I wish to learn Japanese! Can anyone help?

[Wolfman]

I was just wondering if anyone here will/can help me learn Japanese. I want to move to Japan once I am out of school and I love everything about Japan. I want to learn so bad. Please help! If you don't, I understand.

[Jose]

No sry but if any one does help u plz help me thx

[shinobi dog]

Yeah me too.

[Sagat]

I was just wondering if anyone here will/can help me learn Japanese. I want to move to Japan once I am out of school and I love everything about Japan. I want to learn so bad. Please help! If you don't, I understand.

I hope you do move there, so I can see the crushed look on your face when you realize it's not the magical holy land like MegaTokyo lets you think.

[shinobi dog]

I hope you do move there, so I can see the crushed look on your face when you realize it's not the magical holy land like MegaTokyo lets you think.

Now that was bad.

[LavaBug]

Well hard, but kinda true...i think...
Sure for an Otaku is must be like wonderland, if you have the money,
but in most other aspects it is pretty much like every other country with rules, and authorities and people you may dislike, except the fact, that the number of Japanese people is extraordinary high for some reason :P

As for learning Japanese, i vaguely remember saying pooky she wanted to establish some kind of learners thread...But afaik she's busy for some more days, maybe she comes back to this (or i'll ask her).

[KuroTan]

if you really want to learn you shuld fork up the money to pay for a tutor. otherwise, you culd just try, and i really mean try, to pick up on fansubbed anime. but this might lead you astray cause sometimes fan subs also get things wrong but i guess you can be pretty sure ul get things rite probably 80-90% of the time.^^

[LavaBug]

I would be careful though, since fansubs are not always good, and even if you have a well known group subbing, you can't be sure they are correct.

[氷の動物]

I guess I could throw out a couple suggestions. Basically you have two options... take classes or learn Japanese on your own:

Taking Classes:

I would say that taking classes is a good route to go because it is easier to stay motivated when you are being tested over material… with that being said though your ability to learn will largely depend on the teacher and the other students in the class.

My experience with high school Japanese classes was fairly bad, as there were numerous students who thought they’d learn Japanese but didn’t really have any motivation to actually do it and the teacher felt obliged to slow down the entire class until those slackers caught up (we spent most of a semester on the Hiragana chart, something that should really take most people no more than a month to learn). With that being said, again it all depends on the teacher and the class to your experience with high school classes.

Another route you could go is looking into Japanese classes offered by a local community college which are usually fairly cheap (or sometimes even free in some places if you are an upper classman in high school). But, expect these classes to be fairly intense as they are basically college level classes (most will expect you to learn the basic hiragana alphabet within 1-2 weeks)… if you are seriously motivated to learn Japanese this might be one of your best bets.

Learning on Your Own:

This is another viable option but your success is going to be largely based on whether you actually take the time to learn; somebody who is able to commit a reasonable chunk of every day or a reasonable amount of days in the week could in fact teach themselves Japanese at a reasonable pace if they are committed. Also giving yourself small tests to practice your abilities is a really good strategy, serving as a substitute for assignments or tests you might receive if you were taking a class.

As far as text books, it is imperative that you get one that uses actual hiragana and probably Kanji as well to teach you Japanese… from my experience most romaji based books should be avoided as they aren’t very effective at teaching the Japanese language (if the book adds romaji readings below Japanese text that is fine but don’t get a book that was printed using entirely the English alphabet… and if it does have romaji readings don’t rely on them). I would also suggest browsing the book as well as I have encountered some books which aren’t very good for self learning as they seem to rely heavily on a teacher going over a lesson in class before you can actually truly learn from it (I had this problem trying to go back and learn from the Nakama series of textbooks which I used when I took Japanese at a community college in high school). So far I’ve been refreshing my Japanese using Elementary Japanese Volume One by Yoko Hasegawa, published by Tuttle ISBN: 0-8048-3504-7, it is very good at covering material to actually teach you without need of a teacher and it moves at a very good pace.

Helpful Suggestions:

First, and I can’t stress this enough, it is imperative that you learn the hiragana chart as quickly as possible and don’t rely on romaji; I have heard of some people learning a fair amount of Japanese using romaji… but you will never be able to read actual Japanese if you can’t even read hiragana plus relying on romaji tends to force you to unlearn some stuff when you do in fact learn true hiragana (because romaji isn’t exactly standardized and sometimes doesn’t do a good job at expressing long sounds). As I said before even if you are learning hiragana at a very slow pace it shouldn’t take you more than a month to learn the entire thing… if it is taking longer you either aren’t learning it effectively or you really aren’t spending enough time studying Japanese.

Second, for learning Kanji, when you reach that level which really shouldn’t be long after finishing the hiragana chart, I would highly suggest flash cards… either hand made or purchased (Tuttle publishes some good sets of them). Most people who I have talked to have found flash cards to be the easiest way to quiz yourself on Kanji… although learning to write them as well is also important (stroke order is not vital… although learning it does tend to make your Kanji look better and helps to keep the sizes of them uniform).

Finally, I would not suggest trying to learn through fan subs as that will be immensely difficult given that Japanese has lots of grammar which isn’t going to be easily grasped by simply reading a translation of what people are saying… not to mention translations are very often altered slightly to make sense or sound more fluid to an English reader so sometimes the translation isn’t an exact representation of what is actually being said. Fan subs, and watching anime in Japanese with no subtitles can be a good way to test yourself though, once you’ve learned some of the language, and see if you can actually figure out parts of what is being said without having to look at a translation.

Reference Materials:

Textbooks (I really haven’t had much experience with a wide array of text books so I’ll just suggest the one I mentioned before… although if you are taking a class you should definitely get that one):[/COLOR]
Elementary Japanese Volume One by Yoko Hasegawa; published by Tuttle;
ISBN 0-8048-3504-7

Kenji
Tuttle makes some good flash cards although you could also get:
Kanji & Kana Revised Edition by Wolfgang Hadamitzky & Mark Spahn; published by Tuttle
And make your own flash cards from it.

