Best way to learn Japanese for the total beginner?

[Bob Hubbard]

So, I'm standing there at Borders, looking at the shelf full of options on learning Japanese, and have absolutely no clue. Theres CD's, and Tapes, and books, and flash cards, and dictionaries..I'm just lost.

Has anyone had any luck with anything? I've heard the Berlitz tapes are good, but before I plunk down $30+ for a set, figured I'd ask those in the know.

Unfortunately, I can't (yet) afford to goto Japan for 6 months (The GF would kill me if I didn't come back with a truckload of Pocky)

I'm trying the immersion method, along with a good dictionary. Listening and watching a ton of Anime, and looking up words as I go.

I'm picking up a few words here and there, but a good reference to really hit it would be good to have.

(Of course, listening to Japanese heavy metal is probably doing it the hard way.)

Any tips, etc greatly appreciated.
Thank you.
:asian:

[Nevlyn]

Before I went to Japan in 1988, I took night class for about a month to learn some japanese phrases...

I then spent 3 weeks in Japan with friends who spoke hardley any english...

I had a great time in Japan, but my only regret is not spending enough time to really learn the language..:asian:

[KumaSan]

I took a year of Japanese in high school, and I actually learned something. I then proceeded to not use it and it all went away.

4 years later I got stationed in Japan, not remembering a darn thing. I found that the Japanese For Busy People book series was pretty helpful. I believe they have a tape series as well, but I've never listened to them. The immersion with Anime thing is actually pretty helpful for listening skills, but you also need feedback to correct your speaking.

What I found to help the most is unfortunately not available to you (unless you and your GF have some sort of "understanding") is to date someone who speaks Japanese as their primary language. Have to be careful though, or you end up like me - married. ;)

[Bob Hubbard]

Nope. No "understanding"...well, unless you count the "cheat and die" bit. :) I mean, she does outrank me in 2 systems :D

Where I'm at, theres a large Chinese population, along with some Korean, Vietnamese and Thai, but I haven't been able to ferret out the Japanese gals.

I've been sitting down with the lyrics from a few anime theme songs and trying to translate, but some words just aren't in my dictionary. wo and ai for example. Any recomendations on a good dictionary?

When I get a chance, I'm calling the local colleges and seeing if any offer a class. Also, maybe I should hit the library and see what they have. I can't be the only guy in Buffalo looking at learning....then again.... :)

Thanks for the tips guys. Tis apreciated. :)

:asian:

[TLH3rdDan]

i dont know if you can get any up there but you might want to try translating a newspaper written in japanese

[KumaSan]

Originally posted by Kaith Rustaz

Nope. No "understanding"...well, unless you count the "cheat and die" bit. :) I mean, she does outrank me in 2 systems :D
Yeah, that's the same understanding we have. I outrank her, but I don't doubt she could pull it off. I have to sleep sometime...


Where I'm at, theres a large Chinese population, along with some Korean, Vietnamese and Thai, but I haven't been able to ferret out the Japanese gals.

For your purposes, it doesn't have to be women. In fact, in this case finding Japanese guys might actually be more beneficial. In Japanese there's a big difference between the way guys talk and the way women talk. I am often accused of talking like a girl :eek: at least in Japanese.


I've been sitting down with the lyrics from a few anime theme songs and trying to translate, but some words just aren't in my dictionary. wo and ai for example. Any recomendations on a good dictionary?

I only ever used the small Random House dictionary I bought when I first got there. There's lots of things that aren't in it, but it fit in my backpack easily and without much weight. There's an online dictionary here (http://rut.org/cgi-bin/j-e) that may help. For things like song, and even colloquial spoken Japanese, not all things you see/hear will be in there. It's like in English, you're not going to find certain words in dictionaries either. They're just kind of special use things. I'll run those two past my wife when I get home for you though.


