learning by doing (partly) Japanese

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Ccaesar
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learning by doing (partly) Japanese

Postby Ccaesar » Thu Aug 26, 2021 5:08 pm

Hello everyone.
From my log you can see I have been on and off for a while. Partly due to studies, partly due to health. Recently an inflammation in my arms are causing issues. I had gotten into using anki (had about 400 cards in my deck, over half requires me to type sentences)- obviously I am not doing that anymore... Getting back on to the conversational method.
I have had time to reflect on how I learn a lot. Languages for me are connected to the people who speak them, the culture, the story and so much more. But I always dived in as soon as possible by speaking to native speakers. Sadly, that is proving nearly impossible in Japanese. The phrases from assimil (Japanese with ease) aren't nearly as useful as those from Italian with ease (I love that one). Japanese for dummies is focused on vocabulary and phrase building by theme (all very good if you have the time etc)... I am wondering if there are courses, books or the likes focused on getting started talking? I tried downloading learning languages with netflix and watching a Japanese show. Quickly I came across patters that confused me and the quick change of formality.

I like to learn the basic building blocks, grabbing a dictionary, forming phrases and talking. Has anyone had success with learning Japanese that way or have any pieces of advice?
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Re: learning by doing (partly) Japanese

Postby Xenops » Thu Aug 26, 2021 6:14 pm

I'm sorry to read about your inflammation. :( My housemate has an inflamed nerve, and she is struggling.

Unfortunately, Japanese, as opposed to other languages, rely a lot on visual practice--whether it's kanji or grammatical structures. It's also super tough from a European perspective, in general. Aside from Pimsleur, the only other audio-heavy course I can think of is the Genki series--you can make do with reading the text and listening to the recording.

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Re: learning by doing (partly) Japanese

Postby blueSkyred » Fri Aug 27, 2021 2:01 pm

Benjiro on Youtube interviews native speakers using very simple Japanese. It is very rewarding to understand a conversation when you are still at the beginner stage.
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Re: learning by doing (partly) Japanese

Postby księżycowy » Fri Aug 27, 2021 7:14 pm

Xenops wrote:Aside from Pimsleur, the only other audio-heavy course I can think of is the Genki series--you can make do with reading the text and listening to the recording.

So long as you have plenty of cash, and can buy the supplementary audio CDs for the drills and such, Minna no Nihongo is also audio heavy as far as course books go. As I have both series, I'd actually say MnN has more audio, but Genki is a very good choice as well.
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Re: learning by doing (partly) Japanese

Postby golyplot » Fri Aug 27, 2021 9:48 pm

Listening skills are relatively easy to grind as a self-learner. I've done it myself. Unfortunately, I'm not aware of a good way to develop speaking skills. Perhaps hiring a tutor on iTalki would help.
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Re: learning by doing (partly) Japanese

Postby lusan » Sat Aug 28, 2021 3:00 pm

golyplot wrote:Listening skills are relatively easy to grind as a self-learner. I've done it myself. Unfortunately, I'm not aware of a good way to develop speaking skills. Perhaps hiring a tutor on iTalki would help.


After reaching a good base Italian listening skill, I faced the same issue: "Assimil [other books sentences and vocabulary are not very useful to me because they do use the words that I normally use when I speak or think. They do not reflect neither how I think or speak. How to get my OWN active phrases and vocabulary?"

I came up with the idea to write in a journal 10 phrases every day and have them corrected by an italki professional tutor-I prefer professional tutors to ensure quality. After a while, I hope to have a clear picture not only of my active vocabulary, but also of my typical mistakes when I speak. It gives me a plenty of Anki cards, grammar weaknesses pointers as well as an output activity to assist in language activation. -Of course, one could take these sentences and make them into drills, memorizing them, etc. It is up to us.

I think that this approach to activation might be better than hiring someone jus to chit-chat. It is probably faster and more efficient than casual conversations. It is a real personalization of language activation.

So far, so good. I plan to do the same for French and Polish in the future.
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Re: learning by doing (partly) Japanese

Postby leosmith » Tue Aug 31, 2021 2:40 am

Ccaesar wrote:I am wondering if there are courses, books or the likes focused on getting started talking?

Pimsleur is only $20/month now. Michel Thomas Japanese is not bad imo. Both of these teach limited grammar, but they will give you a decent foothold in the spoken language.
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Re: learning by doing (partly) Japanese

Postby Sumisu » Wed Sep 01, 2021 1:00 am

leosmith wrote:
Ccaesar wrote:I am wondering if there are courses, books or the likes focused on getting started talking?

Pimsleur is only $20/month now. Michel Thomas Japanese is not bad imo. Both of these teach limited grammar, but they will give you a decent foothold in the spoken language.


I will second (third?) the Pimsleur recommendation. I used it while driving very early on in my learning process and those phrases sank in at a deep level. In fact, even though it's been three years since I did Pimsleur, I still hear certain sentences in my head from time to time. In addition, I feel that it gave me good pronunciation habits.

Once you are comfortable reading simple sentences, find some sentences and read them aloud several times until it starts to feel natural. Talk to yourself using those sentences as you go about your day. At that point you should be ready to jump on italki. I think I did my first italki lesson about 5 months into my studies, but you could probably do it much sooner if you are focused mainly on speaking.
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