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    Japanese Study Beginners

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    mahesh_patil166
    This document provides an overview of independent Japanese study for beginners. It discusses the basics of the writing systems, grammar structures, and dialects. It outlines goals for learning, expectations, and common pitfalls. Resources for study are recommended including textbooks, websites, and mobile applications. Study methods are proposed such as using various resources, focusing on interests, and finding an approach that works for the individual learner. Common words to learn that are very useful for communication are also listed.

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    Japanese Study Beginners

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    mahesh_patil166
    259 views2 pages
    This document provides an overview of independent Japanese study for beginners. It discusses the basics of the writing systems, grammar structures, and dialects. It outlines goals for learning, expectations, and common pitfalls. Resources for study are recommended including textbooks, websites, and mobile applications. Study methods are proposed such as using various resources, focusing on interests, and finding an approach that works for the individual learner. Common words to learn that are very useful for communication are also listed.

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    This document provides an overview of independent Japanese study for beginners. It discusses the basics of the writing systems, grammar structures, and dialects. It outlines goals for learning, expectations, and common pitfalls. Resources for study are recommended including textbooks, websites, and mobile applications. Study methods are proposed such as using various resources, focusing on interests, and finding an approach that works for the individual learner. Common words to learn that are very useful for communication are also listed.

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    259 views2 pages

    Japanese Study Beginners

    Uploaded by

    mahesh_patil166
    This document provides an overview of independent Japanese study for beginners. It discusses the basics of the writing systems, grammar structures, and dialects. It outlines goals for learning, expectations, and common pitfalls. Resources for study are recommended including textbooks, websites, and mobile applications. Study methods are proposed such as using various resources, focusing on interests, and finding an approach that works for the individual learner. Common words to learn that are very useful for communication are also listed.

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
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    of 2

    Independent Japanese Study for Beginners

    I. THE BASICS

    a. Writing systems: kanji (漢字), hiragana (ひらがな), katakana (カタカナ), and romaji
    b. Japanese grammar: simple but different (or, “Japan’s grammar, simple, different, it is.”)
    c. Deciphering dialects: polite vs. street language, masculine vs. feminine words

    II. THE PROCESS

    a. Setting goals: Why do you want to learn Japanese? What are the benefits? How can you
    assess your progress? (Hint: mastering hiragana and katakana in your first few weeks is a
    must!)
    b. Expectations: Japanese is not a language learned in a day, but it’s never too late to begin!
    Pick up where you left off if you’ve gotten lazy.
    c. Pitfalls: cultural differences, the horrors of polite language (“Talk to me like I’m trash,
    please!”), finding Japanese people willing to speak to you in simple Japanese rather than the
    English they’re dying to practice on you, struggling to find a translation or a grammatical
    explanation where there is none

    III. THE METHOD

    a. Resources: use everything you’re offered—what isn’t clicking one day will
    provide a welcome change of pace on another, whether it’s a textbook, website,
    game, tape, conversation, etc.
    b. Day to day: make the most of your interests in Japanese culture, whether it’s
    learning the vocabulary for a particular martial art or mastering flower names in
    Japanese for ikebana (traditional flower arranging)
    c. Different strokes for different folks: not everyone learns the same way, but fortunately with
    Japanese, because there are a million aspects to study, there are also a million ways to study it!

    GETTING STARTED

    By now you’ve probably received at least a few survival guides telling you the ins and outs of basic
    Japanese, such as “thank you” (arigatō) and “excuse me” (sumimasen), but here’s a Top Five list of
    words you probably didn’t think to learn, or at least didn’t realize would take you extremely far in
    communicating with Japanese people. Dazzle your bosses, coworkers, or even people on the street with
    the following:

    Kawaii: cute—Should almost always be said as if it has at least three exclamation points following it (!!!).
    Quite possibly Japan’s favourite word.

    Oishii: delicious—Japanese people love to feed you, and excessive repetition of this word when eating
    will bring you even more delicious enjoyment in the future. Remember to use even when untrue.

    Sugoi: awesome/wicked/great/etc—Use to comment on anything impressive, from the size of the spider
    your teachers have just found in the staffroom, to the amazing fireworks displays that light up the summer
    skies.

    Kakkoii: cool—Similar to sugoi but with the specific nuance of being “cool.” Your students will probably
    say this to you if you ever wear sunglasses in their presence.

