Wats the best method to learn JAPANESE

[MrClown]

Are there any educational movies out there that could help me give me ur best opinion..:)

[Capernicus]

Take a college class. Learning on your own will not help your pronunciation or listening comprehension much. Also, being in a classroom setting will help motivate you (as you're being graded) and will help retain more of the language because you'll be using it ALL THE TIME.

[LiLi.]

Hmm...learn from a japanese friend who knows how to speak english ^.^

[MrClown]

both of ur answer sound good but i live in california and everybody speaks spanish and english and its really hard to find a japanese person here theres only philipeens,laocian(laos), and vietnamese(veitnam)....sry i really dont know how to spell it but u get the message and almost every azn here is a gangbanger or crack head sum of them r cool but even they dont know anyone japanese and i really doubt there will be any japanese classes here cmon live in LA god!!!!to many crazy ppl

[Capernicus]

Erm.....maybe you should like....learn english first.

[MrClown]

LOL um dude i know how to speak english and spanish but i really really want to learn japanese

[Capernicus]

1. Dude, I'm not a dude.

2. I live in California as well, and I know for a fact that UCLA offers Japenese classes.

[Sailor Lunar Eclipse]

LOL um dude i know how to speak english and spanish but i really really want to learn japanese
Then learn how to type it. Or write it, or whatever the hell you call it.

As for learning Japanese, a friend of mine got a huge pack of stuff from a bookstore on how to learn the language, and that included cds, dvds, books and what not, and still she doesn't know very much. If you want to truly learn it, I recommend finding someone who actually knows the language very well and can help you.

[MrClown]

like i could go to the ucla i have like straight Fs.....oh sry for typin it incorrect....but cmon Capernicus........and wat city do u live in???

[Capernicus]

As if I would tell on the interwbs.

But if you can't get into UCLA, how about hanging around Lil Tokyo? I'm sure you could find someone willing to teach there.

[MrClown]

lol god im only fudgin 15 watevers..LOL....um ye i was thinkin of doin that but idk.....thats kinda weird um.....so learnin it like in dvds or books is pretty much impossilbe

[Capernicus]

Possible, but you will be lacking in some areas of the language.

[MrClown]

well um do u know any dvds that u could recommend me....just tell me the names:)

[Capernicus]

Uhhhhh....do an amazon search. I learned from taking college courses, and we didn't use DVDs like that.

[MrClown]

ok....any other good advice u could tell me??:)

[Bucky Katt]

Oh, I saw a store less than a year ago that sold books on how to read Japanese and how to write in Hiragana and Katakana. I can't remember the store's name, right now, but I think I have the bag still with me somewhere! Once I find the name, look online or in a phone book to see if the store is anywhere near where you live.

Trust me on this one. My friend got the instruction booklets, and now she's the best (and only) person to go to for a translation. Well, in my school, that is. xD

But it also takes dedication, so... Are you absolutely willing to learn this, and not give up on it half-way through?

[MrClown]

Bucky Katt......thx of course im dedicated i would give up my spanish language just to learn japanese

[Bucky Katt]

Huh. That's pretty stupid, entirely giving up your initial language. How will you converse with your mother?

Anyway, I'm off to forage in my closet of doom.

[MrClown]

LOL...im just sayin that i really really want to learn japanese

[Bucky Katt]

-.Success in the closet!.-
Alright. The store is called Tokyo Kid. The website from the bag is as follows: http://www.tokyokid.com

Now, I haven't been on the site before, so you're on your own once you access the website. Good luck finding a location near you! =D

[MrClown]

thank dude...i think theres only one in MA...i think thats massachusetts

[Bucky Katt]

Not a dude. >=[

But you can take a trip to MA, someday.

[MrClown]

oh sry ....bout that um well idk but really thank for tellin me

[MrClown]

look...um somebody just tell me dvd name that could teach u japanese

[kekepania]

The thing is, not many people are going to know the title of a good DVD that will teach you Japanese simply because I doubt that's how many people on this forum have learned the language. You say that you "really really" want to learn Japanese, but I don't honestly think a DVD will help you.

For example, I am fluent in French because I have been learning it in school for the past 10 years, but I have to admit that I still have some areas to improve upon, some things I need to learn, etc. That's 10 years or reading writing and speaking French almost everyday, and I'm still not as good as I should be. x_X but anyway.

