Quote:
Originally Posted by steven
I think that MMM's important post was overlooked by some people in this topic.
It all depends on what your goal is in learning Japanese. If you want to learn how to read and write Japanese, your method should be a lot different than listening and speaking.
I think it also depends on what level of Japanese you are on at the moment. There'd be no point in learning kanji or a bunch of words when you can barely put a sentence together.
One more thing-- and this is what I beleive. I think that as a learner you can't ignore one or the other. Eventually you will have to face reading/writing or listening/speaking. Practicing reading and writing will help solidify what you do know as well as provide a source for more complex material (as not many people go into hard topics in everyday conversation). Practicing listening/speaking helps you communicate, which provides a good source for... inspiration I guess. Above that, listening is a big source for massive amounts of input. To get that kind of input by reading alone would be quite a feat. However, the input is markedly different.
In otherwords, before making too many investments, you migth want to consider your position.
For example, when I was studying Japanese at the beginning of college, I thought about getting an Electric dictionary because I knew I would eventually need one. I held out until I would absolutely need one, and by then a piece of software came out for the DS that was basically what a good electronic dictionary at the time was (maybe fewer vocabulary, but since it was the DS, you could write with it). Instead of paying $500, I paid $50.
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You are saying the good things, but HOW can you learn to speak correct japanese, if you don't even have japanese natives that you know?