Dictionaries (Really only one that I can suggest as it came highly suggested by one of my Japanese teachers although it certainly isn’t mandatory until after your done with textbooks… also Japan has some really good electronic dictionaries that you can import but they are expensive and again not imperative until you aren’t relying on textbooks)

The New Nelson Japanese-English Character Dictionary by John H. Haig; published by Tuttle; ISBN 0-8048-2036-8

Grammar (These are definitely not needed until you are done learning from at least one textbook but these two are really awesome)

A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar by Seiichi Makino and Michio Tsutsui; published by Japan Times; ISBN 4-7890-0454-6

A Dictionary of Intermediate Japanese Grammar by Seiichi Makino and Michio Tsutsui; published by Japan Times; ISBN 4-7890-0775-8

Final Thoughts:

I guess that covers at least some of the basics of what you need to learn Japanese if you have more questions you can always PM me or IM me and I’ll try to help you as best I can, I will admit though that my Japanese skills certainly aren’t amazing but I have had a fair amount of experience learning it to know some of the more and less effective ways to approach it… so I’ll try to respond as best I can.

[LavaBug]

and i suggest you choose a font color other than black, since some people
use other forum color-themes thus cannot read what you wrote well ^^°

[akiko_kalla]

I would also say that it is very important that you learn pronuciation of the hiragana and language in general from a native speaker. Many text books have a CD or tape that has this, but it is very important to learn it correctly the first time.

My class used the nakama series by hatasa, hatasa, makino. It and the workbook come with a CD, but I agree with previous statements to learn hiragana first. The problem with romanji is frequently people pronounce the words as they would English since it uses English letters and, as also stated previously, is not standardized. If you truly want to learn Japanese, romanji is not the way to go.

The foundation you get is the most important, so even if that means you only take a year of it and then try it solo it would be worth it so long as you have a good teacher. But pronuciation is important as is voice inflection, so it is imperative (in my opinion) that you hear native Japanese speakers pronouncing what you are trying to read and imitating them. After all, that's how you learned your own mother language.

[kyubichan]

:( @ the black text. I thought I went blind for a second there.

About learning Japanese, I can only give suggestions based on how I learned the limited Japanese that I can read/write now:

a. Learn to write it: The kanas (hiragana and katakana), then the Kanji. It's fairly easy to find a good book about how to write those. I'm sure you can find them in a major bookstore.

b. Learn the pronunciation: This wasn't hard for me since our language is phonetically similar to Japanese. I believe those who have English as their native language will find it harder to pronounce the words properly though.

c. Learn the basics: Like how the verbs and nouns are put together to form a sentence, stuff like that. If you figure it out, learning under a tutor or via watching tutorials/videos will make sense later on.

[Marionette Kadaj]

My teaching skills suck some serious a**, But I will tell you that you should learn Hiragana and Katakana first, then work on Kanji. The vocabulary will come as you learn more of the writing system. Some books on grammar would help massively. And lastly, expose yourself to as much japanese as possible, be it through music, anime, manga, or anything.

[shinobi dog]

and i suggest you choose a font color other than black, since some people
use other forum color-themes thus cannot read what you wrote well
^^°


Mines in blood red and i can read it

[Wolfman]

Thanks for the advice 氷の動物. I will do .....but I will still wait for some help here as well. Thank you. I also find the Japanese Samurai:samurai: very interesting if you would pm me and tell me a little about them I would be grateful.(only if you know some things about them.)

[ParaParaJMo]

I'll probably get edited for spam, but you can try this website.

www.verbalplanet.com

[NarutoUzumaki990]

im trying to learn my self by usuing fansubs and checking online hey thats just me though lol.

[VarkMarkson]

I was just wondering if anyone here will/can help me learn Japanese. I want to move to Japan once I am out of school and I love everything about Japan. I want to learn so bad. Please help! If you don't, I understand.



I want to learn to. If you learn anything you come tell me. Alright?

[Famahama]

You can also try this site, it a japanese to english dictionary. Its great, you can just move your mouse over to a japanese word, and it will translate it for you in a small pop-up besides the word. http://www.polarcloud.com/rikaichan/

[NarutoUzumaki990]

;1622997']You can also try this site, it a japanese to english dictionary. Its great, you can just move your mouse over to a japanese word, and it will translate it for you in a small pop-up besides the word. http://www.polarcloud.com/rikaichan/

thank you for this!

[FeyLine]

Some Japanese >> English dictionary sites doesn't really translate sentences, I can help you LOL. But I think just a little d=

[Elle]

0.o ..
jap . uu have to learn the basics first . and the characters .
like me . i learn the basic . den after upgraded untill i can watch death note movie without eng subtitle .

[Keithsnyder]

well my method will be watching an anime first without subtitle and then watch again with the subs on although it takes alot of time to do so.well another method is to listen to a song and figure out what it is about. despite how it looks it's kinda effective.just my personal opinion:p



http://s7.photobucket.com/albums/y258/BlOnDiEgUrL79/other%20anime/th_animegirlplayintennis.jpg

[To.Die.Is.To.Forgive]

I'm learning right now, for me the easiest route to go is romaji first, then to like kanji and the others.

[Serenith Youkai]

Well, I would take up lessons for learning that language, before you go to Japan that is. Learning it from a CD or internet sites can be helpful, but nothing beats an actual lesson from someone who is there to help you.

[To.Die.Is.To.Forgive]

I found this awesome website this morning! http://www.softlookup.com/download.asp?id=2333

you can dowload a word translator program from this url and it will translate words and phrases for you! Its really awesome, the only bad part is that you can only have it for 30 days without buying it. Its still great though! :D

[Hanzo]

I was just wondering if anyone here will/can help me learn Japanese. I want to move to Japan once I am out of school and I love everything about Japan. I want to learn so bad. Please help! If you don't, I understand.

If you go to a school that teaches Japanese....Like my highschool...take it. You actually learn pretty fast...if you pay attention. :D
Another way is to buy the Japanese learning program at Best Buy or something....I never tried it before but it might be another good way to learn Japanese.

Well anyways, I have Japanese midterm exam tomorrow...study study....tango o benkyoo shimasu (I might say that wrong ^^;;;)

[CrimsonMoon]

Also, if you're desperate, you can always use this site: http://babelfish.altavista.com. Although it doesn't help you a lot in learning. :p Just translating into Japanese is all.

[sapje321]

i think ( and i'm doing it too) that using kanji cards for learning kanji is still the best way. you can buy some from either a bookstore that sells tuttle but i prefer the 740 they sell on http://www.j-go.net

[*Kayako*]

Meh, if you really want to learn. Please take a class that is pretty much the only way you will learn unless you try to do it your self... but beware you may get a stray from what the word might be and what it is...

[Famahama]

Also, if you're desperate, you can always use this site: http://babelfish.altavista.com. Although it doesn't help you a lot in learning. :p Just translating into Japanese is all.
Machine translation is a bit bad. But still its worth a try.

