Japanese Self Study
 

Right now I'm in a beginners Japanese class, but I'd like to take some self study steps to reinforce what I learn in class. I'm able to read Hiragana and know some basic grammar and vocabulary. I still don't know Katakana (besides how to spell my name) or Kanji.

Basically, this thread is about methods and resources that you can use to self study in order to improve speaking, reading, writing, etc. Obviously I'm not going to provide any because I'm the one asking. :D I don't think there's a topic about this already.

Well, there is the "Japanese Language Resources" sticky thread at the top of this sub-forum which contains alot of links to very useful sites, but if your looking for people to suggest what you should do then i would suggest learn the katakana and read through Tae Kim's Japanese guide to Japanese grammar when you have the time :)

Check out Live Mocha. Google it. They teach you lessons, make you translate sentences, and then they make you speak out loud via microphone or headset. native speakers of the language rate your grammar and pronunciations. You can make flash card sets for yourself and find a study buddy language partner. And you're encouraged to rate the grammar and pronunciations of people learning English.

All for FREEEEEE! ^.^

There's always the Berlitz software, which I usually suggest for anyone self learning.

But the free method suggested by Gaki kinda' trumps it in price.

if you have a nintendo ds get "my japanese coach" it's helping me a lot
and i'm in my 3rd year of japanese

A friend of mine actually suggested the same thing. It's making me think I should drop a few for a used DS and snag a copy of it.

I reccomend it

I also studied hard my first 2 years
because i felt compelled to try harder lol

well actually it kinda got stuck in my head lol

I have My japanese Coash too. It's pretty thourough. But don't use it alone. Buy lots of books, read Japanese learning/grammar sites, use your DS, download language software, get a dictionary, and use many sources to study. Some books cover what other's don't. It's never a waste to re-read lessons on grammar that you already know. Practice, repetition, and real-life usage are all important.

There are two keys to learning Japanese - varied sources and practice. Do research on good sources. There's a great thread chock full of them here, and Tofugu has a good list of free sites. Once you have just a little grammar down, start practicing. Even just a few sentences a day. It all helps.

ANYTHING POSSIBLE PRETTY MUCH!