When I get a chance, I'm calling the local colleges and seeing if any offer a class. Also, maybe I should hit the library and see what they have. I can't be the only guy in Buffalo looking at learning....then again.... :)

Thanks for the tips guys. Tis apreciated. :)

:asian:

It can be tough finding classes, it's the same down here. The local community college has Japanese listed in it's catalog, but they haven't had a class in over a year. It sucks. One of the instructors where I train found a trade school kind of place that has lessons for 25 bucks a quarter. I might head over there next quarter and jump in 2/3's of the way through the first year class.

[KumaSan]

Oh yeah, "ai" generally means love. "Wo" I'm not too sure about, I'd need some context on that one.

[Bob Hubbard]

Good tips. Thanks! :)

The 2 lines I tried to translate were

Jealousy Fire ikari wo komete
which I got as "Jealosy Fire fury ??? back in ???"

and


Watashi wa shitto no arashi Queen Beryl
Which I loosely got as "I ?? jealousy storm Queen Beryl" which makes no sence to me.

I need a babel fish. :)

[Nevlyn]

I found some of my old Japanese books..
but couldn't find the dictonary:confused:

The books are:
Japanse Simplified by Hugo's Language books Ltd
Berlitz Phase Books - Japanese for Travellers
Get by in Japanese by BBC Books

[Battousai]

Getting enrolled in a college japanese class is probabily the best route if you have some extra time and about five hundred dollars for the tuition. I did it for fun, and the class was acutally challenging.
The hardest thing, nearly impossible to learn if you don't spend years in japan, is learning to read japanese. Its easy to learn the romaji syllabary, and with some practice learn how to write all of the hiragana and katakana, but learning the kanji, thats whats extremely difficult. If you didn't grow up there, the task is enormous. Japanese newspapers are written with lots of kanji. Graduate students with japanese language as their major cannot read an entire newspaper.
All the japanese you hear in the learning tapes and stuff, from teachers, is somewhat deceptive, because in japan they speak it a whole lot faster! Desu becomes des, anything with tsu sounds different..
English I guess is harder to learn then japanese because of all the stupid rules and spelling that make absolutely no sense. Japanese is thought to be the second hardest language to learn, but at least all of the words and sentence structure make sense compaired to this english junk ;)

[KumaSan]

Yeah, trying to learn kanji pretty much sucks. "Officially" there are either 1600 or 1900 or somewhere around there (I can't remember exactly). Really there are about 10 bazillion in common use. And they all have at least 2 ways to read them, onyomi and kunyomi. A word that you spell the same in romaji can mean a dozen different things depending on which kanji are used. When I lived there I knew a couple hundred, now I remember like 6. We're planning on moving back in a few years, so I better start studying again soon...

[KumaSan]

Sorry it took so long to get back to this...

Jealousy Fire ikari wo komete

The wife says she's unsure what this is exactly, apparently there's more above or after that helps give it meaning.


Watashi wa shitto no arashi Queen Beryl

This is basically saying "I'm really jealous". The storm of jealousy is an idiom, a way of emphasizing an emotion, in this case jealousy. I should've mentioned that 'wa' is an article, it doesn't necessarily have a direct translation, but here it kind of means "am". As in 'Kore wa midori desu' - This is green.


I need a babel fish. :)

I know it. Just pop one in the ear, and understand all the languages of the universe.

[Bob Hubbard]

I appreciate the help. I found another listing of it, and cut the 1st 3 lines out
Jealousy Fire ikari wo komete
Jealousy Fire hitomi no oku de moeagaru
Nikushimi no yatsura kara ai no Energy ubaitore


Maybe that helps? Title is Ai no Energy wo Ubae which the original transcriber says means "Steal Love Energy".

I bought another dictionary, the Merriam-Webster, which seems to have a bit more depth over the other.

