FYI, I’m completely new to learning Japanese; as the title says. I’ve been watching anime and reading manga since I was still a kid, and so I decided to learn it because why not. Right now, I’m having a rough time understanding hiragana but I’ve memorized a few of ‘em. So, why post on this subreddit? Because I’m looking for a new way of effectively studying the language, since my current study habits learning this language is quite infuriating. I was wondering if anyone here has some helpful tips to consider when learning? I won’t bother searching the internet, as I feel that hearing from other people who can respond to my certain questions could help me better understand the intricate sturcture behnd the process of things.
8 comments
Hi there ! You said you’re looking for a new way to study as you feel your method isn’t right, but what method are you currently using ?
if you’re relying on people to spoonfeed you when theres a boatload of resources at your fingertips…
https://www.reddit.com/r/LearnJapanese/wiki/index/startersguide/
Anki is a free flashcard app you can download and use to study Japanese. There’s lots of free pre-made decks you can use as well. It takes like 5 minutes to set up.
https://apps.ankiweb.net/
https://ankiweb.net/shared/decks/
Hi, maybe I can help, I struggled with finding my way when I started as well, and I know how intimidating or daunting it can be at first. It’s always comforting to get some input from people even when there are resources available. Just remember that not all advice is good advice, and that you will learn the most from trying things out for yourself, seeing what works for you and what doesn’t.
I have a few questions:
1. Why are you interested in learning Japanese?
2. What is infuriating about your study habits? What do those habits look like?
3. What are your short and long term goals with Japanese?
I have two tips as a hobbiest myself!
1) Start with Hirogana OR Katakana. I started with Katakana because I wanted to write English words using Japanese characters. Great practice by the way! Once you get familiar with one, start introducing the other. A good hint is look up charts. Like the English Alphabet they are both organized. Example:
ア イ ウ エ オ = Vowels (A, I, U, E, O)
カ キ ク ケ コ = “K” sounds (Ka, Ki, Ku, Ke, Ko)
Memorize about 5 at a time, and each time you add a new set to learn make sure you can write all previous sets too. Won’t take you long. I did the math and between Hirogana and Katana there are exactly as many kana as there are letters in the alphabet IF you count upper case, lower case, and cursive variants of both.
2) I personally use Duolingo, which is a free program for your PC and phone. You can link accounts and just spend like…5-10 minutes a day on it. I have ultimately heard mixed things about using Duolingo to actually get good at the language, BUT if you are like me you started from nothing and this is a cheap and easy “in” to see if Japanese holds your interest. It certainly has for me!
Good luck friend!
p.s. When you get more familiar with it, there are ways to unlock Japanese keyboards with most phones and PCs easily. Hence how I was able to tyoe kana earlier with ease. Typed all this with my phone!
>I won’t bother searching the internet, as I feel that hearing from other people who can respond to my certain questions could help me
The post is vague, if you have specific questions, ask them. If not, Japanese is probably the one language with the most free resources available online, many of which are extremely useful.
> I won’t bother searching the internet
you came to the right place. this is very common on reddit.