How did you learn Japanese?

[Wahahanihongo]

Hey all My name is Nikolay. I am currently working in Japan at a Japanese school called Wahaha Japanese language school(Yep thats it's name).
I would like to open this post for all who are considering studying Japanese but don't know how. People who studied not in Japan are also welcome! this way people might be more aware of where or how to start learning by themselves!

So, If you have/had or going to study Japanese:

1. Where was it?
2. How long was it?
3. How was it?

Feel free to add any other.

-Mine is called FFLC Japanese language school. And Wahaha Japanese language school in Fukuoka - Japan.
-It has been over a year now at FFLC and just a bit at Wahaha.
-FFLC had a good start but now when I want a high level of Japanese they are kinda bad... Wahaha Is a small school that has only 2 or 3 students so its much easier to study high level Japanese.

And just wanted to add that JAPAN is freakin' awesome!

[MLP_Trixie69]

can i study this at home?

[Delisi]

I've learned all my Japanese online. (Well, still in progress.)

I got introduced to this site called Memrise and took it from there.
So far, I usually going on for about 45 minutes per day. You can set goals for yourself, depending on how fast you want to learn the language.
I think it was a pretty fun experience, although there were days I really didn't want to do it, still strived towards my goal and got results.

[Meroty]

I've learned all my Japanese online. (Well, still in progress.)

I got introduced to this site called Memrise and took it from there.

Awesome website. Thank you for sharing! ahahah =D

[Grain]

I study Japanese by myself using the internet. When I started getting serious I basically used Tae Kim's grammar guide combined with the old All Japanese All The Time method, before he monetized the website so much it became unreadable. I used jisho.org plus a Japanese word frequency list to mine sentences, before jisho.org changed its format and became unreadable. I want to try the Glossika Japanese sentence pack, but I've been too lazy to get around to it.

This is basically what I did.

http://www.alljapaneseallthetime.com...-sentences-how
http://japaneselevelup.com/8-years-o...ese-with-anki/
http://www.guidetojapanese.org/learn/grammar

I didn't use Remembering the Kanji.

[duo02]

1.At home
2.Ongoing
3.Fun

Rosseta stone to the rescue!

[Reshad]

naturally xD... lol cuz im a japanese

[鏡花水月]

first of all, hi. New to the forums

my 2 cents on the topic:

I strong believe that there is a 'limit' towards learning a foreign language if we use our natural tongue as an 'intermediate'.
I believe that if you really wants to learn a language, you will need to be able to convert your thoughts directly into that language (without passing through your natural tongue) Unfortunately, this is not very easy for a non-native speaker. If we get (too) used to always converting through our natural tongue, the I think the 'better' we get at that, the harder it is to drop the (bad) habit.

I have tried to learn japanese language through resources like websites and books etc as well. But the progress is really slow. (not to say these resources are not useful, just perhaps I did not have the right approach, or the discipline to make these resources work for me)

In the end, it wasn't until I enrolled in a japanese language school that I begin to make some progress in learning the language.
The tutors there teach in japanese (assisted with simple english. The tutor I had was a native speaker from Japan whose english proficiency is ... eh.. well.. similar to my level of japanese proficiency at that time... which is good thing, because I had no choice but to pick up japanese fast to keep up with the course )

I did not complete the whole course (which eventually leads up to JLPT1. stopped around the time we are introduced to 敬語, so I am weak in that area), but the basics are enough to allow me to continue 'learning' by reading simple literature, or watching drama/anime (reducing dependence on subtitles).　I did not have much chances to use it otherwise. (hopefully, joining this community could offer more such opportunities?)

My current 'worry' is that my japanese, now heavily influenced by popular fiction/media, is probably not that proper/standard/everyday (e.g. language in drama/anime are often exaggerated, or have deliberately added quirks). (変な癖が付いてないのか、正直自信がないんです。多分、日本の方からが見ると、「ああ、なんか変な日本語 だ」と言うそうです（笑）)

lastly, closing off with an old-fashion
よろしくお願いします
<(_ _)>

[tetrix1993]

I started learning Japanese in 2012 in one of my optional modules in my polytechnic. After completing the module, I began study the language by myself through online and studying materials. I used Tae Kim's website that also had an Android version which I downloaded it to my phone so that I can read and study wherever and whenever I am. I downloaded a Japanese dictionary app on my phone so that I can quickly find the definitions.

