Job Discussion Forums

[jamhead]

I've gotten a few ideas through the search function here, but I'm limited to what can be found on Amazon. I'm looking for a good study book or series, something with some tapes or CDs along with it to get the pronunciation down. I've only got a few months to study before I depart, so my goal at the moment certainly isn't fluency, but I would like to have a solid base before I land in Japan - reading, writing, some relevant vocabulary and spoken phrases. So far, I only have the Lonely Planet phrasebook. Any suggestions?

[southofreality]

http://southofreality.wordpress.com/learning-japanese/

[Inflames]

A lot of people like the Minna no Nihongo series of books. I've used the Genki books and I like them. Either way, I would recommend getting a beginner book that uses kana instead of romaji to improve your reading ability. Genki has a workbook too, and is on amazon.co.jp (which has a decent selection of Japanese language books). I'd recommend buying a book on slang, just to get away from textbook Japanese.

[JU!]

Hi mate try Japanese for busy people kana vers these have helped me plus. Japanesepod101 website this is good to help listening and maybe vocab. Hope that helps.

[Hoser]

I'll second the Genki books. Very good I think. I just wish they had a seperate "answers" section so I could double check some of the things I'm not sure of.

[scorchio]

I would second the recommendation for Genki. It has explanations of the grammar terms in English. The first few chapters have romaji then are replaced with just hiragana and katakana (still with English explanations). Minna no Nihongo is great if you are studying with a teacher, but not good as a study alone book for beginners. There is no English.

My biggest advice: learn Katakana before you come. I learned it about 6 months in and suddenly realised there were all these English words around me and I could read drink menus! A whole new world Good luck!

[markle]

[ghost]

I thought it would be more logical and useful to learn hiragana before katakana. That is how the Japanese learn writing - the order is:

1. Hiragana

2. Katakana

3. Kanji

Hiragana, some people claim, can be mastered in as little as one week, but I think, realistically 1-3 months for an average learner.

Not sure how long katakana would take to learn.

Kanji takes years to learn. Japanese children start off with a precise number of kanji they have to learn in a year, and I've been told that by grade 6, they learn about 200 new kanji each year. You would need to learn between 2000-3000 kanji to be able to read and understand a Japanese newspaper, but around 5000 to be really literate in the language. A daunting task for a foreign student.

Ghost in Korea

[markle]

Ah the dangers of the ignorant posting their 'opinion'

[scorchio]

I learned hiragana first and while it is useful for reading japanese place names etc (when they aren't in kanji!), I generally found that since I didn't have much of an understanding of japanese generally, being able to sound out signs was of limited use. Once I learned katakana I found it was really useful for daily living. I learned katakana in about 2 or 3 days (just sat down and rote learned them), but I'm sure I would have forgotten them if I wasn't able to see them all around me on the subway etc. Good luck!

[jamhead]

Thanks for the advice. I think I'll go with Genki. After checking it out at a few booksellers, it seems the most bang for my buck. Just in time too; I just made a few appointments for interviews.

[maya.the.bee]

and should you be sitting at your computer with little to do...this website is helpful:
http://www.realkana.com/

you can quiz yourself on hiragana & katakana with different fonts.

[scorchio]

Genki also has a website with some online stuff: http://genki.japantimes.co.jp/index.en.html