Hello,
I am teaching myself Japanese and I was wondering what should I learn first?
Should I learn to read and write or to speak first? or all at the same time?
Thanks
Any help is appreciated

Nukemarine's thread will help you:

http://forum.koohii.com/showthread.php?tid=5110

Ok thank you. It helped

Depends on your situation and why you are learning Japanese. There is no real best way for all people...

Well what I have so far is Micheal Thomas for learning to speak Japanese. I'm learning Japanese because someday i hope to visit and maybe live there. I'm planning on buying remembering the kanji tomorrow. I was also wondering if basic kanji Book vol.1 and vol. 2 are any good and whats some other good books are ( I'm going to search ).

If I was you I'd do a tape set like pimsleur (I guess Michael Thomas is similar), a beginners textbook and start an SRS deck with anki - smart fm core 2000 is good. Also watch stuff in Japanese as much as possible. I wouldn't worry about cramming hundreds of kanji unless you know your definitely in for the long haul. The basic kanji books are a good start tho.

I thought all the kanji books were made obsolete by Heisig. Weren't they?

No, Heisig doesn't suit everyone. When I started Japanese I wanted to learn the 200/300 most useful kanji with readings. Am only doing rtk lite now, with the readings.

Pimsleur is dreary crap that teaches you how to be creepy (seriously, listen to their conversations).

If you need some basic level multimedia teaching material I recommend the 80s era Let's Learn Japanese series or whatever it's called. The one with the greasy looking Yan guy.

-edit-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Let's_Learn_Japanese

haha I know what you mean about creepy but you're hardly gonna go around playing out entire conversations from the cd, and it's obvious which stuff is creepy.

it's good to get some basic useful sentences learnt and also to practice pronunciation imo.

Yan san, whilst being hilarious, wasn't that useful for me, the pace was kinda wierd. It's def worth watching for the comedy alone tho.

Ok thanks every one

caivano Wrote:If I was you I'd do a tape set like pimsleur (I guess Michael Thomas is similar), a beginners textbook and start an SRS deck with anki - smart fm core 2000 is good. Also watch stuff in Japanese as much as possible. I wouldn't worry about cramming hundreds of kanji unless you know your definitely in for the long haul. The basic kanji books are a good start tho.

what type of beginners textbook?

Genki is a great beginners textbook. Assimil also has a good beginners book.

jarvik7 Wrote:Pimsleur is dreary crap that teaches you how to be creepy (seriously, listen to their conversations).

may be dreary, but pimsleur is really good beginner level listening content that reinforces basic grammar and makes you think in the language quickly. I can't speak for the quality of the japanese course, but I used it for Mandarin and think it's perhaps the best listening material out there for complete beginners.

Jpod ? Similar to pimsleur i think, but cheaper.

frankCastle Wrote:what type of beginners textbook?

I used minna no nihongo (main book and English grammar guide). A lot of people like Genki.

I just bought the remembering the kanji and will soon be getting a text book. On the minna no nihongo, do I need the Minna no Nihongo 1 textbook and Minna no Nihongo 1 English Translation and Grammatical Notes? and also with genki which do I get? sorry for so many questions I'm a newbie to Japanese and just trying to get a good foundation.
Thanks

frankCastle Wrote:I just bought the remembering the kanji and will soon be getting a text book. On the minna no nihongo, do I need the Minna no Nihongo 1 textbook and Minna no Nihongo 1 English Translation and Grammatical Notes? and also with genki which do I get? sorry for so many questions I'm a newbie to Japanese and just trying to get a good foundation.
Thanks

Minna no Nihongo is completely Japanese so English translation / notes guide is needed.

Genki is great, there are 2 texts, separate audio, separate answer key, and you can also buy an additional workbook for 1 and 2 as well, can get a bit pricy, but is a very popular set overall.

Look into Japanese for Everyone, I use it, it covers everything from Genki 1 and 2 and has more vocab. I like the way the book presents material, it's a bit more dense and fast paced, but a phenomenal value. It comes with plenty of exercises, and the answer key, and 1 text instead of two. The audio is no longer commercially available, but it can be other wise found.

All 3 are great, look at reviews, prices, sample pages if you can find them, and whichever route you go, good luck.

Yep with minna no nihongo you need those 2 books because the main book is all Japanese. With genki you just need the main first textbook. They are quite different styles so it's good if you can have a look at them before buying.

I think I may go with Minna no Nihongo or Genki but Ill do alot of research first, lets hope their not to expensive


Edit-
So Ive done a little research and I like Genki 1 a lot, its really cool. I didn't think I'd like a text book, but its not bad. I would still like to get a view of Minna no Nihongo before I decide. if any one knows of where I can get a preview of Minna no Nihongo that will be very awesome.