Free japanese tutor

[biocit]

That's how you might have learned. That's how I learned. Not everyone learns the same way or at the same pace. Even if it means sacrificing their ability to read Japanese people will take the route of least resistance(at the beginning). Like I said, I'll make the later lessons with more advanced users in mind. The beginning is... well, for beginners.

[MMM]

Originally Posted by biocit

That's how you might have learned. That's how I learned. Not everyone learns the same way or at the same pace. Even if it means sacrificing their ability to read Japanese people will take the route of least resistance(at the beginning). Like I said, I'll make the later lessons with more advanced users in mind. The beginning is... well, for beginners.

There is a reason subjects of study are called "disciplines". No matter what, advancement requires and effort from the learner.

I am speaking in general, and not specifically about anything you are doing. But, the question becomes how long is hand-holding helpful, and and what point it is hurtful?

[biocit]

No one is born to be passionate about something--Something HAS to click. Learning romaji is not something that hinders someone from achieving an end result. Like I said, not everyone learns the same way. While it may be traditional to learn the kanas first, it does not mean it's the only way. There's no study saying that learning a language through romanized lettering causes someone to never learn that language. Some people will prefer to use romaji in the beginning and some will immediately learn the kanas. Like I said on numerous occasions, this is just for the beginning.

here's a rough example:

You can read a lot of books on ancient languages and most of the books will be "user friendly". Unless it's extremely specialized, the book will always have the romanized system instead of the original alphabet. Is this holding hands? I think it's getting that person to be interested to learn the original alphabet fully.

I read a book on Egyptian hieroglyphics and thought it was very interesting. If the book used just hieroglyphs to talk about Egyptian etymology I would be very turned off by the fact that I can't understand it.

What I'm trying to say is that I am trying to get the reader interested in learning Japanese, and I am not trying to cram their heads with information which will ultimately benefit the user or have them lose interest.

I can create a website that is solely for tried and hardened scholars, or I can create a website for everyone.

[KyleGoetz]

Originally Posted by biocit

It's good that you hold your own opinion, but believe it or not, teachers deal with this everyday. You can't expect everyone in the class to be completely motivated. But, what you can do is nudge them the right way and hope for them to be interested.

general education is forced education. If I can get one person interested in Japanese without them having to dedicate a couple of hours learning kana, then I did my job.

Your job??? So let me get this straight: You force people to go to your website and study Japanese under your tutelage? Because that's what you just said. "Forced education."

If someone goes to your website and asks a question, it's by definition not forced!

[biocit]

Obviously you're misunderstanding me. I STARTED teaching Japanese by teaching my friends. I created this website to teach everyone. There's a huge difference in those crowds.

Now it just feels like I'm being trolled.

[KyleGoetz]

Originally Posted by biocit

No one is born to be passionate about something--Something HAS to click. Learning romaji is not something that hinders someone from achieving an end result. Like I said, not everyone learns the same way. While it may be traditional to learn the kanas first, it does not mean it's the only way. There's no study saying that learning a language through romanized lettering causes someone to never learn that language. Some people will prefer to use romaji in the beginning and some will immediately learn the kanas. Like I said on numerous occasions, this is just for the beginning.

But what your teaching is not "beginning" stuff. Comparisons is not a "beginning" concept.

You can read a lot of books on ancient languages and most of the books will be "user friendly". Unless it's extremely specialized, the book will always have the romanized system instead of the original alphabet. Is this holding hands? I think it's getting that person to be interested to learn the original alphabet fully.

I read a book on Egyptian hieroglyphics and thought it was very interesting. If the book used just hieroglyphs to talk about Egyptian etymology I would be very turned off by the fact that I can't understand it.

This is a failed analogy. You're not teaching etymology. You're teaching language usage.

What I'm trying to say is that I am trying to get the reader interested in learning Japanese, and I am not trying to cram their heads with information which will ultimately benefit the user or have them lose interest.

You're not trying to get a reader interested in Japanese. If they're on your site, they're already interested in learning Japanese. You don't have to convince them. They're already convinced!

If you portray that "it's OK not to learn kana right away," then yes, you are hindering their progress. For example, no native speaker here will help you if you cannot use kana. So that's a hindrance for sure.

Dude, EVERYONE comes to Japanese wanting to "learn that cool writing."

If you avoid using kana to avoid turning people off, then they will get turned off when you do start using it. Thus these people will have wasted their time with a language they had no intent of actually studying through. In other words, yes, they will have been hurt.

Edit I think this conversation is getting out of hand. At first, we were all just "Hey, you really should use kana." But now your excuses for not getting it are getting more and more preposterous, so the tone of the conversation is switching.

You should by all means teach Japanese to others if you are qualified. But you should not make excuses about holding an intellectually lazy person's hand in the hopes that they somehow gain the ability to speak Japanese.

You are making a site that purports to teach Japanese. You should act like it. Right now, you're writing the web page equivalent of Making Out in Japanese.

[MMM]

Originally Posted by biocit

Some people will prefer to use romaji in the beginning and some will immediately learn the kanas. Like I said on numerous occasions, this is just for the beginning.

Like I said, I am speaking in general, and not about anything you are doing specifically.

I think nearly everyone prefers to use romaji in the beginning. However, it is a barrier to proper pronunciation and sentence structure.

Learning to read kana is just as hard from Day 1 as it is from Day 100. This is why respected programs start on Day 1.

[biocit]

Kyle, I know you're speaking from your own experience, but my experience says otherwise.

"This is a failed analogy. You're not teaching etymology. You're teaching language usage."

now I know I'm being trolled.

[Sashimister]

ディス・オーピー・イズ・サッチ・ア・モロン！　

アイ・キャント・スタンド・ヒム！　

[biocit]

"Edit I think this conversation is getting out of hand. At first, we were all just "Hey, you really should use kana." But now your excuses for not getting it are getting more and more preposterous, so the tone of the conversation is switching.

You should by all means teach Japanese to others if you are qualified. But you should not make excuses about holding an intellectually lazy person's hand in the hopes that they somehow gain the ability to speak Japanese.

You are making a site that purports to teach Japanese. You should act like it. Right now, you're writing the web page equivalent of Making Out in Japanese."

This is why I called your point an opinion. I am going to repeat this for the last time, but my experience says otherwise. If you ever become a teacher and decide that "intellectually lazy" individuals need to be ignored and never thought of, then I feel bad for those kids.