I end up with
Jealousy Fire, wrath wo komete
Jealousy Fire see my inner blaze increace
Hatred of them from love of Energy ubaitore

I can't find komete anywhere. Checked 3 dictionaries, even dropped the te and just looked for kome. I found rice. "Wrath of Rice" just dont make any sence. :D

:asian:

[Bob Hubbard]

Based on some suggestions I've gotten, I picked up "Japanese for Busy People, Vol 1", a cassete course to listen to in the car, and a second dictionary (little more elaberate, clearer pics.

I'm making a little progress, at least in that I can pick out more words, even though I can't process em yet. I figure, a couple more weeks and I'll be at the equivilent of preschool :D

(must remember to pick up bottle of school paste for lunch) :D

Anyways, thank you for the pointers and tips, please, keep em coming. Thank you a ton. :)

:asian:

[KumaSan]

Okay, she says that this could be wrong, but here's what she's giving me right now:


Jealousy Fire ikari wo komete
Jealousy Fire hitomi no oku de moeagaru
Nikushimi no yatsura kara ai no Energy ubaitore

I give you Jealousy Fire with anger (not sure of subject, could be you give me jealousy fire with anger, or anything really. Just giving jealousy fire with anger)
Jealousy Fire burning in my (your ?) eyes
Steal (or take or get) the Energy of Love from people who have hatred

Sometimes it's hard to translate each word literally, but you can get the idea. I also forgot to mention earlier that "wo" is just a literary way to write "o". Same meaning.

[Bob Hubbard]

Hmm... line ones a toughy, The key to the last word seekms to be "KO" as I can find 'me' and 'te'. If I hazard a guess its "Jealousy Fire, O Great Anger"

Line 2 I'd say has to be "Jealousy Fire burning in my eyes"

Line 3, I'd say could go as "Steal the Energy of Love from the hated"

Back ground : from what I've been told, the person doing the singing is supposed to be Queen Beryl (from the Sailor Moon Anime), who sent her generals out to gather energy to revive a demon. (very short summary)

Thank you, and please pass my thanks along to your wife. I really appreciate the help and clarifications.

:asian:

[arnisador]

I'll be very curious to hear what you think about the cassettee tapes--I've been thinking of trying that to brush up on my French and Italian.

[Bob Hubbard]

The set I got, I'm not too sure about. Its a nice breakdown, but the persons got a thick accent, so I'm not sure on what I'm missing. I'll do a full review shortly on it. :)

[KumaSan]

Originally posted by Kaith Rustaz

Thank you, and please pass my thanks along to your wife. I really appreciate the help and clarifications.

She says "Anytime". She gets pretty excited whenever someone asks her questions about Japanese language and culture. I think I may have to sign up for classes just so she can have a fresh pool of people who will need tutoring...

[jeffbeish]

Well, I was fluent in Japanese 40 years ago but now that I am attempting to revisit that language am having a hard time with it. Using an old book I bought in 1959, A Guide to Reading & Writing Japanese I attempted to translate some old certificates I have that is written in Japanese. Kind of like trying to read chicken scratching in the sand! Anyway, this book has several major sections, one gives each of the 1,850 Japanese characters by the number of strokes that make up the character. Even with this it is hard to look at a character and count the strokes, then find the translation for it! Oh well, getting older does that :)

Having just returned from visiting Japan and stumbling through broken Japanese to my friends there I am interested in re-learning it. I will post my feeble attempts as time flies – when you’re having fun, time flies! If anyone is interested – that is.:asian:

[RyuShiKan]

Originally posted by jeffbeish

I attempted to translate some old certificates I have that is written in Japanese.


If you can scan them and send them to me by email I would be more than happy to translate them for you.

[jeffbeish]

Sorry I missed your reply here. I will scan my old shodan paper and send it to you via e-mail. Hopefully I can maintain resolution while reducing the size to fit. It is hard to scan some things and have them readable. Anyway, I will do it soon, today.

