Good luck with learning Japanese.

Welcome

Are you considering checking out Remembering The Kanji? If you want to get into the reading aspect of Japanese quickly then I think RTK is to be highly recommended as it takes the difficult part of learning the characters and makes it both easier and the top priority in the beginning.

If manga is a driving force for you then I recommend that you get into learning through native media, even though it's difficult in the beginning. You might like ideas described on the AJATT blog, or a similar one called Spanish-Only. Our own member Nukemarine's Suggested Guide for Beginners is very helpful too. One thing they all have in common is that they recommend using what's called an SRS (spaced repetition system) like Anki. Also check out http://forum.koohii.com/viewtopic.php?id=480

I don't really know about easy manga for beginners. A lot of people recommend Yotsubato, which is a cute and down-to-earth manga that I like a lot, but even that has colloquial language you probably aren't familiar with yet.

Good luck though, hopefully you've just discovered a new world by coming here.

As far as Heisig RTK, you could do it on this site for free honestly.
You could find the book on Amazon for $20-$30.

Yostubato is pretty easy.
Manga titles, almost any shounen or shoujo manga will be fairly easy and with furigana. Though there are more shoujo manga with realistic dialogue than shounen i'd say.

Another free resource that i'd recommend is Tae Kim Grammar Guide. If you wanna do any grammar self study.

A popular SRS is Anki. Here is a quick primer for how to use it.

Last edited by blackbrich (2012 May 09, 2:34 pm)

AliceDraken wrote:

Sadly I'm looking for a better job right now, since my current one isn't giving me any hours.  So, even $20-$30 is kind of expensive for me.

When I saw that word (Anki), my first reaction was that someone wrote the word incorrectly for "Big Brother - Aniki."  LoL!

Plus, with all the cheap things I can do...I have a whole deck of paper study cards made from notecards.  They are soooo inexpensive and if you cut them, then use a whole punch, and attach them to a ring...they become flash cards on the go.  ^-^  I love them!

-Arisu

Amazon probably has some for cheap (IE, cheaper). You can also use the koohii site for stories and download the introduction off of the website to get how it works.

AliceDraken wrote:

Yes, I probably will!  ^-^  Write now, I'm trying to decide on my first raw manga to buy.  I don't have much cash, but I'm willing to get it and slowly teach myself to read it.  Though, I'll have to wait for a month until I get the game I'm asking for...unless I get it as a mother's day gift.  Whahahaha!  ^0^

I really just want to further my learning.  Though, my spanish class can at least be passed with a "C" grade!  (I hate spanish)  I can't even remember all the words and I don't want to start forgeting my Japanese, just because I'm being forced into that language for the curriculum.  >_<'

I think what will help me right now, would be something to show that I'm making correct sentences!  Or maybe even a chatroom that has everyone talking in romaji so I can try out there and people would be able to tell me if I made mistakes or not.  ^-^

-Arisu

The problem is that a lot of people here (the majority) don't deal much with romaji. The farther I've got in my learning, the more confusing I realize it is.  There's way too many homonyms, I think? (Words that have the same romaji/reading) in Japanese that just make it way too weird to read if you're not experienced enough. As hard as kanji is, it actually makes Japanese easier to understand.

I'd suggest also looking for "Remembering the Kana" or heck, even googling for a kana chart on the internet and writing down the kana enough so that you can remember them. Your manga isn't going to have any roomaji, so you might as well start learning the language/kana/kanji now.

As for manga, it's hard to recommend specifics without knowing what types of manga you like. Do you currently read any in English? If you don't have a good Japanese store near you, Kinokuniya is a good place to order online (for books/manga).

Feel free to PM/email me with any questions - I'm inching closer to intermediate and have experimented and tried several different study methods.

@Nohiko

I already know that my manga won't be in romaji, but since my keyboard doesn't have kanji on it...then I can only write sentences online in romaji.  That's why I said that...  ^0^

About manga, I did say that I already know Katakana and hiragana and with each kanji I learn...I'll be able to move further into the story and begin to memorize the characters as they repeat.  This is why I want to buy a manga, because I believe with wanting to get further in the story...I'll be able to motivate myself to learn the written language even better than I am right now.

http://www.myspace.com/alice_drake/blog
^These are all the manga that I own right now, even though it hasn't been updated in a while.  Otherwise, I like fantasy stories like Naruto!

-Arisu

Last edited by AliceDraken (2012 May 09, 5:42 pm)

Like someone before said, if you are looking for corrections or people to check your writing the people on lang-8 will help you out.


I have Tadashii Kanji Kakitori Kun and I have to say, it's not going to help you learn kanji unless you've already done something like Remembering the Kanji. There is no English in the game at all so you will need to already know a lot of Japanese to navigate the game and understand the information it gives you.
I would check this youtube video to see how it works before spending money on it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZBKvHgSFFo


Also for manga recommendations, I love Yotsuba&!
It's very cute and straightforward. I have the first 8 or so RAW volumes and it's easy to follow. Most of the kanji have furigana and it's usually pretty easy to work out what's going on from the pictures even if you don't know the actual words being used.