[Hanzo]

;1627916']Machine translation is a bit bad. But still its worth a try.

Yes...it's better than nothing. ^^

[sapje321]

Meh, if you really want to learn. Please take a class that is pretty much the only way you will learn unless you try to do it your self... but beware you may get a stray from what the word might be and what it is...

if that was for me, meh, i'm only 13 and taking japanese as a subject at school for my exams in 2 years time

[akiko_kalla]

I wouldn't use babelfish. I've had it give odd translations even on simple sentences. I suppose it serves its purpose for some things, but I can't get it to work in French whose sentence structure and language elements are closer to English and when I've used it for Japanese...I just don't use it, but it's just my opinion. ^_^

[NiesaxShiori]

i know one web site.. juz to learn a simple japanese n how to converse with it. try this http://www.japanese-online.com.:)

[The_Mother]

ehh well i guys can also try the www.japanese-online.com

[Famahama]

ehh well i guys can also try the www.japanese-online.com (http://www.japanese-online.com)
Already said.

[ANBU JOHN]

I just so happen to almost speak the language. My neighbor is japanese, an imigrant one might say. Ok, tell me what ya wana know and I'll post it. Here are some simple phrases:

Shiro- Colors
Iro- White
Kuro- Black
Aka- Red
Ao- Blue
Yellow- Kiiro
Purple- Mirasaki Iro
Pink- Momo Iro/ Pinku
Brown- Cha Iro
What color is it? Nani iro desu ka

Remember, just tell me what you want to know.

[keezy.]

it's a difficult language bcuz a word can sound different each time u use it depending on the way u put it into a sentence. also i learned a couple of the small words first, arigato (are-e-got-o) means thank you. ect...

[MazzieEowyn]

You've gotten that wrong - shiro is white, and iro means colour.

Perhaps the only website I'd recommend is Jim Breen's WWWJDIC - http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~jwb/wwwjdic.html

If you're intending on getting anywhere with Japanese, Babelfish will not help you. I repeat, Babelfish will not help you. The best way to learn Japanese is by taking classes, and doing plenty of self-study on the side.

Self study ideas :-

I recommend finding some kids novels (ones with the hiragana subtitles over the kanji) and transliterating the hiragana and kanji into romaji - this will help you recognise hiragana a lot faster, perhaps even pick up one or two kanji on the way.

Next, find some more books without the hiragana subtitles and use the IME pad on your language bar to start drawing in the kanji. This will help with recognising kanji, and also getting the strokes right. Once you're doing it right, your success rate for finding kanji with the IME should improve.

Try using the above dictionary to start translating the nouns and verbs; if you've been going to the classes diligently, you'll probably find you're picking up new words a lot quicker.

I've been doing the above, and the number of kanji I can read has at least quadrupled, plus I can write better and recognise hiragana on sight. But I definitely recommend classes - you'll just make mistakes if you don't start at the bottom.

Plus, I would leave translating spoken Japanese (i.e. fansubs) until you're more confident. Anime mostly uses very colloquial Japanese which is problematic when you don't have a good grasp of basic grammar.

[Hanzo]

it's a difficult language bcuz a word can sound different each time u use it depending on the way u put it into a sentence. also i learned a couple of the small words first, arigato (are-e-got-o) means thank you. ect...

Yep, that's true. It's really stricts as to how you say the word because it can mean a different word than the one you are trying to say.....seriously, it's more strict than my language. ^_^;;;

[dog_girl_arf]

Yeah me too.
heylo yo lo! help conquer the internet? is that even possible? i never really come on the forums so i rarely read them anyways -.-'

[dog_girl_arf]

[quote=ANBU JOHN;1633949]don't forget green-midori

[ANBU JOHN]

Yes, I must have miss typed it. I was in a rush so... sorry!
Yes, if any of you need translations: please PM with the requests. Thanks!

[moonlight_romance]

Have you checked or asked at a school or university because i know that can be very helpful (not to mention free.) i am grasping the basics (i mean very basics) using internet sites, in preparation for next year when i go to university, where i will be taught properly.

[MazzieEowyn]

Mhm, my classes at uni are free, which is great. You also get a proper qualification out of it. But honestly - anyone who reads this and is seriously interested in learning Japanese, please don't assume you can do it solely using your computer. You need to actually talk to Japanese people and learn properly otherwise you'll be just wasting your time.

I also forgot to say - arigato is pronounced a-ri-ga-toh (ありがとう). not are-e-got-o.

[Anime_Freakz~]

You've gotten that wrong - shiro is white, and iro means colour.

Perhaps the only website I'd recommend is Jim Breen's WWWJDIC - http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~jwb/wwwjdic.html

If you're intending on getting anywhere with Japanese, Babelfish will not help you. I repeat, Babelfish will not help you. The best way to learn Japanese is by taking classes, and doing plenty of self-study on the side.

Self study ideas :-

I recommend finding some kids novels (ones with the hiragana subtitles over the kanji) and transliterating the hiragana and kanji into romaji - this will help you recognise hiragana a lot faster, perhaps even pick up one or two kanji on the way.

Next, find some more books without the hiragana subtitles and use the IME pad on your language bar to start drawing in the kanji. This will help with recognising kanji, and also getting the strokes right. Once you're doing it right, your success rate for finding kanji with the IME should improve.

Try using the above dictionary to start translating the nouns and verbs; if you've been going to the classes diligently, you'll probably find you're picking up new words a lot quicker.

I've been doing the above, and the number of kanji I can read has at least quadrupled, plus I can write better and recognise hiragana on sight. But I definitely recommend classes - you'll just make mistakes if you don't start at the bottom.

Plus, I would leave translating spoken Japanese (i.e. fansubs) until you're more confident. Anime mostly uses very colloquial Japanese which is problematic when you don't have a good grasp of basic grammar.

We all wish it were that simple lol

[Hanzo]

I also forgot to say - arigato is pronounced a-ri-ga-toh (ありがとう). not are-e-got-o.

How do you type in Hiragana??? plz plz plz tell me.... :(

[AngelQueen17]

I was just wondering if anyone here will/can help me learn Japanese. I want to move to Japan once I am out of school and I love everything about Japan. I want to learn so bad. Please help! If you don't, I understand.
Um......Japanese is a hard language. So read closely to that they posted.

