|
|
|
||||
|
||||
|
12-25-2009, 03:10 AM
Quote:
If you're so sure that you, a native English speaker, can learn a language without knowing even the basics, then by all means have a go. If you can do it, then you have proved the impossible. Even Japanese children need to learn their own language (reffering to school teachings) so they can speak and write it properly - and they're as immersed in the language as it gets! I really hope you are a troll, because if not, then I fear for you and the bad name you are giving humanity. Grow up. Please. 
|
|
|
||||
|
||||
|
12-25-2009, 04:35 AM
Yes, we all known Japanese children somehow manage to pick up the Japanese language from newspapers and books... :P
Think about how ridiculous that sounds. A 2 or 3 year old, beginning to speak, staring at a newspaper and sucking information from it. It simply doesn`t work that way. Nor do native speakers learn a language in school in language classes - as is implied with the "an english class with an english book only about english". By the time you had reached that stage, you were already native-fluent in English. Things just needed to be polished. You do not have that background with Japanese. You cannot jump in and expect things to go the same way. If you`re looking to LEARN Japanese, you`re going to have to make up for that other stuff. Immersion is much much more than being surrounded by written materials. If you were looking to improve already advanced Japanese - yes, a newspaper would be a good idea. But it sounds like you are starting from pretty close to zero. I very much doubt your parents tossed you a bunch of newspapers and books - then left you without interaction to pick things up from them when you were learning English. The main component of immersion is interaction - this is why some people who live in Japan but *do not interact* manage to be here for years and years yet never pick up much Japanese. This is also why children who have little or no interaction but who have access to books and television never properly develop communication skills. There are several key components to immersion, but the strongest one is interaction. Unless you have someone who will continually interact with you in Japanese, other components (books in Japanese, newspapers, Japanese television, etc) are not going to be of much help. I agree that immersion is indeed the very best way to learn Japanese - however, unless you are moving to Japan, joining an immersion course, or your family speaks Japanese but just didn`t bother doing so until now... You are not going to learn much at the start from native Japanese materials. But - if you really just want a bunch of Japanese books, magazines, newspapers, etc... I have a pile tied up ready to be tossed next recycling day that I would be willing to send you for the price of shipping.  Whether you would actually LEARN anything from them is another matter...
|
|
|
||||
|
||||
|
12-25-2009, 11:01 PM
I am not sure of OP's level , but the only Japanese books written in Japanese to learn Japanese I can think of to recommend, are those for children, I have a couple of hello kitty "learn the animals", "my first Kanji", "my daily routine" type things.
You need to be able to read hiragana/katakana into English phonetics and have a basic grasp of grammer then can use these books to get a few more nouns,the odd verb, but it is slow, and immersive as may be, not so interesting or engaging because, a Japanese child might like to learn DOG, CAT, TOOTHBRUSH, to point and shout out at things, I myself want to know more useful and interesting words and phrases. I use a combination of Genki/Minna no Nihongo type books, trying to bluff my way through websites looking up bits I don't know on online dictionaries (not whole sentance translators, this hinders you more, unless you are just double-checking yourself) have grammar books and sites I use. Lots of different things, and I have been at it (all be it casually) for years and still can understand about one word in 50 in a newspaper if lucky! Childrens books are the way forward, IMHO if you want Japanese material, then from that build up to adults books then finally onto newspapers across YEARS of study. Kinda hoping OP is trolling about, but it makes you think, how nice would it be if you could just learn "like in the movies" by looking at a few books and newspapers, staring at them and immersing till it all sinks in, pronunciation being learnt from overhearing a couple dozen conversations ..ahh dreams..
|
 |
| Thread Tools | |
|
|
