Easiest way of learning Japanese kana?

[Fassa Albrecht]

OK I've decided to learn some basic Japanese so I can read manga.

What's the easiest way of learning the kana? I'm finding it difficult to switch between katakana and hiragana...

I find stuff like flashcards close to useless too....

Any help?

[MakiSupaStar]

There are three sets of characters. Hirogana is the phonetic sounds of the Japanese alphabet. Katagana is the phonetic sounds applied to words incorporated into the Japanese lexicon from other languages. Then there is kanji. These are the Chinese characters used within the Japanese language. Kanji is difficult. Even Japanese people have to look up characters everynow and then. You will see all three in Manga. Good luck.

[Fassa Albrecht]

I've got the 'Manga University' set of books...

[Marcus]

I highly recommend taking a course if it is at all possible. I am afraid that just being able to read hiragana/katakana will not be sufficient in understanding manga.

If you are not able to take a course, most colleges and universities in the United States use Genki: An Integrated Course in Japanese I for 101/102 levels and Genki: An Integrated COurse in Japanese II for 203/24 levels. At my school specifically, the last level of Japanese offered is Intermediate and the book that was used was An Integrated Approach to Intermediate Japanese.

Each of those books have proven to be tremendously valuable in aiding my learning. Lastly, I would suggest picking up A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar. It is a great resource.

Good luck.

[Tsal]

I'd think the best way to learn to read Japanese is learning to write it - this was my experience when I studied Russian, too.

There's some software available, for example for Nintendo DS, but also some stand-alone devices, where you write the letters on the touchscreen. The cheaper option is pen and paper.. There might be some practice books available.

[MJ5150]

Rosetta Stone?

-Mike

[armywalaby]

Originally Posted by MJ5150

Rosetta Stone?

-Mike

I don't think Rosetta Stone has a Japanese edition, do they?

[Munjibunga]

Originally Posted by armywalaby

I don't think Rosetta Stone has a Japanese edition, do they?

Sure they do.

[techall]

MakiSupaStar is corrct on this. Even if you memorize the pronunciation of Hirakana and Katakana you will be able to sound out the words but all you will get is japanese and bastardized pronunciation of english words. You won't understand what it says unless you study japanese language.

[TheDarkReaver]

Originally Posted by MJ5150

Rosetta Stone?

-Mike

To the British Museum!

[Disco_Gee]

Originally Posted by techall

MakiSupaStar is corrct on this. Even if you memorize the pronunciation of Hirakana and Katakana you will be able to sound out the words but all you will get is japanese and bastardized pronunciation of english words. You won't understand what it says unless you study japanese language.

True. You'll be able to read parts of the books, but you won't have any idea what's going on.

[Pacman]

As an English speaker living in Japan, trust me when I tell you - Japanese is HARD! Shoot for conversational, unless you really want to put in years of study to read and write it.

[Vorago]

Ehm, even if you know what the characters sound like, it still will mean nothing to you if you don't speak Japanese.

[MakiSupaStar]

Originally Posted by Vorago

Ehm, even if you know what the characters sound like, it still will mean nothing to you if you don't speak Japanese.

Yep.

[Lady Kayri]

Best kanji dictionary is probably Nelson's. I studied Japanese for several years so I could understand some of the manga and anime I loved (this was before it was being commercially translated - we're talking 1980's and early 1990's...I wrote some articles for US and UK 'zines on shows like Samurai Troopers, RG Veda, St. Seiya, Borgman...) and I have a slew of Japanese language books I can mail out to you - rather send them to someone I know will have a use for them than leave them in storage.... Pat

[Lady Kayri]

Whoops - PM if you'd like me to mail the books out to you. They ARE all about 20 years old, though.... Pat

[Fassa Albrecht]

Originally Posted by Marcus

I highly recommend taking a course if it is at all possible. I am afraid that just being able to read hiragana/katakana will not be sufficient in understanding manga.

If you are not able to take a course, most colleges and universities in the United States use Genki: An Integrated Course in Japanese I for 101/102 levels and Genki: An Integrated COurse in Japanese II for 203/24 levels. At my school specifically, the last level of Japanese offered is Intermediate and the book that was used was An Integrated Approach to Intermediate Japanese.

Each of those books have proven to be tremendously valuable in aiding my learning. Lastly, I would suggest picking up A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar. It is a great resource.

Good luck.

I'm planning to take a class at a local college but the next intake isn't until the end of February.

I'm going to go to my uni languages department and see if I can get some book recommendations too.

[Marcus]

Originally Posted by Fassa Albrecht

I'm planning to take a class at a local college but the next intake isn't until the end of February.

I'm going to go to my uni languages department and see if I can get some book recommendations too.

Best of luck to you! Again, I recommend the Genki series as it is used widely in Japanese courses throughout the United States. It is a fairly user-friendly book as well.

[benthughes]

So Serbian is out?

I would personally make a Japanese friend who could read it to me. I personally find the female voice to be aurally pleasing.

[Fassa Albrecht]

Originally Posted by benthughes

So Serbian is out?

I would personally make a Japanese friend who could read it to me. I personally find the female voice to be aurally pleasing.

I'm still learning Serbian, but it's taken a backseat pretty much because I can't get study materials.