While on vacation, I heard an ad on a radio station in America earlier this year that talked about CD sets that would help you "master French" in just a few weeks, through listening to this CD and repeating the phrases. It said "you can be fluent in French without doing "boring memorization" and "complex verb conjugation over and over". I laughed out loud when I heard this commercial because you cannot possibly "master French" while skipping the ESSENTIALS of the language.

I think that similar Japanese self teaching CDs and DVDs may very well be the same - while they could be could for learning pronunciation, I would not rely solely on a DVD to learn Japanese. While they might give useful phrases, I doubt they go over the grammar, the verbs, sentence structure, particles, kanji, etc. in an in-depth manner.

I myself am largely self taught in Japanese, but I've learned as much as I have through EXTREME determination (I don't think I've ever been so eager to learn something XD) as well as through books, articles, kanji memorization, etc. I taught myself how to write hiragana and katakana when I was 13 years old, and it all sort of took off from there. I don't watch/seldom watch anime, so I learned pronunciation and speaking styles through the news, some dramas, interviews, songs, and the like. I also signed up on the Japanese cyworld and made friends on there, it's great to practice writing and typing Japanese and you can talk to some awesome people.

I plan on taking Japanese courses when I go to university - I saw a poster at my school that showed free language lessons for like, 30 languages, including Japanese as part of after-school and weekend programs held in schools around the city, but sadly I didn't write down the info and haven't been able to find out about/register for the program ever since. x_X

I think it's okay though, because while I don't mean to be boastful, I feel that there isn't alot I would learn from an absolute beginner class that I don't already know. Self study is actually a big help, YES, it can work, but you need to really have a passion for what you're learning in order to suceed. ^_^

[MrClown]

of course i have the passion i wanna move there i wanna get out of california....cali is pretty cool but japan lifestyle looks so interesting and i love everythin bout them.....oh yeah i know wat u mean bout french to many silent letters but had a class of learning french it was a elective but i never really got into it idk why my school consler pick that class for me.......but to be honest u just inspired me more to learn japanese but imma try my best to learn it!!:)

[Capernicus]

If you are so very avid about it, and have MSN, then add me as a contact and I can begin teaching you some things. I was teaching another friend of mine before he seemed to lose interest. I WILL expect you to practice by yourself and I WILL check on your progress regularly, so don't take me up unless you are committed to it.

And if you don't have MSN, you can download it free here (http://get.live.com/messenger/overview). My email address is listed on my profile.

[MrClown]

ok ill download and add u tomorrow...oh and do u have a myspace if u dont want to tell me thats cool:)THANKS

[Capernicus]

I do have it, but there is no point in me giving it to you as I am never on it.

Tomorrow? I see...not quite that avid as to start tonight. XD I guess it IS late.... lol

[MrClown]

well yeah...at this time they give anime and family guy and aqua teen hunger force......um ok i just wanted to see a pic of u thats it.

[kekepania]

aha well I'm glad I inspired you~! ^^; I think it is quite a fun language to learn because it is very different from English. It's very rewarding when you can read and understand things you never thought you could, as in my case. :3 If you need any help you can ask me too, and I will try to help out as much as I can! ^_^

[MrClown]

okay thanks alot

[-Id-]

..............

[MrClown]

Capernicus um idk if i did it rite um here my email

[Ertai87]

I'm learning Japanese through the University I go to...I just finished Japanese 2 about 2 weeks ago and am taking Japanese 3 in September for sure and Japanese 4 in January barring course time conflicts (my school goes up to Japanese 6). The writing system is pretty easy to learn; I taught myself Katakana at about 1 hour every 2 days or so over the course of a month when I was bored at work and am learning Kanji from a textbook for Japanese 3 that I bought early. There's no Canadian distributor for the book (meaning there probably isn't an American one either) so good luck finding it (I got it through my school), but here are the details, because if you can find it, I recommend it 100%...I've used it for about a week and a half and I've already learned about 20 Kanji from it:

Title: Basic Kanji Book Volume 1
Authors: Chieko Kano, Yuri Shimizu, Hiroko Takenaka, Eriko Ishii
Publisher: Bonjinsha Co. Ltd.
ISBN: 4-89358-091-4

As for grammar and vocabulary and stuff, you really have to take a class for that, imo, so you get practise. Reading and writing is all good, but the main focus of a language should be speaking and listening, which you can't do on your own.

