The best book/books?

bluugirl

I have wanted to learn japanese for the longest time and now I'm finished the l.c I've no excuse!
Can someone please recommend a book for the kana and one for kanji but preferably with both to get started? Ive tried looking at amazon but I can't decide and I don't want to spend money on something thats useless!
I'm sure all the great websites people have posted will be of use to me in the future but I'd like a book to take with me where ever I go and I think i'd find it hard to memorize stuff from a computer screen all the time!
Thanks!

Farcear

Kana -- http://www.amazon.com/Remembering-Kana-Reading-Japanese-Syllabaries/dp/0824831640

Kanji -- http://www.amazon.com/Remembering-Kanji-Volume-Complete-Characters/dp/0824835921/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1340316402&sr=1-1&keywords=remembering+the+kanji

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Heisig's method is basically "come up with stories to help you remember each character".

Get the Kana book first. It's very cheap and doable in two weeks at most. Then come back and see if you like it and want more advice on tackling Kanji.

Farcear

bluugirl wrote: »

I'd like a book to take with me where ever I go and I think i'd find it hard to memorize stuff from a computer screen all the time!
Thanks!

1. Get a really cheap Smartphone if you do not already own one.

2. Get ANKI (an app for learning).

^ A book doesn't really work once you start learning vocabulary; it's ok for grammar. You either *NEED* a smartphone or flashcards.

just-joe

I don't think you need a book for katakan or hiragana, just write them out until you memorise them, and then practice reading them.

For a book get Genki, it has all the hiragana and katakana, and a good list of 200 basic kanji with stroke order to practice writing them. The texts are all in hiragana and katakana at the start and then intergrate the kanji chapter by chapter. Plus you get the grammar explanations for learning the language in general.

I'm not sure if a smartphone is absolutely necessary, but using a flaschard type app either on your phone or on a computer will help if you want to learn lots of kanjis. Or skip the electricty and just use flashcards. You could even make em yourself.

bluugirl

Thanks for the help guys so would genki and a smartphone suffice? I'll just get those since I was planning on getting a cheap smartphone anyways

hibby

I agree with the suggestion to get Anki, and to have it on your phone (i.e. with you all the time so you can use it whenever you have a spare few minutes).

Whether you choose to go the Heisig route is up to you. Lots of people are very enthusiastic about it.

hibby

Oh, and you know what? Japanese is hard. Learning Japanese is a long, hard, slow and often unrewarding slog. It takes years of hard work and solid commitment. (In my case, many years.) And after years of hard work and solid commitment, you may (like me) still not be able to read a newspaper or magazine article or understand a TV news broadcast. It takes a special kind of dogged determination to persevere in the face of such slow progress, and to take quiet pleasure in small achievements and breakthroughs which would seem insignificant to anyone else ("I was able to read that sign!")

I'm not saying any of that to put you off, just to make sure you know what you are taking on.

There will be a lot of support, goodwill and advice available on this forum if you do decide to learn!

bluugirl

hibby wrote: »

Oh, and you know what? Japanese is hard. Learning Japanese is a long, hard, slow and often unrewarding slog. It takes years of hard work and solid commitment. (In my case, many years.) And after years of hard work and solid commitment, you may (like me) still not be able to read a newspaper or magazine article or understand a TV news broadcast. It takes a special kind of dogged determination to persevere in the face of such slow progress, and to take quiet pleasure in small achievements and breakthroughs which would seem insignificant to anyone else ("I was able to read that sign!")

I'm not saying any of that to put you off, just to make sure you know what you are taking on.

There will be a lot of support, goodwill and advice available on this forum if you do decide to learn!

Yeah I've heard but I'm determined .I love learning new languages and I'm really interested in japanese culture manga,anime,j-pop/rock,jrpgs,they motivated me to want to learn japanese.My parents were like why would you want to learn that:rolleyes:but I really want to go there someday with my friend so I want to at least have a good understanding of it.:) Thanks again!

Konata

If you get an Android phone, Obenkyo is an awesome app for practicing the kana and the kanji. I'm obsessed with it and it's easy to pull out when you have a spare moment or 2.

And Japanese is hard but it's awesome! I love anime too and it's quite cool when you start to recognise words and phrases that the characters speak or that are written on screen. It really helps me remember them too! Good luck

Just Like Heaven

Just finished the leaving cert yesterday, Japanese no less, and am all ready to give it a big bash this summer. Probably gonna start monday though :P

Will book in for jlpt 5 in December, apparently those who do it for leaving cert should be able to take a good stab at n3 with some extra kanji, but n5 is enough for now.

hibby

fewtinsoffroth wrote: »

apparently those who do it for leaving cert should be able to take a good stab at n3 with some extra kanji,

I'd say whoever told you that is badly misinformed. Check out the sample questions at
http://www.jlpt.jp/e/samples/forlearners.html and judge for yourself.

Tristram

fewtinsoffroth wrote: »

Will book in for jlpt 5 in December, apparently those who do it for leaving cert should be able to take a good stab at n3 with some extra kanji, but n5 is enough for now.

As per above, unless the LC course has changed quite significantly I don't think there is any comparison to N3.

funky penguin

You definitely don't need a smartphone to use anki, I spend most of my anki study in front of my computer.

The phone will cost you money, as will the app. Just download it for free to your laptop/computer, and whatever you do, use it every day!

hibby

funky penguin wrote: »

You definitely don't need a smartphone to use anki, I spend most of my anki study in front of my computer.

The phone will cost you money, as will the app. Just download it for free to your laptop/computer, and whatever you do, use it every day!

I've just started studying for N2 and I'm very much relying on Anki to help me learn the vast amount of vocab I need.

I agree the key point is to use it every day, or even several times a day. The question is how to make it most likely you will do that. And that varies from person to person.

For me, having Anki literally in my pocket, so that I can do it on the subway or any time I have a few minutes free, makes it much more likely that I will use it regularly than if I have to fire up my computer in the evening when I'm tired after work.

BTW the Anki app I use for Android is free.