I’ve been wanting to learn Japanese for quite some time, and I finally decided to buy a book or two and get learning. Can anyone recommend me a book that covers the basics of grammar, has lots of exercises and teaches hirigana/katakana (as well as perhaps a few kanji) as well? It’d be best if it were something I could get from amazon, but that’s not a definite must.
And since this is MPSIMS, anyone who wants to share any crazy stories about Japan or learning Japanese is welcome to.
I’m sorry I don’t have a book recommendation as the ones I used back when I started were very shitty in retrospect. It’s a good idea to learn hiragana and very basic grammar and vocabulary on your own, to see if you like it. After that, though, you’ll have to be much more serious if you want to reach any level of fluency.
I took about three years of classes in college (6 hours a week) and I was still pretty lost when I first came to Japan. I could get by but it was a lot harder than I had expected.
Crazy stories? I’m not sure if it’s crazy, but I started learning Japanese after giving up on Russian because I thought it was too difficult! I was in a bookstore and bought a short “learn Japanese in 30 days” type of book on a whim. Nine years later, I’m now living in Japan, got a master’s degree here and starting next week, I’ll be teaching in a Japanese college, in Japanese. Just goes to show where whims can take you…
I’ve already learned some very simple things through watching anime, and I just started learning hiragana through a website that’s got some really nice flash cards, and I know that I really like the language, how it expresses things, and really just how it sounds.
Just curious though… how long did it take you to learn all the kanji you needed to know to be able to function well in Japan?
There are a series of books called Japanese for Busy People which I used to study the language in Japan, and I have seen it used in several different Community College courses here in the US. I wasn’t terribly impressed by it, but do keep in mind that it is extremely difficult to teach yourself a langauge. Having a good instructor makes all the difference, and being able to learn in a group is even better because you have a lot of chances to practice.
Also, as far as learning Hiragana and Katakana, I found an awesome book which used mnemonics to teach them, and learned each in a weekend. It is actually pretty easy to survive in Japan without knowing very much Kanji, though if you are serious about learning, it could take years to become fluent.
Crazy stories? The entire 6 years I spent in Japan is a crazy story!
I started learning Japanese so I could read Japanese manga. I learned hiragana and katakana relatively painlessly by having a chart of trying to pronounce the words. Eventually, I had them down. Then I started with web resources.
Teach Yourself Japanese has a good basic overview. Also, has a message board where you can ask newbie questions and not get flamed. This message board is actually for an anime lyrics forum but has a lot of useful questions and helpful people. The first thread on this forum lists a lot of resources for learning.
As far as books, I’ve used the Yookoso series in my community college course. It’s Ok but kinda dull. It does have an accompanying workbook and cd set but since it’s a textbook, it’s kinda pricey. I picked up a cheap copy of Japanese for College Students and I think it’s pretty decent.
Most of my progress has been from trying to puzzle out what I’m reading. After getting a basic grasp of the grammar, I switched to more specialized books like a kanji dictionary and specific grammar guides. I’ve also used some of the Pimsleur audio course to help my speaking I’ve only been able to take a couple of actual courses.
Don’t really have many fascinating stories (since I haven’t been to Japan…yet ). I will say that every stereotype you’ve ever heard about students of Japanese is true. I walked into my first Japanese class and it was wall to wall Dargon Ball Z t-shirts. Check out this article. It’s a pretty amusing poke at Japanese students…
After three years worth of college classes, when I came to Japan, I knew about 350 characters. That’s about functionnal illiterate level and it’s about as far as many foreigners go. For the first year I was here I had a lot of free time at work. I mean a lot. I was still supposed to look like I was doing something and so I studied kanji. After a year, I figure I knew over 1500 and started reading novels. (Haruki Murakami is pretty easy.) I definitely stopped counting after 1500.
The first 100 or so are so basic (numbers, days) that they’re pretty easy to learn. After that and up to about 500 or so is the hardest part. Once you’ve learned more than 500, it does become easier as you become better at recognising patterns.
You can actually survive with very few characters, if all you want is to be able to order in a restaurant and such. However, one of the very best aspects of the Japanese language is the huge amounts of fantastic stuff (from novels to manga to magazines) that’s published in it. I know that in my case, wanting to be able to read all that was out there is what kept me going way past the basics.
First published 1968, Anthony Alfonso
Tenth revised edition 1988
Jesuit Center of Applied Linguistics (Sopia University) Tokyo
Library of Congress Catalog card No. 77-109433
This edition was made by the L.L. Center of Applied Linguistics of Sophia University Tokyo.
It explains itself as “a book designed as textbook for the Summer Intensive Japanese Course at the Australian national University”.
I found it a useful introduction seen the fact that it aimes at:
students of intensive and adult education courses
senior High school students
students beginning a full japanese course.
It provides for the means to begin communicating in Japanese already before going further into the deeper aspects of the language. I found it very clear and very useful (although for me it was like struggling with two languages at the same time. I’m still a bit green in the face when I think about that …)
From the same university and linked to the above mentioned, you have “Japanese language patterns” and “Japanese written language”.
For Kana introduction I used
“Japanese Kana Workbook”
by P.G. O’Neill
publisher Kodansha International, USA/Japan
ISBN 0-87011-039-X
ISBN in Japan 4-7700-0038-3
LCC 69-11818
This was however in 1989, so probably there are in the meantime other editions/other good introduction courses.
