Studying Japanese in college

[MrDrEsq]

Originally Posted by Nyororin

I say to try and stay away from Japanese media until you have mastered the basics of grammar, and have a fair amount of vocabulary.
It`s much much easier to gain something if you understand the pattern the new word is appearing in, or if you understand a number of the words in a new pattern. Otherwise, you`re simply going to be confused and end up with more frustration than anything else.
It also tends to make people give up far earlier than they should, as it can be very humbling to watch something aimed at kindergartners and not understand more than two words.

Once you *do* have those basic patterns down though, it can be a great confidence booster.

well, if your ego can withstand the assault of kids shows and cartoons, general exposure is useful on a couple levels. for one, i remember when i finished my 4th year and discovered that i could turn the subtitles off (except when they talk about spaceships or vampires or politics), and it is really rewarding to see the transition from absolutely nothing, to something awesome. also, it will give you an idea about how things are supposed to sound- obviously the more you know, the more you're going to get, but im sure some of this takes place at an involuntary level.
lastly, it will give you an idea about whether or not you really want to do this. i've known people who've loved the idea of Japanese but absolutely hated the sound of the language and didn't find this out till it was too late.

[01001100]

Originally Posted by JohnMN

Hi everyone, I will be completing my last year of high school this year, so I am thinking about what I would like to study in college. Right now I'm thinking of the possibility of double-majoring in French and Japanese. I've studied french in school, but not Japanese. I would really like to learn Japanese, however, and I definitely will be willing to put considerable time into doing so. My question is, how difficult will it be for me to start learning Japanese? Is it advisable to study it if I have no background?

Also, another thing that I'm worried about is that I have a lot of trouble pronouncing Japanese "R"s. Is it acceptable to replace an "L" sound with a Japanese R? Is it very noticeable if I do this?

Thank you!

John

Don't major in two languages. If you want to double major then just take one language and one other major you can apply it to like business. Trust me, this will be better for you after you graduate and look for a job. You could always learn Japanese on the side and pass the JLPT (Japanese Language Proficiency Test).

[xxsakuraxx]

I haven't been on here in ages, because of college and exams . I have actually studied Japanese at a night class, just completed the beginners course and got a certificate from my teacher. JohnMN, learning Japanese is really fun, you get to meet new people and learn about traditions -- well that's what happens in my night class, if you're interested, JohnMN, please visit my myspace because I have pictures of my class on.

The reason I picked to learn Japanese was because I used to do karate and heard the numbers, saying thank you as well as goodbye...so I thought why give it a try to expand my learning how to speak other phrases and after starting my night class, I did a charity event at college by speaking the basic greetings and raised £31.50.

I enjoy the anime, manga, J-pop, J-Rock and researching about the culture, if you practice outloud then you get used to saying the words right...hiragana are a little tricky to learn at first, but practice those outloud too and you'll be fine .

Now I'm hoping to go back in September to continue the class, because I promised a friend of mine I would still learn it no matter how difficult it would get...I wouldn't give up on it, a friend from high school who passed away last year in April after having a heart attack at college . Sorry if I made everyone bored with my post, just thought I'd like to share that.

Ganbette JohnMN and let us know if you get on a class .