Learning Japanese

[dowie]

There is nothing weird about the pillows (I know several people who have them for various medical reasons which means they need support when sleeping) ... it's the cover that can change their "use" and make them weird.

but it is the pillows with those covers that are being referred to

how is a life size Japanese schoolgirl pillow not a bit weird for a grown man to own, I think that 'medical reasons' is a very lame excuse

 

[Diagro]

Don't say "Moshi Moshi" when you say hello.

Unless your on the phone.

 

[exhashdotdot]

Just a bit of a question out there to the GD masses. used

I'm planning a holiday in 2018 to Japan and I'm quite keen to learn Japanese mainly conversational/spoken to get by in a social setting but it would be handy to be able to read a little Kanji/Kana as well. While I know speaking and writing/reading are two completely different ballparks when it comes to Japanese I would still like to give it a go.

So really my question is has any GD'ers learnt Japanese and if so how did you go about it? Did you do a language course/class or did you teach yourself via x, y and z aides. If anyone can steer me in the right direction or offer any advice I would be grateful.

(Could have Necro'd a 2006 thread but think that would be a bit too much)

日本語ができない。。。

So unfortunately, you're not going to be fluent by the time you go to Japan. It takes real dedication to learn the language (something I don't really have) but in a year's time, you will be more than capable of learning the basics and reaching N4 level (basic Japanese proficiency 基本的な日本語). From personal experience, knowing Japanese when travelling the country opens so many more doors for you as a traveller, so I think it's fantastic you're considering learning the language to go there - even if you'll have basic proficiency.

Here's some tips for you:
1) You need to know Hiragana and Katakana. You will not be able to start studying, nor read basic material without this. Knowing Katakana will allow you to identify the plethora of loan words used throughout the country. So when you see ツナマヨネーズ onigiri, you know you've found a winner. For now, your highest priority is to learn these. It'll take you 2-3 weeks to fully memorise the kana.

2) Get a textbook. The standard is set by the Genki I & II books. These are almost unanimously adored in the Japanese learning community.

3) Use Anki to learn Vocabulary. From now on, every day, you need to be learning Japanese vocabulary. This will introduce you to kanji and expand your lexicon. The most popular deck is the Core2k/6k deck which can be found through googling.

Extra) Do not learn Kanji, learn Vocabulary. Kanji by themselves are often meaningless, and their readings change based on context (kun-yomi vs on-yomi). Learning vocabulary has the benefit of learning kanji AND learning vocabulary at the same time.

For more resources, check out this site: https://djtguide.neocities.org/

The /r/learnjapanese is useful too. Good luck. 頑張って!

 

[memyselfandi]

but it is the pillows with those covers that are being referred to

how is a life size Japanese schoolgirl pillow not a bit weird for a grown man to own, I think that 'medical reasons' is a very lame excuse

I know that you are just trolling the thread in the usual manner that people like you and Magnolia do but no the pillows themselves are not strange and are sold for perfectly normal reasons. This is completely separate from the covers you can (but don't have to) get for them from Japan. I.e. pillow + plain cover is normal and has legitimate uses to do with things like back pain. Pillow plus dubious cover is strange and doesn't come under said uses. This isn't difficult to understand but for trolls like you I can understand it would be a bit of struggle given your reputation on the forum.

OP, a lot of language courses use the Japanese for Busy People books. Note that the first of these comes in Kana and Romaji versions ... do NOT use the latter for the reasons stated previously. Personally I preferred the Japanese from Zero books (Book 1 covers Hiragana, Book 2 covers Katakana) as I felt the flow of the books was a lot better.

Everybody learns differently but personally I found "Kana (Hiragana & Katakana)" by TenguLogi on the Google Play store good for remembering Hiragana and Katakana.

Do not over learn ... you don't need to learn a vast amount for a simple holiday.

 

[something daft already!!]

I'm turning Japanese, I think I'm turning Japanese, I really think so.

 

[dowie]

I know that you are just trolling the thread in the usual manner that people like you and Magnolia do but no the pillows themselves are not strange and are sold for perfectly normal reasons. This is completely separate from the covers you can (but don't have to) get for them from Japan. I.e. pillow + plain cover is normal and has legitimate uses to do with things like back pain. Pillow plus dubious cover is strange and doesn't come under said uses. This isn't difficult to understand but for trolls like you I can understand it would be a bit of struggle given your reputation on the forum.