[Ertai87]

How do you type in Hiragana??? plz plz plz tell me.... :(


'Tis easy. I don't know how it works on Mac, but on XP go to Start -> Control Panel -> Regional and Language Options (under Classic View) -> Languages -> look around a bit for what you want. You'll know you've done it right when you get a little bar right beside the background program console in the bottom-right corner of your screen where you can select English or Japanese text.

As for learning Japanese, and I'm not expert since I've only taken 1 class in it, but I would advise starting to learn by taking classes. Once you have a basic understanding of grammar, you can start picking up on random words in songs and anime. That's how I learned words like "Ai" (love) and "Hayaku" (vb. to run, adj. quickly), as well as some not-as tasteful phrases like "Kuso!" (equivalent to English "Dammit!"), "Baka" (equivalent to English "idiot"), and others which don't quite translate properly. It's also how I learned the casual pronouns "Boku", "Ore", and "Kimi" as well as a fair amount of the casual form of speaking (I've only learned formal form in class; casual form is next term). Then when you find a song you really like, pick up a Jap/Eng dictionary and look stuff up. That's how I learned words like "Imi" (meaning), "Itami" (pain), "Kotoba" (word/language), and "Subete" (equivalent to "everything", usually used as "Subete no N", meaning "all of N") (in case anyone is wondering, the song I looked these words up from is D-tecnolife by UVERworld).

Eventually, you'll be able to pick up on silly jokes in Anime and realize why dubbed anime is so garbage. For example, there was a joke I saw in an episode of Full Moon wo Sagashite where a character mistook the word "人" (hito, people) for "ヒット" (hitto, "hit", like a hit song). Stuff like that doesn't translate properly. I still can't wait to see what happens when the 4th and 10th squads get introduced in Bleach on YTV and they have to translate "Shiro-chan" without killing the joke (the joke being that "Shiro-chan" is Hitsugaya Toushirou, who has white hair, hence the double-meaning, with the "shiro" in his name and the fact that "shiro" means "white", like his hair).

[Wolfman]

Thanks everyone. I will try everything I can. *Bows*

[Ertai87]

がんばってくださいよ！

[DreamField]

As some have mentioned, you should most likely try to get your Hiragana and Katakana down first.

I suggest going to a local book store such as Chapters and buying a few books on Hiragana and Katakana aswell as a small Japanese-English dictionary. There are also some great sites out there that are awesome for learning hiragana and katakana.

To start, learn a few lines of hiragana a day and look up a few random words you use every day in your dictionary. Eventually, you'll build up a small vocabulary and will be able to read and write hiragana. After learning hiragana, katakana will be very very easy to memorize.

Once you have the first two alphabets down pat and a small vocabulary, you should invest in a good Kanji book.

I saw a great one at Chapters in my town for about 50 dollars. It was rather large and had the kanji broken down into "grades". It started at grade one and taought the kanji for words children would use, such as "right" and "eat" aswel as the numbers 1-10, along with giving very useful memory tricks and a bit of history about each symbol.

Also, if you have a friend or someone you know who speaks Japanese relatively well, it's great to show them what you've learnt. I had a teacher at my school who taught English in Japan for a few years and learn't the language and she has been a big help for me.

Best of luck with learning Japanese!

[djhjr]

I have been learning Japanese for many years now; so much so that it hasw become a hobby more than anything else. Although I did take two college semesters of Japanese with a native whose husband moved to the U.S. for business, most of my study has been solo. My biggest handicap is that I can't practice with anyone (no one else where I live is interested).

Over the years I have many books on Japanese. Some are gathering dust on my shelf; others I frequently review. The best book I have for learning is the text book for the college course I took: Japanese For Busy People. This book is published by Kodansha and was created by the Association for Japanese-Language Teaching. There are three volumes -- I have I and working now through II. These text books (in you need further endorsement) were personally select by my Japanese professor mentioned before. Incidently, there are two versions of each volume: Kana and Roman.

In the meantime, master both hiragana and katakana. You can do this by repeating write out the kana charts that you will find in most book and online. Once you can write out the charts without peeking a number of times, you've mastered it. This will put you at a "kindergarten" level. BTW: Whatever language books you find -- make sure there is cultural information about when to use the words. For example: "anata" and "kimi" both mean "you" -- however, you better have a close relation with the person when you use "kimi" -- you may insult someone. (actually the use of "you"/"your" is rare).

Once you get to a good vocabulary and grammar base, you can move on to kanji. My favorite: Kanji Power -- published by Tuttle -- written by John Millen -- based on the standards of the Japanese Ministry of Education.

Concerning living in Japan?? There are only three circumstances under which to live in Japan:

1 - Enter a reputable program where you can teach English in Japan for a period of time. That way you have the experience and it won't be permanent.

2 - Work for an American company or the American government in Japan. That way you have the ability to transfer out if you are not happy.

3 - Hit the lottery so you don't have to work and you can live comfortably.

Bottom line: Try to visit Japan first, before deciding to make a move. Hope this is helpful. Good luck

[djhjr]

DreamField:
Do have the title for that Kanji book?

[Terrybu]

I've been learning Hiragana with the help of my girlfriend. She got me using an online flash card game which helped me a lot:

http://www.tamarillo.net.au/hiragana/learn_hiragana_game.html

Do you know of something similar online for learning Kanji? It would make memorizing characters so easy.

[Sanoko]

I want to learn Japanese too, but I my school nor any of the colleges I want to go to teach it. I need someone to teach it to me. A site won't really help, it has to be free because I can't buy things over the internet.

[Ange]

Hey, I know you ^^
I'm sorry I acted like a mod yesterday..

As for me, I'd want someone who'll learn japanese along with me, like a classmate. But it seems like no one in town is interested the way I am. My younger brother lacks the eagerness.

I know an instructor would be perfect but unfortunately, who would bother teaching me without being paid. I'll need luck for that. And another thing, my parents won't support me believing it wouldn't do me any good.

But well, I believe in my linguistic skills. It's helped me before

[innuendo]

I actually picked up a lot of the language through watching fansubbed anime. Though, I wouldn.t recommend that way... First off, it took me AGES before I could get the gist of the language. And secondly, not all of the fansubs were accurate, which was a total bummer.

Now that I.m taking Japanese lessons, everything.s becoming MUCH easier. So definitely go with the lessons! : D

[クリスishere]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Hanzo
How do you type in Hiragana??? plz plz plz tell me....

