Like sometimes I'll address my mom in an overly formal matter, or other adults in a not-so-polite matter. (Embarassing!)
I'm not sure how I would go about taking a real class in Japanese at a community college or something, since I'm far past the basics but probably still missing some stuff.
私は何を次にするか？分からない！ (What do I do next? I don't understand!)
ありがとう〜 (Thank you~)
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Posted: Wed May 11, 2005 11:11 pm
I know how you feel, I want to focus on one thing, but I really need to just study everything. Considering Japanese is so grammar intensive and you say you're "horrible" at it, I would say that's a good place to focus your studies. My lack of studying grammar throughout my japanese learning process caught up with me in a bad way this year. I still consult my 1 year book for a few stuctures that I don't remember.
If you feel the Kanji you know are random, I think I good place to start is to look at the kanji required for the JLPT level 3 and 4. It's 245 commonly used kanji, and it's a good jumping off point. It does make it easier in the long run to learn a kanji well and know their onyomi and kunyomi. Flashcards are your friends.
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Posted: Wed May 11, 2005 11:58 pm
Yeah, grammar is what I was leaning towards. I figured that I shouldn't start adding more words to my vocabulary before being able to put them in correct sentences. Luckily, I have books just on grammar alone, but I find that they're hard for me to understand because I don't really know what some of the terms mean in English (like infinitive, gerund, etc). I kinda learned it when I studied German, but they're not exactly terms you learned in elementary school.
I completely forgot about kanji flashcards, I have a lovely 500 card set that I've almost never pulled out. I generally know both onyomi and kunyomi pronounciations, but I never know which one is which ^^; I usually go by gut on which to use when reading out loud and I'm correct most of the time, if someone asked me which one was which, I'd be totally clueless. I have something to focus on now, though.
どうもありがとう、フリッケゼットさん〜 heart
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Posted: Thu May 12, 2005 5:43 am
I have to admit that trying to understand what grammar terms are is a huge hurdle in learning the language on your own from books. I vaguely remember what they mean from when I was taking French in highschool, but what I end up seing most of the time now is that .... I have the Japanese terms for the grammar points are used on me, and I have no idea what the english translation for those terms are.
If I were you, I'd attempt to get my hands on a college level Japanese textbook if you havent already. ようこそ was a decent textbook, and I have heard other good things about various other titles for those who are learning the language on their own. If you have more confidence in your skills, try going for a higher level textbook, perhaps J301 or J501 by 3A...
I'll look into some of the things I went through on my own on the short breaks through my semesters to supplement my language learning and then assess them as to whether or not they stand out as vital or not.
Best of luck. (^_^)B
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Posted: Thu May 12, 2005 6:57 am
Right now, I'm not as grammar intensive as I thought, more concerned with my vocabulary... even after 4 semesters of studying Japanese, I still need a lot of work on my vocabulary. In any case, that's why I can't grasp Japanese as quickly as I thought. Studying kanji is something to focus on too, in regards to how and when to use them. I guess I could consider those two my primary weakness. I've never been able to make up a sentence on-the-fly. Quote: If I were you, I'd attempt to get my hands on a college level Japanese textbook if you havent already. ようこそ was a decent textbook, and I have heard other good things about various other titles for those who are learning the language on their own ようこそ is a decent book to look for grammar structure stuff, but I wouldn't depend on it too much (it focuses on polite sentence structure).
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Posted: Thu May 12, 2005 8:24 pm
As I said, its good book. Its far easier to learn desu/masu form in the beginning than to start out with plain, and once people start working only in plain form there is that problem that they tend to forget how to speak politely. :/ It was also good that they threw 尊敬語・謙譲語 in the books as well. It doesnt hurt to be familiar with those levels of speech-- even if you aren't intending on using them in the immediate future you will probably hear them spoken to you at some point.
J301 and J501 were excellent books for moving higher up in your studies. The readings chosen are also fairly interesting (like Hideo Levy's "i yan ji kara no denwa). Furthermore, the explainations of the nuances between different grammar points are also helpful. But I'm not going to suggest those books to someone who has problems reading kanji because there is absolutely no furigana in those books and it can be nerverending to deal with looking up every word you come across.
Start low, and then move up.
Then there is always the "throw a japanese website into www.rikai.com and see if you understand what is going on" method for aquainting yourself with new vocabulary. I haven't done that in a while, but it was useful. Allows you to skim through articles quickly (provided you understand the grammar behind the piece) without having to look up items in a dictionary.
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Posted: Thu May 12, 2005 9:04 pm
i know nothing. As I said, its good book. Its far easier to learn desu/masu form in the beginning than to start out with plain, and once people start working only in plain form there is that problem that they tend to forget how to speak politely. :/ I think yookoso is a good start, I like how it converts you from romaji to kana quickly, i read about other books online and looked at "self teaching" books at the store they seem to hold on to romaji for a long time. The dialogues in Yookoso are not very natural, but as IKN says, it easier to learn the polite than to learn the plain and then have to go back to the polite, kind of like learning to type wrong then trying to fix it. My 3rd year text book is call "A course in Japanese, Volumn 3" It a weird text book, like it has some really basic stuff, like verb tables for plain form, but then it has no furigana and dialogues so you have to have been studying japanese pretty intensely for a couple years to even begin to understand, eitheray, we pretty much used it for the dialouges, it has good essays too.
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Posted: Thu May 12, 2005 10:04 pm
Higher up (around the level of J501, but without the english explainations), my current text book 日本社会探検 is pretty good for becoming more aquainted with various styles of writings and more diverse vocabulary. However, you need to have a firm foundation in the language to use it (you have to judge one your own from a series of examples what the nuance of any grammar point actually is). Progression wise, I'd probably suggest Yookoso 1 and 2, from there move to J301, then to J501～中級から上級へ～/日本社会探検... And example of why I will not suggest my current book to anyone who doesnt have a firm grasp of the vocabulary/grammar/kanji in Japanese, look below: Quote: 産業革命以来の大量生産・消費で二酸化炭素をまきちらした先進国のせいだ。そこに冷戦後の市場経済の「ビッグバン」で、新たな加害者が加わる。１２億人の中国が工業化にはげみ、９億人のインドも後に控える。１８世紀の英国に発した工業文明が全地球を覆いつつある。 Example of one of the readings from J301/J501 book series. (I offered this as a sample on another forum, and I don't remember which book it is from) Quote: 時間に追われて生活している現代人にとって、時間は大切なものだ。だから、だれもが時間を有効に使いたいと思っている。 しかし、私達は色々な所で待たされることが多い。ある程度は待たなければならないと思っていても、待っている間にイライラしてくる。されに、長く待たされると、がまんできずに怒ってしまうか、しかたがないとあきらめてしまうこともある。 The articles and dialogues in Yookoso are pointedly more easy to understand that what I just posted here... this is just to give a better idea to everyone the level required of them for each of the books.
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