[jeffbeish]

Well, the image would not go so here it is to translate. I managed to translate some of it but after all the years have gone by, so has my memory. The certificate image is the upper half since the lower has the English inset. Seems like the date is different in Japanese from the English. It should be September 28, 1961, but I think it says 1965 in Japanese. Oh well, first in, last out :D

BTW, this is one of the very first certificates that included the English box. My first paper, lost and could never fighure out how, was all Japanese and appeared nearly the same as this one -- except it as in black and red against white. The old days! :rolleyes:

[RyuShiKan]

Originally posted by jeffbeish

Well, the image would not go so here it is to translate. I managed to translate some of it but after all the years have gone by, so has my memory. The certificate image is the upper half since the lower has the English inset. Seems like the date is different in Japanese from the English. It should be September 28, 1961, but I think it says 1965 in Japanese. Oh well, first in, last out :D

BTW, this is one of the very first certificates that included the English box. My first paper, lost and could never fighure out how, was all Japanese and appeared nearly the same as this one -- except it as in black and red against white. The old days! :rolleyes:


That is some really old style Japanese. No wonder it was difficult to look up the words.

Going from right to left:

It is certificate # 31981

Jeffery Day Beish

Nippon Kodokan Judo

Has trained vigorously and made much improvement
as to progress to the level of shodan
and will continue to improve/develop.

Showa 40 October 28th
(1960 Oct. 28)


Kodokan Judo Cho (managers name)

[jeffbeish]

Thanks Robert, I had some of it right, or nearly so, but some of the repeats were difficult to determine what they meant. The certificate number I attempted to translate would be the same as my Kodokan life membership (# 17496) so I thought, but never came close to # 31981. It was very difficult so I just forgot it. They misspelled my first name, but so do most people here do too and the “Day” is their attempt to do “D.” Katakana and Hiragana were not perfected in those days. I guess the date will always be a mystery. My transaction was of the Japanese date was September 28, 1965, the English states September 28, 1961, and your translation is October 28th 1960. Anyway, it was a long time ago.

Maybe it was an attempt to correct the original certificate from their records that was lost. The first Judoka who had the first English inset was Rich Whither, who had just made sandan the same time I made shodan and close to the first with that inset by a year or so. The old certificates were in just Japanese and were hand made for each person! But, with that certificate number you can see there were few black belts in the world then! My old JBBF card shows my #1-1988. Maybe they belong in the Smithsonian, huh? :D Or better still, the Smithsonian-San.

I still have a great little book, A Guide to Reading and Writing Japanese, pub. Charles E. Tuttle, 1959 edition, that has four sections: 1) The 881 Essential Characters, 2) The 1,850 General-Use Characters, 3) Proposed Changes, and 3) Syllabary: Katakana and Hiragana. The first section gives the character and definition and variations and the next breaks down each character by number of brush or pen strokes. Of course, it is way out of date, but good for the older translations.

Anyway, thanks a zillion. Maybe I will find sme more stuff.

[Cthulhu]

Ah, the old Japanese Imperial reign-based calendar system.

Showa indicates the reign of Emperor Hirohito (currently, Japan is in the Heisei era, indicating the reign of Hirohito's sun, Akihito), with each year of Showa counting as one year of reign. For example, Hirohito's reign started in 1926. That first year of his reign is called Showa 1.

Since the date on the certificate was Showa 40, I think jeffbeish's translation of 1965 to be the more accurate one. It could be 1965 or 1966...I don't know the exact day Hirohito came to power.

I really need to get off my butt and (re)learn the language. My mother is Okinawan, and a perfect person to converse with to reinforce my knowledge of the language.

One of these days.

Cthulhu

[arnisador]

Originally posted by Cthulhu

I really need to get off my butt and (re)learn the language. My mother is Okinawan, and a perfect person to converse with to reinforce my knowledge of the language.

I understood that the Okinawans largely claim that their Ryukyuan language is a separate language from Japanese, while the Japanese and all disinterested linguists maintain that it's a dialect of Japanese.

