Poll of the Day > Learning Nihongo

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zebatov
03/21/18 6:30:57 AM
#1:


Anyone around here fluent or been studying for one year or more?
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lolmodhagomi
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dragon504
03/21/18 6:50:41 AM
#2:


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Sarcasthma
03/21/18 9:15:30 AM
#3:


I speak a bit.
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zebatov
03/21/18 10:23:19 AM
#4:


Ah. I wanted to come over there for the same thing but they have (imo) ridiculous requirements that basically just show them that you spent money on school in general and time out of your life, since you aren't required to have a background in education - just any degree. Unless you're from a country that has universal schooling and don't have to pay. Then you're just lucky.

I'm wondering what some good books are. I need to practice Kanji, and definitely need some vocab. I don't mind speaking "broken" verbs because suru, aru, iru, desu, masu can all be figured out by the listener (hopefully they don't take informal as rude if they can tell I'm new) so long as I get the words right.

And particles. They say that wa/ga can be the hardest to differentiate, but it's simply emphasis on the subject or the object. I have more issues with ni, de, and sometimes (w)o - (from a lack of understanding of English sentence structure, usually).

When I had my Windows Phone it had two great apps on it that I can't find on Android. It had flashcards, writing and reading practices, and even a dictionary. I've also read Tae Kim's guide. He jumps straight into Kanji and the app on Android doesn't allow me to hover over them to show Hiragana, I don't think.

Any help is good, really.
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lolmodhagomi
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Sarcasthma
03/21/18 12:20:41 PM
#5:


Most of what I've learned has either been from high school/college classes or just from talking with native speakers, so I don't have many recommendations for learning resources.

jisho.org is a good Japanese-English dictionary

WaniKani is great for learning the different readings for a lot of kanji as well as a good amount of vocabulary (although there is a membership fee)

For grammar, JLPT practice books (you'd want to start with N5 books) are good for learning grammar (including particles)
---
What's the difference between a pickpocket and a peeping tom?
A pickpocket snatches your watch.
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ReggieTheReckless
03/21/18 12:26:12 PM
#6:


Start with duolingo and then take classes after you're done with that
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Revelation34
03/21/18 12:29:24 PM
#7:


"Nihongo" Did I somehow wander into the anime board?
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zebatov
03/21/18 2:49:29 PM
#8:


There are no classes anywhere near my small town of 35,000 people. I'd have to go to Vancouver and I cant afford to do that. Van is extremely expensive. And it would be basically school or work, not both. Can't work, can't afford school or rent. This is the issue I'm faced with. So I basically need to teach myself.

If only my ex acted like a gf and had spent time teaching me.
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lolmodhagomi
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Sarcasthma
03/21/18 6:05:23 PM
#9:


zebatov posted...
If only my ex acted like a gf and had spent time teaching me.

Story time?
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What's the difference between a pickpocket and a peeping tom?
A pickpocket snatches your watch.
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zebatov
03/21/18 10:30:13 PM
#10:


@Sarcasthma

I was working at Shaw Court in Eau Claire Market doing office furniture, and up the road on 4 Ave/5 St is a Macs and a Subway. Went and cheaped out on a $3 ham and she was working there. At deadline I gave her my number and then we dated for the next three years, up until last year when shit fell apart after I flew her back to Calgary and after having stayed for two months in with her family, because she wouldn't marry me until I met her family. My roommate was harassing her for rent money but she couldn't work and long story short she basically left. Not the country, of course, just the situation. So there are pending court cases and it's pretty messy.
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lolmodhagomi
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DrChocolate
03/21/18 10:34:56 PM
#11:


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KarsUltimate
03/21/18 10:47:34 PM
#12:


I miss WP (it had a superior SoundCloud app and Music app was the best) but I didn't have those apps. I did use Duolingo for brushing up on my Spanish skills, but that was before my switch.

I just use JWPCe on PC (haven't quite managed to afford NJStar which I used once upon a time).

I did do some communicating last year on a site rather unfriendly to Shift-JIS (quite embarrassing since I tried on mobile), and often leave comments on stuff in that language.

As for sites, Jeffrey's J-E is good for multiple words and names, usually up to 100 or so.
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zebatov
03/21/18 11:12:15 PM
#13:




Will look into those. I found some books named Genki. Going to give them a go.

