Learning Japanese Language
By paopaolar
@paopaolar (226)
Philippines
December 21, 2011 4:34am CST
Hi! Does anybody here know how to speak/write/read Japanese? Can you please suggest any website or book that would be good for self-study? I am going to Japan next year so I badly need to learn the language. Thank you!
6 responses
@enelym001 (8322)
• Philippines
21 Dec 11
I have livemocha account too, but I forgot about my username and password already. I have enjoyed learning from that site. I normally tried learning french and spanish languages there. I even took notes of it in my excel sheet which I still have it now on my computer I tried basic japanese there but I find it hard when I take some tests.
@annierose (21571)
• Philippines
21 Dec 11
hi voices, thanks for that site. I also love learning foreign languages and one of that is the Japanese language. I remember when my riend taught me some japanese word, I put a tone to each word and he said that it is unlike Mandarin Chinese in which we have to give emphasis on tones.
@annierose (21571)
• Philippines
21 Dec 11
hi paopaolar,
Aside from what voices gave you, I also recommend you to try downloading books from englishtips.org. Last time, I downloaded there a bilingual english-japanese dictionary. It is free and I know it will help you to expand your vocabularies in japanese.
@aaronfyzeon (1920)
• Philippines
22 Dec 11
Hello there! Wow! That is a great news that you will be going to Japan next year. I wish you good luck. Nihongo is really hard to learn. I have learned the basics of it through a language training seminar that is offered by our agency before when I have applied for an employment in Japan. along with it, I bought a handy Nihongo dictionary so that if I will be able to hear the word from a Japanese talking, I will be able to know what exactly is he telling me. I have mastered some phrases that I can use during an interview, an acquaintance conversation, buying in a store, and riding a shuttle. Yes, your other respondents here in your topic suggested some websites which are really useful.
This is the great advice that I will be suggesting and for me it is very useful. Try watching Japanese movies and cartoons which has subtitles with it or translation at the bottom. try to familiarize yourself with the phrases the actors and actresses spoke and then try to read what they have said on the subtitles. You will be able then to familiarize their accent, the blending of words, the intonation where to rise or give stress to the word, and where to put the word or subject (i.e. subject and verb agreement) in the sentence.
Since you will be a foreigner there, always be courteous! always use "desu" or pronounced as "des" only. In this way, you will be regarded as a nice person and will be giving them a good impression about you.
I hope these suggestions will be very useful for you.
@cearn25 (3456)
• Philippines
21 Dec 11
I took a Japanese Language class as my 1st language elective last semester. I really learned a lot. You can buy Japanese language books available in bookstores like National Bookstore. I bought one and I know in the near future I will be able to use this. One site I know is livemocha.com. Try it.
@enelym001 (8322)
• Philippines
21 Dec 11
I don't know how but I guess you can try the one suggested by another lotter, which is going to the site livemocha. You can start from Basic there and progress later. Taking a class in Nihonggo is required in my final college years, I enjoyed it a lot. Sadly I have forgotten about it. 'Though I've got good marks before You can also buy few books that will be convenient so you can read and learn even when you are outside.