Hello Looking for a Japanese helper.
 

Hello everyone my name is Michael and I am new to this forum. I stumbled across it from trying to learn the hiragana and katakana characters. I was wondering if anyone would like to assist me in my journey of speaking this wonderful Japanese language. I have skype and msn for conversing with. If you would like to help out someone who is very interested in learning the language and is a very good studier please send me a PM. Also I could help you with English in return for Japanese! (English -> Japanese)

Also I was wondering if I am very new, about a few days into learning, should I start with hiragana and then katakana? Or should I do the reverse, or should I start with neither and do some other type of learning? Thank you for your time and thank you for the help in advance!

~Michael

My contact information for those who do not wish to go through the hassle of a PM ^^
MSN: [email protected]
Skype: R3dz0n3

I would suggest learning hiragana first. You will use it a lot more than katakana. And make sure you really have hiragana down good before you learn katakana because there are several characters that look similar in katakana to hiragana characters and it might throw you off.

Also, if you are learning Japanese independently by means of books, other language learning materials and/or the Internet, I would strongly suggest getting into a class or finding an actual tutor. Japanese-English dictionaries alone for example will not be enough to master such an intricate language as Japanese, unless you're using real Japanese-teaching curriculum. I am saying this from experience. I tried to teach Japanese to myself for about 3 years using only dictionaries and then I took Japanese last school year and I learned more in one week than over those three years of trying to teach myself.

こんにちわ
Is there any online classes that I may be able to take? I don't believe there is a class here in my town to teach Japanese. I already started hiragana with flash cards and such but I know this will not be enough. Do you recommend any classes if there are any online?

Can we at least learn to write "Hello" correctly?

Sorry I thought that was the way it was written.
こにちわ
Is that the correct way? If not please correct me I am just learning.
Or is it this.
こんにちは

Did some google. It is the second one I think ^^

You've got it the third time! Just proves how useless romaji is.

こんにちは！

Haha thanks for the correction Sashimisterさん this is why I am trying to learn hiragana and never write in romanji.. lol ^^ Thanks again!

Well, I take it as an elective in school. I am in online school but I'm pretty sure you can't take classes from my school unless you're actually enrolled. I'm sure there are classes you can find, I don't know any off the top of my head though.

One thing you should make sure to do is practice actually talking in Japanese out loud. I get embaressed and uncomfortable when I actually speak Japanese aloud to people because I don't practice it enough.

It kind of cracks me up how you just wrote 'romaji' in romaji. Sorry not trying to be a jerk but I find it slightly humorous.

Well I am saying the basics like こんにちは and everything I know. I am also saying the hiragana out loud. Do you think online classes would be expensive?

*EDIT*
Back on track also, would anyone like to be a language exchange partner? ^^

Not even funny. You're just one the many JF members who cliam to know Japanese without EVER demonstrating it. You go check my posts in the language section before making fun of me.

My last post in the thread, period.

I know I don't demonstrate it, because as I said earlier, I get embaressed. I am not confident in my Japanese yet. Is that a crime? The last time I attempted to translate something from a native Japanese, I got trolled on. And I believe you actually were one of the ones who did so. I realize you have to put up with a lot, but try to practice more patience.

I wasn't trying to make fun of you but since you HATE romaji so much, why didn't you write it in hiragana?

Um I'm not sure. It would be important to make sure it's cheap but also good. I've looked at several free online classes before and most of them are confusing and not very accurate.

If you were really serious about learning Japanese and wanted to do so without having to attend a real class or having a real tutor, I would suggest using Rosetta Stone. It's a bit expensive but it's supposedly used by even the military and government officials. Learn Japanese | Japanese Language Learning | Rosetta Stone

こんにちはSupperabbytcsさん
I will check out the Rosetta Stone, and I will also look for online tutors. Thanks for all the information.

Rosetta stone has been regarded as near useless by almost everyone I've ever known who's tried it. For any language. Sure it chucks vocabulary at you, and it's supposedly good for pronunciation, but without any real grammar that's like throwing bricks and mortar at an amateur and expecting them to build a house. Never going to happen. Besides, it 'translates' the words using pictures, which sometimes aren't that demonstrative, or subtle enough to convey the real meaning of the word.

Oh it's mostly vocabulary and not grammar also? I didn't know that.

It just shows you a picture and says a word or a phrase in Japanese. That's it. No explanation, no grammar. The spoken phrases USE grammar, but there's nothing to stop a beginner thinking "はなです" means 'flower' not 'flower + polite copula'. So for what you pay for it, it's just a very expensive talking lexicon, not even a dictionary. Sure you can learn vocab from it, but you can get that off paper too, for free.

What do you recommend then for learning Japanese? Online classes? If so do you know of any that you would recommend to me?

I don't know about online classes, but if you check out your local colleges and universities they may offer some courses. The college near to me offers a course for example, and it seemed reasonably cheap.