[Capernicus]

Capernicus um idk if i did it rite um here my email [email protected]
It did work. And since I only just got home from work and you are not on, I guess our lessons will begin tomorrow.

[MistressPookyChan]

please exchange contact info through PM. thanks!

[~AnimeManga~]

Here are some sites that might help.

www.japanese-online.com/
learnjapanese.elanguageschool.net/
web.uvic.ca/kanji-gold/
www.learn-japanese.info/
www.freejapaneselessons.com/
www.thejapanesepage.com/news.php
genkienglish.net/genkijapan/menu.htm

There are others I know but I cant really remember the name.
Hope this helps.

http://www.animeforum.com/image/thum_95749469e77be754ae.jpg (http://www.animeforum.com/vbimghost.php?do=displayimg&imgid=15294)[/FONT][/FONT]

[himan11]

Whooo, good luck MrClown! hope you won't lose your interest! I wish you the best!

[chappie1989]

Well, Actually there is no "BEST" way to learn Japanese.
Every person has a different way of learning. Some are more of a book learning type, Just repeating and remembering.
Others are more of the practical type whom like to learn by reading japanese with a translation book next to them.

Though i think it is best to learn Japanese by book/Internet.
But i like to listen to anime and try and listen to what words they are saying and try and write those words down later. But it does not learn very fast or something but it works for me :)

[mikadzuki]

Are there any educational movies out there that could help me give me ur best opinion..:)

i think the best way to learn something esp language is to tie it up w/ ya interest... watchin' japanese films and series (like anime of course...XD) that interest you (japanese audio with english sub of course^^) will definitely help~it gives a ideas about diction, pronunciation, and conversational phrases... but it also helps to have a dictionary (jap-eng) even a small one just to check the meanings once in a while...^^ there are also free online japense lessons (you may check out: "japanese.about.com")... also memorizing the hiragana & katakana helps...^^

Here's the link to the site:
http://japanese.about.com/od/japaneselessons/a/wheredoibegin.htm
Hope it's helpful^^...

[KohakuIceDragon]

why don't you try japanese-online.com look around you might like it

[himan11]

But i like to listen to anime and try and listen to what words they are saying and try and write those words down later. But it does not learn very fast or something but it works for me :)

True! Guess mine is by playing online Japanese games lol, I played FFXI online when it was still only Japanese version. Then anime and songs not to forget the mangas, always want to buy those "raw" mangas, but just can't find them in my country ('з')

[ParaParaJMo]

Prior to any official instruction I got, I did try my best through anime at first. After awhile, I was able to recognize that the verb goes last and that to say "is not" or "negative" form tended to end in "masen" or "nai." I also recognized that there were many personal pronouns in the Japanese language. Like anata, anta, or omae/ome to say you; or watashi, atashi, ore, boku, ora as ways to refer to themselves. If you pay attention that closely, you notice a lot of things, but it doesn't really teach you how to use it, but it's a good way to understand the mechanics and structure.

Lacus Clyne from Gundam SEED is also a good way to learn keigo, or formal Japanese language =D

Then I got into high school and my school offered Japanese =D!!!

[VraieEsprit]

Japanese is not an easy language to learn in the first instance and the initial thing you need to do is work out how far you want to learn it...

I.e, do you just want to be able to speak it to some degree, or also read and write it, too? (Personally I think you can't really learn Japanese without learnng the alphabets, but I know some people do just learn it in romaji for communication and not reading/writing purposes.)

Learning kana and Kanji is complicated and takes time. It takes kids in Japanese school their entire education system to fully learn Kanji, for example.

Learning Japanese from a grammatical perspective is also very different from any European language. I speak French more or less and I studied Spanish and German both in school, but Japanese really doesn't work like any of those languages do. It isn't something that you can just pick up in a week.

I disagree that you can't begin to learn Japanese without taking a class however if you are serious about it, you will need tuition at some point.

In the meantime, this website is very helpful with absolute beginning Japanese.

http://japanese.about.com/

And I would advise, if you really are serious about learning, to follow a bit of advice my French teacher told us when I was taking my A Levels.

