Where to start and some questions.

Atavan-Halen

Hi, I would love to learn Japanese and move to Japan when I'm older and seeing as it's a new year I figured now would be a good time to start learning Japanese seriously. But I just have a few questions about the language.

Where would be a good place to start? Should I learn The Kana/Kanji first or learn Romaji? What's the difference between the two (Kana, Kanji)? Which is most common in Japan? What would the best learning methods be (eg. books, cd's)?

Sorry for all the questions but I'd just like to know as much as possible

Thanks!

Cravez

Hey, my PM get you more interested in it huh?

Ill share what i know as im quite new to learning the language myself.

1. Where would be a good place to start?
Check the internet to see if any classes are going on close to your area or in any schools/colleges. I'm currently taking the Beginner classes in Trinity college (you wouldn't be able to get in at this stage though, half term is already up but you could apply for next October). But you get the idea, local schools etc might be holding classes. Getting Phrasebooks and Audiobooks might be another helpful way of at least bringing up some of your skills

2 & 3. Should I learn The Kana/Kanji first or learn Romaji? What's the difference between the two (Kana, Kanji)?
Romaji is just the romanisation of the characters and thus doesn't really need to be learnt per say. E.g In Hiregana the Character ほ means 'ho' in Romaji

The Kana (Hiregana & Katakana) are the two phoenetic alphabets comprising of around 50 characters each. Hiregana is the Japanese Alphabet while Katakana is the Alphabet where foreign loan words are used E.g 'Basu' (バス)meaning Bus. Your name would also be spelt in Katakana (i think mine is spelt ミケル, correct me if im wrong somebody ) and also alot of Resturant menus would have Katakana

Kanji are Chinese characters that are used in the Language, but are like pictures to represent the meaning. One in particular i remember is 'Sake' because it looks like a bottle ---> 酒

Hiregana & Katakana are the first things you should learn, they would be considered the basics so you should learn them first. There are quite alot of Kanji (couple of thousand or more?) so yeah not going to learn alot of them anytime soon

4. Which is most common in Japan?
All three . There are what would be called 'essential & everyday' kanji that would be alot more common than others so those type of Kanji would get a bit more priority over others. All 3 would be used together in sentances also, although some sentances can be written entirely in Hiregana. The reason for having such a complex alphabet system is because the vocabulary has alot of similarities....

For example: The word 'Hana' was multiple meanings, it can mean Flower ( はな) and it can also mean Nose (鼻). How we can differentiate between the two is by using Kana & Kanji. Flower used Hiregana and Nose used Kanji

5. What would the best learning methods be (eg. books, cd's)?
Classes to be honest. Although everyone is different but personally think that finding some classes are they way to go. Or finding someone who knows Japanese and practicing conversation with them. When i was over in Japan with little to no knowledge of the language, the best way i learned phrases was by asking locals the phrases i had read in the phrasebook.

There ya go, im still a newbie at the language so im sure someone else might chime in with any other helpful hints. Best of luck on your progress

Aard

This website is very good for those who don't want to spend a lot of money on classes: www.alljapaneseallthetime.com

DingChavez

If you wanna learn how to read and translate it pretty quickly just learn the grammar and how to read kana:

Learn all of this:
http://www.guidetojapanese.org/learn/grammar

Do this memory game:
http://smart.fm/series/3322

Download this dictionary:
http://rikaichan.mozdev.org/

Cravez

DingChavez wrote: »

Do this memory game:
http://smart.fm/series/3322

Thats a very good application, will add it amongst my other resources also. Cheers

just-joe

Follow Namasenei's videos on Youtube!! Good lessons and quite fun too!

Thats cool though I didn't know there was a Japanese course in Trinity, how is it going?