Discussion Is there anyone who taught him/herself japanese and is now able to read light novels?

Discussion in 'General Chat' started by WhiteWolf42, Sep 13, 2017.

  1. Sakuraid

    Sakuraid Writer, translator and editor

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    Good to know, thanks for telling me
     
  2. LysUltima

    LysUltima Riichi! Tsumo! Toitoi! Suuankou!?

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    Kawaii and dogeza
     
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  3. LysUltima

    LysUltima Riichi! Tsumo! Toitoi! Suuankou!?

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    It took me a year to fully learn kana...
    And あ was the most memorable to me, actually. (mostly because it took me months to figure out how to write it properly...)
     
  4. WhiteWolf42

    WhiteWolf42 Well-Known Member

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    Yes, あ is the easiest. But also 'i', 'e', 'o' and 'u' (sorry, I don't know how to type hiragana and the like on my tablet).
     
  5. Qrofol

    Qrofol Well-Known Member

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    I'll second the anime option. Back when I was a teenager, I spent one summer doing nothing but watching anime. Like 3 months of 16 hours a day. After that I've watched anime and J-drama occasionally which helps me refresh my memory of the language. Without any additional studying, I can watch anime, J-drama or Japanese movies without subtitles and understand them fine (unless its like a very specific genre, like medical J-drama which has tons of specialized terms etc.). And I've since had several chances to speak with a native Japanese person and had very little issues in getting understood.

    Once you've built your vocabulary, it's easier to start learning how to read. At one point I did learn hiragana and katakana (not very hard at all - just buy one of those practice books which will have you writing them over and over again), though I've mostly forgotten them now. But I can still read sentences here and there in manga by spotting a familiar hiragana or two and by knowing what word would fit the situation. Kanji is going to be the hardest part since its just pure memorization. But if you intend to read Japanese novels, then I bet you would get used to them fairly quickly if you can just brute force your way through the initial learning curve.

    Caveat: Not everybody learns languages the same way. Some people actually prefer the school learning approach which starts with grammar. But for me, this method works the best. It was the same way I learned English originally - by watching American TV series with Finnish subtitles as a kid.
     
  6. LysUltima

    LysUltima Riichi! Tsumo! Toitoi! Suuankou!?

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    Download google japanese input if on Android.

    iOS should have a japanese keyboard somewhere in the settings.
     
  7. LysUltima

    LysUltima Riichi! Tsumo! Toitoi! Suuankou!?

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    Yeah, that works too.

    It's like how many people in America (myself included) with a non-native parent(s) can at least understand their parent's native language, and, depending on the frequency of usage, can speak the language even without learning the language formally.
     
  8. WhiteWolf42

    WhiteWolf42 Well-Known Member

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    Got it, thank you!
     
  9. I Eat Monsanto

    I Eat Monsanto He who courts death

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    pfft thats child's play. That means... uh... well you know of course.
     
  10. Sakuraid

    Sakuraid Writer, translator and editor

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    I learned の before I even decided to learn Japanese
     
  11. WhiteWolf42

    WhiteWolf42 Well-Known Member

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    Me too. It means 'no'.^^
     
  12. gaulby

    gaulby [Space Rabbit] [Rappy Slaughterer] [Eviscerator]

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    I can pretty much read simple sentences of full hiragana. (sentences like those used in very basic conversation or those that use the basic structure of a japanese sentence)
    I used this site as a start
    https://8020japanese.com/japanese-sentence-structure/

    then shifted to Genki I and II (an international japanese book used to learn japanese in schools)

    the problem is I stopped studying further although i was able to finish lesson 2 of genki I

    Edit: I can share a link of Genki I and II ebook although idk if it's fine to share it here
     
  13. Sakuraid

    Sakuraid Writer, translator and editor

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    It doesn't mean 'no' but is is the hiragana for 'no'. It kinda means 'of' and 'to'.