[Cthulhu]

Yeah, to Okinawans, hougen is its own separate language. If you ever hear it, I think you'd agree. I'm not sure about grammatical structure and syntax, but the words are very different.

However, since Okinawa has been under Japan's control for around 400 years (minus a few decades after WWII), Japanese is the official language, with hougen rapidly becoming a dead tongue.

Cthulhu

[jeffbeish]

Originally posted by Cthulhu

Ah, the old Japanese Imperial reign-based calendar system.

Since the date on the certificate was Showa 40, I think jeffbeish's translation of 1965 to be the more accurate one. It could be 1965 or 1966...I don't know the exact day Hirohito came to power.

Cthulhu

That may be true since after I lost my original paper, I was presented shodan in 1961, Kotani sensei was visiting Bergstrom AFB, TX later on I think in 1965, and brought me another certificate. The English inset says 1961, but the Japanese says 1965, to at least form my loose translation. I asked about it once and was given various explanations. Ironically, it was Kotani sensei who tested me after batsugan in 1961 and presented me tithe first certificate then.

yeah, it seems like there is too much to do arond the house to re-learn Japanese :)

[jeffbeish]

Originally posted by arnisador



I understood that the Okinawans largely claim that their Ryukyuan language is a separate language from Japanese, while the Japanese and all disinterested linguists maintain that it's a dialect of Japanese.

My first okasan was Okinawan and she and others taught me some hougen, or Ryukyuan. I still remember "nifee biedu" for thanks. Spelling is way off. Okianwans are much-o different from the Japanese. My astronomy friend who lives in Japan also has relatives on Okinawa and visits there often to Observe Mars when it is up. He also tells me great stories of the island. When we were in Japan this March he offered to pay my way to Okinawa to give a talk on Mars for the astronomers down there. I was tempted, but the trip to Japan was to see out son and grandkids, so a side trip was out of the question. Man, would I have loved to se the island again after 40 years. Oh well, you can never go back.

Hey Cthulhu, do you look anything like me :D My Okinawa son should be somwhere around 40 years old by now. :asian:

[RyuShiKan]

Originally posted by jeffbeish

Thanks Robert, I had some of it right, or nearly so, but some of the repeats were difficult to determine what they meant. The certificate number I attempted to translate would be the same as my Kodokan life membership (# 17496) so I thought, but never came close to # 31981. It was very difficult so I just forgot it. They misspelled my first name, but so do most people here do too and the “Day” is their attempt to do “D.” Katakana and Hiragana were not perfected in those days. I guess the date will always be a mystery. My transaction was of the Japanese date was September 28, 1965, the English states September 28, 1961, and your translation is October 28th 1960. Anyway, it was a long time ago.




Sorry I made 2 stupid mistakes.

It is Sept and not Oct. and Showa 40 is 1965.


The "Day" is the way some japanese say "D"......kind of weird.

A,B,C, Day, E, Efu..........

[Humble artist]

Hi Kaith.
I wonder if you still check this thread out,even at times...
I do not study japanese,soon will,and know very little.
But I think that as you are about to self-study (if that still is the case) I´d be careful when choosing material,to avoid all the bad and gather some of the good.
Try to collect a comprehensive set of material around you and it should not be that of a pain.
I personally only have one,single,comprehensive dictionary (studying from this situtation is not worth trying) stick to basics and start rising further.
Certainly try to invest in tapes/audio material to get your pronouncation right and the feeling of living language.
Writing with all of it´s different forms and complexity is painful but certainly important to learn.

I´d recommend checking out amazon.com as an example,since there is some stuff and also analyse´s on various products.
I recently ordered a set called "Ultimate Japanese-basic-intermediate (living language" which includes 8 tapes and a worthy book.
I had a good experience with related product on mandarin,decent for a beginner to understand and covering a lot of needed,basic stuff in various levels (still it would not really hurt to study grammar etc. carefully)
So take your time (if still possible) with it.

