learning japanese language

[phore]

ok so i am going to attempt to learn some japanese.

i have a knowledge of some of the sentence structure and some articles and words. not enough to understand a conversation, with any amount of depth to the subject matter.

 

I own the japanese instant immersion 8 cd set, and >100 gigabites of anime that i watch sometimes.

 

i intend to listen to the instant immersion cds when i sleep.

 

I realize that this isnt scientifically supported but i think that it might work.

Ive listened to music while ive been asleep before and it kind of stuck in my head so maybe a language could too.

 

what do you guys think?

[Sunya]

try it!

sounds interesting.

 

edgar cayce apparently learned books by sleeping on them, or something like that. could be an urban legend though.

 

either way, us normies aren't so gifted. though this might help.. i doubt that it will fully work as your main method, some conscious learning i imagine would be required.

 

curious how it will turn out though

[exorcist_1699]

To a westerner , learning Japanese must be quite difficult .

 

However, if you can overcome the troubles ( reading Kanji, very confused pronunciation of many kanji, various polite ways of expressions..etc) in it , then you find funs in the language .

 

In some aspects, the language is not difficult: pronunciation of Japanese words is never complicate; Grammar is not so complex either . And , mastering Japanese means you already learned 1/3 of the Chinese.

 

With verbs and the crucial meaning always placed at the end of a sentence, Japanese is really a good training for our brain , unfortunately not easy subconsciously .

Edited January 20, 2009 by exorcist_1699

[freeform]

Check out the Vera Birkenbihl method of 'naturally' learning a language. There is a free ebook floating around that explains the method.

 

An aspect of it is listening to the language whilst you're doing other things - so if you're washing the dishes or concentrating on something else have like a radio show or film in Japanese playing in the background.

 

Having it playing whilst you're sleeping might work or it might just ruin your sleep!

 

 

 

ok so i am going to attempt to learn some japanese.

i have a knowledge of some of the sentence structure and some articles and words. not enough to understand a conversation, with any amount of depth to the subject matter.

 

I own the japanese instant immersion 8 cd set, and >100 gigabites of anime that i watch sometimes.

 

i intend to listen to the instant immersion cds when i sleep.

 

I realize that this isnt scientifically supported but i think that it might work.

Ive listened to music while ive been asleep before and it kind of stuck in my head so maybe a language could too.

 

what do you guys think?

[phore]

on the subject of ruining sleep.

the first night i had a dreams about an japanese airline stewardess talking to me. but what she was saying didnt make any sense, as her sentences would stop at seemingly random times. then i woke up. the room was eerily lighted by the sky outside but the voice from the dream wasnt stopping.

then i realized that it was the japanese lessions.

 

the way i find most effective when learning is using taichi principles of just letting the information pass through you.

 

I will use tamos cave meditation to supplement the learning i suppose.

Maybe i should try sleeping on books. It seems like it would be a useful method if it worked.

 

Im not concentrating on kanji just yet. im currently working on the speaking and listening part.

Edited January 19, 2009 by phore

[de_paradise]

I used this method often, but only as an addition to study and exercises.

 

Good intentions are short lived, most people quit because languages take pretty long to learn.

 

Good luck

[Sloppy Zhang]

There's a very good textbook called Genki. Look it up, find it, buy it. You can also get the workbook for practice. I think there's a CD set as well along with it. But it's Genki, a course in Elementary Japanese or something like that, there are two volumes, Genki I and Genki II. VERY good books. They are the books that I got when I started learning back in high school. AWESOME. I got to college and found out they used those textbooks too for the first and second year of language lessons. So it's respectable. VERY good, has relevant vocab, relevant conversations, it mentions how speakers may speak when in a casual conversation, how the grammar changes accordingly.

 

Then for intermediate level, there's Introduction to Intermediate Japanese by Nobuko MIzutani published by Boninsha. Don't get this book though unless you've gone through Genki I and II. Though to be honest, you might be able to do without it. Only thing this textbook really does is introduce a lot more conversational stuff, and specific vocabulary (it talks about stuff like garbage collection, electrician jobs, you know, random stuff). Though in all honesty, if you just learn Genki I and II, and watch anime and LEARN from it, you will be fine in every day conversations should you ever go.

 

And what I mean by learn anime, I mean by listen and pay attention to what they are saying. If you don't know what they are saying, like, vocab or new grammar structure, the subtitles will tell you what it means. As you hear it, you wind up learning it and you can learn a lot from anime.

 

Genki I and II+ anime approach left me in good condition when I exchanged to Japan for the summer back when I was in high school. Though I should also say I had a Japanese teacher and I practiced conversation a lot with my friends too.... so that's why I recommended the Genki audio CD's as well, for extra practice in hearing what the lessons tell you. Genki also teaches a lot of kanji, so you're good in that department.

 

Also, don't give up! Languages are hard to learn for people who don't want to learn, kind of like how some people take spanish all through high school and college but can't speak a lick when they graduate. I picked up conversational Japanese in two years of regular high school education, 45 mins a day. I know a guy who was a year long exchange student in Japan, knew no Japanese when he showed up, but was conversationally fluent in a month and a half. Necessity, desire to learn, constant practice, and a love for the language can really create some impressive results. Don't be discouraged by people who say you can't do it, or that it will be too hard. I guess objectively it will be "hard", but if you love doing it then it won't seem hard AT ALL. It didn't seem hard for me.

Edited January 19, 2009 by Sloppy Zhang

[Smile]

Make sure you learn Japanese from the male perspective/teacher (if you are a male), or everyone will laugh at you every time you speak.

[Anabhogya-Carya]

Sleeping on books could save me alot of time reading for my courses. If it worked, as if mere connotated scribbles on a piece of tree could transfer information into my brain by physical contact.

 

Nonetheless I will try it tonight. Await my report tomorow!!

Edited January 21, 2009 by Anabhogya-Carya

[Anabhogya-Carya]

Sleeping on books could save me alot of time reading for my courses. If it worked, as if mere connotated scribbles on a piece of tree could transfer information into my brain by physical contact.

 

Nonetheless I will try it tonight. Await my report tomorow!!

 

I went to sleep atop of "adam, eve and the serpent" by elaine pagles last night. i have never read it and it is safe to say that I still have not.

[phore]

I went to sleep atop of "adam, eve and the serpent" by elaine pagles last night. i have never read it and it is safe to say that I still have not.

[hagar]

 

Read this:

http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2009/...uage/#more-1077

[Mal]

Interesting language article. I wonder how much extra his "study method" helped.

 

As well as any other possible method, He was immersing himself in the culture at the time too.

Nice positive outlook though, thinking it is possible to learn quickly.

 

I went to sleep atop of "adam, eve and the serpent" by elaine pagles last night. i have never read it and it is safe to say that I still have not.

 

try it on audio book and let us know if it makes a difference