'Tis easy. I don't know how it works on Mac, but on XP go to Start -> Control Panel -> Regional and Language Options (under Classic View) -> Languages -> look around a bit for what you want. You'll know you've done it right when you get a little bar right beside the background program console in the bottom-right corner of your screen where you can select English or Japanese text. once your computer can handle the japanese (all that stuff before this),I use the "character map" found by going start->accessories->system tools (on XP at least)....its a copy and paste thing for me...just a little fyi

I have also started learning Japanese myself and my favourite book to start out simple and fun is Japanese in MangaLand by Marc Bernabe (ISBN:4-88996-115-1)[$24USD].It isn't "boring" or "textbook-y"...there are three volumes now I believe,but I only have the first.I always seem to have it with me,I love it that much.Has cultural references and whatnot (so I got the "whitey-chan" joke in Bleach myself thanks to this)...good for learning stuff used especially in Japanese pop culture (movies,anime,manga,etc).

I also subscribe to the free podcast JapanesePod101...they have a website with special tools for learning (I think some of it you have to pay for,but the old episodes are there free I think--in case you hate iTunes or something...) japanesepod101.com
They have several Japanese people (they are actually in Japan too) who explain everything very clearly..."culture classes" which are very fun and tend to be related to whatever holiday is happening at the time if there is one...all episodes run approx. 10 minutes,so its good for little mini-lessons that don't overpower you...all conversational Japanese,and they break it down amazingly (imho)nice for the English speaking to be able to understand.And the notes (when you hit the i next to the episode in iTunes or got to the "lyrics" part while veiwing on your iPod) has romanji for beginners,then eases you into katakana and then kanji with katakana (you have to learn the kana elsewhere) so you can learn to write and read what they say as well. [they release a new episode about every single day,fyi]

Wow.I got overexcited there for a bit:rolleyes: ,so I hope my typing isn't terrible...
But,those are my favourite things...I have tons of (like almost every) episodes from JapanesePod101,and several of my friends got the book (actually,one of them had it first and got me into it...)It isn't perfect,and you have to put a lot of honest work,as in you have to really want to do it,but it has got me quite a long ways in just the past 7-ish months.I love watching the NANA movie or episodes of Bleach and understanding little things...whole sentences recently...it makes me very happy.So,I hope this helps you at least a little.:D

[Wolfman]

Hey, I was wondering. What if like someone makes a site for others to join and gets a voice chat, that way everyone can learn together. I'm learning how to make a site kinda like that. If someone knows how to get the Voice chat then please P.M me. Thank you for all your help. *Bows*


P.S. Please keep giving me ideas on how to help me learn Japanese. Thank you. *Bows*

[shakkun]

um~ my japanese language is.. --bad-- as my sensei said >.< but it's better now since my mom change my sensei with her friend..

[茉莉ちゃん]

日本語は難しく無い

[Wolfman]

um~ my japanese language is.. --bad-- as my sensei said >.< but it's better now since my mom change my sensei with her friend..


...so your mother's friend knows more Japanese than your Sensei? That's kinda wierd.

[Tobikatou]

When I translate Japanese into English, I always use web-based dictionary.
http://www.alc.co.jp/
This is, I think, one of the most famous and commonly-used dictionary among Japanese students and maybe translators. I'm sure that it helps you to translate Japanese or maybe learn Japanese, even though I have never recommend it to whom don't use Japanese. (Actually, this is the first time that I post the board in English.) It has enormous words and examples of use. try it!

[Hanzo]

My Japanese teacher says that there's a lot of Japanese teachers teaching in Hawaii, USA...If you are interested you can try and take classes over there unless you just want to go and learn in Japan....I know the basics of Japanese so if any of you want me to learn you can ask me...

[MistressPookyChan]

The best way to learn Japanese is to practice! Actually use it, otherwise it is not useful for you.

I have started a weekly discussion thread. This (and last... ahem) week's topic is food. Go in there, chat in Japanese, and have a good time!!

[UrusaiSevera]

Well I've been interested in the Japanese language for some time now and bit by bit am starting to pick up the language...

First of all get down the basics, so learn Hirigana and Katakana first then give Kanji a try... Get a Japanese-English or English-Japanese dictionary and A good book... Someone mentioned the book Japanese for Busy People by Kodansha this is a very good series of book if you want to master the Japanese Language... have a look on their site http://www.kodansha-intl.com/contents/categoryTop.php?cid=101 because that is not the onliest series they have for learning Japanese.. they also have Japanese for Young people Japanese for College Students also all kind of reference books for Grammar etc..... just have a look it should be helpfull

here are some sites that should be usefull too....
http://japanese.about.com/ A basic to indept explanation of the Japanese language, Hirigana, Katakana and Kanji Lessons, Audio Files (pronounciation) and all kinds of random things from tattoos to babynames...

http://www.learn-japanese.info/ Vocab lessons, Grammar Lessons, Writing Speaking and Listening, Expressions, Reading etc etc.

http://www.sf.airnet.ne.jp/~ts/japanese/ It's called Teach yourself Japanese I guess that says enough....

http://www.kanjisite.com/ Learn Hirigana Katakana and Kanji, they provide the basics for learning Katakana, Hirigana and go a little deeper into Kanji...

http://www.thejapanesepage.com/news.php they have free downloads for Learning Japanese... I find navagating through the site itself confusing >_< ...

Try to avoid learning Japanese through subbed animes, first of all because the translations aren't always accurate and second of all because the Japanese Word order is different from the English word order... ofcourse if you have the basics down it will help some...

Last but not least, find yourself a Japanese penpal, who is willing to point out every single mistake you make OR find yourself a Japanese tutor OR go and follow classes... And ofcourse practice loads!!!

It's not easy, but it's fun.... Hopefully you'll find some of this helpful

Sayonara,
~UrusaiSevera

[lonemomo]

If you want to learn to speak basic japanese quickly,

www.japanese-online.com has a good list of lessons and offers correct pronunciation.

www.polykarbon.com (dont know if thats right) has some katakana information as well, if you want to learn to write it.

thats how I get along anyway. >_<

[Aki_Blossoms]

gasp! I'm horrible at teaching since I'm still learning. But I well say that so far a lot of people have given u pretty good suggessions! Even some that I will concider myself. Best advice I could give you...don't give up. This is not something you are going to get over night. But if you have the determination to get it right, I'm sure you'll do well. My sister...actually learned Japenese in a very intresting way. We've been watching animes since I was 14 and she was 11. At first we saw a lot of anime with english subs. Not only that, but she practiced singing songs in Japanese! Now she can sing a heck of a lot of songs and she's able to watch some RAW episodes and understand what theya are talking aobut...to a point. Not that I'm saying this is a good way of learning....if she were to have a converstion with someone in Japanese...she wouldn't last long....but she could understand. I'm learning a little bit in the same way.

