going to Japan next year

Dr Galen

hey all,

i'm heading to Japan, (Yokohama) for a bit next year. Japan is always somewhere I've dreamed/wanted to go, so I really wanna make an effort and hopefully learn a bit of the language.

I'm not going til May, and i know I'll really only have a basic comprehension of the language by then, but if any of you have any advice I'd apreciate it. Would anyone recommend any of those linguaphone type products?
I've always had the knack of picking up other languages and have been pretty fluent in French, plus able to get by in a few other European languages, will that stan me in good stead?

cheers

Baz

punky

Here are, in my humble opinion, the most essential Japanese phrases:

こんにちは　Konnichi wa - Hello/Good Afternoon
おはようございます - Ohayo gozaimasu - Good morning
こんばんは - Konban wa - Good evening
ありがとうございます　- Arigato gozaimasu - Thank you (polite)
ありがとう - Arigato - Thanks (informal)
すみません - Sumimasen - Excuse me/Sorry
ごめんなさい - Gomennasai - I'm Sorry
私は。。。。です。- Watashi wa .... desu. I'm name is ....
。。。がありますか？- .... ga arimasu ka? Do you have ..../Is there ...?
...を下さい。 - ... o kudasai - ... please
はじめまして - Hajimema****e - Nice to meet you (Said when greeting someone for the first time).
（どうぞ）よろしくお願いします - (Dozo) Yoroshiku Onegai shimasu - Please treat me kindly (difficult to translate but often used when meeting someone for the first time - 'onegai shimasu' alone can mean 'please').
予約したいんですが - Yoyaku ****ain desu ga - I'd like to make a reservation.
元気ですか？ - Genki desu ka? How are you?/Are you well?
元気？- Genki? How are you? (informal)
きれい - kirei - Beautiful
かわいい - Kawaii - Cute/Pretty
。。。です。 - ... Desu - It is .../I am ... (e.g. Kawaii desu = It's cute/Punky desu = I am Punky)
さようなら - Sayonara - Goodbye/Farewell (Formal)
またね - Mata ne - See you/Bye

I think taking some classes would be your best bet. Tapes/cds never really worked for me. Good luck!

scoby

you could try to get a few movies or dramas to get used to listening to japanese. If you constantly listen to the language it should help your pronounciation.
Pimsleur courses are meant to be pretty good, but scarily expensive. If you could *borrow* one from somebody that would be great. In mp3 format, for instance *cough cough* over the internet...

Genki is good, get the version with a CD and listen to it until you know it off by heart.

giddyup

Not sure where you are based but if in Dublin look into Sandford Language Institute (http://www.sandfordlanguages.ie/japanese.htm). I did the beginners course there and enjoyed it. I've been to Japan a few times and it's great to have a few basic phrases.

monkey tennis

If you possibly can, get some proper lessons from a native Japanese speaker as early as possible. This will help you with obvious things like vocabulary, pronunciation and natural speech syntax, but will also give you a great opportunity to learn about social/manner expectations. It's VERY easy to trip up in Japanese social graces, and you would never pick up on it yourself. You might think it's ok to say 'hello' or 'thank you' or 'good night' etc whatever way you see in a book, but there are certain things that are said in different social circumstances, to different people, etc etc.