If you help yourself, your brain will learn the language more quickly.

If you listen to just a little bit of Japanese each day, you will tune your ear into it more. That's where the anime comes in. I've taken to buying drama cds also for the same reason. It's always better to work with something you enjoy rather than something that feels more like forced classes!

You already speak two languages so your brain is obviously capable of coping with linguistics - that's a good start. But take it from someone studying it...it is not an easy language to just pick up without really being ready to go in for the long haul.

Ganbatte yo ;)

Vraie

[ZeroInfection]

Anyone able to help me here? I guess I realized this this year.

I need help, and step by step instructions. You can't just hand me a paper with what to do and expect me to be able to do it, because I can't. It's like I have to be guided through things step by step. I suck like that... -_-;

[Loderian]

lots of schools probably have Jpanaese as a language. Even the community colleges and Jr. colleges in my area have them, and I'm kinda in the middle of no-where

[Ertai87]

To be honest, I don't think you can learn Japanese without classes. I watched a lot of subbed anime before taking classes and didn't understand any of it until I started taking classes, after which time I started to pick up some more words from anime. I couldn't recognize any of the grammar or anything either. If you want to try learning it that way, you should get yourself a point from which to start, not from scratch.

Also, places like this where you can speak Japanese and people will answer your questions if you have any and you can practise reading and writing (although not many people here other than myself write Hiragana) are really great. Considering I don't know anybody who speaks Japanese, I think this place has really helped me a lot in my studies.

[Loderian]

Please note:

<b>Beware of online learning!</b>

http://www.japanese-online.com/ seems like a good sight, but from what i've learned from college courses, some of the information seems a bit fishy.

They fail to mention that most of the time, Watashi and Anata are omitted because of implied speaking. In some situations, it is even rude to say Anata. Even in the phrase: Anata wa Amerika-jin desu ka.

Anata wa can be omitted because "ka" indicates a question, and I doubt you'll be asking someone if you yourself are american.

[Skeez]

You are able to learn japanese on your own. I spent a full year on my own teaching myself japanese (pretty vigerously). Then I decided to finally take college courses in the language. I had barely the knowledge that was taught in 101. Although I did know all of the hiragana and katakana, my grammar was horrible. I would not be anywhere near my experience now if I hadn't have taken college courses in Japanese.

My favorite site which I sometimes contribute to is Tae Kim's grammar site, it's great for more casual things and has basic grammar as well!
http://www.guidetojapanese.org/

がんばって！

[Hiryonin]

Well, im my country (The Netherlands that is) you can lern Japanese at home with a course that you take thrue the internet and such. You can lern things at your own speed and wont have any presure. But you can e-mail or call with teachers for questions or so. very handy way to lern Japanese. but maybe a little to expensive for most...

[MistressPookyChan]

If you have that info, can you post the website in the links sticky? it may be helpful for some.

[jRinoA]

Huaaaahhh! I wanna learn japanese too -____________-

Can't learn it here as well, since no japanese classes take place here, and also, I'm in a middle-eastern country where they don't really give much attention to the south-east asian culture...I think T___T..Eh~ I know the basics though :P

[Stryyder]

both of ur answer sound good but i live in california ...and its really hard to find a japanese person here ...and i really doubt there will be any japanese classes here cmon live in LA god!!!!to many crazy ppl



.......:oy: How long have you lived in L.A.? I live in Oxnard (just 60 min. from L.A.) Just about any Community college will have a "Japanese Writing" and "Conversational Japanese" course. As well, you live in a city with 2 MAJOR asian subculture areas. One is Chinatown down on broadway and the other is Little Tokyo around 1st street. That's about as asian as you can get right there.

[King_Shadow89]

Huaaaahhh! I wanna learn japanese too -____________-

Can't learn it here as well, since no japanese classes take place here, and also, I'm in a middle-eastern country where they don't really give much attention to the south-east asian culture...I think T___T..Eh~ I know the basics though :P


I am still learning japanese over the net. Just go to any search enging and type in how to speak and write in japanese. That will help with some parts. I want to go to a college that haves a japanese course but I live in palestine tx and they don't have it.

