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rinpoche
3rd November 2003, 14:54
I know embarrassing little Japanese, which I would like to rectify. I intend on taking some courses from Native speakers, but schedule will probably not allow this for some time.

That same schedule prevents extended stays in Japan for me right now.

So, I am relegated to doing some self-study at home for now wanting to get a jump on things. Does anybody here have any recommendations for books, tapes etc?

Thanks

don
3rd November 2003, 16:01
Originally posted by rinpoche
I know embarrassing little Japanese, which I would like to rectify. I intend on taking some courses from Native speakers, but schedule will probably not allow this for some time.

I taught English in Japan and the phrase "native speaker" kind of grates on me. I found I learned a lot of my Jpn from my Eng/Am friends. (Similarly, the Jpn Eng teachers were very far better teaching the grammar to their Jpn students than I, a "native speaker".) So if you have any non-Jpn friends who know Jpn, use them as a resource. They have already trod your path and came to the effort with the same background, expectations, and questions. Their solutions will fit.

When I began studying Spanish, I found the quality of the teachers pretty poor (as the Jpn find with most of their "native speaker" teachers in Jp.) If you aren't happy with the teacher you find, find another. In the meanwhile, although it contradicts all the theory they fed us in grad school, I really found bilingual texts helpful. Benneton's Colors magazine is published here in Spn/Eng. In Jp, it's Jpn/Eng. There used to be a bilingual publication for Jpn lang learners called Mangajin (a pun), but they stopped publishing. Try this anyway, though. http://www.mangajin.com/index2.htm

Good lu---er, GANBATTE!

Tea Guy
12th November 2003, 05:33
Hm...Self study Japanese can be difficult if not approached properly. Good study materials certainly help. That is why you should have some good dictionaries. Good ones may be a bit pricey, but well worth it. I love my 1991 edition of the Kenkyusha Lighthouse J-E dictionary. Kodansha makes some good dictionaries. A big tip for you is to buy a dictionary with a vinyl cover. Paperbacks don't last after great use.
A book I found that I liked for study is "Japanese For Everyone"(ISBN 0-870-853-4) The cover may not look good, but the content is quite the contrary. It forces you to use kana from the very beginning, rather than crippling you with romaji.The explanations are quite excellent and the excersises equally so. After a few chapter it introduces a few simple kanji and builds onto that throughout the book.
You might want to take a look into that.

C. Sieg

Tristan
14th December 2003, 02:18
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I've also been trying to learn what I can on my own, but haven't had much time. The only thing I would suggest to you is that, whatever resources you choose, make sure you cross-check multiple sources. As in, buy translation dictionaries from 2 different publishers to cross-reference definitions. It's really quite amazing how different people interepret things at times.
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