Learning Japanese

[smoke]

I was just wondering if anybody knew the best way to learn japanese? I am a 100% novice...i think i know how to say hello but that's about it!
i was wondering if lessons or self teaching (from books, CDs etc) is better? or if anybody knows a good way/place to start!
i mean, i realise that you have reading, writing, speaking and listening to take in...so i have no idea where to start!

any help will be greatly appreciated!

[Glenn]

In my opinion the best way to learn anything is in a classroom with a teacher who is good at imparting information, interesting, and extremely knowledgeable of the topic being taught, and with a class that is at your level of comprehension, accompanied with real-world experience in the field you are studying. In this case, that means reading and listening to authentic sources in Japanese, and composing sentences and holding conversations in Japanese. If you can be immersed in the language, then you have a huge advantage. That's how I would like to learn, anyway.

[wintersweet]

I agree 100% with Glenn. Other than that, though, there is no "best way" for everybody, because everyone has their own learning style. Try vark.com for a test on whether you prefer visual, audio, reading/writing, or kinesthetic input, for example, which would affect whether you get more out of tapes or stories, skits or picture dictionaries, etc. But even that's only one small set of factor.

[Damicci]

Move to Learning Japanese? Make me a moderator. lol

[smoke]

thanks for your advice guys...and yeah, submerging would involve moving and, as cool as it would be, once again practicality stands in my way!
wintersweet...i went on to vark.com and its a sports shop. thanks anyway

peace

[Elizabeth]

It's this one. I would start with some basic texts, videos, CDs anything and everything you can find in libraries, bookstores or online as a test of whether it is something you want to commit to for the next three or four years. Of course you can quit at any time but I've always considered that pretty much a waste of the time you did put in... :cool:

www.vark-learn.com

[wintersweet]

Thanks, Elizabeth!

The quiz itself is here: http://www.vark-learn.com/english/page.asp?p=questionnaire

[smoke]

thanks guys, my read/write score was higher than the other but only by 1 point so i'm a bit confused still.
unfortunately, learning japanese will also be dictated by my budget!!!
thanks for all your advice and i'll do some more researh...i looked at linguaphone, which take you from beginner to gcse level...but thats like £270! i'm sure a course would be cheaper and probably more rewarding, it's easier to learn from someone (whether you are doing it right or wrong) rather than having a go and thinking you're getting it right when really your pronouciation is all over the place!

[PaulTB]

The quiz itself is here: http://www.vark-learn.com/english/page.asp?p=questionnaire

It got me half wrong, half right.

It marked me down as "strong read/write preference" but actually I have a very strong READ preference, but really don't like writing. :p

[GaijinPunch]

Oh, my. For the love of God -- get rid of the CLEAR button! Grr....

[Damicci]

Has anyone seen the online sites for learning japanese. Where you pay for a number of sessions japanese　and take a course with Japanese instructors.
http://www.jp-lesson.jp/

[Glenn]

Yeah, I signed up with YESJapan.com about four years ago for a trial membership. The site that you linked to looks like it has the same type of lesson plan. I decided not to sign up for membership because it wasn't extensive enough for me.

[Stuff]

It doesn’t really answer you question, but I can give you one piece of advice and that is to not look too hard for ways to learn.

I have been studying Japanese for over 10 years now and one thing I did seriously wrong is to buy too many reference books, textbooks, dictionaries, etc. What I mean is that I spent a lot of time searching for a better way to study, when I could have just been studying.

Good Luck!

[yukio_michael]

Yes, interaction with someone is a must... (I say that without having benefited from anything but casual interaction w/ Japanese friends)... You need some sort of feedback about your pronunciation. I agree w/ Stuff because I suffered from the same thing, I went on a book buying/searching phase and didn't get as much studying done.

One thing I will suggest, is that if you do get some study material, try to get something that stresses use of Katakana/Hiragana with a gradual usage of Kanji... you can't avoid this as some programs (Pimsular) would like you to believe, and you need to get used to these things because things won't be written in roumaji...

I really like Japanese for Everyone, though I had to order cassettes from Japan, and they're still only cassettes, also, there is only one book, and no follow up, but I really do enjoy it's emersive technique. Some people will say Situational Functional Japanese, I'm not too ready to spend $75.00 per workbook plus the same for notes, 3 times over... I'd just go study in Japan by that point.

Good luck.