[Light Buster]

Take a college class. Learning on your own will not help your pronunciation or listening comprehension much. Also, being in a classroom setting will help motivate you (as you're being graded) and will help retain more of the language because you'll be using it ALL THE TIME.
If they ever had any. Oh, to answer the thread, just say what they are saying and then try to keep it in your head.

[ieie]

Mastering a foreign language today is very important. Many people are studying some other language except their mother tongue. I also want to learn foreign language very much. Especially want to learn English (http://www.abroadlanguages.com), Sprachaufenthalte (http://www.esl.com) or Italian. But I have no idea which to learn easily or convenient. So I hope someone can give me some suggestions. Any help would be much appreciated!

[Eskar]

To listen to audio-lessons in your player, I think...
Or to watch movies with overvoice - that was comfortable for me to learn English that way.

[Ertai87]

Oh, to answer the thread, just say what they are saying and then try to keep it in your head.

This is sometimes very dangerous, especially with certain Shounen anime (Naruto, Bleach come quickly to mind). In Japanese, because there are a million and one ways to say anything, you want to make sure you use the right vocabulary in a given situation so you don't, for example, call the CEO of the company you work for "omae" (my understanding, although I'm not Japanese, is that this would probably constitute reason for firing on the spot).

(for those learning, "omae" is one of the many, many, MANY second-person singular pronouns, i.e. "you", except it's very rude to say to someone in a higher class than you...usually, or so I understand, it's safe to use "anata" almost always and "kimi" amongst your peers, but "omae" is usually reserved for people you don't like very much)

[Exquiro]

:O Lucky lucky gets taught by Capernicus. I'm jealous >.< I've been thinking about getting Japanese lessons for a while... Problem: I'm poor. So then my sister goes and gets them. Why is it that life has this funny way of biting me in the backside?

[LavaBug]

never use omae for persons you don't know...and unless you are sure it's ok...
can use it to be rude, you might also use it when you are very close friend with someone (as is my understanding)...
Anyway anata is the best way to talk to persons that are completely strangers...
If you know the name or the postition of a person (like chief, sektion chief, teacher senior/junior) you address them with their title and not with their name or with anata...
Also using grammar from certain anime will get you a "d" or worse in most classes...

[dragon_nataku]

*rubs temples*

What I keep seeing in this thread: "Learn from anime! hurr hurr!"

DO NOT DO THIS!

Most anime uses incredibly casual Japanese language, sometimes rude language, and lots and lots of slang. NOT the best way to learn, especially if you have any inkling of the "hierarchy" in Japanese society (i.e., you use different language depending on whom you are speaking to).

Let me give you an example, the different "levels" of how to say "___ is reading a book," from most formal to least formal and rude:

hon wo oyomi ni natte irasshaimasu (most formal and polite)
dokusho wo nasatte irasshaimasu (next level down)
dokusho wo shite irasshaimasu (next level)
dokusho wo shite imasu OR hon wo yonde imasu (neutral and formal)
dokusho wo shite iru OR hon wo yonde iru (informal)
hon wo yondeagaru (super-informal and rude)

As you can see, there are maaaaany many levels of politeness in the Japanese language, and anime usually only ever uses the last two or three levels (yes, there are some characters who use super-polite speech, but they are rare and far in between). So unless you want someone thinking you're pretty rude, DO NOT copy anime. :banghead: <-- people who say "learn Japanese from anime" make me want to do this. ^-__-^;;

Your best bet (after you *ahem* learn how to speak English properly *ahem ahem*) is to take a class. And if you have "all F's" as you have previously stated, then I honestly don't think you have the dedication it takes to learn any non-native (to you) language, let alone one as complex as Japanese.

People give me headaches...

[Ertai87]

*rubs temples*

What I keep seeing in this thread: "Learn from anime! hurr hurr!"

DO NOT DO THIS!

Most anime uses incredibly casual Japanese language, sometimes rude language, and lots and lots of slang. NOT the best way to learn, especially if you have any inkling of the "hierarchy" in Japanese society (i.e., you use different language depending on whom you are speaking to).

