Quote:
Originally Posted by Swordmaster
Aside from that - I advice against taking language classes in university - especially if you don't have any background.
1) They go rather quickly - if you get left behind, you're done for.
2) There are going to be people in your class that are pretty much fluent in Japanese - if they bell-curve grades, you don't want to be shot down by someone taking it as a joke course (GPA+ course)
3) It doesn't teach to practical Japanese - it's all formalized.
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You are giving categorically the worst advice I have ever seen on JF,
including the people who do incorrect translations.
1. if you get left behind in a university language class, you probably have no ability to learn the language anyway—they do
not move too fast; if anything, they do not push students enough. I spent four years in one of the best Japanese undergrad programs in the US (including one year in Japan) and still did not graduate fluent.
2. So you should value your GPA over actually learning something? Got it. If I had listened to such advice, I'd have graduated with a 4.0 and have worse Japanese than I have now rather than a 3.8 and an upper-advanced level of Japanese knowledge.
3. If you don't take classes, your self-study will be so informal as to be almost worthless. I suppose if you polled the people here, you'd find the best speakers all studied Japanese at university (or were born in Japan). The least skilled are the ones who have read a few websites or watched some anime on their own.