Good luck in your learning!

TwoMoreCharacters wrote:

Manga seems to be the one reason for why you want to learn Japanese (I shouldn't assume things, but you seem to really want to get into Japanese manga anyway). In that case, learning over 2000 characters with a DS game and constructing your own sentences with romaji isn't going to get you into understanding written Japanese anywhere near as fast as a learning method you could make for yourself by following the links posted in this thread... in my opinion. You've come to a place full of people who've learned about the best and most fun ways to learn Japanese, and you seem to not really want to bother with recommendations that you need to spend time learning about and perhaps forking out a few dollars for.

For your own sake, don't dismiss Anki as something unnecessary that you can't be bothered with! It's arguably one of the best tools you can have, especially as a beginner, and it's free. And don't disregard RTK because it has a price tag, its price in money has been nothing to what it has been worth for me.

If you're willing to give up some legality related morals then you don't have to pay a dollar though. RTK should be illegally downloadable as a PDF from some places (there's also a free sample of it), and as for manga there are raw scans. I prefer buying books and manga, but had I been... financially underprivileged then I would still have been able to get everything I read in digital formats.

AliceDraken wrote:

I already know that my manga won't be in romaji, but since my keyboard doesn't have kanji on it...then I can only write sentences online in romaji.  That's why I said that...  ^0^

You don't need a special keyboard.
http://www.google.co.jp/intl/ja/ime/

About manga, I did say that I already know Katakana and hiragana and with each kanji I learn...I'll be able to move further into the story and begin to memorize the characters as they repeat.  This is why I want to buy a manga, because I believe with wanting to get further in the story...I'll be able to motivate myself to learn the written language even better than I am right now.

That's great thinking for a start, it's for that kind of thinking that I think you should check out AJATT, the link I posted up there. Just don't be too naive when (if) you read stuff on there.

I don't need you looking down on me in anyway thank you!  I do love manga!  I will not say anything against what you say about that.  Though, I also believe that I hold manga a lot of gratitude for getting me into the Japanese culture and pushing me into learning the language to begin.  It's the one reason today why I want to be a Wagashi Chef and intern/extern in Japan to further my learning.

I have nothing against RTK, which I have no clue about.  I wouldn't mind trying anything free that will help me in my goal.  Though, no I will not be allowing myself to go to jail for dowloading a pirated version of anything online.  I have a daughter to support and I can't afford anything putting me on hold with giving her a future to enjoy too.  I can't always just think about myself in everything in this world.  Sorry, if that ticks you off so badly.

I also wasn't putting Anki down!  I really did think for a second, because when I hit the youtube link...I couldn't really read the icon and it looked there was another "i" in the word that the title didn't have.  I even watched the movie and decided that I wouldn't mind adding that to my computer, though you probably never thought about that while you were deciding to destroy my mood and put me down with everything you spouted off.

-Arisu

palelaura wrote:

Like someone before said, if you are looking for corrections or people to check your writing the people on lang-8 will help you out.


I have Tadashii Kanji Kakitori Kun and I have to say, it's not going to help you learn kanji unless you've already done something like Remembering the Kanji. There is no English in the game at all so you will need to already know a lot of Japanese to navigate the game and understand the information it gives you.
I would check this youtube video to see how it works before spending money on it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZBKvHgSFFo


Also for manga recommendations, I love Yotsuba&!
It's very cute and straightforward. I have the first 8 or so RAW volumes and it's easy to follow. Most of the kanji have furigana and it's usually pretty easy to work out what's going on from the pictures even if you don't know the actual words being used.

Good luck in your learning!

I just saw a picture of that manga recently and it looked just Kawaii!  <3 - <3

I watched a youtube about that DS game and it does look like it will be a bit difficult, but I did learn all the previous basics and I just pray that I'll be able to navigate correctly in the game.  Though, I can't give up!  I can only say that I won't know until I try...hopefully if I can even get the game in the first place.

I'll check out your link and into your recommendations, thanks a bunch!

-Arisu

nohika wrote:

Maybe browse some raws online and see what you like? Currently I'm following Kuroshitsuji, Skip Beat...my sister loves Hito-something Reborn, I think? Look at magazines like LaLa, Ciao, and see what's in them. Anything Yuu Watase is amazing shoujou. Arina Tanemura. I don't read much shounen, so no recommendations there (love Rumiko Takahashi, but MAN her series drag on forever). Maybe something will catch your eyes. Most of my shoujou hasn't been translated. To be honest, I've tried (and failed) in the past to use it as a study tool because there's simply too much that I don't know.

To be honest, I don't think that the previous poster was "looking down on you" or "disregarding you" for learning Japanese for manga. I believe the majority of posters on this site utilize manga in their studies somehow, or have been inspired by such. I think he was more clarifying to make sure that he could gear his advice specifically towards manga if that's what you were particularly interested in.

