Topic: For those interested in learning Japanese

[matt oz]

Hello.  I haven't posted here in a long time, but I know there's a lot of you out there interested in learning Japanese, and I've found a fun and interesting way to do so.

(first a little story about me)
I'm a freshman at NYU, and they have this program here called "Speaking Freely" where students can take a class once a week to learn a foreign language.  There's no cost, no books, and no grades, it's just for fun.  So, I'm taking a beginner's Japanese class for a few reasons:  I'm majoring in international business, and would like to learn as many languages as possible; and the business I want to enter is the video game business, so knowing Japanese will be very useful.

So, this girl in my class found this RPG that you can download on the internet that teaches you the kana (characters) for hiragana, katakana, and kanji.  It's a beginning build of the game, but it's still very entertaining, helpful, and challenging, even on the lower difficulty levels.  Since I'm so busy with all my other classes, I don't really have the chance to sit down and memorize the characters, and this game is a really fun way to do it.

To get the full version of the game, you do have to pay for it, even though it's an early build of the game.  I just downloaded it last night for free, and so far it seems that I can only learn katakana in the game.

The link is here, for those of you who are interested in the game.  It's called "Slime Forest," and like I said before, it's a turn-based RPG where you attack monsters with your knowledge of kana.  A very interesting concept, and a lot of fun.

Hope someone finds this helpful

-Matt

[Jdub03]

I've been wanting to learn a little Japanese.  Ill give this a try.  

[KnowsNothing]

I want to learn Japanese, but I don't think I will have the time for it.

I should learn as early as possible, but I need more free time!

[S-U-P-E-R]

Is there something in here for a 3rd-year academic masochist? I'll have a look-see...

[Grey Ninja]

I have had one year of formal Japanese instruction.  I find myself muttering japanese sentences under my breath, and I sing in Japanese from time to time when nobody is around, but I am finding that I am forgetting just as much as I learned.  I desperately need to get back into a Japanese class, and soon...  That won't be for another year I am sure, but I look forward to the day.  I really do want to learn the language, and it pains me to have forgotten so much.  I was writing a note in Japanese to my english speaking roommate the other night, and it troubled me to find that I had to think about the characters for a second or two when I was writing it.  The characters were second nature to me after a while in the class.

I think I really need to study my textbooks some more, which is unlike me, but I might have to do it.  For the rest of you, check this out.  It's the true version of what Japanese is like to learn.  

[KDR_11k]

Just like French, Japanese is impossible to learn, but at least it has a use (unlike French).
The main problem with Japanese is that it has absolutely no common roots with our latin and germanic languages, which means you're learning completely from scratch. But don't be afraid of not knowing all Kanjis, (according to our teacher) even the Japanese need dictionaries for that.

Slime Forest has the wrong basis, though. It teaches you passive recognition, while you should learn active speaking/writing. This could be archieved by making the user draw the appropriate kana to a given syllable, not the other way around. The order of drawing is important and needs to be taught as well.


Hehe: "Nothing is funnier for Japanese people than foreigners trying to speak their language."
Works the other way around, too! (Caution: Sharp blade, keep out of children!)

[Oldskool]

Ich liebe Deutchland!

[robofish]

Oh Japanese... well, oh Kanji... how I loathe you.  I love hearing the Japanese language spoken.  I'm lucky I guess, I hear it everyday.  If I didn't like the language I would be very sad.  Learning Japanese is an entertaining experience.  Once you learn how to say something, you have to relearn it because when Japanese people say the same thing, they slur it all together, and you don't want to sound stupid, so you learn to say it and understand it when spoken slurred together.  My coworkers are mostly Japanese, so they teach me.

[KDR_11k]

Oldskool: Deutschland

robofish: You MUST resize your avatar to 64x64. When a moderator replaces it with one of their messages you should NOT simply change it back to the old one. Never piss off a guy with root access...

[matt oz]

KDR, the languages aren't impossible to learn.  Maybe you're just stupid.  Did you ever think of that?  (probably not...)

Grey Ninja, stop bragging.  No one cares about you.  You're an unemployed drunk with way too much time on your hands.


I feel better

[KnowsNothing]

matt oz is a doo-doo head.  And he should have a rotton rutabaga threw'd at him.

KDR is defidently not stoopit.  He's shown this a number of times.  You on the other hand....

Nevermind.

and I was under the immpression that GN got a job. And even when he's drunk, he seems to write more intelligent posts than you.

too much time on his hands?  I believe all people here have to much time on their hands.  That's pretty much why we're here.  We're bored nerds who want to talk nintendo.

If putting down other people really makes you feel better, than you are much worse than whatever you may have called them.  If you say stuff like "no one cares about you"  is hiding the fact that you feel that no one cares about you, and the only way to make yourself feel better is to put down other people.

And I'm not just saying this because KDR and GN are long time forumers, I'd do this for any newb, as long as they haven't done anything to desereve it.  

[The Blue Baron]

i concur knowsnothing.

grey ninja is da man

[Grey Ninja]

Quote
Originally posted by: matt oz
KDR, the languages aren't impossible to learn.  Maybe you're just stupid.  Did you ever think of that?  (probably not...)

Grey Ninja, stop bragging.  No one cares about you.  You're an unemployed drunk with way too much time on your hands.


I feel better

I wasn't bragging.  And obviously some people here do care about me if I get 2 posts in my defense right after yours.

I work 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, and it's about a 1 hour commute.  I have the weekends off, and about 4 hours to myself on weekdays.  I make more money in a day than you see in a month at McDonalds.

Now I am bragging.

[ThePerm]

im sie neunt und zehnt jahr von school ich hat deutschclassen genommen, aber mein deutsch ist sehr schlecht.
Momentan, Ich studiere Japanisch.  

[aoi tsuki]

Quote
Originally posted by: matt oz
KDR, the languages aren't impossible to learn.  Maybe you're just stupid.  Did you ever think of that?  (probably not...)

Grey Ninja, stop bragging.  No one cares about you.  You're an unemployed drunk with way too much time on your hands.


I feel better

*Ahem* i'm the unemployed, soon-to-be-homeless drunk with way too much time on my hands. Get it right.

[S-U-P-E-R]

Quote
Originally posted by: Grey Ninja
I work 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, and it's about a 1 hour commute.  I have the weekends off, and about 4 hours to myself on weekdays.  I make more money in a day than you see in a month at McDonalds.

Quote
During the height of my poverty this summer, I was eating 5 bags of ramen per day and nothing more.

Wait a cotton pickin' minute -

what


(P.S. Flash cards are the lord and savior of foreign language learning, IMO)

[KDR_11k]

matt: I didn't mean absolutely impossible, just VERY hard. Good grades mean nothing, my friend has almost only 13 to 15 points (out of 15), but he is about 30% behind with his vocabulary and Kanji. Still, ike our teacher said, even when we're finished, we won't be able to hold a full conversation.

[Grey Ninja]

Quote
Originally posted by: S-U-P-E-R

Quote
Originally posted by: Grey Ninja
I work 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, and it's about a 1 hour commute.  I have the weekends off, and about 4 hours to myself on weekdays.  I make more money in a day than you see in a month at McDonalds.

Quote
During the height of my poverty this summer, I was eating 5 bags of ramen per day and nothing more.

Wait a cotton pickin' minute -

what


(P.S. Flash cards are the lord and savior of foreign language learning, IMO)

My new job didn't start until September.