Where should i start?

[Dan18]

First of all, hello everyone as this is my first post on these forums.

Learning Japanese is something i have wanted to do for a long time. I have always had an interest in Japanese culture and history which has grown as i have got older.
Iam only now thinking of actually learning it. Problem is i messed up big time at school and got poor results. This was partly due to me suffering from depression at the time which Iam now thankfully out of. So now Iam 18 now and would love to start learning but Iam unsure where i should begin. Where would be the best place to start learning the basics? Will my lack of qualifications hinder my efforts getting onto language courses?

[Turd_Ferguson]

maybe see if a community college offers japanese classes. Some actually do. And you may actually be surrounded by far fewer egotistical yet soon-to-dropout anime nerds as you would at a university.

[kaptain_krispy]

months b4 enrolling in a community college class. I
suggest checking out:
Japanese step by step
Dover Listen & Learn CD
Teach Yourself Series
learn all JLPT4 and 3 kanji on your own

All are cheap and effective. Im taking my 1st college level class now after 8 months of self study and I think that class sometimes **hinders** my Nihongo progress b/c we're going a bit too sloooow (expected since it's JAPanese 1A). We're learning 58 kanji this semester -- not even enough to pass JLPT4! In short, self study is the way to go!

[Manuel]

months b4 enrolling in a community college class. I
suggest checking out:
Japanese step by step
Dover Listen & Learn CD
Teach Yourself Series
learn all JLPT4 and 3 kanji on your own

All are cheap and effective. Im taking my 1st college level class now after 8 months of self study and I think that class sometimes **hinders** my Nihongo progress b/c we're going a bit too sloooow (expected since it's JAPanese 1A). We're learning 58 kanji this semester -- not even enough to pass JLPT4! In short, self study is the way to go!

I highly recommend "Japanese for Busy people." In the U.S., it's the most, if not the 2nd most popular self study book. I studied the 1st book and I was able to skip the beginning Japanese course at a community college. the 2nd and 3rd books are slightly difficult if you haven't studied the hiragana and katagana. Good luck!

[benc]

hrem.... coming from someone that has been trying to learn the language since the age of 11. Don't give up! I have my down moments where i just want to give up and don't study or bother trying for a year. Then, i try again and again and again...

I recently picked up some books, about sentence form.It honestly made my brain hurt! These books made Japanese; make more sense in my head. I am 25 years of age and going to try a private instructor this time.

Also, there are 2 others at work that want to learn the language and 1 that already writes and he used the Rosetta Stone program. Which i want to get; maybe.

If, i can't get the language down this time. I will truly give up and visit the country as a typical gaijin.(But, a very polite, gaijin!) ./\.

so, try your best!

[kurogane]

Are 25 year old private instructors thought to be more effective?

I know Miss Nakamaura was, but I think I was the one that was 25.

She was more like 36 - 24 - 36.

[benc]

i am 25 and the private instructors age is unknown. As far as it better then a classroom? By far.

[クロネコ]

First of all, hello everyone as this is my first post on these forums.

Learning Japanese is something i have wanted to do for a long time. I have always had an interest in Japanese culture and history which has grown as i have got older.
Iam only now thinking of actually learning it. Problem is i messed up big time at school and got poor results. This was partly due to me suffering from depression at the time which Iam now thankfully out of. So now Iam 18 now and would love to start learning but Iam unsure where i should begin. Where would be the best place to start learning the basics? Will my lack of qualifications hinder my efforts getting onto language courses?

As you are in London Dan the choices are limited but there are some ok teachers out there. Check out the Japan Center.

http://www.japancentre.com/

You'll get good info. for London from there. As for studying at community college it is pretty much worthless unless you know the person is actually qualified to teach Japanese for foreigners. I knew quite a few housewives how were doing it as a way to kill time in the evenings. Japanese for Busy People is a horrible textbook...burn it, burn it, burn it.

Have a look at Minna no Nihongo and Genki, both on the booklist from the Japan Centre. Expensive is what they are but if their is still the Japanese Recycle shop in the Acton /Ealing area you might pick up a second hand edition. Again, the staff and the Japan centre can probably fill you in on this one.

[クロネコ]

This is a good book for kana if you need a book.

http://www.amazon.com/Remembering-Ka.../dp/4889960724

[Dan18]

Thanks for all your help.

I will definitely try and pick up those books you have suggested. I don't mind if they are expensive, I got a fair amount of cash from my crappy job ^^
So i should try and go for a private tutor rather then say a 2 day a week course?

[emanyueru]

Go for both, language is learned from exposure and hard work. To learn Japanese you will need to put some serious time into it. If your private tutor is a native and the community college courses are taught by English speaker you'll get the best of both worlds. You'll get the grammar explained to you in English and your private tutor can teach you how to speak like a Japanese.
After that, come to Japan and speak, speak, speak and eventually you will develop something that resembles proficiency. Best of luck and work on the pronounciation a lot. It seems to be a big problem for native English speakers.

[the_pink_tako_yaki]

I studied Japanese for several years but couldn't really actively speak it until I came to japan and HAD to speak it. Staying with a host family for 2 weeks really kicked my japanese into shape quickly. i already understood much of it, the problem was then formulating a response quickly, which you can't relaly learn from book studying. So, first, get the basics and grammar and vocab down, then try to put yourself in a situation that feels like you've got a gun to your head and you HAVE to speak.

[afronathan]

i still dont understand how you get a host family

[kurogane]

i still dont understand how you get a host family

Any particular area you want to go to?

Find a sister city in Japan that is paired with yours, and I'll bet you a fish supper they'll have some sort of programme.

I could really use a good fish supper.

[Name Deleted]

i still dont understand how you get a host family

http://gojapan.about.com/cs/traveltools/a/homestay.htm

http://geos-japanese-insti.co.jp/eng...milyvoice.html

[クロネコ]

Thanks for all your help.

I will definitely try and pick up those books you have suggested. I don't mind if they are expensive, I got a fair amount of cash from my crappy job ^^
So i should try and go for a private tutor rather then say a 2 day a week course?

I went for a while to a private foundation outside of London and at 36 quid an hour was even more dissapointed than with a part-time course that i'd taken. At that time there was really hardly anyone studying Japanese that I could find aside people with a casual interest in learning a few odd phrases to carry them through a holiday visit.

When I interviewed for the blah blah uni i was told that i would pretty much have to learn again everything I had studied as I would have learnt many bad habits. I thought it arrogant BS at the time but looking back I can say that it was pretty spot on for me.

I think the most important thing though is to do whatever you enjoy most and find out that way. No harm in trying out a course and then switching to a private teacher, or even doing both. I certainly made good use of private tutors when I was at university. Also you may find that being in london there are quite a few people who teach for free.

http://www.japan-guide.com/penfriend/

Penfriends are another option. Most don't last that long but an ok way to practice.

[4141done]

I found that anything written by Naoko China tends to be of tend help. Especially "A Dictionary of of Basic Japanese Sentence Patterns" (http://books.google.com/books?id=Wwv...ct=result&cd=2)

I used the Nakama series for my first textbook and it seemed to go fine.

Hope that helps.

[DeCoR]

Nice thread I was wondering the same

[kaptain_krispy]

communication" by Kamiya is excellent. A great standalone introduction and works almost as well as a much more $$$ text
like Genki.