I think you're being a bit slow, just re-read my post:

but it is the pillows with those covers that are being referred to

how is a life size Japanese schoolgirl pillow not a bit weird for a grown man to own, I think that 'medical reasons' is a very lame excuse

no one is referring to ordinary pillows here, you're going on some rant and calling myself and Magnolia trolls as a result of your own stupidity

we're both clearly referring to pillows with pictures of Japanese schoolgirls on, those are weird, even you think they're weird and for some bizarre reason you think we're somehow mocking normal pillows ???? even when it has been specifically stated otherwise. Read posts properly before attacking other posters as trolls, seriously, it is right there above in the quote.

 

[memyselfandi]

I think you're being a bit slow, just re-read my post:



no one is referring to ordinary pillows here, you're going on some rant and calling myself and Magnolia trolls as a result of your own stupidity

we're both clearly referring to pillows with pictures of Japanese schoolgirls on, those are weird, even you think they're weird and for some bizarre reason you think we're somehow mocking normal pillows ???? even when it has been specifically stated otherwise. Read posts properly before attacking other posters as trolls, seriously, it is right there above in the quote.

You seemed to think that John Lewis sold pillows "paedo pillows" and I'm the stupid one ....

You and Magnolia are trolls as can be seen by your very presence in this thread but on the other hand you are both trolls most of the time in GD anyway so that's just the normal state of affairs really.

 

[dowie]

You seemed to think that John Lewis sold pillows "paedo pillows" and I'm the stupid one ....

You and Magnolia are trolls as can be seen by your very presence in this thread but on the other hand you are both trolls most of the time in GD anyway so that's just the normal state of affairs really.

Yes, you are 'the stupid one'. And no I didn't, I posed a question to mags.

A simple joke then turns into several posts because a poster who lacks reading comprehension bizarrely gets offended because he thinks two posters have attacked ordinary pillows??? That is pretty weird.

 

[Zenduri]

Seriously guys unless you have something useful to say just stop the body pillow crap or ill start hitting RTM.

Thankyou to those who have been serious so far especially exhashdotdot.

 

[englishpremier]

Just a bit of a question out there to the GD masses.

I'm planning a holiday in 2018 to Japan and I'm quite keen to learn Japanese mainly conversational/spoken to get by in a social setting but it would be handy to be able to read a little Kanji/Kana as well. While I know speaking and writing/reading are two completely different ballparks when it comes to Japanese I would still like to give it a go.

So really my question is has any GD'ers learnt Japanese and if so how did you go about it? Did you do a language course/class or did you teach yourself via x, y and z aides. If anyone can steer me in the right direction or offer any advice I would be grateful.

(Could have Necro'd a 2006 thread but think that would be a bit too much)

Took it at uni. My regular course had around 12-18 hours contact time per week for five modules. Japanese as one module required the same amount of time.

Speaking is pretty easy though. No plurals, no genders, easy pronunciation. Hiragana and katakana are easy to. Kanji is a whole other level though. And their counting system is bizarre.

Then just when you go to speak with an actual Japanese person, you realise you can't understand a word of what they are saying.

 

[strumpusplunket]

I learnt Japanese for a few years after coming back from a holiday there. I got to a reasonable conversational standard. Far from fluent, but I could converse competently on a fairly wide range of topics. I found JapanesePod101 really useful - a serialised podcast with loads of levels and accompanying lesson outlines. The lessons are nicely structured around a scripted audio interaction, with each week focusing on a particular grammar point. Aedict on Android and WaKan on PC are good dictionary apps that have extensive libraries of example sentences for vocab words. TaeKim's guide which someone mentioned is also pretty good. I also took night classes at the local uni for a few years until I reached the top level they offered night classes for and I'd also highly recommend doing this (unfortunately I stopped going a few years ago now and since then I've forgotten so much it's a real shame...)

 

[benjii]

Conversational language can always be boiled down to around 1500 - 2000 words. I suggest you look into learning those so that you can at least have basic conversations.

 

[exhashdotdot]

Conversational language can always be boiled down to around 1500 - 2000 words. I suggest you look into learning those so that you can at least have basic conversations.

On the contrary, simply knowing 2000 words isn't going to make you conversational. The grammar is the problem.