Can you teach me how to speak japanese

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Satus
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Postby Satus » 11 years ago

"astarisborn94" wrote:At least that's what I got from Tae Kim's video. I'd recommend everyone learning Japanese watch them carefully. I wish I had.

Agreed.

"astarisborn94" wrote:I will admit, I find it kind of funny, especially the picture where they refer to kanjis as torture methods (if anything, I see it as inviting as I like a challenge).

Kanji has it's good points, but I definitely wouldn't enjoy learning written Chinese since higher grade kanji look intimidating to me. Thankfully Japanese is a bit simpler with having the hiragana and katakana.


"astarisborn94" wrote:I plan on starting up a blog regarding my journey in Japanese and comment on my own progress.


Good luck, and I hope that works well. Yesterday I decided to dig up all my old Wordpress blogs and export them to FC2 as one blog, I hoped it might encourage me to use the blog again.

"astarisborn94" wrote:Where would you say your Japanese skills lies in? Somewhere in upper beginner/lower intermediate level? Are you able to read Japanese mangas and anime?

Hmm, probably upper beginner would be more accurate. I need a dictionary when reading most manga, although not all manga have the same reading level. I don't actually watch anime all that much, and when I do I just read the subtitles if they are available (even Japanese subtitles). I prefer to listen to radio stations with people having real conversations in Japanese when I want to practice my hearing comprehension.

"astarisborn94" wrote:Also, some Tezuka series names in Japan. Helpful if you know Japanese and want to buy some Japanese products.
鉄腕アトム (Tetsuwan Atom)
火の鳥 (Phoenix)
ブラック・ジャック (Black Jack)
ジャングル大帝 (Jungle Emperor Leo)
リボンの騎士 (Princess Knight)

ロック冒険記も? :p この漫画が新しい好きな漫画です。 :D CDJapanから買った。

More:
手塚治虫 (Osamu Tezuka)
アトムキャット (Atom Cat)
メトロポリス (Metropolis)
ふしぎなメルモ (Marvellous Melmo)
ユニコ (Unico)
ジェッターマルス (Jetter Mars)
マグマ大使 (Ambassador Magma)
海のトリトン (Triton of the Sea)
アポロの歌 (Apollo's Song)
三つ目がとおる (The Three-Eyed One)

"astarisborn94" wrote:Japanese Phoenix manga are a lot cheaper overall than their English counter partner and also easier to find. Of course Tezuka is massively popular over there so its no surprise.

True enough. I wish the English translated comics weren't so hard to acquire.

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Postby Fuzzy Pickles! » 11 years ago

"Satus" wrote:Kanji has it's good points, but I definitely wouldn't enjoy learning written Chinese since higher grade kanji look intimidating to me. Thankfully Japanese is a bit simpler with having the hiragana and katakana.
I'm considering learning Chinese, but its something I have no plans on learning anytime soon. At least not until I become fluent in Japanese.

"Satus" wrote:Hmm, probably upper beginner would be more accurate. I need a dictionary when reading most manga, although not all manga have the same reading level. I don't actually watch anime all that much, and when I do I just read the subtitles if they are available (even Japanese subtitles). I prefer to listen to radio stations with people having real conversations in Japanese when I want to practice my hearing comprehension.
I wonder if the 1963 and/or 2003 鉄腕アトム have Japanese subtitles in the Japanese releases. It should certainly help me follow the series once I buy them.

Do you have any good resources on practicing my listening skills in 日本語? What levels would I need to be in before I start?

"Satus" wrote:ロック冒険記も? :p この漫画が新しい好きな漫画です。 :D CDJapanから買った。

More:
手塚治虫 (Osamu Tezuka)
アトムキャット (Atom Cat)
メトロポリス (Metropolis)
ふしぎなメルモ (Marvellous Melmo)
ユニコ (Unico)
ジェッターマルス (Jetter Mars)
マグマ大使 (Ambassador Magma)
海のトリトン (Triton of the Sea)
アポロの歌 (Apollo's Song)
三つ目がとおる (The Three-Eyed One)
Those are some nice resources. I'll be making sure to check those out.

Here's one for Message to Adolf/Adolf ni Tsugu: アドルフに告ぐ

"Satus" wrote:True enough. I wish the English translated comics weren't so hard to acquire.
Which is why I feel its better for me to wait out a few years or so. By the time I graduate from college, I should be able to read Tezuka mangas from Japan (even if I'm not necessarily fluent). Because lets face it, even with import tax factored in, 火の鳥 is going to cost a lot less via importing than buying the English version (which have ridiculous pricing). I also find it humorous that the 1963 鉄腕アトム in 日本語, considered by many to be lost due to misconceptions, would cost less than the Dragon Box released over here (Volume 2 pricing is insane).
Last edited by Fuzzy Pickles! on Fri Mar 15, 2013 8:25 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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Postby Satus » 11 years ago

"astarisborn94" wrote:I wonder if the 1963 and/or 2003 鉄腕アトム have Japanese subtitles in the Japanese releases. It should certainly help me follow the series once I buy them.

