A few questions from a newbie!

[chazz]

Hello everyone!

I've been interested in Japan and its culture since way back, especially their old history and way of life (samurais etc).
I won't claim to be very educated about their history but I'm still very fascinated by it.
So it's only natural, I guess, that I want to learn the language now.
Actually I have been wanting to learn the Japanese language for a long, long time but I haven't been able to.
You see, where I live there's not a single class to attend to, the only place where I could get into a class is located quite far from here and has a minimum age requirement of 20, and I'm just 18 at the moment.
So it's either going to be selftaught or nothing, and I choose the first option.
I've been told that teaching yourself Japanese with no access to having oral discussions or asking questions to a teacher, is supposed to be very, very tough.
Which is fine by me, rather that than not learning at all.
But I'm quite confident that I won't be having that much trouble learning the language on my own since I have a 'gift', or what you may call it, of learning languages with ease.
I learned english for example solely from watching movies and playing video games.
Sure, we had english classes in school but I never had to do my homework or study for an exam, I already had the knowledge.
Me and my parents had to contact the principal of my school while I was in 8th grade since I didn't learn anything from our classes and it bugged the hell out of me to be honest.
I also took spanish lessons about two years ago, however, I wasn't really interested in learning the language at all so I never did my homework and I skipped classes quite often.
When it came down to getting my grades the teacher told me that I had failed the course, but that I got highest grade in class on the speaking and hearing part, but to get a grade all in all I actually had to understand what I was reading, writing and saying, heh.
Well anyway, time for my questions!

- www.yesjapan.com to me seems like a quite good site to use, but I would like to hear your thoughts on that.
Sure, I will probably need some books on the side too, so don't get me wrong thinking I would only use the website to learn.

- How long do you think it will take until you are familiar enough with the language to actually buy movies, comics, games and whatnot? (and understanding them ofcourse)
I know that this varies alot from person to person aswell as how much time and effort you put into it.
But let's say that you practice Japanese at least one hour per day, which is my plan.
I also take it that if you can watch and understand a movie or a game, then you can also understand the people of Japan, so going there on vacation wouldn't be a problem then. Correct me if I'm wrong however.


Thanks a bunch!

[PaulTB]

Originally Posted by chazz

Hello everyone!

Ack! Long post.

Originally Posted by chazz

I've been told that teaching yourself Japanese with no access to having oral discussions or asking questions to a teacher, is supposed to be very, very tough.

I don't agree.

Originally Posted by chazz

- www.yesjapan.com to me seems like a quite good site to use, but I would like to hear your thoughts on that.

Isn't that a pay site? Personally I think if you know Google inside out and you know what you're looking for then there are more than enough free sites.

Originally Posted by chazz

Sure, I will probably need some books on the side too

Very sensible. I'd recommend to start off with ...
1. General Text book (e.g. Japanese for Busy People - Kana version)
2. A 'walking' J-E dictionary (or J-Whatever if available). Dictionarys like WWWJDIC and dictionary.goo.ne.jp are great when you're infront of the computer but for good example sentences and something you can look at on the train you can't beat a paper version.
3. Various free programs (JFC, Kanji Gold, etc.)

Originally Posted by chazz

- How long do you think it will take until you are familiar enough with the language to actually buy movies, comics, games and whatnot? (and understanding them ofcourse)

Two years if you really work at it (assuming evenings and weekend study). Three years is more likely.

Originally Posted by chazz

But let's say that you practice Japanese at least one hour per day, which is my plan.

Well personally I put in at least four hours a day for most of the first few years. [Actually the first year I wasn't so studious]

Originally Posted by chazz

I also take it that if you can watch and understand a movie or a game, then you can also understand the people of Japan, so going there on vacation wouldn't be a problem then. Correct me if I'm wrong however.

You're wrong

Following a movie and talking to & understanding someone speaking Japanese are quite different. At some point you should make an effort to have actual conversations with somebody Japanese (although there's no reason you should have to do that right from the start).