Learning Japanese - Useful resources

[Down]

ok, I have finally memorized all the Hiragana..Now i would just like to ask another question, I have noticed that my reading speed in regards to hiragana is Really slow..Anyway i can help improve it?

 

Answer is simple: read. Hiragana are literally everywhere anyway, so while learning kanji/grammar/whatever you will have to read them, and after a while you will be able to read them fluently. There's no need to specially focus on reading them faster.

[Arturia]

i see thank you..I was thinking of going into a Vn...but while i am geting it i am going to try out a Manga..But yes im going to go deeper into Japanese now so...THanks, ill see how it turns out when i learn more xD.

[Jptje]

ok, I have finally memorized all the Hiragana..Now i would just like to ask another question, I have noticed that my reading speed in regards to hiragana is Really slow..Anyway i can help improve it?

 

Personally, I found that reading aloud helps a lot. But in the end, it really all comes down to practise.

[Arturia]

Heya again...Sorry for these questions, i just would like to know another thing..

SInce im about to continue my Kanji, i did try out Tay's way awhile ago..While i was doing so i realized that Heisigs book on Kanji, does seem good..BUt i am confused as the kanji only translates into English, and i am unsure of what that kanji is in Japanese..

So the question is, should i continue Heisigs way and then maybe find the Japanese word for that kanji later or at the same time...I am just confused on how to continue really.

 

Sorry for these questions, and thank you.

[Zakamutt]

(go ahead and read the foreword to Heisig's book if you can. it should explain why he made a lot of the choices and limitations that go with rtk).

 

tl;dr it's easier if you don't learn readings at first; you can pick them up later when you see the kanji in context, look it up, etc.

 

As for reading slowly, you should also remember that the brain doesn't really read individual characters as much as it does words and even whole sentences. Since you don't have vocab yet, that won't happen. It's kind of inevitable for it to be slow. Do read out all the random jaapanese alphabet text you see everywhere to practice, it will help a bit. And learn katakana

[Arturia]

Alright Thank you..I was thinking of learning Kanji with Heisig, and then look at other Kanji now and then and pick up certain everyday usage of kanji. But ya i got to do this slowly and surely xD..THanks again, back to work xD

 

Edit: Ok well i did post something here before the problems with the site was happening so i post again..

 

So far im doing alright with the Hiragana and Katakana, But again im confussed about the Kanji part..In my opinion there are two ways i can go about it..One way is Heisigs way, it would be easier to learn the Kanji the english way you could say, but the only problem i have of this way is that i would know the Kanji in a English term...I would then struggle when i need to know the Japan word and also a way to know what the Hiragana/Katakana are of the Kanji so its easier to pronounce.

Second way is that i take it slow and find kanji in my everyday life you could say or from a vn, use a dictionary and such and learn those specific words in Japanese and Kanji at same time, This way is alot slower in my mind but it would help me know the word alot more.

 

SO i just want to know your opinion on the matter as it will surely help me or someone else confused..

 

Thank you.

[Nosebleed]

First time i'm posting on this thread but i'd like some sources for this if possible.

 

I'm trying to remember kanji by reading RTK but as RTK doesn't teach the pronounciation i don't feel like i've fully learned the kanji.

Does anyone have something to learn the kanji or at least learn their pronounciation individually as well? Maybe another book or website or just anything. Because I don't want to think in english while reading japanese i want to think in japanese while reading japanese. I just find this important when learning a language and helpful as well. 

[Arturia]

Ooooh...I got the exact same problem there Bleed..I agree that it would be best to learn it in Japanese xD..So if anyone can help us on this it would be great thank you xD.

[Nosebleed]

I just think if i'm learning the kanji why not learn how they're pronounced? Sure each kanji can have a different meaning and be read differently depending on context but regardless it builds vocabulary. Building vocabulary is important at any stage. 

[zoom909]

Sounds like you guys may be ready for the KLD (Kodansha Kanji Learner's Dictionary)

[Guest loppez]

I just think if i'm learning the kanji why not learn how they're pronounced? Sure each kanji can have a different meaning and be read differently depending on context but regardless it builds vocabulary. Building vocabulary is important at any stage. 

because it is pointless. for example: you already know readings for 行 kou; an; gyou; i(ku); yu(ku); okona(u) 

 

so what if you don't know which words use kou and which use yu or gyou. 

 

learn words. 

 

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FEIkZNRI12w/Uc1DbiK0sCI/AAAAAAAABJM/y6SQjrP5xik/s955/kanji+dure%C5%84.bmp

[Nosebleed]

That's the thing. I don't know the readings because RTK doesn't teach that part it just teaches you what the kanji alone stands for. Basically it's for me to memorize what the kanji look like  and their meaning not how they're read. That's why i asked for some source that has ways of reading the kanji. I don't think it's pointless.