I'd personally recomend books/CDs, but everyone learns differently and for me learning that way suits me. I personally used the "Teach Yourself" series to learn the basics in romaji, and then went onto "Japanese for Busy People" which used kana and kanji. There's two sites I can recomend for revision, the first is for spoken Japanese and the second for kanji revision: List Of Lessons and Drill and learn the Japanese kanji

I won't claim this way of learning has made me fluent or an expert, but I've managed to learn quite a lot, enough to survive over in Japan when I go. The best way of learning a language is immersion, unless you're completely surrounded by it you'll forget things or miss out on things, but you can still learn a lot, and with practise I'm sure you'll do great, however you go about learning :)

Edit: I'd also add try watching Japanese language shows and listening to the music, it'll be a good way to introduce you to the sounds and pronounciation, and a way of testing what you know later on. It can at times teach you new words and phrases too, if you have the subtitles on of course (although I'd be wary with that method).

I myself am learning Japanese and while learning on my own, I don't think that is so much the issue, because I'm dedicated and I have more than enough learning equipment...the issue lies in the fact that I have no one to use it with. If you are just starting out and would like to learn with me, :) that would be so fantastic. I can share some of the things I have and help you as much as I can. I am getting further, now working on verbs mainly, but I don't know how far I can get without speaking Japanese to someone else. Even if it's just learning, to say them aloud and use them, makes it easier on the mouth in the future.

こんにちは
I would be more than glad to study with you! Do you have MSN or Skype? If so here is my contact information:
MSN: [email protected]
Skype: R3dz0n3

I have the helen gilhooly tapes on my IPOD. also the michel thomas method which I find very helpful but as I get so little chance to practice its difficult really.

I have kanji cards and books etc and also comic books where I can learn individual words.

My friend records some sentences for me which is useful but she doesn't have time to let me practice speaking with her. I cannot really afford to go to evening classes although I did go for some calligraphy lessons.

Wonder what others think about Helen Gilhooly.

I think where I really floundered was in the numbers and the various ways of counting.

If your friend doesn't have time to practise, have you considered perhaps making friends online from Japan? It's just Skype and MSN would be very good ways to talk, be heard and have someone commuinicate back, and it's free too. If you did a search for pen pals or e-pals there's plenty out there of Japanese people seeking to learn English, as you're seeking to learn Japanese, it could be a good exchange. Some people on the forum may be willing to talk with you too :)

I have tried Helen Gilhooly, she's the one who wrote the "Teach Yourself" series I mentioned. I think that although she's excellent for beginners that she perhaps struggles with students who've progressed higher. I learnt a good and solid foundation from her works, but at the same time I did not get any real education in reading/writing or anything past the basics. I had to then get extra materials elsewhere to learn these things. So she has both good and bad points.

Also, I wouldn't be disheartened at struggling with the counting. The Japanese counting system is very complicated, and my billingual friends often count in their mother tongue because it's more natural to them, they can count in English but it's then a matter of not only translating the words but then counting in a different way too (if that makes sense?). So it's just a matter of patience and finding a way that works for you :)

The Tae Kim Online Grammer (if no one's mentioned it yet) is very good, and teaches quite natural sounding Japanese. You could also pick up the genki textbook. I think amongst the big three it's probably the best for working through by yourself. It provides lots of exercises at any rate. I've used the "Basic Kanji Book" series, and you can learn Kanji from them by yourself without too much difficulty. Japanese for busy people is OK, but be aware it's orientated at older, working people who might need Japanese for a business trip or such, so younger people might find it a bit off-kilter for their needs. It also includes romaji, so be careful you don't constantly read that and not the proper japanese! White Rabbit Press sell kanji flash-card sets for different ability levels, they're very good, or you can also go to kantango, create a free account and make your own sets. It's the same as anki, but if you then go to 'providers' and search for 'brookes', they have comprehensive vocab sets and listings based on the minna no nihongo series, which are quite useful.

The university of Hawaii has some useful web-resources for learning hiragana, including flash images of the stroke order.

As for listening and speaking, do as others have said and try and find a drama or something to watch and (i find this really helps) shadow the actors. Pause it and repeat what you just heard, especially if it's something you can imagine yourself using. For which purpose, try and find a show that is at least partly grounded in real life. Magical girl anime might be terribly exciting, but let's face it, you will never need to squeal "Hitomi's miracle sword transformation powered up!".Read your books/materials aloud; read what you write down aloud. If nothing else it will help build your confidence and your speed.

I definitely second trying to find a course at your local college. You never know your luck; i live quite stuck out and yet our college does basic japanese. You could also put up flyers asking for tuition, or simply to try and find speakers in your local area. You might even find other people who want to learn Japanese to work with or make a study group with. If you're in high school and you can genuinely say you want to take this onto college/university, you could also try asking through your teachers; my headmistress was particularly awesome and made arrangements for me to attend the beginners classes at the local college for free and asked around other schools for a GCSE instructor for me.