[kwnbintang]

If you want to learn to speak basic japanese quickly,

www.japanese-online.com (http://www.japanese-online.com) has a good list of lessons and offers correct pronunciation.

www.polykarbon.com (http://www.polykarbon.com) (dont know if thats right) has some katakana information as well, if you want to learn to write it.

thats how I get along anyway. >_<already said at post no 35 something..

[Moonsong]

Obviously I'm not that good of an example, considering I'm only learning myself, and not that well, but this is how I'm going about it (I can't get lessons where I am):

1. Find a book or website where you can learn hiragana (and katakana would be good to, though not so essential)

3. Buy a japanese-english dictionary

2. Get some grammar - you need it, there are so many verb forms it's completely incomprehensible otherwise.
The site I'm using is http://www.timwerx.net/language/index.htm which isn't perfect, but the best I've found. It's in romaji, which is bad, but I'm writing everything into my notebook in hiragana.

3. (At the same time as 2...actually, all these steps (except probably 1) overlap) start learning kanji. I'm using a book I found in a secondhand shop in Glastonbury (hehe) but I'm sure you can find an equivalent book or website with the basic 2000-odd kanji you need. Make flash cards/copy them out LOADs of times...something like that! I doodle them in the margins of all my school exercise books when I'm bored/write lists of them on bits of scrap paper...

4. Translate things :D With the help of your dictionary, what you know so far...internet translators for single words if absolutely necessary...so on...try and translate some song lyrics and stuff. You learn plenty of vocab, and it makes them better to listen to afterwards :D (oh, yes, listen to MANY japanese songs too...)

5. See if you can find raw and translated manga and read them side by side. I'm using a few printed-off pages of BLEACH - raw scans and scanlations. Make notes all over them, whatever. For both these two steps, make sure you can write on it. Note down translations of all the words you know off the top of your head, and what verb forms are, even if you don't know the root verb (like..."right, "-tai"...OK, whatever that is, they want to do it...") Then look up words/verb forms you don't know.

6. (I haven't got this far yet, it's my next move) Raw manga without looking at the translation. There are pictures, so it's easier than using straight text. Also, you don't get the "WAAAH! Big block of kanji/hiragana/katakana...I DON'T GET IT!" brain meltdown I always have with big chunks of writing, where even if I do know the words, I'm scared to look ^_^

7. After that, I'm gonna try and find some Japanese kids books.

And through all of that - subbed anime! lots and lots of subbed anime! You get an idea of pronounciation and how you'd use stuff in actual conversation (but try and copy the POLITE characters...). Plus, when a character says something and you know what it is without reading the subtitle, it feels great!
I don't get raw anime at all, yet. I can pick out a few words, but not enough to understand it. But I occasionally try, possibly because a. I'm a closet masochist who likes to make herself feel stupid and/or b.I get too imaptient to wait for subbed Death Note/Bleach episodes.

And try and find a friend to learn with you. It gives you motivation. You can share whatever resources or tips you find. And I've found that trying to explain particles to my friend actually helped me a lot understanding them myself.

(actually, a thing about particles and verb forms...I've found I have trouble learning them because I don't know what they MEAN. Like I have no idea what the ifference between a direct and indirect object. So my main issue right now is learning ENGLISH grammar terminology...lol)

Well, that was a very long post...and I don't know if it's any help anyway *nervous laugh*

[Ertai87]

The best way to learn Japanese is to practice! Actually use it, otherwise it is not useful for you.

I have started a weekly discussion thread. This (and last... ahem) week's topic is food. Go in there, chat in Japanese, and have a good time!!

As much as I'd like to jump in on said thread, it appears to have disappeared. Linky?

[Interpreter]

im trying to learn my self by usuing fansubs and checking online hey thats just me though lol.

Yeah,I do that too..

[Ebichuman]

I think, Kanjis can be more easy to learn than Kanas, because you can remember the radicals and what the Kanji represents...

However, I prefer first learn well the grammar, after I'll concentrate on kana and kanji alphabet.

[MistressPookyChan]

As much as I'd like to jump in on said thread, it appears to have disappeared. Linky?


It changes every other week or so. Right now we are doing "好きな漢字". The title is in Japanese.

[aishiteru333]

well my method will be watching an anime first without subtitle and then watch again with the subs on although it takes alot of time to do so.well another method is to listen to a song and figure out what it is about. despite how it looks it's kinda effective.just my personal opinion:p



http://s7.photobucket.com/albums/y258/BlOnDiEgUrL79/other%20anime/th_animegirlplayintennis.jpg

I agree! Get really attached to a song. (For me it's Days- FLOW) Then figure out what the words mean. Remember the "watashi wa" (meaning I, me, myself) is taken out of most japanese songs since it is already implied that it is the person who is saying it. Confusing but in some way it makes sense. 愛してる！

[aishiteru333]

Also may I suggest that you visit http://www.j-talk.com/nihongo. It allows you to translate kanji and hiragana to romanji. Also, it has a dictionary and a study space.:D I LOVE ANIME!!!

[shakkun]

I don't know.. maybe my sensei too push me.. *I hate that*

[CheatMasta]

I'm also interested in learning this. I think I'd prefer a tutor but don't really know where to find one where I am, and I would commit myself if learning on my own if necessary. I've picked up a few words from anime and have spent some time researching on some sites, although I didn't know where to start so it's probably not useful. I did learn the number system and can pretty much give any number up to 9999 (spoken and written in kanji), but otherwise have low knowledge of anything.

Thanks for the ideas people have given, they will be very helpful. ^_^

[Mazrim Taim]

I was just wondering if anyone here will/can help me learn Japanese. I want to move to Japan once I am out of school and I love everything about Japan. I want to learn so bad. Please help! If you don't, I understand.

Take a Japanese class. Durr!

[Nova-kun]

I was just wondering if anyone here will/can help me learn Japanese. I want to move to Japan once I am out of school and I love everything about Japan. I want to learn so bad. Please help! If you don't, I understand.

uhh there are lots of things you could do.

stuff you could do by yourself: totemo muzukashi na... stuff I did..haha

-self study, buy books, read mangas, watch anime, etc...
-join japanese chatrooms/language exchange sites (www.sharedtalk.com)
-chat with japanese ppl through MSN(you can find ppl willing to chat with you on sharedtalk)

OR to make your life easier

-join a japanese class/school/hire a tutor, whatever floats your boat.

its really simple.