    Atsui: hot—You’ll hear this a lot, especially in these baking summer months. Atsui ne (“It’s really hot,
    isn’t it?”) is both a good opener to a conversation and a sufficient conversation in and of itself.
    Recommended Resources
    Websites

    ・ http://www.amazon.co.jp stocks Japanese language textbooks, flashcards, audio


    and software and delivers to Japan. Postage is cheap (or free if spending over
    ￥3000) and they accept cash on delivery.
    ・ http://www.ajalt.org/sj/index.html teaches survival Japanese for beginners.
    Practical spoken Japanese with audio, print-outs and pictures.
    ・ http://www.jgram.org/ offers an amazing user-updated database of terms and
    grammar points, with plenty of real examples.
    ・ http://www.mlcjapanese.co.jp/Download.htm provides good beginner materials, online flashcards, audio
    downloads of short conversations, and JLPT guides.
    ・ http:///www.thejapanesepage.com includes basic lessons in learning hiragana, katakana, and kanji.
    ・ http://www.yamasa.org is a bit hard to navigate but has all the kanji for the Japanese Language
    Proficiency Test (JLPT) and great animations to show stroke order.
    ・ http://www.physics.ucla.edu/~grosenth/jwpce.htm offeres a free downloadable word processor and
    dictionary for desktop or pocket PC. Useful as a standalone dictionary.
    ・ http://wakan.manga.cz has a free downloadable dictionary, editor and vocabulary manager for desktop PC.
    ・ http://www.manythings.org/japanese/links/ is a select list of Japanese language study sites.

    Books

    ・ Japanese for Busy People (ISBN4-7700-1882-7)￥2900 For students who want to


    learn spoken Japanese as quickly as possible, especially if exercises are read aloud and
    not just written. Good variety of topics without overloading the student with too much
    vocabulary. The supplementary workbook is recommended as it helps you to practice
    what you’re learning.
    ・ Minna No Nihongo is a series that comes in two parts: the translation and grammar
    book (available in many languages <http://www.3anet.co.jp/english/books/text_e_m_trans.html>) and the
    main textbook (available in romaji or kana <http://www.3anet.co.jp/english/books/text_e_m_main.html>). It's
    a good book for self-studying beginners who want to learn to converse in Japanese, though sometimes the
    grammar is a bit unclear and needs explanation from a teacher or native speaker.
    ・ Basic Japanese for Students (ISBN4-88319-236-9) ￥2200 Fairly comprehensive beginner’s course in 30
    chapters. Lots of vocab, grammar, exercises with explanation to give you the gist. Finish this, and you’ll
    have basic conversation down. Romaji and hiragana throughout, but not much kanji. Sometimes not enough
    detail to explain grammar, as it is designed as an accompaniment to classroom lessons.
    ・ A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar (ISBN4-7890-0454-6) ￥2800 Not a textbook, but a grammar
    dictionary, this is a bit of a heavyweight academic text, giving an analysis of the characteristics of Japanese
    grammar, and detailed explanations of the most important grammar points. Not for total beginners, but will
    be incredibly useful in a few months.
    ・ Kana Can Be Easy by Kunihiko Ogawa (ISBN4-7890-0517-8) ￥1165 This book uses a simple method to
    teach hiragana and katakana using pictorial mnemonics.
    ・ Let’s Learn Kanji (ISBN4-7700-2068-6) This book is excellent if used alongside another kanji book. Rather
    than teach individual figures straight away it teaches you the components and radicals, their meanings, and
    stroke order, etc. It really helps you to memorize complex characters later on if you are diligent.
    ・ Kodansha’s Furigana Japanese Dictionary (4-7700-2480-0) ￥6800 A great bilingual dictionary written in
    Japanese characters with furigana (pronunciation guides written above all the kanji). Start with this, and your
    reading skills will leap ahead. Has excellent example sentences, and very useful verb tables and grammar
    notes too. However, it is big and bulky, and slow at first while you’re still learning kana.
    ・ Kodansha’s Essential Kanji Dictionary (ISBN4-7700-2891-1) ￥4200 Decode the cryptic signs all around
    you with a kanji dictionary. Lists all the main kanji compound words. A good companion to the regular
    dictionary.

    Gambatte kudasai!・がんばってください！・/頑張って下さい！

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