How many here study Japanese in school or at home? Wondering how many would be interested in a casual study or speaking group/thread? 


I've been studying for 6 years (3 years in Uni, 3 years on my own) but I really need to practice more. I'm at an early-conversational level... ish? I've learned most of the basics and even started to learn Keigo... but because my self practice the past 2 years has been pretty weak I've lost a bit of my ability.


Anyone up for practice? Or sharing study tips, giving mini lessons? I'm up for helping anyone as thats a great way for me to practice as well.

Hey, I'm pretty rusty, but I'm up for some practice! Sounds like fun!

As long as we're not talking in Keigo, haha.

Oh god. No, I promise no keigo... GOD NO

Then I'm 100% in, haha. Are we using this thread?

Sure!

ええと、どこで日本語を勉強する？学校で？何時から？

あたしは、大学で3年間ぐらい勉強した

2年ぐらい学校で勉強したけど、日本に6年住んでいました。

whitehexeさんもカナダ人ですよね？カナダのどこに住んでいますか？

I want to start learning to speak and read Japanese- I just bought a Japanese/English Dictionary. Would I be able to join the group as a newbie?

Most definitely! The more the merrier!

あー！6年！ねたむー！！

そう！カナダ人ですよ！カムループスに住んでいる。カムループスは・・・バンクーバーのちかくです。

あなたもカナダ人です？

Artemis wrote:

I want to start learning to speak and read Japanese- I just bought a Japanese/English Dictionary. Would I be able to join the group as a newbie?

yes of course!!!!!  I don't mind answering questions.. if its at my level lol... I'm not so great at Japanese myself, but I have lots of resources I might be able to help you with for learning!

いいね！バンクーバーに行ったことがない (ノД`)
そうですよ！あたしはナイアガラ滝の近くに住んでる。

バンクーバーじゃなくて、BCに行ったことがない・・・ｗ

BCは美しいですよ～！大好きだよ！
あー！だけど、ナイアガラも美しいそうですね・・・行きたい！

カナダ東部に行ったことがない・・・

滝は美しいけど、観光客が多すぎて、夏はすーごく立て込んでいる。
だから、あんまり見に行かないｗｗ

あたし反対ですｗ　
カナダの西部に行ったことがない。

Artemis, have you started studying Japanese? If not, where would you like to start?

@dreamsinpink

そう！反対です！ｗｗ

I'd like to join in as well. I'm a newbie (I only know Hiragana, Katakana and a couple dozen random words or so). I'm hoping to make a lot of progress with the language this year.

Yay! more people!

For those beginning, how do you study atm? I always found the genki books to be great, as well as memrise website/app for studying vocabulary (my weakness...)

Hiragana and katakana are a great start! And I find that using them to read helps a lot with pronunciation. I guess because it doesn't look English, it's easier to not read as English.

i cant write or read any japanese characters atm- i am learning with romanji- i plan to devote more time once i finish school but i will rely highly on my dictionary for now to learn new words. I also watch a good amount of subbed shows to help me hear the language. 

I was just in Japantown and thanked the shopkeepers in Japanese for their work. They thanked me back in Japanese- I was so happy.

dreamsinpink wrote:

Hiragana and katakana are a great start! And I find that using them to read helps a lot with pronunciation. I guess because it doesn't look English, it's easier to not read as English.

Yeah, and overreliance on romaji (Japanese written using roman characters) can be a huge pain once you try and go past a basic level. My instructor in university was a hard-ass and had a no romaji from day 1 rule. But man, did I ever learn hiragana and katakana quickly...

Artemis wrote:

I was just in Japantown and thanked the shopkeepers in Japanese for their work. They thanked me back in Japanese- I was so happy.

 Its little things like this that give me HUGE surges of motivation to study 

Why is everyone interested in or studying Japanese?

I do have a hiranga/Katakana book, i just am not sure I will have time. I will be doing state assessments and student teaching pretty soon and all my time will go to that- what can you recommend as a study regimen that is helpful but doesnt take a lot of time. 

Like I said- I will be dedicating most of my time to learning the language once I graduate at the end of May- I just don't want to have too much on my plate. I also have a Japanese book- Learn Japanese from Zero.

I would suggest to install the memrise app on your phone if you have a smartphone, and load the "Genki 1 vocabulary and kanji chapter 1-6" it starts with hiragana and katakana, and moves onto really basic vocabulary. You don't even need the genki books as its all pretty basic vocab. Honestly I've found that to be the least time consuming; you can stop and go as you wish (on the bus, waiting for a meeting, sitting in the toilet... lol) and it remembers all your progress and gets you to refresh cards you've already learned all the time. Its really well developed in my opinion.

edit: also its free. there is a premium thing but I've done just fine without it.

I'd say the best place to start would be to start learning the characters, especially hiaragana, and work on learning the pronunciation of the sounds. The great thing about Japanese is that it's phonetic, so the sounds won't change on you like they do in English, haha.

The app idea is awesome! They did not have things like that when I started learning Japanese, haha.

dreamsinpink wrote:

The app idea is awesome! They did not have things like that when I started learning Japanese, haha.

sadly I didn't have it when I first started learning as well >.< But this past year when I've gotten serious about studying more and more (now that I haven't taken a class in almost 3 years) its been amazing for reviewing vocabulary that I had forgotten. I only assume it would work just as amazingly for learning, especially because its so easy to do quickly for short bursts of time.

Yeah, it sounds really fun! I usually read ridiculous entertainment news articles for practice, and just look up words I don't know, haha.

aww i dont have a smart phone, but maybe I could look into getting vocabulary flashcards or something. I want to definitley be able to pronounce the characters and learn Hiranga.


I am wnting to learn Japanese because I want to teach English in Japan, hopefully next year.