Salaam. A
I started teaching myself Japanese a few months ago. While you can get the basics of a language with self instruction actual exposure to the language is required to actually learn it. Immersion is the best way, as it replicates how you learned your first language. Those mechanisms still function, linguists who claim otherwise have the “La la la la can’t hear you.” attitude towards evidence.
Anyway to address your actual question I found the following two books to be excellent supplements: Barron’s Japanese Grammar (ISBN 0-7641-2061-1) and Mangajin’s Basic Japanese Through Comics (ISBN 0-8348-0452-2).
The Barron’s book has a great summary of grammatical features of the language and bunch of useful stuff at the back (like synonyms, antonyms and a list of words to practice long/short sound contrasts). The Mangajin book rounds the from a text book version of Japanese with some extra culture notes, some interesting idioms and a section on learning bloopers.
For actual books and CDs I recommend borrowing some from the library to see which one fits your study style best. The instructional CDs, and some of the books, are fairly expensive so it is best to try before you buy. I have a few of them, as until recently I was working at a book store, but without knowing how you study I can’t recommend any particular one. I would say to avoid Berlitz if you can as they don’t give an accurate presentation of most languages.
As I have yet to test my Japanese with an actual native speaker I have no funny stories yet.
I’m actually planning on taking lots of Japanese courses in college, and I’m just looking to get a head start by learning the alphabets and some basic grammar. I hope I don’t end up in any classes with a bunch of otakus running around with their bokkens, but whatever happens, I know it’ll be worth it.
Well, I’m pretty sure it’ll be worth it.
I found a cheap copy of Japanese for College students, and I’m gonna give it a shot. If it doesn’t work out, I’ll wait until I have access to a library and then try out a bunch of stuff.
It’d be so cool if I could read Murakami in the original language. I’ve read Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, Dance Dance Dance and a Wild Sheep Chase, and I’ve enjoyed them all, although Hard Boiled Wonderland was my favorite. Being able to do that is certainly a far-off goal, but it’s something to shoot for, right?
This site has a shareware game you might enjoy, called Slime Forest Adventure. It’s set up kind of like the old Final Fantasy games, with each monster having a hiragana, katakana or kanji written on it. You attack them by typing in the reading of the kana or the English meaning of the kanji. It seems to do a good job of drilling the characters you get wrong and steadily advancing into new material as you show that you know the old stuff. The only big weakness IMO, is that there’s only one ‘correct’ translation for each kanji, which I found a bit limiting.
BTW, my assessment on this may be wrong, but I think the patch included on the site makes some of the enemies unreasonably powerful. All I know is that I haven’t been killed playing it at work (without the patch), but routinely get slaughtered when I enter the dungeon at home (with the patch).
I am a kanji geek. When I first came to Japan about 2 1/2 years ago, I knew about 800 kanji. I tried working through these two workbooks that covered the 1945 common use kanji - I can’t remember the title or authors. The authors were something like Hadamitzsky and Wolf or something.
My point is, working through a workbook did not help me remember the kanji. I learned all the common use kanji in about a year and a half by taking these kanji tests that are offered in Japan. These tests are divided into 10 different levels, with an increasing number of kanji covered in each test, and there are numerous books with exercises that review the kanji covered in each test. You probably can’t take these tests, but I just wanted to share the method I used to learn how to read Japanese. I for one need motivation to study and a means of reiinforcing and testing what I have learned.
I also read whatever I could - newspapers, young adult novels, etc. I also used Heisig’s book, “Remembering the Kanji,” which was invaluable in helping me remember how to write them. The problem with that book is that it doesn’t cover the readings, so I recommend that the book be used in combination with other methods.
Using Heisig and the doing kanji tests are what helped me master reading/writing kanji.
I just wanted to say, this is soo cool. You just up and decide to learn a new language. Good luck, I hope you do well! I’m somewhat jealous because I don’t really have the stick-to-it-iveness to really do this, and here in Texas I don’t really have the incentive to learn another language. Well, Spanish is handy, and I have picked up a bit here and there, but that hardly counts!
Although I’ve been here forever (14 years), I didn’t bother with the tests. I’m going for the Level 1 this year. I took last year’s test as a practice, and it looks like I would have passed.
Are you talking about the Japanese Language Proficiency Test or the Kanji Kentei? 'Cause if you’re talking about the kanji test, my hat’s off to you.
(For those who don’t know, the kanji test is for native speakers. The highest level, level 1, requires knowledge of about 6000 characters, the vast majority of which aren’t in common usage. By “knowing a character” they mean knowing all possible readings, correct stroke order, radical identification, and knowledge of all words and expression where this character appears. Only about 15% who try for level 1 pass the test.)
Thanks for the welcome, Sublight. Unfortunately, I’ll be a J-Doper for only another four months or so.
Hi, Jovan. I passed jun-ni kyuu (pre-level 2) last November. I want to take ni kyuu in June, but lately I can’t be arsed to study. The four-kanji-compounds ARE KILLING ME.
Do you read many novels in Japanese? I was wondering if you had any recommendations. I am familiar with all the biggies, meaning the authors famous oveseas (the two Murakami’s, Yoshimoto Banana, Oe, Mishima, etc). I have also read books that have been made into movies (Go, Out, and I plan to buy Han Ochi…or was it Han Otoshi?). I am running out of ideas, and I want to buy a bunch of books before I leave in the summer. Any recommendations?
Wow, you think Murakami Haruki is easy? I thought his use of kanji was rather quirky.
). I will say that every stereotype you’ve ever heard about students of Japanese is true. I walked into my first Japanese class and it was wall to wall Dargon Ball Z t-shirts. Check out this