Learning Japanese

[poshpol]

Hey, if a similar thread has been posted before feel free to redirect me and close this one...

Otherwise... I recently discovered some classes that are available locally and i'm thinking of calling this school tomorrow and possibly signing up. I already have 3 languages down, plus some spanish, and I think Japanese would be a great choice for me seeing as I love the culture, want to visit and wouldn't mind relocating there for work.

For those of you who are japanese of have learnt japanese, can you please check out the course outline and tell me if you think this would be a good starter course:

Canada College (click me)

Course Outline:

1. Overview of Japanese Language
   
2. Japanese grammar
   
3. Japanese communication styles
   
4. Writing and Pronunciation
   
5. Romaji (Romanization)
   
6. Hiragana
   
7. Katakana
   
8. Useful Daily Expressions
   
9. Expressions in Daily Life
   
10. Introductions
    
11. Asking what things are
    
12. Numbers
    
13. Months, dates, days, and times
    
14. Asking how much things cost
    
15. Counting objects and people
    
16. Directions (going/coming/returning)
    
17. Existence of people and things
    
18. Places, locations
    
19. Daily activities
    
20. Telephoning
    
21. Adjectives
    
22. Japanese Culture and Communication

[Guest DUM]

[poshpol]

dericious:cool:

[Pandemonium]

it's good.

[scfdefinit]

I can't really help you since I've never taken Japanese but on a side note, my friend who's taking Japanese in college supplements his lessons with those Pimsleur audio cds and he said they help (speaking/listening-wise at least).

[poshpol]

Cool. Apparantly the Rosetta Stone line of PC tutorials is pretty effective as well...

I can't really help you since I've never taken Japanese but on a side note, my friend who's taking Japanese in college supplements his lessons with those Pimsleur audio cds and he said they help (speaking/listening-wise at least).

[GiZMO]

^^ They do help. I used them as I was taking first year Japanese. That course outline looks pretty standard, as long as you are committed and you put a lot of effort to it a lot of the language will stick. It is also good to refresh once in a while otherwise you will be like me and forget pretty much everything.

Seeing that you are familiar with other languages, pronunciation and spelling (romaji) is what the first few weeks consist of and will be easy.

Yeah I'm waiting for his input as well.

[GiZMO]

Cool. Apparantly the Rosetta Stone line of PC tutorials is pretty effective as well...

Can someone teach me how to use the Rosetta Stone? I downloaded one that is loaded with different languages but as for learning from it, it's not very effective so far. When I select a language, the whole lesson is in the language and there are no instructions other than clicking on pictures, listening to a pronunciation and match said picture with phrase.

[poshpol]

Can someone teach me how to use the Rosetta Stone? I downloaded one that is loaded with different languages but as for learning from it, it's not very effective so far. When I select a language, the whole lesson is in the language and there are no instructions other than clicking on pictures, listening to a pronunciation and match said picture with phrase.

Once I acquire my copy,, i'll look into it

[GiZMO]

Thanks and good luck with yhour studies. If you're serious about taking this class I'd make the suggestion of trying to learn hiragana/katakana as soon as possible. Google a chart with the symbols and english equivalent and start memorizing.

[LaiShin]

I'm taking a beginner Japanese course this semester (ending soon) and it's exactly the same as 085.

You should be able to hold basic convos, regarding locations, time & date, prices, interest, daily activities...except for the lack of descriptive vocabs. And maybe some insight into culture and how the language actually works. It should make learning the language much easier after that, since you should have already got down the Hiraganas , Katakanas and some basic particles to use in sentences.

Learning a foreign language is always fun, especially if u have interest in it. I had fun and enjoyed mine. Hopefully it's the same for you.

[poshpol]

Hiraganas , Katakanas

I'm starting from scratch. To me, those are swords

I'll look up those charts I hear that reading/writing skills are developped further down the line and that it's quite complex?

[GiZMO]

Basic sentences are just that, simple and basic. Reading/writing gets more complex when you start writing with kanji (think characters you would think as "Chinese" and complex, hiragana and katakana are simpler characters that are syllables haha i see where you get the sword reference from}.

http://www.japanorama.com/images/hiragana.gif

Chart of hiragana, you will be learning these first.