Anyone here teach themselves japanese?

[Kgoodrich]

Summer is coming soon and my girlfriend and I are headed to Tokyo this year, I've always been a big fan of the culture and lifestyle out there and I'm mega excited.

Only one problem, I don't speak much japanese, and i'm too poor to go take classes on it.

Has anybody out there taught themselves japanese? If so how?

[Techmonkey]

the Pimsleur audiobook courses are incredible.

Expensive, if you get them the conventional way. but if you're a rotten old soul like me, you can use your initiative, wink wink!

I stopped a while ago to focus on my school studies, which are now consuming my whole life... but back when I was at a more basic level in my education, I found these series of audiobooks fantastic... particularly the Japanese ones!

good luck

[Pacman]

hai!

Well, I'm using instant emersion software and audio course. However, in Tokyo you'll find plenty of people who speak english (at least that's what I'm told) - I'll let you know, I'm going there in July!

[Kgoodrich]

yeah, i've heard good things about the pimsleur ones.

will have to check out!

[Marcus Johnson]

Pac's right. Japan, and especially Tokyo, is easier than most countries to get around in without the ability to speak the language. It's fun to know some Japanese when you go, though.

Just remember that old touring musician trick; when you leave the hotel, grab a business card from the front desk, so you can show it to the cabbie when it's time to stumble back to the crib in the wee hours.

[jonathan_matos5]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mO4mJA3MYs

[peterbright]

Have a great trip.

[Kgoodrich]

well it's not so much that i'm trying to learn Japanese to survive out there, I've been to japan before and I know there are a lot of English speakers but I wanted to learn japanese anyways, just trying to crash course before my visit.

[Marcus]

Not to sound overwhelmingly negative, but I cannot imagine how difficult it would be to learn Japanese without the help of a class or at the very least, a teacher.

There are three syllabaries in Japanese. Hiragana, katakana and kanji. At the very least, learning the first two prior to a trip to Japan would be incredibly wise. That way you can read some of the signs that are not in kanji "in case stuff happens."

Also, I visited Tokyo and Yokohama for a month last year and I was told the same thing you were... "a lot of people speak English there!" I simply did not find that to be the case. By the time I went, I had studied Japanese for a year and I was SOL about half the time. Without knowing any spoken Japanese I would imagine that it is incredibly difficult to communicate with many of the people there.

Lastly, you mention that you're poor and yet you're going to Tokyo. Tokyo is remarkably expensive. If you're going to be taking trains about the area, prepare to pay through the nose. Food concerns? I hope you like curry rice and ramen for like $6.00 because that's the cheapest stuff I remember.

[Marcus]

This is the first book I was taught with.

I am just completing the second book by the end of this May.

[Kgoodrich]

Originally Posted by Marcus

Not to sound overwhelmingly negative.

well, you sure as hell f-ed that up

[James Hart]

Originally Posted by Kgoodrich

well, you sure as hell f-ed that up

as someone that has been speaking with the wife about learning the language... I thanks Marcus for the info.

Not currently, but in my recent past I had to email and telecommute with people in Japan. I've been curious to learn the basics of the language ever since.

FWIW: we are looking for local classes to take

[Marcus]

Originally Posted by Kgoodrich

well, you sure as hell f-ed that up

Originally Posted by James Hart

as someone that has been speaking with the wife about learning the language... I thanks Marcus for the info.

Not currently, but in my recent past I had to email and telecommute with people in Japan. I've been curious to learn the basics of the language ever since.

FWIW: we are looking for local classes to take

James, no problem. I am not here to piss on people's ambition, if anything, I was in the exact same boat two years ago. It is not impossible to learn Japanese but at the same time, if I did not have good teachers, I would have been incredibly discouraged.

Japan is a wonderful place and they really treat foreigners nicely but I can't see getting the most out of the trip unless you knew some of the language. There are a lot of really nice places that are in out of the way places that you either need to have someone show you, or know by name to get to. I was lucky that I had someone to show me. After two years of studying, I still do not feel comfortable speaking Japanese (at all).

