Hey guys Itachi here!! So you want to learn JAPANESE!!?
Well hop on board!! That's absolutely fantastic because that's my goal as well for this Summer! More specifically I want to become fluent in Japanese and well versed in reading and writing Kanji (The Chinese characters). Although I may not get there 100%, this is the mentality that I NEED in order to accomplish my goal. I have come to realize that if you want to learn any skill in this life and become proficient at it, you must dive in with 100% commitment! I have already taken a few steps and have felt that they have helped me immensely so far which I will share with you! I have some prior experience in Japanese as I used to visit my grandparents in Japan every summer and took Japanese class on the weekends when I was a kid. Fast forward to high school and college, I took a total of 6 years cumulatively. My Achilles' heel lies in the Kanji, as I only know the very basics. However, I have come to realize that there are only really 2000 kanji that the average Native Japanese learns during their educational journey so breaking that down into 20 kanji a day would mean I would get it down in 100 days or 3 months!! This is perfect as I have a lot of down time this summer.
So where do I learn my Kanji??
Well I have found a hidden gem on Youtube and I am happy to share it with you all! This will also give more exposure and attention to my sensei on you Youtube. You can follow his channel here --->
Okay but where do I learn THE BEST WAYS to REMEMBER Kanji??
This is a great question. What is the point in studying for Kanji if I can't find a methodical way to remember them? Well there's an answer to that and it's a book by James W. Heisig called "Remembering the Kanji" Vol 1-3. James Heisig does a great job explaining how you can use visual imagery to associate to the roots of the kanji! This unorthodox method will surely help you not only memorize the kanji but also help you understand the general meaning of a kanji when you see it! You can torrent this online!
Alright, enough with the Kanji- What about dialogue and listening??
Though ideally the best way is to talk to a Native Japanese person, my favorite alternative is watching anime!! Watching anime is not only entertaining but also very educational depending on which ones you watch! My favorites so far have been Naruto, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, and Slam Dunk for the very basic use of the language that they use!
Fair Enough Itachi. But I have money and I'm not playing games- I want to be fluent in the fastest way possible... How do I achieve it?
Heh, well pack your bags and buy a plane ticket to Japan because that is certainly the fastest way to becoming fluent in Japanese. I have always found that when I visited my grandparents in Japan I always left 10 times better at Japanese than when I came in. Why? It's because my grandparents don't speak a lick of English and therefore I was FORCED to speak Japanese. Though it may seem like a pain, this is really where most of my progress has been made!!
Conclusion:
If learning Japanese is truly one of your goals, then man up to it and put all your effort into it because the rewards are invaluable. Being bilingual truly opens a lot of doors for networking, your career, and life in general and don't forget that the Olympics 2020 is hosted in Tokyo! ;) Time to impress everyone you meet in Japan~
You dropped this upvote, senpai.
your waifu?
thanks @smug-chan you are waifu
Naguru sae maste. Very nice language but hard.
Indeed it is! But very well worth it :) My dream is to live in Japan one day so that's another reason I want to become fluent so badly hehhe
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I'm at an impass, I can't decide between Japanese or Korean.
It is a good idea to watched subbed anime for that purpose, but I have to watch dubbed. I make an ATTEMPT to sing along for the theme though. (lol)
+1 Im watching Naruto now
@itachi showed me Naruto. Watching it now as well!
Hahha that is excellent!! I'd say you'd be winning if you learned either one, but I'm gna have to be biased and say that Japanese culture is a little cooler ;) But go with whatever your heart desires! Just make sure to give it your all! :)
I am self-studying Japanese and sometimes talk with Japanese friends through chat. :) Learning a language might be tough, but if you're motivated to do so, it could be really fascinating! :) Thanks for sharing @itachi! :)
PS: Itachi is my one of my favorite characters in Naruto... (^_^)/ Followed! ^^
That's awesome, do you use a specific chat?? Itachi is absolutely the best character so I feel ya ;)
I use LINE to communicate with friends, mostly.. True.. I believe he's one of the strongest characters, too.. wait, I guess he's the strongest!
The Remembering the Kanji book is good, but when I was studying hardcore I just studied flash cards every day with the goal of learning 50 new kanji every day. Mental association is great but repetition also works wonders if you can handle it. Combine the two for maximum retention. And once you think you have a good base of kanji, just start reading stuff. Manga, subtitles, magazines, etc. Though I would avoid newspapers at the beginning as they tend to use a lot of high level kanji and you end up with not much comprehensible input.
Same with listening. Listen to the same thing over and over and BURN that shit into your head. Then it will start to replay in your head the same way music does.
日本語の勉強頑張ってね。
That's amazing @coolenglish!! How many Kanji do you know today? And are you fluent at this point? We have lots to talk about ^^
I know most of the joyou kanji and some others. Probably over 2000 but I stopped counting long ago. Yeah, fluent but not perfect. There's always a lot more to learn and I know I'll never know everything.
Your goal is totally attainable if you just keep at it. I started studying pretty late (25 or so) but I was still able to do it.
Excellent advice, thank you very much Senpai!
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This was pretty helpful, I've been wanting to learn japanese for a while but just didn't know where to start. So thanks <3
No problem!! Glad to be of service :)