Advice for a beginner...(in learning Japanese)

I hope this does not qualify as spam, but anyway...

Well, I am a useless poster here, and you people have no reason to give me advice, but I am asking just in case someone feels inclined to help me out...I will begin my Freshman year at Xavier University this fall, and I am taking Elementary Japanese I. I was wondering if someone could recommend to me a Japanese to English dictionary, as there are an insane amount available and I have no idea of which to order. Also, is there any companion literature that might make life a bit easier for me? I really have no idea of what to expect, and so any advice in general would also be greatly appreciated.

A small poket dictionary would be good. I would also suggest getting the complte (workbook, study book, and other thing) of "Japanese for Busy People" I used/use that book when I took japanese in college and use it from time to time.

The biggest issue you are going to run into is... the chance to use your new language. That is the biggest problem.

Its fine and dandy to learn the language but if you dont actually use it frequently, your going to be screwed, unless you are one of those people who remember everything.

Thats my advice!

Pretty much any Japanese to English (and vice-versa ones....my advice, get one that has both) should suit you well, as long as its not a rip-off and contains as much info as possible (cultural grammar differences, phrases, etc.).  Other than that, is the professor going to assign a certain textbook or CD learning tool?  

I really dont know what can help a beginner to read a book, but best is always any literature with all hiragana, and even if the book has some kanji, if it has little hiragana characters off to the side, then that would also be really helpful.  You might want to avoid the katakana characters until you master the hiragana, but even then it shouldn't be much of a problem.  Good luck!!

SaiyajinNoOuji said:

The biggest issue you are going to run into is... the chance to use your new language. That is the biggest problem.

Its fine and dandy to learn the language but if you dont actually use it frequently, your going to be screwed, unless you are one of those people who remember everything.

Thats my advice!

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Yeah, no kidding. Iwas lucky because my parents constantly used Japanese, so I pretty much learned it instinctively. It was the writing part that destroyed me, though....

Anyways, bph, is the class (or higher Japanese learning courses) going to offer cultural or any kind of trips to Japan? That would definitely help your language skills. Besides that, you could try to get some of your classmates together and just try to talk to each other in Japanese (not just in class, but at lunch, dorms, etc.).

The class offers trips to Japan (Xavier has a decent amount of money) and there is also an actual Japanese Club. Unfortunately, I think those are geared more towards upper classmen, though.

bph said:

The class offers trips to Japan (Xavier has a decent amount of money) and there is also an actual Japanese Club.  Unfortunately, I think those are geared more towards upper classmen, though.

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So? How serious are you in studying Japanese? If you are fairly serious, you can weasle your way in. Most upper classmen wont look down on you because you are a freshman, and if you are up-beat and eager to learn the language they will more than likely be happy to take you under their wings. There will likely be a bit of hazing, of course, but take it in good humor; it isn't meant to hurt you.

Persistance is the key, but don't forget to be respectful. Also, pay attention, listen, and don't get too cocky. You'll do fine.

Just make sure the dictionary you get contains something called "context."
Since you can't translate English directly into any language, and English words have multiple meanings, you really need to know which one that particular translation is referring to.
Wakarimasu ka?
And I never actually thought about buying a dictionary when I was studying, so I can't really recommend any, unfortunately. Harper-Collins does, however, make excellent French dictionaries! ;D
Maybe the same's for their Nihongo.

Caldus said:

So? How serious are you in studying Japanese? If you are fairly serious, you can weasle your way in. Most upper classmen wont look down on you because you are a freshman, and if you are up-beat and eager to learn the language they will more than likely be happy to take you under their wings. There will likely be a bit of hazing, of course, but take it in good humor; it isn't meant to hurt you.

Persistance is the key, but don't forget to be respectful. Also, pay attention, listen, and don't get too cocky. You'll do fine.

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QFT (Quoted for truth)

If you are the "Gundamn Guy", as in, the guy that wants to learn just for anime and stuff like that, forget it, just download subs and what not.

BUT, if you are serious, then good luck! You're upperclass man should help you out with anything that you are not familiar with!

I assure you, sir, I am wholeheartedly dedicated to pursuing an advanced knowledge of Japanese. Anyway, I think I will go with the "Japanese for Busy People" books.

To be entirely honest, I've been fascinated with the culture and language since I was about thirteen, so it goes far beyond a case of "OMG!!!11 i will maek fansubzz for $$$!"

bph said:

it goes far beyond a case of "OMG!!!11 i will maek fansubzz for $$$!"

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Well, that's good to know, because that's illegal anyway. You know, that whole "ownership-rights" thing.

"Well, that's good to know, because that's illegal anyway. You know, that whole "ownership-rights" thing. "

Jesus, please tell me that post was sarcastic. Because, if it wasn't, it may well be the most ignorant fucking thing ever.

...because?

[Edit] I suppose I should elaborate.

bph said:

Jesus, please tell me that post was sarcastic. Because, if it wasn't, it may well be the most ignorant fucking thing ever.

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What is your reasoning in this, bph?

[/Edit]

I ALREADY FUCKING KNEW IT WAS ILLEGAL! THAT HAD ZERO RELEVANCE TO THE STATEMENT! It was a (failed) attempt at making fun of the way of accomplishing and reasoning behind most college student's desire to learn Japanese. I realize I'm not Hemingway, but surely you should be able to realize by using that hax0r speech that I was making a joke. I mean, come on.

Ah, okay. Well, rather than belittle my post, you could have just laughed and said, "Yeah, I know. It was a joke." I already knew you were joking, and I was only taking the joke step further. Apparently the catch was lost.

Don't over-dramatize it guys.

