Quote:
Originally Posted by bjpenn
Hi all,
Please kindly help me with this, it could be helpful to others too.
If you are a first timer in Japan, what phrases and words would you recommend to memorize, especially to survive in these scenarios:
1. in kombinis, they always ask you something when you buy something.
2. during taking a leave from japan, in the airport, they ask window or aisle in japanase, what did they say exactly and how do you answer them...also what did they say in the immigration and customs?
3. when checking in hotel, what would they say to you (and how to answer them 
4. how did you learn to read kanji? do you have a secret?
That's it for now...you can add as many helpful phrases as you want. The problem we have especially who dont travel much is sometimes we arent quite sure what to learn, but we want to show some respect by learning the language and culture of the land we set foot on (and it's in our self-interest to survive)
arigatou gozaimasu. |
1. It's probably whether you have a point card or something. I don't remember being asked something ever.
2. I've only been through twice, so I sure don't know.
3. No idea, again.
4. I learned to read kanji by flashcarding like a madman, and also by reading a lot. And writing them a lot.
But recently (since I'm not in Japan and having to hand-write Japanese documents) I stopped learning to write them. Instead, I decided just to cram as many as possible into my brain for me to read.
Using a combination of "Kanji in Context" (the best book on kanji learning, unfortunately out of print and now expensive online IIRC) and Anki to flashcard them. I've noticed a very dramatic increase in my literacy. I am getting to the point where I can pick up a Japanese document and almost completely read it.
I recently started translating Japanese wikipedia articles on Japanese actors/actresses into English when there's no English WP article (I wanted every link in the English "Sanshiro Sugata" page to link to a working article, including for the actors).
While doing this, I've realized I can read it fairly easily now, after only two to three months of intense work. I'd say I've increased my vocabulary by 2,000 words or so, and about 300 completely new-to-me kanji.
Learning kanji is basically
1. rote memorization; and
2. intense study.
There is no shortcut. You get what you put into it. I'm putting at least an hour into it every day, just studying kanji. It's paying huge dividends.