Japanese has been a language that I've wanted to learn for a long time, however, I kept putting it off because I would tell myself that it just wasn't "the right time" to learn a new language where my interest in the language stemmed from JRPG video games. What brought upon this change of mindset, you might be wondering. Well, yesterday I had a two hour, in-depth conversation with a friend of mine about the nuances of the Japanese language and by the end of it, I was absolutely inspired to finally click that "start a new course" button on Duolingo.
However, it wasn't just the content of the conversation that inspired me, it was also the fact that I could have such fascinating discussions about Japanese without knowing a single word...imagine the kinds of conversations I could have if I started learning the language slowly - with only ten minutes a day, even! So that's exactly what I did, I dedicated 10 small minutes to learning a little bit of hiragana today and I found it extremely rewarding! I'm very excited to finally partake in this journey that has eluded me for so many years.
My question for you, the Japanese speaking community on Journaly, is what resources would you recommend for learning Japanese? I enjoy using Duolingo as a fun way to connect with friends and as like a "workbook" but I am also looking for other apps/grammar books for more detailed explainations on Japanese grammar. I'd also love to hear some tips you have about mastering a new writing system! And finally, of course, I'd also be interested to hear about any graded readers because I think graded readers will really compliment my learning style.
I look forward to slowly being able to understand the Japanese posts on Journaly! Hope to hear from you soon!
Emily
Interesting post Emily, I don't speak Japanese but I'm wondering how do you plan to learn and pratice Hiragana alphabet ? I mean do you need to use a Japonese keyboard or do you can transcribe Hiragana alphabet in western alphabet ?
Hi! I would recommend you the app "Lingodeer" for a little bit more of grammar, it's very helpful for starters. About mastering a new writing system, try to use it the most while learning new vocabulary, that's how I got used to it (also writing it over and over again, but you don't have to do that, I was just really bored at school lol).
Japanese is such a fun language to learn! Good luck. 🙆💓🌿
@Micheal33 this is my first time learning a new alphabet, so I'm not quite sure how I'm going to go about it yet! So far, my plan is to stay as far away from transcribing the sounds in romaji as I can. So far, the beginner Duolingo lessons have helped me a lot with associating the sounds with the hirigana alphabet. When I get further down the tree and have to start writing, I plan to try to stick in the Japanese keyboard in the beginning to get used to looking at Japanese instead of typing out the sounds with a western keyboard. If I feel like the Japanese keyboard is too slow, I'll switch to the western keyboard, but I hope I'll just stick in the Japanese keyboard!
@dafer a friend of mine tried out Lingodeer, I'll have to check it out myself! And thanks @mopsy-cottontail!
@FocaFofa Emily, this is very interesting. It seems to be a good challenge to learn a new alphabet. Have fun with Japanese ! :)
Hi @FocaFoca! I have some tips that can help you.
I've been studying Japanese on and off for the past year (finally commiting to it now).
So, I divide my studying in 3 parts:
-Learning -Reviewing -Audio absorbtion
So first I study. I am doing a course right now, but that are tons of begginer's classes on youtube. Its important to really understand the concept of something before moving on to another lesson.
Second, I review through a repetition app called Anki. This app its so great! You can create flashcards, and the app calculates what you need to review based on the flashcards you forget the most.
So, after a class, I put the new words and phrases on Anki. Thats how I learned Hiragana and Katakana (and it was fun). I just created a flashcard for each caracter and the romanization of its sound.
Third, I dowload simple (20-30s) conversations and dialogues that demonstrate something I just learned on the learning phase. For example, if I am studing the uses of a certain particle, I download the audio that demonstrate that in real and short conversations. I usually have 1-2 new audio per week. The sistem is the same as the flashcard app.
Daily, you should listen more to the new audios (you will start to memorize the old ones). As time passes you will absorb naturally the senteces structures.
Also, its important to me just accept the way a language is. My mother tongue is Portuguese, so its sooo different!
So, I try to understand one thing at a time. When I was learning the alphabets, I didnt worry about learning words, for example. I just focused on reading the alphabet right.
I also dont study much every day (30 min tops). But the key is staying consistent, which I am trying.
I hope this helps. Have a good day ;)
Thanks for the recommendations @Tae-yang! I've heard of Anki and have worked with it with other languages in the past, however flashcards never really work for me. I can imagine it would be really effective with learning the alphabets (and the pronunciation of Kanji ) though! So I might have to reinstall Anki and give that a shot. So far I've been good with keeping it consistent too and I've been noticing some slow (but steady) progress. Good luck to your Japanese studies as well!!