I then found out about JLPT (Japanese Language Proficiency Test). This led me to purchase Japanese study materials from local bookstore, and using the proficiency level as a benchmark, I studied for that particular level.

I think studying Japanese is easy for me because my native language is Chinese, so Kanji is a breeze. The only difficult part is the grammar and the honorary/humble language, which is a pain for me.

I am now able to recognize and understand most Japanese sentence and conversations, but I am not confident in speaking, because I am heavily influenced by anime where the characters do not always use polite language all the time. And I have not been conversing in Japanese since I took lessons in 2012. I am also not confident in writing Japanese. (Partly because the JLPT does not have an oral and essay component)

[Ai-no-Miko]

I first started "learning" Japanese at home when I tried to self teach myself with a Japanese phrase book. I didn't get very far. My first serious experience learning was in high school when I started taking classes in grade nine; I completed all the way through to grade twelve. After that I took first year Japanese for both semesters in university. I've still got all my work and books kicking around the house somewhere and need to pull them out again one day, I am so sorely out of practice though I am not sure I would be able to retain anything anymore

[Knate]

I started learning Japanese before I studied there as a college student, because I didn't want to be completely lost upon arrival! Didn't get too far on my own at home, but I attended a J language school before departing that helped quite a bit. Never become reliant on romaji!!

[animeme420]

I learned how to speak Japanese here, i think it helped a lot: http://goo.gl/zcM9Bl

[kaufen]

Japanese is not too difficult to learn but It does take a lot of motivation and practice to successfully learn the language. The best way to learn Japanese is by taking a class, enrolling in a course or investing in a good textbook. If you can't take classes then the self-study method with the correct resources is a good way.

The key to learning Japanese effectively is to work on your grammar, listening, speaking, reading and writing. Its best to think of these as separate categories and focus on each specific category as these require different methods and techniques.

Start by learning the basics through grammar. These books really helped me.

• Shin Nihongo no Kiso I & II
http://japan-australia.blogspot.com/2011...

• An Introduction to Modern Japanese by Osamu Mizutani & Nobuko Mizutani
http://japan-australia.blogspot.com/2011...

• Japanese Demystified by Eriko Sato a self-teaching guide
http://japan-australia.blogspot.com/2011...

These books cover both polite Japanese, which is extremely important to learn in order to speak Japanese effectively and causal Japanese, which is great for everyday conversations.

I also recommend trying to learn a certain amount of vocab or kanji each day as this helps you build up your vocab and kanji ability. I tried to learn 5 kanji per day or about 20 a week and did the same with vocab.

Watching Japanese anime or any Japanese TV program is a good idea for improving your listening skills and also your vocabulary. Keep a notebook and jot down any new words you hear. Then look them up and find out the meaning.

Websites are not always the best way to learn Japanese. Most websites are run by people with no teaching credentials and are not even native speakers of Japanese. Some of them are just interested in making money and not in helping you in what you need to be successful in learning Japanese.

[yomuzoku]

Anyone can learn it at home through an awesome online tool for learning Japanese i.e Yomuzoku. It is an online Japanese course that helps the Japanese language learners to get familiar with hard and complicated words and sentences through its patented interface screen. It contains a large database of sentences to help you build vocabulary with Japanese easily.

[comprar]

College and native/heritage speaking friends.

I just finished my last proper Japanese language course, and I still would probably starve to death in a remoter village in Japan.

If I can score a study-abroad scholarship, I should learn more through that--maybe enough to test into JLPT 1. Right now, I could pass the JLPT 3 test.

Anime, songs, movies, and books are as about as effective of learning tools as pocky and ramune are.

[solarbeam32]

Just be note if you're trying to learn Japanese by yourself (without any tutor), learning from stuffs like manga, LN, and anime is good and all but you won't even find some of their vocabulary being used on the real world. Vice versa, I have taken JLPT N1 which has around 10000 potential vocabulary in it, but I still had trouble reading some LN, to the point that I have to remember another 8000 words which I rarely see in daily life.

[bendelsohn]

I just spent a long-donkey time doing it, and watched a ton of anime at the same time. I took Japanese classes in high school from Freshmen to Senior year, then two more years in college and finally studied abroad in Japan after that. The anime, as dumb as it sounds, actually really helped. I noticed that a lot of the same words and phrases got used in different anime (i.e "絶対に、君を守るぞ！" "ここで死ぬわけにはいかない！") and I started to remember their meaning. It also helped a lot with learning the accent, which at this point is something I'm pretty proud of.