According to CDJapan, the 2003 series has Japanese subtitles, but the 1963 series does not.

"astarisborn94" wrote:Do you have any good resources on practicing my listening skills in 日本語? What levels would I need to be in before I start?

I mostly use FMゆーとぴあ's radio channel, they have conversation segments and some music. Even if you can't understand what they're saying yet, I recommend listening because it gets you used to hearing Japanese people. Listen to real people as much as you can. Although cartoon characters are not good for listening practice, there's no harm in listening to them leisurely. I like to play around with アトムの手話教室 and ピノコの愛妻クッキング.

"astarisborn94" wrote:Those are some nice resources. I'll be making sure to check those out. Here's one for Message to Adolf/Adolf ni Tsugu: アドルフに告ぐ

Even more: 手塚治虫の作品一覧. :p

"astarisborn94" wrote:Which is why I feel its better for me to wait out a few years or so. By the time I graduate from college, I should be able to read Tezuka mangas from Japan (even if I'm not necessarily fluent). Because lets face it, even with import tax factored in, 火の鳥 is going to cost a lot less via importing than buying the English version (which have ridiculous pricing). I also find it humorous that the 1963 鉄腕アトム in 日本語, considered by many to be lost due to misconceptions, would cost less than the Dragon Box released over here (Volume 2 pricing is insane).

Most Tezuka stuff seems cheaper to buy from Japan, 'cept maybe a couple stuff that's actually still in print.

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Postby Strange Wings » 11 years ago

Great topic, thanks for starting it! :w00t: I'm taking Japanese class for 3 years now, and I passed the JLPT for level 4 last december. Of course, I'm not even close of speaking fluent by now, but the class has helped me a great deal where I would have given up by studying on my own.

It's a language you will be learning for your lifetime, and that's exactly what it makes it so interesting, aside from being just beautiful to listen to.

I started off taking class back in April 2010, partly to pay respect and love for Dr. Tezuka, but also to create a balance to the rather dull times at work.

Btw, did you know that Star War's Yoda uses a Japanese-based syntax pattern when he's talking? This occured to me just recently while I was reminiscing about some SW scenes... :)

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Postby racoonangel » 11 years ago

I uploaded a video on youtube on how to speak some japanese, also I'm learning katakana, and hoping to teach more as I learn. I will post more videos helping everyone
the channel is astroboylove12
Instagram: astrogirl_draws
I LOVE ASTRO BOY!!

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Postby Fuzzy Pickles! » 11 years ago

Satus wrote:According to CDJapan, the 2003 series has Japanese subtitles, but the 1963 series does not.
I don't understand why this is the case. I understand not adding in English subtitles since its a 日本-exclusive release, but not including 日本語 subtitles kind of sucks since it hampers the ability of deaf people to enjoy the 1963 anime series.
Satus wrote:I mostly use FMゆーとぴあ's radio channel, they have conversation segments and some music. Even if you can't understand what they're saying yet, I recommend listening because it gets you used to hearing Japanese people. Listen to real people as much as you can. Although cartoon characters are not good for listening practice, there's no harm in listening to them leisurely. I like to play around with アトムの手話教室 and ピノコの愛妻クッキング.
I don't have a radio (I do have a car radio, but I don't own a car and I don't think my grandmother would want to hear 日本語 all day. I'll try the links you give though.
Strange Wing wrote:It's a language you will be learning for your lifetime, and that's exactly what it makes it so interesting, aside from being just beautiful to listen to.
Sadly, most self-learners drop 日本語 early on (which probably has to do with kanji). Learning the language is especially rewarding because of 日本語 being considered among the hardest common languages to learn (along with Arabic, Korean and Chinese).
racoonangel wrote:I uploaded a video on youtube on how to speak some japanese, also I'm learning katakana, and hoping to teach more as I learn. I will post more videos helping everyone
the channel is astroboylove12
Have you gone through the entire ひらがな chart? And by that I don't just mean the basics, but also the Y-vowels and the voice ひらがな.
Last edited by Fuzzy Pickles! on Sat Mar 16, 2013 9:09 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Postby Satus » 11 years ago

"Strange Wings" wrote:I'm taking Japanese class for 3 years now, and I passed the JLPT for level 4 last december.

Wow, cool!