BTW,if you are going to study spoken language (talking solely of it) you might want to check out Pimsleur´s tapes.
It is a very popular,respected and quite well-known author on living language.
They have stuff on japanese,and learning language with their methods is relatively easy (referring to those saying that and my own experiences)
And remember,it is not no easy language to learn.

My cents and opinions.

[Bob Hubbard]

Thanks for the info. I definately want to learn, however a lack of time to really devote to the study, plus a lack of 'speakers' slows things down alot. (more so the time factor).

I gotta start hanging out at the University, or better yet, find a class.

[LB_Karateka]

hey all, being the new guy around i thought i'd take this chance to start sucking up. j/k but i am full blooded japanese and am fluent thanx to my parents dragging me to japanese school kicking and screaming when i was a kid. feel free to ask me if theres anything i can help with. :asian:

[jeffbeish]

Originally posted by Kaith Rustaz
Thanks for the info. I definately want to learn, however a lack of time to really devote to the study, plus a lack of 'speakers' slows things down alot. (more so the time factor).

I gotta start hanging out at the University, or better yet, find a class.

Haven't been here in a while. My best Judo buddy was from Long Beach, CA. He was or is a Nisei who I met in Air Force boot camp in 1959 and subsequently were went to tech-school together and the stationed at Ashiya AFB, Japan then Naha AB, Okinawa. I lost contact with him back in 1963 or 64. Anyway, we would converse in Japanese and Okinawian a lot to better understand the languages. Haven’t heard a word of him since he won a couple AAU championships back in the late 1960’s. His name is Masato J. Yamashita and at times goes by Masayuki.

[Cthulhu]

jeffbeish, welcome back, you old Judoka, you!

:D

Cthulhu

[jeffbeish]

Originally posted by Cthulhu
jeffbeish, welcome back, you old Judoka, you!

:D

Cthulhu

Hey, thanks for thinking. I lurk but have been busy lately with several scientific papers on Mars. We are putting together a controversial paper on “global warming” as it relates to our research into a possible warming of the Mars atmosphere over the past century. It is a teaser to a real detailed scientific treaty (gobbledygook) :) that will appear on a professional journal whenever they get around to reviewing it. That takes several trips to the red line, referees, and several trips to the editors. By the time it is published no of will remember ever doing it!

Did hear about rene Pomeralle passing away. The last time I saw him was in 1968 when the belated 1968 Olympic Judo Team came to Kittyhawk to vent steam for not getting to go to the Olympics.

[YouAgain]

I started taking Jappanese classes at the beggining of this year the hardest thing about it is the 3 different alphabets..... I'm only just starting to grasp the language.....

[RyuShiKan]

Originally posted by YouAgain
I started taking Jappanese classes at the beggining of this year the hardest thing about it is the 3 different alphabets..... I'm only just starting to grasp the language.....


I don’t know if you have started it or not but most people consider the verb conjugation in Japanese to be the hardest part of the language.

[Kimpatsu]

Originally posted by KumaSan
Oh yeah, "ai" generally means love. "Wo" I'm not too sure about, I'd need some context on that one.
"wo" (pronounced "o" in modern Japanese) is a particle used to denote the direct object of a sentence.
E.g.:
Watashi wa hon wo yomu
"I read books".
HTH,

[Kimpatsu]

Originally posted by Kaith Rustaz
Good tips. Thanks! :)

The 2 lines I tried to translate were

which I got as "Jealosy Fire fury ??? back in ???"

and


Which I loosely got as "I ?? jealousy storm Queen Beryl" which makes no sence to me.

I need a babel fish. :)
"Ikari wo komete" means "angrily", or "with anger".
"...wo komete" means "With (emotion)", so, for example, "Aikokushin wo komete, tatakai ni hairikonda"
"Burning with patriotism, he threw himself into the thick of battle".
HTH.