[Guest loppez]

i wish you luck then. learn 2000 kanji with readings. after that when you look at vocabulary, you still won't be able to read it lol. well everybody has a different way.

 

and about sources. every japanese dictionary. check first post. 

[garejei]

Learn words and how they're pronounced but don't necessarily waste your time with the individual onyomi and kunyomi for everything. It'll come naturally later as you learn more and more words. Just because RTK is popular doesn't mean it works for everyone. Every learner is different.

[Nosebleed]

Well I guess learning vocabulary individually is more productive than learning single kanji. I guess i'll learn some more kanji with RTK and then see how far I can go in learning vocabulary on my own.

[Kuroyoshie]

Hello everyone, I'm looking for a book or an internet resource, with an advanced japanese grammar. For example, I've been reading 穢翼のユースティア and stucked with this sentence -

「 逃げれば逃げたで、似顔絵をバラ撒かれかねない。」, specifically 「逃げれば逃げたで」 part. While it's not really hard to guess, still I wanted to have a good grasp about it. So after a long time I finally found the explanation. However while reading VN I pretty often stumble upon sentence with grammar beyond N1(well, at the least I haven't seen them at the time I studied for N1), and most of the time I'm just asking these questions in lots of forums, boards etc. That's why I would like to ask some sort of resource or an advice, I'm pretty sure there people who already achieved the level when they can read japanese VN fine without looking through grammar books, so I would be really grateful if you share your experience.     

 

If somebody is interested about Verbたら/ば+Same verbたで:

Here, the same verb is repeated, once with -tara and the second time with -ta de. The combination indicates that 'once the action of the verb is completed, some new perspective or problem appears'.

そういえば散歩に出るときは何となく浮き浮きとした気分になるし、出たら出たであっちの路地こっちの路地と’探検’したくなる。

Come to think of it, when you go out for a walk you somehow feel cheerful, and once you've gone out, you feel  like exploring this or that side street.

[Zakamutt]

I think Mephisto deals with this kind of thing by googling it, basically yahoo japan had an answer for liek, everything.

Well, he said that in ts3 some time ago while reading eustia, idk how well it works out

[Down]

The closest thing I'd have to this is those:

 

Dictionary of Intermediate Japanese Grammar:

http://www.mediafire.com/?7obxdz023iiw3c8

Dictionary of Advanced Japanese Grammar:

http://www.mediafire.com/?r61j67rmntthy9u

 

I didn't put them on the OP because I was a bit hesitant about putting pdf books links. I didn't read those, can't say how useful it would be but it looks like what you want.

[Kuroyoshie]

Thanks everyone !

[krofna]

There is also Tagaini Jisho. The best dictionary and kanji lookup software.

Testimonial: With Tagaini Jisho and no life I managed to learn 500 kanji and 1500 words in 3 months

[Okami]

Heres a site with some basic lessons, it can be useful.

[zoom909]

There is also Tagaini Jisho. The best dictionary and kanji lookup software.

Testimonial: With Tagaini Jisho and no life I managed to learn 500 kanji and 1500 words in 3 months

 

I took this program for about a 10-minute test drive and it is impressive...one of the best programs I've seen of this type.  The upside is that so much is configurable.  That's also the downside because I had to change several options before the thing would work the way I wanted to.

 

It's much fancier than the little program I wrote for myself (whose only advantage is that it's multiple choice).

 

Although I still plan to learn new kanji and vocab from a book, I think this will be a good tool for reviewing kanji and vocabulary, as well as kanji exploration and cross-referencing (which is something that is much more difficult with a written book).

[Mephisto]

Wow those are some nice resources to use. And yeah that nigareba nigate de is just a combination of several grammar rules, ("Upon [subject] managing/is able to escape ... implied something after due to the 'de')

 

Don't underestimate the usage of google to look up strange japanese grammar usage. You can literally find anything that is even remotely complicated. (at the very least examples of how it's used) (Easier things are findable too) (Note, the websites you are looking them up in are obviously in japanese though)

[Ang3lKilar]

So. In roughly ten months i will be going away to school to start learning a different language. I dont get to pick the language they teach me. So what i want to do is learn as much Japanese before i go so that it might influence them to pick Japanese as the language they'll have me learn. 

 

So far i have learned Katakana and Hiragana so next is Kanji. As of right now i am using RTK, Tae Kim's Guide, Anki, and i'd like to start using TextFugu.

 

So my question is, am i going about this the right way? Is there anything more/better i could be using? Anything that can help it go faster?

 

I only have ten months so i want to make effective use of my time. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[Zakamutt]

RtK is pretty much built for speed. Whether what you learn is useful enough to warrant using the method is another thing: personally I find it interesting, but obviously I can't vouch for its effects as I haven't completed it yet. Probably not a bad method, but everything has its flaws.