"Strange Wings" wrote:Btw, did you know that Star War's Yoda uses a Japanese-based syntax pattern when he's talking? This occured to me just recently while I was reminiscing about some SW scenes... :)

Yes, I did know that. :D It is rather interesting.

"astarisborn94" wrote:I don't understand why this is the case. I understand not adding in English subtitles since its a 日本-exclusive release, but not including 日本語 subtitles kind of sucks since it hampers the ability of deaf people to enjoy the 1963 anime series.

Agreed. But at least one of them has subtitles, so they're not entirely excluded... However it's still unfortunate.

"astarisborn94" wrote:I don't have a radio (I do have a car radio, but I don't own a car and I don't think my grandmother would want to hear 日本語 all day. I'll try the links you give though.

I don't have a radio either, I use internet radio. :) You can find a lot of stations to listen to online. It should be simple enough to find a website that will play Japanese stations if you know what to look for, here is NHK World's.

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Postby Fuzzy Pickles! » 11 years ago

"Strange Wings" wrote:Great topic, thanks for starting it! :w00t: I'm taking Japanese class for 3 years now, and I passed the JLPT for level 4 last december. Of course, I'm not even close of speaking fluent by now, but the class has helped me a great deal where I would have given up by studying on my own.
That's great to hear. I have a long way to go before I can even think about testing for the level 5 JLPT test.

Also noticed that you're able to speak at least some French and German, which is awesome. I'm hoping to learn at least three more languages (I already am studying 日本語 obviously and I do plan on learning Spanish as well).

"astarisborn94" wrote:I don't have a radio either, I use internet radio. :) You can find a lot of stations to listen to online. It should be simple enough to find a website that will play Japanese stations if you know what to look for, here is NHK World's.
Thanks. That really does help. Its hard to believe how fast the 日本語 talk, but then again, that can be said for any language I'm unfamiliar with. I also like to listen to j-pop (though mainly from animes), but I'm not sure if that's any good.
Last edited by Fuzzy Pickles! on Mon Mar 18, 2013 11:16 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Postby Strange Wings » 11 years ago

"astarisborn94" wrote:Also noticed that you're able to speak at least some French and German, which is awesome. I'm hoping to learn at least three more languages (I already am studying 日本語 obviously and I do plan on learning Spanish as well).
Wow, that's cool! Learning different languages is a great experience, as it also broadens the understanding of the language's respective culture. Not to mention the fact that it makes travelling so much easier.

The JLPT for level 5 is quite easy, actually. I believe it should be attainable even for students with 2 years of learning experience.
You're going to make the fastest learning progress if you enroll at a Japanese-learning class. It reduces the risk of learning mistakes you might have trouble to adjust later on. What's more, a Japanese teacher can teach you things you won't find in any exercise book. It happened to me multiple times already. :)

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Postby Fuzzy Pickles! » 11 years ago

Strange Wings wrote:Wow, that's cool! Learning different languages is a great experience, as it also broadens the understanding of the language's respective culture. Not to mention the fact that it makes travelling so much easier.
Taking a vacation to 日本 has been one of my wildest dreams. Even the thought of importing 漫画 and games freezes me up with anticipation. My reason for taking Spanish, however, is more in line with improving my college resume and being able to talk with Spanish-only speaking people (also helps out with job resume). I'm also hoping to learn Chinese, but given how hard it is to learn the language, it'll be after I learn Japanese as I'm also really interested in Chinese culture.

Strange Wings wrote:The JLPT for level 5 is quite easy, actually. I believe it should be attainable even for students with 2 years of learning experience.
Been studying 日本語 for thirteen days (including the semi-inactive days). The 2014 exam should be in early December of that same year.

This gives me 1 3/4 of a year to study. By that time, I will have learned my 常用漢字 (I plan on learning six kanjis a day) and have some comprehension of grammar. Should be able to pass Level 5 JLPT by then.

Strange Wings wrote:You're going to make the fastest learning progress if you enroll at a Japanese-learning class. It reduces the risk of learning mistakes you might have trouble to adjust later on. What's more, a Japanese teacher can teach you things you won't find in any exercise book. It happened to me multiple times already.
Unfortunately, my college doesn't offer a 日本語 course, just Spanish and French. Having said that, UT Austin does offer 日本語 classes and I do plan on minoring in 日本語 (if I'm able to transfer over that is). Transferring, however, will take a few more years given my poor math skills.

がぎぐげご

Going to be going over the voice hiragana letters pretty quickly, given the similarities between them and the basic hiragana letters.
Last edited by Fuzzy Pickles! on Wed Mar 20, 2013 12:09 am, edited 1 time in total.


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