[Kimpatsu]

Originally posted by KumaSan
Yeah, trying to learn kanji pretty much sucks. "Officially" there are either 1600 or 1900 or somewhere around there (I can't remember exactly). Really there are about 10 bazillion in common use. And they all have at least 2 ways to read them, onyomi and kunyomi. A word that you spell the same in romaji can mean a dozen different things depending on which kanji are used. When I lived there I knew a couple hundred, now I remember like 6. We're planning on moving back in a few years, so I better start studying again soon...
Once you've learned the first 1,000, the rest get easy. I promise.

[Kimpatsu]

I've just seen the full quote:"Jealousy Fire ikari wo komete
Jealousy Fire hitomi no oku de moeagaru
Nikushimi no yatsura kara ai no Energy ubaitore"

Let's tidy it up:
Ikari wo komete
Hitomi no oku de moeagaru
Nikushimi no yatsura kara ai no Energy ubaitore

Translation:
The very roots of her eyes blaze with anger
Steal the energy of love from the jealous person
---
HTH.

[Bob Hubbard]

Interesting...thinking about it, it makes sence.

Thank you. That particular things driven me nuts for over a year. (I listen to way too much anime stuff...heh)

[Kimpatsu]

Originally posted by Kaith Rustaz
Interesting...thinking about it, it makes sence.

Thank you. That particular things driven me nuts for over a year. (I listen to way too much anime stuff...heh)
YOU watch too much anime?
My first ever professional translation job was manga. (Many moons ago, now, though.)
I know I've only just arrived on the boards, and have a lot of catching up to do (I see my good friend Robert Rousselot has already translated the grading certificate), but if you have any questions, feel free to ask.Best,

[twinkletoes]

I majored in it in college. I figured that was the best way to learn.

Instead it was the best way to meet pale, white guys who watched too much anime and drooled over every asian girl that walked by.

I switched to philosophy :)

~TT

[Kimpatsu]

Originally posted by twinkletoes
I majored in it in college. I figured that was the best way to learn.

Instead it was the best way to meet pale, white guys who watched too much anime and drooled over every asian girl that walked by.

I switched to philosophy :)

~TT
So how much Japanese did you learn in the end?

[twinkletoes]

After 2 years of intensive study, with language classes everyday, I was pretty decent at one point.

When I stopped, I could mostly "get the gist of it" when reading newspaper ads & articles. Conversation was not too bad.

However, that was a few years ago now. I have not had much opportunity to use it, and in the meantime, I have used spanish on several occasions. Now my brain has slipped back into spanish! It makes it harder for me to rattle of the ol' nihongo the way I once could.

All in all, if I met someone Japanese (in person), I could at least get through introductions without embarassing myself too badly. However, I wouldn't last long after that. Ido find, though, that if I start into it, even for a few minutes, I start to come out with things I didn't think I remembered.

~TT

[Ender]

The hardest job in the world is a japanese skywriter....

[Eldritch Knight]

The hardest job in the world is a japanese skywriter....

That would suck.

I did a high school student exchange to Japan last year (between senior year and college) - it is the best way to learn. I picked up 500 kanji and became virtually semi-fluent (to the point that English was difficult). I haven't spoken it in a few months though, and though my reading is still fine, my conversation sucks. I'm very, very annoyed (especially since there are very few Japanese at my college).

[arnisador]

Kaith, any luck with the Japanese?

[arnisador]

An online resource for Japanese history:
http://countrystudies.us/japan/

[Bob Hubbard]

Originally posted by arnisador
Kaith, any luck with the Japanese?

Haven't had a chance to really do much in eons. :(

[arnisador]

Language help:
http://www.e-budo.com/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=15

[MisterMike]

I've been using the Pimsleur audio lessons.

There are three levels, each with 30 lessons.

I'm about half way through level I and now I can ask people to come drink with me. Hehe, no, honest, they are really good.

Each level goes for about 250 bucks, or less on eBay...and even less on eMule ;) :D :D :D

[arnisador]

http://www.s4mur4i-g33k.com/phpBB2/index.php