Anyway bph, I think that as far as learning Japanese goes, it's mostly a matter of will and free time, as people told you already.

Also... it doesnt hurt to try to flirt with a cute foreign exchange japanese student ;D

Ah, those Japanese school girls. Good times.

Well, I didn't mean to get so serious, it's just that I really didn't feel like discussing the finer merits of hax0r talk.

Anyway, I know I'll have free time after my Freshman year.  I'm double majoring in English and History, so once I get my three semesters of math out of the way I should have more than ample time (I'll only be taking English and History courses, along with my foreign language).  I'm naturally inclined towards those subjects, but mathematics have eluded me, and I get the feeling I will probably spend all of my time working on my Japanese and not doing my math homework.

Also, I am thinking about buying (in addition to Japanese for Busy People) a book called "Remembering the Kanji" by Heisig. Has anyone had any experience with it?

And, I assure you, I'm really looking forward to the Japanese school girls.

bph said:

Well, I didn't mean to get so serious, it's just that I really didn't feel like discussing the finer merits of hax0r talk.

Anyway, I know I'll have free time after my Freshman year. I'm double majoring in English and History, so once I get my three semesters of math out of the way I should have more than ample time (I'll only be taking English and History courses, along with my foreign language). I'm naturally inclined towards those subjects, but mathematics have eluded me, and I get the feeling I will probably spend all of my time working on my Japanese and not doing my math homework.

And, I assure you, I'm really looking forward to the Japanese school girls.

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A word of advice... THose damn school girls... you will see that they would look older when in fact they are probably 12 or 13. its pretty damn sad. Don't be fooled! :'(

Also out of curiousity, what do you know at this time? Anything?

SaiyajinNoOuji said:

A word of advice... THose damn school girls... you will see that they would look older when in fact they are probably 12 or 13. its pretty damn sad. Don't be fooled! :'(

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Typing from jail again, eh? ;D

But I thought they were legal at 13.... :-[

Shit, it's like patching up a program, I mean, when you're 13, you're naturally attracted to 13 years old girls, right? And to chocolate. Now, when you get older, you still like chocolate, hence 13 years old girls...so what are you supposed to do?? Plug your brain on an USB access somehow, and download some kind of patch???

Aazealh said:

Typing from jail again, eh? ;D

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I shit you not! When im in my car and im looking and I see these girls with their skirts waaaay high up. fjdkslafjl;sdkaf;lksdakfjsdakdsajfsad; its just not fair. Us americans (for the most) arnt used to these kind of things.... ok I take that back, we are, but still! :'(

Well, I have basic knowledge of hiragana.  I've no clue when it comes to kanji and, of course, katakana.  I'm actually decent with sentence structure, and I have a small vocabulary due to my watching insane amounts of anime and Kurosawa films over the past nine years. 

The problem with me is that I still think in terms of english equivalents rather than the true meaning of the word.  For instance, when I hear "SUGOI!" I still think "AWESOME!" rather than having it just register in and of itself.

EDIT: I've already ordered the Japanese for Busy People books, but do you think the casettes would be worth the money? They're a bit high ($40 per volume, so a total of $120).

bph said:

Well, I have basic knowledge of hiragana. I've no clue when it comes to kanji and, of course, katakana. I'm actually decent with sentence structure, and I have a small vocabulary due to my watching insane amounts of anime and Kurosawa films over the past nine years.

The problem with me is that I still think in terms of english equivalents rather than the true meaning of the word. For instance, when I hear "SUGOI!" I still think "AWESOME!" rather than having it just register in and of itself.

EDIT: I've already ordered the Japanese for Busy People books, but do you think the casettes would be worth the money? They're a bit high ($40 per volume, so a total of $120).

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Nice! Nah, I wouldnt really worry about the cassets. Also, that is one of the things about the japanese language. At times it can be pretty general so you take it as you see it.

I myself hate katakana... I think it is homer, but that is because it still gives me trouble.

Some other adivce about trying to learn kanji and all of that.. Try to learn a few at a time. Some things that helped me learn some is to replace some of the hirgana stuff like: Watashi, Anata, Dare, and some of the more common used words and replace them with kanji.

Seeing how for the most part in the begining you will use these a lot.

If you have any questions, you can just shoot me a pm, since if I cant answer it, I can ask my wife! (she is japanese incase you didnt know ) ;D

Also there are plenty of other people on this board who could help you as well. I wish you the best of luck!

bph said:

Also, I am thinking about buying (in addition to Japanese for Busy People) a book called "Remembering the Kanji" by Heisig. Has anyone had any experience with it?

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I've worked with that book for a while, but dropped it after learning about 200-300 keywords for kanji with it. I do think it's a pretty good method but it just didn't suit my personal style of learning. I really didn't have the motivation or patience to go and remember like 2000 English keywords for the kanji without even knowing how they're pronounced or how they're being used in context. His mnemonics are pretty easy to remember though; I still have over 100 Heisig stories stuck into my head. ;D

And I'm personally not really a fan of the 'Japanese for Busy People' series, although they're of course very popular. You should especially avoid the romaji version, since they will later only cause you more problems once you have to make the switch to kana/kanji. Better get used to kana right away; they're not that hard to learn anyway.

But about the actual contents of 'Japanese for Busy People', I believe it's more aimed at business people who need to learn Japanese, so you learn a lot of Japanese used in the business world but less of the real spoken Japanese you hear on the streets.
Personally I would recommend the Nakama or the Genki series, which are often being used in university programs. Japanese for Everyone is also a pretty good and not expensive textbook, which I've been using a lot myself. Objectively speaking not as good as the Nakama or Genki series, but it's better designed for self-study, it's cheap and also teaches you normal, natural Japanese (+500 kanji).