Curious, who here is taking, or has taken a Japanese class? I’m just starting this semester in a Japanese class.
Funnily enough, a friend a mine just got a job teaching English in Japan, she leaves from Glasgow this October for one year.
I have no idea about the Japanese language. Sorry.
Ummm… I speak Japanese, I lived in Japan, I’m taking Japanese this semester, I was engaged to a Japanese woman for a while and she didn’t speak English and umm… I’m talking the Japanese Language Proficiency Test this December, the 3rd level.
So, a little bit 
i WISH i could take a japanese class… is that close enough?
Do you need someone to practice with?
日本語を読みますか。 ひらがな を わかりますか。
I suggest for anyone wanting to start Japanese, practice Japanese, visit The Japanese Page.
The main guy over there, Clay, is married to a Japanese lady, has had an incredible life in Japan and over here. Is really a good guy and has done a lot to that site to make it such a free resource. Wow, the things I’ve learned there. I don’t post alot on the message board over there, but the study material is beyond belief.
What are your goals with Nihongo? Are you just learning for the heck of it, planning to live there, for business, a relationship, to enjoy their culture / art / movies / anime / manga, or just to fullfill a language credit?
Here is an online Japanese dictionary.
If you know how to use an IME, or you don’t know how to use one, it doesn’t matter, but you can input Japanese characters or our alphabet and find words on it. This is a life saver for when you get an email from someone and they put way too many Kanji.
I’m taking it for two reasons, one, love of the culture and two fulfilling language requirements. I could have taken a year of Spanish or a semester of Japanese to get all the credit I need.
I’ve wanted to learn Japanese for a while now.
I will need some help practicing, but not yet. I haven’t gotten into writing much, just speaking, but I think we’re going to start with Hiragana, then Katakana, and then Kanji. I’ll let you know when I need some practice, thanks.
practice, practice, practice. If you want to retain the language, by god (God… whatever) practice. Don’t wait until you think you are ready. You will never feel ready. Just start practicing.
I have some really passionate opinions about language learning, maybe that is why I want to be a linguist. My mother has lived in the United States for 23 years. And she has never picked up English (to my knowledge. I really think she lies, but for all purposes, she doesn’t speak it.). I learned how to “speak” (i.e. get around, pick up girls, hold down 20 minute regular I-just-met-you conversations, get beers, ask directions, perform magic) within 4 months. And that was with me being completly immersed in the language. I was lucky.
But since you might not have the chance to talk it everyday, don’t wait for a chance to use your Japanese. If you want to learn, throw yourself, heads first, into it.
Oh yeah I found that out quick, but I’ve been trying to use it everyday. It helps I have friends who like anime that I talk to on a regular basis who also would like to learn the language, so I have so help there. But yeah I know what you mean, practice is the only way I’m going to pass the class.
By the way, my birthday is October 15th, the same day you logged on. That year I was still in Japan. Ahhh, good times.
The only warning that I give you with Anime people, is that usually their pronounciation is TERRIBLE, and you might pick up their terrible habits. Also the lexicon of the Anime world is comparable to an outsider learning English from the Looney Tunes or Mickey Mouse cartoons. NO MATTER HOW SERIOUS THE ANIME might seem.
If you can, download all the episodes of the following, in this order:
Hana yori Dango & Nobuta wo Produce.
The TV series with live actors. Not only will you really ENJOY watching these, but you will hear Japanese spoken the way it is spoken today.
Exellent! thanks,smooth.
(do you belive how many video games are in japanese?)
Oh.
I can believe it.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_Nietzsche
Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (October 15, 1844 – August 25, 1900,
Coincidence? You decide…
Nice, that’s awesome
Yeah, I’m starting to figure that out.
I’ll look into that, thanks.
Nietzsche was born on my Birthday? I WILL NEVER FORGET THAT!!!
Awesome timing Dad!
Heh . . .
A friend of mine would always complain about the anime-fanatics in his classes, talking like they were either 1) in a samurai drama or 2) would constantly be re-affirming their masculinity (I guess anime characters do this a lot?).
Asia Carrera
???
She is half japanese and half german. One of the hottest adult actreses of the 80’s.
I was just trying to be funny. I guess you would have to know who she is to find it funny.