Let me give you an example, the different "levels" of how to say "___ is reading a book," from most formal to least formal and rude:

hon wo oyomi ni natte irasshaimasu (most formal and polite)
dokusho wo nasatte irasshaimasu (next level down)
dokusho wo shite irasshaimasu (next level)
dokusho wo shite imasu OR hon wo yonde imasu (neutral and formal)
dokusho wo shite iru OR hon wo yonde iru (informal)
hon wo yondeagaru (super-informal and rude)

As you can see, there are maaaaany many levels of politeness in the Japanese language, and anime usually only ever uses the last two or three levels (yes, there are some characters who use super-polite speech, but they are rare and far in between). So unless you want someone thinking you're pretty rude, DO NOT copy anime. :banghead: <-- people who say "learn Japanese from anime" make me want to do this. ^-__-^;;

Your best bet (after you *ahem* learn how to speak English properly *ahem ahem*) is to take a class. And if you have "all F's" as you have previously stated, then I honestly don't think you have the dedication it takes to learn any non-native (to you) language, let alone one as complex as Japanese.

People give me headaches...

Now now, play nice. Anime is useful for some things. For example, I have either directly or indirectly learned a good half of my Japanese vocabulary from anime (from rude words like "urusai" and "omae" to neutral words like "kotoba" and "imi" and nicer words like "suki" and "ai"), so you can't say that it's 100% useless for learning the language. However, you are right in that you should not use it as your *only* means of learning the language, because you can get yourself in a lot of trouble that way.

[ameterasu_sunny]

My friend and I are trying to learn on our own, but it seems that we don't have the right motivation (we also have other schoolwork to do- keeping up an A average in an AP class is hard) our university has a Japanese course, so we're going to take the classes and do our best.

[MistressPookyChan]

I agree that anime isn't always the best when learning Japanese for the first time, but after you have the basics down, it is actually a good learning tool. The problem that people get into is that when they start learning Japanese by using anime, they pick up too-casual language and odd intonation. If you want to use entertainment, I suggest going with manga first.

[Stryyder]

True enough. I'm about as "american-white-boy" as you get, but even I shuddered at a high school Spanish class. I can give you the biggest problem english speaking people have learning a foreign language: speaking English. It's hard to imagine but the English language is one of the hardest languages to learn and poisons those who speak it as their main language when they are trying to be bilingual. There is no other country where you can have so many different ways of pronouncing 26 simple little letters. In spanish, italian, german or any other latin based language each specific letter has one sound, that's it. None of this "Bomb", "Tomb", "Comb" stuff where 3 seemingly similar words are pronounced TOTALLY different. Same in Hiragana and Katakana. Each syllable is pronounced one way, that's it. Granted you have glottal speaking and diallect intonation in some words, but that is the equivalent of english "accents", such as how an American, British or Australian person would each pronounce the word "Right" slightly differently.

Anyway, stepping down from that soapbox, check your local community colleges, especially the summer courses, and you just might find a good Japanese class. Though it will most likely be either Written Japanese or Spoken Japanese, it is extremely hard to do both in one class.

[kate100]

For me the best way is: www.hesjapanese.com (http://www.hesjapanese.com)

The course layout is very nice. Subscribers receive one-to-one attentions. The annual fee of $23 is more than reasonable for the care subscribers seem to receive. There is many mp3 file and flash games.
And there is free kana lessons.
Very recommendable.

[MistressPookyChan]

Don't just post a random ad in the forum and run away.

[kate100]

I thought, that subject this topic is: "Wats the best method to learn JAPANESE".
What do You mean "run away". It wasn't nice dear Moderator.

Best Regards

[iloveyoux]

if you would really like to learn japanese seriously, i suggest maybe getting a friend (fluent in japanese of course :3 ) to help you. :DD

[Datenshi]

I'm far from qualified, but if I were to offer my opinion the following are probably pretty important.

Mastering your native tongue. (This is actually harder than it sounds *coughwat=whatcough*.) If you are an English speaker, chances are you will learn Japanese though English, yes? A firm knowledge of grammatical terms and a good vocabulary in your native tongue can be very helpful tools in tackling a foreign language.

Building a strong background in the basics. Deviation from the norm is witty only when it's a purposeful deviation. When the deviation is the norm I think that's only being inappropriate.

As for the "Learning Japanese from Anime" debate, I have a question. Why only anime?

I know more often than not a lot of people's first (if not only) contact with Japanese was through anime, but keep in mind that anime targets a very small and distinctive audience, even in Japan (where I live, anime only airs after midnight or early morning, and even that's only a few times a week), so restricting yourself to that particular media will definitely result in a warped knowledge of the language and the culture. It's like if I learned English through Snoop Dogg (did I get that right?). I think the idea would get a lot less cooler once I step out of Japan and into an American classroom.