If you are going to, um, acquire a book somehow, google "Japanese the Manga Way". It's specifically geared towards helping people understand the grammar that is used in manga. I can also practically guarantee that you will not be arrested for downloading one pdf of a book that most authorities probably have no idea what is. I'm a college student myself - it's not feasible to purchase everything I need. My viewpoint is that I may not be able to buy it now, but I plan to buy it as soon as I have the money to (we'll ignore how long away that'll be).

Otherwise if you need only free, Tae Kim's guide will be your best (only free) bet when it comes to grammar. Anki also has several free decks with grammar. Core 6k is an awesome (free on Anki) vocab/sentence resource.

I'm very sorry if I was too far out there in expressing my annoyance with him!  I just didn't care for have him point out that I was puting down Anki, when I was only trying to be truthful when I thought I saw that word.

Man, most of the suggestions you've be telling me are manga that I actually own.  I have almost all of skip beat and I own two series of Yuu Watase's series.  They are to die for, but you always have to be prepared to see a little more skin than you'd expect.  LMAO!

I also guess I'm a little worried.  I know my cousin told me once about downloading something and didn't know that it was pirated and was warned immediately about she would be arrested for doing it a second time!  I think I can't afford to have that happen to me.  I'm the type of person that, if I even tried it just once...I'd probably hand myself in for fear of impending guilt!  ACK!  X-X

-Arisu

Last edited by AliceDraken (2012 May 09, 9:58 pm)

nohika wrote:

It's allright, I just wanted to explain that there was a different viewpoint based on this forum and that's where I thought he was coming from. I'll be honest in that I was really nervous about Anki in the beginning. It took me months to get used to it, but I love it now. Single most useful thing I have in my busy life to study Japanese with. I'd be lost without it.

To be honest, I'd go browse the bookstore and look for manga that looks interesting. Check out the covers, browse through it, and pick it that way. W Juliet (Emura) is also one of my favorite mangas. I also have sukitte ii na yo (好きっていいなよ) is one I like. There's another one...I can't remember exactly what it is, but the title's similar. A couple children's books would be good for you too - google aozora bunko, I think. There's tons of free titles out there. Vampire Knight is good, Inuyasha is good (but lengthy), Tail of the Moon (Tsuki no shippou)...

Do you use firefox? If so, google Rikaichan and download it. I believe there's Rikaikun for Chrome? It's like a pointer-dictionary. You hover your mouse over Japanese and it helps you decode it.

If you'd like, I have a humongous pack of Japanese light (or not light) novels downloaded. It was posted here a while ago. What was your cousin downloading? To be honest, as far as I know they bother less policing foreign downloads (I think part of it is that they can't understand what you're downloading). For my sister and I, downloading some of this stuff will be the only way we can get a hold of it. I'm lucky in that I live near a Kinokuniya and can get down there semi-regularly.

I've got threatened once for downloading a season of Monk, so I don't download (American) series anymore. Mostly Japanese books and study things. Note - I am not condoning piracy and do plan to get most of the stuff I've found eventually. I just can't right now on a student salary.

So far you've named all the manga that I enjoy reading.  I just finished reading W Juliet online almost a day ago and it was really enjoyable.  I love most stories where there's a serious situation and then suddenly someone springs in a joke.  I usually end up laughing out loud like those anime characters!  I think it drives my parents nuts...

I think my first manga will be Yumeiro Patissiere, because it's mostly compared to my dreams and what I want to do!  It's a series I don't own myself or even the series, but I did watch and read it online...so it is something I would like to have and it's been long enough ago, that I'd like to read it again.  Though, right now I'm bargaining with the seller on the price.  LoL!  It's more expensive with import manga...  I'm sooo going to miss the days when they were all just $10 rather than 2x that price.  TT-TT

I also like Vampire Knight's author, but I can't say I'd want to own it.  I actually own her first series (at least I think it was the first).  It's called Merupuri, which is sooo much more light hearted compared to the doom and gloom of Vampire Knight.  I also like 9 Banme no Musashi, which you'd probably like if you ever think about reading it.  ^-^

(Sadly, I have to get up early, but I'd love to chat with you tomorrow.  It's been a very long time since I've met someone with the same manga genre likes as myself.
Goodnight, and I'll chat with you tomorrow!)

-Arisu

nohika wrote:

Seriously, see if you can find a Kinokuniya near you or buy online. I can find manga (Japanese manga) for 7-9 bucks, novels for slightly more. You can also buy manga magazine subscriptions.

I have Merupuri in both Japanese and English. Well, I think I'm missing number 1 of Merupuri in Japanese. I think. My room isn't the cleanest...

Worst case, even if you don't use Anki, look up frequent vocab, ignore the rest, and enjoy yourself.

I found their website and I'll add it to my favorites list, so that I won't lose it.

(Goodnight, see you tomorrow!)

-Arisu