I think my biggest issue really is vocab and conjugation. I hate how when you think you learn a word, then put it into a sentence, the prefix or suffix can change, or it becomes a different word entirely. That, or intonation. (Ie HA-shi - chopsticks versus ha-SHI - bridge).

I think this is where English is less difficult as -ed makes an adverb and can be added to most things, -es/-s is used for multiples, and -ing creates a verb and can be added to almost anything.

We also don't deal with politeness to their extent. Thank God they don't really have masculine/feminine like Latin languages.
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lolmodhagomi
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acesxhigh
03/21/18 11:23:44 PM
#14:


zebatov posted...
I'm wondering what some good books are.

I used Genki. There are 2 books + workbooks and they are relatively cheap by textbook standards. Some of the content is kind of awkward/outdated but it is still probably the most recommended by Japanese teachers.

Of course, since I took Japanese in college classes I was forced to use the book. but it worked out fine. Just make sure you have a conversation partner to practice with.

Other resources:
http://www.japaneseverbconjugator.com/
http://jisho.org/
Rikaichan/Rikaichamp browser add-on
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KarsUltimate
03/21/18 11:36:07 PM
#15:


It's also weird how many negative forms there are, especially considering there's no equivalent to -nasai it seems like.

It seems like I'm always learning something new, like how -zaru only comes before nouns.

I've been meaning to ascertain just how many kanji I recognise, haha. I tried once but lost track of the file after moving on to another system.
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Mario_VS_DK
03/21/18 11:41:26 PM
#16:


zebatov posted...
Will look into those. I found some books named Genki. Going to give them a go.


Yeah, I browse the /r/LearnJapanese subreddit on occasion, and they basically worship that book, so it's probably a good go. I think I had a quick look through of it once, and it looked like you needed to know the alphabet before you get started on it though. But I could be remembering wrong.

They also basically worship someone named "Tae Kim", who I think is a Youtuber, so that might be worth checking out too.
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zebatov
03/22/18 12:13:31 AM
#17:


@KarsUltimate

So I read that for N1 you need to know about 10,000 words, and it made me wonder how many words I know in English, for comparison. I wish I had a photographic memory. Some people are just good at picking up on languages.

As for Kanji reading, I only know a few. I just learned (memorised) shima and tori the other day because they are almost the same, save for one radical ( - shima - tori, and for bonus confusion - torii). I figure if I can at least learn to speak it, then I can ask what something says when I'm there.

@Mario_VS_DK

I know both Hiragana and Katakana. That's not an issue for me (). Good to know about the book. I mentioned about Tae Kim. His site is actually really good. He just jumps straight into Kanji and it can be kind of discouraging.

@KarsUltimate

PS - WP was great. I'm actually going back... I need to finish off Ice Age FTP because they have odd achievement numbers and it's messing up my OCD.
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lolmodhagomi
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zebatov
03/22/18 2:00:42 PM
#18:


Guy asks for a story and then bails. Come on, man!
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lolmodhagomi
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Sarcasthma
03/22/18 6:02:23 PM
#19:


Sorry, I've been pretty busy with work. :p
---
What's the difference between a pickpocket and a peeping tom?
A pickpocket snatches your watch.
... Copied to Clipboard!
darkknight109
03/22/18 7:33:00 PM
#20:


Genki is pretty much the best textbook I've run across. Wanikani is excellent for kanji, though not much else. Bunpro is a free site for learning grammar - pretty barebones, but functional. Beyond that, I've used Rosetta Stone, a couple books from Tuttle (good name for Japanese) and The Handbook of Japanese Verbs.

!
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zebatov
03/23/18 2:39:48 AM
#21:


Sarcasthma posted...
Sorry, I've been pretty busy with work. :p




darkknight109 posted...
Genki is pretty much the best textbook I've run across. Wanikani is excellent for kanji, though not much else. Bunpro is a free site for learning grammar - pretty barebones, but functional. Beyond that, I've used Rosetta Stone, a couple books from Tuttle (good name for Japanese) and The Handbook of Japanese Verbs.

!


Thanks! I'll have to look for the complete set. I've found PuniPuni to be helpful as well. Seems like all of the information I'm looking for is scattered between different sites.
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lolmodhagomi
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