Studying Japanese in college

[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

[MMM]

Most people who start studying Japanese 101 will have very little or no background, so go for it.

Your teacher will show you how to promounce Rs, and no, just using L is not acceptable. It sounds very foreign.

[biohazardchick]

Yea I don't think you'll have so much of a problem, especially if you are willing to put a lot of effort into it, like you said! It might help to take a summer class or something like in Japanese or even just print out hiragana or katakana booklets and be familiar with the characters and how to write them.
I took 2 years so far of Japanese in high school and am planning on taking it again in my upcoming junior year.

[filiadragongurl]

I started Japanese in college with no background (except the random Japanese phrases I picked up here and there by watching anime too much...) and I stuck with it all 4 years. I'm still not fluent, but I'm doing pretty well. Anyway, it's more the program at the college you go to vs the background you have that's important.

By the way, I *do* recommend watching a lot of anime or somehow otherwise listening to a lot of japanese. It makes class more like "oh yeah, I've heard that before, so now I get it!" which I think is really useful, especially in the beginning. And even if you don't actually pick up words, you get used to the sound and intonation of the language, which is half the battle right there.

Good luck!

[MrDrEsq]

im going to have to go ahead and agree with the fact that you need to be exposed to as much of the language as possible. Much less entertaining, but watching the news every night is helpful- but japan has a whole world of media and you don't need to confine yourself to anime. I.e. soap operas are nice too, and expose you to, ummm, emotional japanese.

another thing you might want to be aware of is that for an english speaker, japanese is going to take you twice as long as, ohhhhhh say, french. so don't be surprised when what you are learning in your 4th year Japanese class is comparable to your 2nd year french class. try not to get bummed out.

also, good luck with the two languages thing, but you ever hear "chase two rabbits, catch neither"?

[Payne222]

Originally Posted by filiadragongurl

I started Japanese in college with no background (except the random Japanese phrases I picked up here and there by watching anime too much...) and I stuck with it all 4 years. I'm still not fluent, but I'm doing pretty well. Anyway, it's more the program at the college you go to vs the background you have that's important.

By the way, I *do* recommend watching a lot of anime or somehow otherwise listening to a lot of japanese. It makes class more like "oh yeah, I've heard that before, so now I get it!" which I think is really useful, especially in the beginning. And even if you don't actually pick up words, you get used to the sound and intonation of the language, which is half the battle right there.

Good luck!

Although it IS good to hear how native speakers talk.
I don't necessarily think just anime is the right way to do it.
You might start saying 「ってばよ！！」 at the end of every sentence.
I mean, use anime, yes.
But also use stuff like music and real Japanese movies and television.

[Nathan]

In terms of music, keep in mind that many J-Rock songs don't really use proper grammar, and sometimes nonsense sentences.

So use it as a reference for listening practice, yes, but maybe not rely on it for full sentence structures.

[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.

[drummachick]

After I finish my music degree I plan on doing the Asian Studies- Japan (BA). You should be a few semesters in by then and I'd love to hear how you are enjoying the program. You'll be a senpai of sorts! Hehehe. Hopefully you will have some good stories and advise for me when I start. Good luck!

[james1254]

Originally Posted by Payne222

Although it IS good to hear how native speakers talk.
I don't necessarily think just anime is the right way to do it.
You might start saying 「ってばよ！！」 at the end of every sentence.
I mean, use anime, yes.
But also use stuff like music and real Japanese movies and television.

Yes but watch out for perios dramas degozaru