In any case, no matter what the OP decides, good luck.

edit: by the way, James, if you ever make the trip to Japan, there is this nice boutique bass only store in Shibuya that had a few ERBs last time I went. I was too scared to even try'em but man, they sure were pretty.

[MakiSupaStar]

Originally Posted by Marcus

Not to sound overwhelmingly negative, but I cannot imagine how difficult it would be to learn Japanese without the help of a class or at the very least, a teacher.

There are three syllabaries in Japanese. Hiragana, katakana and kanji. At the very least, learning the first two prior to a trip to Japan would be incredibly wise. That way you can read some of the signs that are not in kanji "in case stuff happens."

Also, I visited Tokyo and Yokohama for a month last year and I was told the same thing you were... "a lot of people speak English there!" I simply did not find that to be the case. By the time I went, I had studied Japanese for a year and I was SOL about half the time. Without knowing any spoken Japanese I would imagine that it is incredibly difficult to communicate with many of the people there.

Lastly, you mention that you're poor and yet you're going to Tokyo. Tokyo is remarkably expensive. If you're going to be taking trains about the area, prepare to pay through the nose. Food concerns? I hope you like curry rice and ramen for like $6.00 because that's the cheapest stuff I remember.

There's a lot of cheap stuff. You can go into the local seven eleven and find a couple of really full filling pastries (talking cheese tuna and corn, or pizza style stuff) for 3.50. I didn't find Tokyo that expensive for food. Getting around town and everything else is really expensive. You can also find cheap curry and rice, noodles, or katsu-don (pork n rice type of dish) for less that 5 bucks. Dinners are very expensive though. But as Marcus says, you should learn the characters. Hiragana, Katagana are fine, but seriously, you're screwed with some basic Kanji too. Learn some of the common ones like "to" for person (kind of looks like and atari symbol minus the middle prong) and few that mean station and stuff like that. Tokyo is pretty good with the english subtitles though. I'll be there in a month or so. Not tokyo though.

As far as learning the language, your best bet to make friends with someone that talks japanese. I have surfing buddies that are japanese. But my wife also speaks it too. My surfing buddies teach me how to say things like a man not like a chick. Alpha male intonations and stuff.

[Marcus]

I'unno, Maki... conbini food is cheap for a reason

[Dig Wilbur Ware]

Originally Posted by MakiSupaStar

As far as learning the language, your best bet to make friends with someone that talks japanese. I have surfing buddies that are japanese. But my wife also speaks it too. My surfing buddies teach me how to say things like a man not like a chick. Alpha male intonations and stuff.

Well said. There's nothing like immersion to get beyond textbook level.

[casualmadness]

I learned a lot of Japanese when studying Wado-Ryu. I trained for about five years in a dojo where all commands/instructions were given in Japanese. However, all of the instructors, including the head Sensei, were white guys. So who knows how accurate it was. Anyway, I'm learning Farsi at the moment. I'm using Rosetta Stone and I find it to be very good at teaching the language. You can get all thre volumes for $500. Pretty cheap considering how much info is there.

[MakiSupaStar]

Originally Posted by casualmadness

I learned a lot of Japanese when studying Wado-Ryu. I trained for about five years in a dojo where all commands/instructions were given in Japanese. However, all of the instructors, including the head Sensei, were white guys. So who knows how accurate it was. Anyway, I'm learning Farsi at the moment. I'm using Rosetta Stone and I find it to be very good at teaching the language. You can get all thre volumes for $500. Pretty cheap considering how much info is there.

A friend of mine did Rosetta Stone and it is pretty good. I'm much better at listening and understanding than he is, but he's probably better at speaking than me.

[cheesemonkey]

I taught myself some japanese. (Idiots guide to series). I didn't get to far and i forgot most of it being how i started trying to learn around the same time i got put in a spanish class and i couldn't juggle learning the two.