[jechocochan]

I would be willing to assist anyone wishing to learn Japanese. PM me if you want my help. Be aware that I am learning too.

Learning kana charts should be first priority. You should be able to find some in wikipedia or on google.

I can help with sentence structure, vocabulary, verbs, adjectives, particles and nouns.

Yep ^^ So anyone wanting a little assistance ask. I'm happy to help.

[Wolfman]

Take a Japanese class. Durr!


That's not as easy as it sounds Zeevius. For one it costs money. And for two where I live I can't take any classes so I would appreciate not mocking me.

[Wolfman]

uhh there are lots of things you could do.

stuff you could do by yourself: totemo muzukashi na... stuff I did..haha

-self study, buy books, read mangas, watch anime, etc...
-join japanese chatrooms/language exchange sites (www.sharedtalk.com (http://www.sharedtalk.com))
-chat with japanese ppl through MSN(you can find ppl willing to chat with you on sharedtalk)

OR to make your life easier

-join a japanese class/school/hire a tutor, whatever floats your boat.

its really simple.



Thanks, Nova-Kun I'll check this out.

[crimsontearsthatfall]

Greetings

Hello. Konnichiwa.
Good Morning. Ohayou.
Ohayou-gozaimasu. (Polite)
Good afternoon. Konnichiwa.
Good evening. Konbanwa.
Good night. Oyasumi. Oyasuminasai.
Good bye. Sayounara.
See you later. Dewa mata.
See you tomorrow. Mata ashita.
How do you do. Hajimemashite.
I'm glad to see you. Oai-deki-te ureshii-desu.
How are you? Ogenki desu-ka.
I'm fine. Genki-desu.
And you? Anata wa?
I'm fine, too. Watashi-mo genki-desu.
Thank you. Arigatou. /
Arigatou-gozaimasu. (polite)
Expression of thanks & replies
click Japanese and you can hear the voice.
Thanks. Arigatou. /
Doumo.
Arigotou gozai-masu. (polite)
Thanks a lot. Doumo arigatou.
Doumo arigatou gozai-masu. (polite)
You're welcome. Dou-itashimashite.
The pleasure is mine. Kochira koso
Expression of apology
click Japanese and you can hear the voice.
Sorry./ Excuse me./ I'm sorry. Gomen. /
Gomen-nasai. /
Sumimasen. /
Moushiwake-arimasen. /
Moushiwake-gozaimasen.

I'm really sorry.
Hontou-ni gomennasai.
Hontou-ni moushiwake-arimasen.
Hontou-ni moushiwake-gozaimasen.
Replies
That's OK. / Don't worry about it. Ii-desu-yo. /
Goshinpai-naku.
Never mind. / That's all right.Ki-ni shinaide. /
Shinpai shinaide.
Replies
AFFIRMATIVE REPLIES
Yes. Hai.
Yes it is. Hai sou-desu.
I got it. /I see. /I understand. Wakari-masita.
I know. Wakatte-imasu.
I think so. Sou omoi-masu.
Sure./ Of course. Mochiron-desu.
O.K. Ii-desu. /Ii-desu-yo.
�@
NEGATIVE REPLIES
No. Iie.
I don't understand. Wakari-masen.
I don't know. Shiri-masen.
I didn't know that. Shiri-masen-deshita.
I don't think so. Sou omoi-masen.
uuuh, i got this stuff off of some web site---hope it helps!

[Hanzo]

Most of them are correct....but from my Japanese class. I learn Doumo Arigatou as doomo arigatoo....since the "u" hiragana is used as "o" instead of using the "o" hiragana...

[akiko_kalla]

Most of them are correct....but from my Japanese class. I learn Doumo Arigatou as doomo arigatoo....since the "u" hiragana is used as "o" instead of using the "o" hiragana...

In hiragana it would be written as a "u" because it denotes a long vowel. It also does the same by putting an "i" after an "e". When it's written in romanji however, it often gets typed both ways. Just like "ha" is often typed as "wa" because the "wa" is what you say, but the hiragana is still "ha". Romanji isn't for native Japanese speakers, so it's not really standardized. It was created to help non-Japanese speakers, although I'm not sure that it truly helps as much as it hinders but that's is just my opinion. But the long vowel bit is what I was taught and is what I see in the Japanese texts I have used. Perhaps it is because I started in hiragana not romaji? Hehe, I'm not sure why your teacher would say that but maybe it is just as simple as the mindset one is in when typing romanji. If you start with a romanji base, the "oo" might make more sense, but if you started with a hiragana base "ou" would make more sense. I know there are a few exceptions to "ou" and "ei", like ookii, but there aren't very many if I recall.

[EmeraldGuardian]

First off. NEVER EVER try to learn through anime. Sure you could learn some phrases here and there but seriously, that's the last way you want to learn. Alot of the time the way they even talk, it would be the same as a Japanese person learning english through hearing Goofy and Donald talking.

But trust me I've been there before. I love anime and manga as much as the next guy and that is how I started with the Japanese language. But the more you really learn traditionally and maturely, the better you'll feel about it.

I've been taking Japanese for almost three years now and it's damn hard. But it's always interesting to me and I've never been bored with it, so hopefully alot of you who wish to do the same can have fun with it. Take as much time as you need.

So yeah, I'd be willing to help anyone out. I'm not a professional but I've got enough experience to properly instruct quite a bit. Plus I've got my own life to attend to so I can't really tutor everything, for every second. PM me if you feel up to it, and like I said before, take your time. =)

[Kaitou Ace]

What EmeraldGuardian said. Although if you do decide to use an anime or manga to help you learn (nothing wrong with picking up some easy manga for reading practice), make sure it's something which would actually use 'everyday' Japanese. You don't want to learn Japanese from something like Kenshin. Yotsuba is nice and simple actually.

As for the above, I was always taught the 'ou' instead of 'oo' to differentiate between how you actually write it, as the purpose of romajii is to help you learn Japanese, not to replace hiragana.

[MistressPookyChan]

I would write it as ou too, because that is technically how it translates directly. It makes writing easier. :) Ah, the joys of furigana!