Although as I said above I'm a firm believer in mastering the basics before learning more relaxed language, I can't quite deny the merits of learning from what you love. I think I learned more of my English vocabulary through stuff like Bailey School Kids, Goosebumps, and Calvin and Hobbes than any English class ("mom, what does 'cooties' mean?").

So what I meant to say was, it's great if you can open your world a bit more. As no few amount of people in this thread have suggested, acquire a penpal. Or even read a book with pictures, watch a movie or some soap opera (I assure you there's not lack of those and the target audience is much wider, and at least the adults in it talk like real people), listen to some music other than J-pop and read the lyric sheets. This is the 21st century, for Godssakes, and there's always Amazon, is there not?

[Orca]

both of ur answer sound good but i live in california and everybody speaks spanish and english and its really hard to find a japanese person here theres only philipeens,laocian(laos), and vietnamese(veitnam)....sry i really dont know how to spell it but u get the message and almost every azn here is a gangbanger or crack head sum of them r cool but even they dont know anyone japanese and i really doubt there will be any japanese classes here cmon live in LA god!!!!to many crazy ppl


isnt that the truth. =o no japanese here inless there mixed with either white or filipino. haha. its funny really. and most likely being in California gives you the worst chances to learn japanese mostly due to being poopulated with mexicans so spanish would be heard more often than anything else.. y'know what i mean?

[Ertai87]

I know more often than not a lot of people's first (if not only) contact with Japanese was through anime, but keep in mind that anime targets a very small and distinctive audience, even in Japan (where I live, anime only airs after midnight or early morning, and even that's only a few times a week), so restricting yourself to that particular media will definitely result in a warped knowledge of the language and the culture. It's like if I learned English through Snoop Dogg (did I get that right?). I think the idea would get a lot less cooler once I step out of Japan and into an American classroom.

That made me think of this (http://www.gaijinsmash.net/archives/my_kids_are_perverted.phtml)

NOTE: NOT WORKSAFE!!!!

And yes, even after reading the first year or so of Gaijin Smash from beginning to end, I do still want to do JET. In fact, that's what made me want to do JET. I'm weird...

@Stryyder: My dad's learning Italian...as far as characters with different sounds in context go (e.g. "bomb", "tomb", etc.), Italian is *much* worse than English. I think my dad said the letter "c" alone has about 8 different pronunciations depending on context.

[-Hikari-]

I agree that anime is certainly not the best way to learn Japanese. I take private Japanese lessons, and I think that if you want to learn to write Japanese, the Internet is an ok source, while professional books from book stores are much more reliable and useful. If you want to speak Japanese, although learning from anime isn't entirely incorrect, you'll make quite a lot of errors, and in Japan, those errors might just cause you lots of embarrasement.
Japanese has lots of respectful/nonrespectful words, and many of the words are said based on the rank of the person you're talking to. So although you can learn basic vocab from anime, it's not at all reliable. And you should check with someone to make sure it's right to say something in a certain situation before you start saying it to everyone. Sometimes making rank-based errors in Japan can greatly and seriously offend someone.

[Knuffle Bunny]

Just by watching animes with english subtitles can be helpful, but it won't do you much good if you don't put your heart into learning the language.

I learned Japanese on my own, starting with numbers and romanji. And then my friend subscribed to a variety of different Japanese chick magazines which helped me learn Kanji, and that was definately a tremendous help. Always learn by something you enjoy. I normally don't read chick mgas, but japanese chick mags are so much more interesting.

As long as you maintain in interest in learning the language, you could probably succeed. Also, use the language as often as you can. If you've every tried to expand your vocabulary for the SAT x3, many of the books suggest you learn a few words a day and use them where ever and whenever you can.

Living in an english society and trying to learn a language tha no one speaks and be very difficult. having someone to compete against, is also very helpful. This way, you're not alone.

[MistressPookyChan]

Actually, I would recommend not using English subtitles. Because all you will be doing is translating instead of actually thinking in Japanese. When my students ask me for advice, I always recommend listening and reading in the same language. It is really more effective.