[Ghdf]

When I was 15 or so, I discovered this one japanese Song called "Perfect Day" by supercell and well I instantly became interested in Japanese so I bought myself a little book for studying Hiragana and Katakana and after that i just used both books and online websites for studying.
Since I learned latin in school the japanese grammar was like heaven for me (everybody who studied Latin would probably agree) and well now I'm going to Japan next year.
So yeah basicly the reason why I started learning Japanese was because of this one song (and I also was pretty bored at that time too )

[NERVagent]

3 years of Japanese in college, then living in Japan for 7 years.

[Nephthys]

So when I was a wee young lass, I placed in a magnet program. The year you entered school dictated the language that you would be learning for the next five years. I got Japanese. I only studied it for four years though because the teacher picked my last year to go back to Japan and the course would no longer be offered. I was around the age of 5-9 and this took place in Savannah, GA. I will tell you this much its true that if you don't use language you lose it. Even if its your native tongue. So practice people. I also think the best way to learn is through direct instruction that way you can avoid my mistake of speaking Japanese but being completely illiterate.

[Lost247365]

私は七年ぐらいに日本語を勉強していますが、二年間ぐらいだけに真面目にでしょう。大体にguidetoj apanese.orgとhumanjapaneseで学んでいたけど、今imabi.netに始めました 習っています。

其れに、jisho.orgで新しい語彙と漢字を探す。大抵、毎読みに一つ言葉を見つけてみる。最近、アニ メとゲームの歌を翻訳してみています。

この全てのくせに、私の日本語は未だにとても悪い。

I have been trying to study Japanese for about 7 years; but I have only seriously for the last two years or so. Mostly, I have been learning in the context of guidetojapanese.org and humanjapanese. However, as of now I have just started studing at imabi.net.

In addition to this, I search for new vocabulary and kanji from Jisho.org. Usually, for every reading I try to find one word. Most recently, I have been trying to translate anime and game songs.

Despite all of this, my Japanese is still pretty bad.

[coolwat]

Hi! My experience is this. I visited Japan once. I started studying as a tourist. Later when I came back, I was combining new technology and old school. For example, I used the app. dr. Moku for self-education and used a personal loan from GetCashNGo to study with a teacher (from $150/hr). Later it became clear that the acquired skill must be constantly applied. For example, in new York, you can visit Japanese clubs. It's atmospheric and beautiful. For example, The Nippon Club or Japan Society.

[Akiosama]

I would add to the suggestions above the following additional resources - The Japan Times three book series of Japanese Grammar Dictionaries, and a Japanese-to-Japanese dictionary.

The Japan Times books, while not always the easiest to use, are a great resource as they break down many Japanese grammar points very specifically, including differentiation of grammatical rules that pertain to spoken Japanese vs written Japanese, a facet of the language I didn't realize was as prevalent as it is. They are set up in a Beginner-Intermediate-Advanced sequence, and have some good topics explained outside the individual entries as well that are more all-encompassing to the language. The two main issues with these books is that they're alphabetized based on romaji spelling of the topic, and that while they're not overly expensive, it may be around $80 for the set used.

A Japanese-to-Japanese dictionary is handy because it defines words in terms that the Japanese themselves use. It also can contain unusual or subtle meanings of words that are often skipped or harder to translate into English. A few issues that I found with the one I use (the iOS app for Sanseido's Kokugo Jiten - 7th Edition) are that the process can be a lot like looking something up online where you start at word a, see word b in the definition, and then look up word b, and see word c...; sometimes the definitions can be circular (i.e., word a's definition is word b, and word b's definition is word a); slang can be harder to find entries for; sometimes you have to look for a different form of a word to find an entry (i.e., the dictionary has an entry for a noun form of a word, but not its verb form); and it does take more time than using a Japanese-to-English dictionary, but I think that it helps the learning process more, and also leads to more accurate mental translations, as sometimes a concept can be understood without being able to put it into words.

[GordonnotRamsay]

Bookmarking this forum. Stopped my online course whenI got into a bad spot. But slowly crawling to study again. Thanks for the links!

[ericepstein1]

Bookmarking this forum. Stopped my online domyhomework4me course when I got into a bad spot. But slowly crawling to study again. Thanks for the links!

That is the saddest think when you study on your own: there's no teacher or tutor or a friend to explain and motivate you on going farther... Anyway, good luck to you!