Has anyone learned Japanese just...

Ratty

Tea. Earl Grey. Hot.
I'm sure there are some. But that's a pretty huge investment considering Japanese has a few different alphabets, and you really need to learn the spoken language before you can get started on studying those very much. At least according to a friend of mine who studies Japanese (along with Latin and some other languages) as a hobby. And being a seinen I would imagine Berserk is written in the more complex alphabet.
 

Aazealh

Administrator
Staff member
Ratty said:
Japanese has a few different alphabets

The Japanese language does not have any alphabets. It has a logographic system and two syllabaries.

Ratty said:
you really need to learn the spoken language before you can get started on studying those very much.

That's simply not true.
 

Ratty

Tea. Earl Grey. Hot.
Aazealh said:
Japanese does not have any alphabets. It has a logographic system and two syllabaries.

So several different systems of writing then ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. I'll take your word for it, again I don't speak Japanese and never claimed to be an expert.

Aazealh said:
That's simply not true.

Not technically, I've just heard that it's much, much easier/faster to learn once you are familiarized with the spoken language. My friend tried to learn just from the writing first and said it was waaaaay easier once he included spoken language as well.
 

Aazealh

Administrator
Staff member
Ratty said:
So several different systems of writing then ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. I'll take your word for it, again I don't speak Japanese and never claimed to be an expert.

Well since we're at it, it doesn't really have "several different systems of writing", at least not in the way you mean it. The kana are used in conjunction with the kanji.

Ratty said:
Not technically, I've just heard that it's much, much easier/faster to learn once you are familiarized with the spoken language. My friend tried to learn just from the writing first and said it was waaaaay easier once he included spoken language as well.

Please don't take this the wrong way, but your friend's personal experience of learning Japanese as a hobby is not necessarily representative of a general consensus. Besides, learning to write the language without learning the sounds of the words at the same time seems presposterous, if not downright impossible. By definition, the syllabaries are identified by the sounds they represent... But what you were saying earlier was that one needed to learn the spoken language first before attempting to learn to write, which is not the same thing at all. In short, I think you're a bit confused about all this. Which isn't a big deal of course, but I think it's better to not spread the confusion.

Oh and to answer Ahmetal's question: some people certainly tried over the years, but I'm not sure any of them succeeded. Being able to read a manga isn't generally a sufficient motivation to learn an entire language.
 

Ratty

Tea. Earl Grey. Hot.
Aazealh said:
Please don't take this the wrong way, but your friend's personal experience of learning Japanese as a hobby is not necessarily representative of a general consensus.

Oh no that's fair, if there's one thing I've learned about education itself in my life, it's that people learn differently. Some learn best through seeing something, some through touch etc. down on through any combination of the five senses. To say nothing of one's natural talent (or lack thereof) at a given subject. My reference pool for the subject is very small (basically my friend and a few random half-remembered ramblings I read on livejournal the better part of a decade ago) so I readily give way to the authority of someone who has actually studied the subject.
 
Ahmetal said:
What's the best way to learn or what are some of necessary tools to learn to speak and read Japanese?
Not too sure about that but there were two threads in the past I remember reading -

http://www.skullknight.net/forum/index.php?topic=14285.msg228151#msg228151

http://www.skullknight.net/forum/index.php?topic=12016.msg192230#msg192230
 

Ahmetal

God hand help us
IncantatioN said:
Not too sure about that but there were two threads in the past I remember reading -

http://www.skullknight.net/forum/index.php?topic=14285.msg228151#msg228151

http://www.skullknight.net/forum/index.php?topic=12016.msg192230#msg192230
Meh..I should have searched. Thanks though. That helps.
 
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