As a beginner, I would say to study from a text- not manga and anime. However, both are good once you get the fundamentals down. That's because you can learn casual stuff, slang, feminine/masculine speak, dialects, and the like. Hopefully by that stage you know when it is correct to use it and when it is not. For example, don't break out in Osaka-ben when you are in an important meeting with the boss. ;)

[Ertai87]

Re: Greetings list: Isn't oyasuminasai a good-bye? Like you say it when the person you're talking to is going to sleep or something, and you say "oyasuminasai", isn't it? Also it's surprising how many of those I didn't learn in my Japanese class...I'm taking University-level Japanese 2 (consider that I live in Canada, and University-level Japanese 2 is like preschool for native nihonjin) currently and Japanese 3 next term (in September).

Re: "ou" vs. "oo": In class, they taught us "oo", but when I write, I write "ou" because that's how it translates (although it makes some works look kind of odd)...I don't write romanji often though unless I'm too lazy to switch to Japanese text on my computer since as of somewhere in the middle of Japanese 1 we're expected to write everything in either Hiragana or Katakana (Kanji starts in Japanese 3, although I currently know about 12...numbers 1-10 except I always forget 7 + "hito" + "shiro" + "i" as in "ima", and I can recognize "i" as in "iku", "nan"/"nani", and "go" as in "language" but not draw them) although my Japanese teacher uses a Mac so whenever I e-mail her with a question I have to use Romanji since Windows and Mac don't translate Japanese the same way for some reason...

Re: Learning from anime/manga: Honestly, I don't know how you guys do it...to be honest, the only words I've picked up from anime are swear words (well, ok, and "sekai" and "daijoubu")...the way I find it easiest to learn is to take classes and then try to recognize phrases from class in anime I watch and to listen to Japanese music I like and look up various words in my Jap/Eng dictionary (that's how I learned words like "imi", "itami", and "kotoba"...those 3 in particular I learned from D-tecnolife by UVERworld). Don't *completely* write off anime or manga, but it's best to use it as a supplementary source at best, not a primary.

[MistressPookyChan]

oyasumi is what you say when you or the other person is going to bed. in other words, it translates to "good night"/"sleep well"

Also, since you cannot swear in English on AF, don't swear in Japanese on the site either. Thanks!

I'm going to open a thread discussing anime and manga as a learning tool. Please keep that kind of discussion there; not in this thread. thanks!

[Ertai87]

Sry, my bad...post edited :D

[kstark90]

i would love 2 learn japanese i love japan so much its fab so if anyone finds out let me know! xx

[KudouShunsaku]

When are people gonna learn that you can't just ask someone "please teach my Japanese" and expect to become a master at it. I've had someone do it to me once and they never remembered a thing :banghead: If you want to learn it the best method is doing it yourself through the net. There's tons of resources and the don't have to spend one dime. Nor do you have to waste someone else's time :p

[voila! viola]

While taking a formal class or learning from someone fluent in Japanese is always the ideal situation, I thought I'd add some resources I use that I didn't see mentioned here for anyone hoping to learn on their own (or these could have been mentioned on page 2...every time I tried to read that page, my computer died on me so, I have no idea. Dx).

http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~jwb/wwwjdic.html Jim Breen's WWWJDIC -excellent, EXCELLENT dictionary, both for kanji lookup and for just translating words.

http://www.msu.edu/~lakejess/kanjigame.html Kanji Game -this is something I really don't use anymore, but it helped me when I first started trying to learn kanji on my own. It's helpful not only for learning to read kanji, but also for learning katakana and hiragana for beginners. The only downside to this site is that it helps with reading only.

http://www.guidetojapanese.org/index.html Tae Kim's Japanese Guide - Great site for beginners and more advanced learners alike. Lessons are taught in a very different order from conventional textbooks, but it's done in a way that really makes a lot of sense. Also helpful if you're looking for information on a very specific bit of grammar.

Genki: An Integrated Course in Elementary Japanese Vols. I & II by Eri Banno, Yutaka Ohno, Yoko Sakane, & Chikako Shinagawa -these are the textbooks I used in my college class, and they're really a pretty solid learning tool. It's interesting to note that these textbooks were originally intended for English-speaking students living in Japan. One of the benefits of that are sections that help the student with vocab you'd need to know in specific situations (at the train station, at the post office, health and fitness, etc.).

The Kodansha Kanji Learner's Dictionary by Jack Halpern -other than Jim's site, this is the only other kanji dictionary I've used. That said, if you're looking for a paper dictionary, this is a good one. Not as comprehensive as Jim's, but still pretty solid.

How to Tell the Difference Between Japanese Particles by Naoko Chino -while it isn't done in the utmost detail, this can be helpful in understanding the difference between similar functioning particles.

Japanese Street Slang by Peter Constantine -It should be noted that this book uses only romaji and that it's a book about slang written in 1992. With that in consideration though, this is still an interesting read for anyone interested in rough Japanese speech, since there really aren't too many places you can get information of that sort.

Read Real Japanese by Janet Ashby -I've just started reading this very recently. This isn't recommended for beginners, but more for intermediate-advanced students. This book contains 8 essays by Japanese authors written in Japanese, as well as written in romaji with an english translation phrase-by-phrase as well as intensive notes on bits of grammar or cultural references readers may or may not be aware of. I know I'm finding it very helpful right now. ^^

So, that's it. I always found it a bit hard to find truly useful language references (let's face it, most of what's out there is for beginners, and is more or less the same information at the same quality), so I hope that someone hoping to learn the language on there own finds these resources as helpful as I have. <3

[~Pure Soul~]

I know Japanese.Well not a lot lot. But I understand anime's that only speak Japanese. So you can ask me for words.:)

[Hanzo]

I know Japanese.Well not a lot lot. But I understand anime's that only speak Japanese. So you can ask me for words.:)

Able to understand anime's that only speak Japanese...that's even more than me....

[Click here]

i wish so too, i have so many japanese games, and i can't understand anything about them! :(

im going to stduy japanese when i get to college :D

[himan11]

I studied Japanese in Japan, warning though, the cost is high, and I suggest you do アルバイト :p
I went to Japan without knowing any basics...The teacher there taught the class about Hiragana and Katakan in 2 weeks of time (class, 月曜日から金曜日まで). It was tough for the first few weeks for me lol.
anyway I started to improve a lot by playing online game, and interact with the native players (at the time FFXI was booming in JPN). Watching animes, listening to songs and try writing the lyrics are good for honing your Japanese skill :D