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Best way to learn?

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  • 30-07-2007 6:56pm
    #1
    corblimey
    Registered Users Posts: 4,475 ✭✭✭


    I've read through the stickies etc and found a lot of useful sites, but I wonder if th'internet is the best way to learn Japanese. I want to visit there next year and I also have about 30 Japanese Dreamcast games that I'd like to understand what the heck I'm doing :) so my needs are pretty simple, I think. Is it possible to use the sites that are listed in the stickies and learn usable Japanese; would it be better to get an online course (like the japanese podcasts or myplt.com) or is it one of those languages you should really learn in the real world?


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    #2
    Cake Fiend
    Registered Users Posts: 5,335 ✭✭✭Cake Fiend


    PRACTICE EVERY SINGLE DAY! Particularly when you start learning kanji.

    The only way you're going to drill it all into your head is to immerse yourself as much as you can, preferably taking real-world lessons if at all possible. I download a load of lessons from japanesepod101.com every week to listen to on the way to/from work While I'm in work I'll head over to the reading tutor site ( http://contest.thinkquest.gr.jp/tqj1999/20190/ ) from time to time (with my Japanese installation of Firefox, also with Moji installed for quick kanji lookups). I'll also enter random Japanese words into youtube to find recordings of TV shows, etc. Kanjisite.com is nice for flashcard-type practice, as is speedanki.com.

    Pretty much everything I've learnt has been from books and online, combined with trips to Japan (amazing how much you learn in even a couple of weeks, when you have to speak it to survive). I'd have learnt quicker with proper instruction, but you can get pretty good results without, if you're willing to put in a lot of work.

    Unfortunately this forum is a bit dead for conversational-type posting, but there are a few out there (e.g. the japanesepod101.com forum), and I've started reading Japanese forums and blogs for practice (great for picking up colloquial vocab)


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