10 Learning Japanese
Description
This article is from the Anime FAQ, by Steve Pearl with numerous contributions by others.
10 Learning Japanese
As is to be expected, all anime is in Japanese. Synopses, scripts, subtitles and dubbing all help to understand what's going on, but they can only cover a fraction of all the anime being released at a certain time. A common question in rec.arts.anime and sci.lang.japan is "What books would you folks recommend for someone who wants to learn colloquial Japanese?"
The following books have been recommended by persons in this newsgroup as good sources for learning Japanese. Of course, they can't replace a live teacher in a Japanese course at your local university, or practicing with a Japanese-speaking friend (a GOOD friend, in case you unwittingly commit a faux-pas :-).
Basic Japanese textbooks:
BASIC STRUCTURES IN JAPANESE by Aoki, Hirose, Keller, Sakuma Taishukan Publishing Company A beginner's Japanese textbook.
JAPANESE: THE SPOKEN LANGUAGE by Eleanor Jordan The standard text for college level Japanese. Yale university Press, 1988. ISBN 0-300-04188-8
ESSENTIAL JAPANESE by Samuel. E. Martin.
JAPANESE FOR BUSY PEOPLE (volumes I and II) by Association for Japanese-Language Teaching (AJALT) Kodansha International Publishers (Tokyo and NY) Another beginner's Japanese textbook. Recommended.
Books on colloquial Japanese:
JAPANESE IN ACTION by Jack Seward
MAKING OUT IN JAPANESE by Todd & Erika Geers Yenbooks (Charles E. Tuttle Publishing Company) A book on colloquial Japanese.
MORE MAKING OUT IN JAPANESE The sequel to "Making Out in Japanese"
MANGAJIN MANGAJIN PO Box 7119 Marietta GA 30065 This is a magazine with detailed panel-by-panel manga translations, along with articles on the Japanese culture. Regular features include: "Galaxy Express 999", "What's Michael", "Tanaka-kun", etc. Great for learning colloquial Japanese.
Books on Japanese Grammar:
AN INTRODUCTION TO JAPANESE GRAMMAR AND COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES by Senko K. Maynard The Japan Times A book on Japanese Grammar
Reference works:
KENKYUSHA'S JAPANESE-ENGLISH DICTIONARY
NELSON'S CHINESE CHARACTER DICTIONARY
Other suggestions:
Get a feel of basic Japanese before figuring out the slangs and contractions.
Keep in mind that even the simplest Manga assume about 7 years of constant Japanese usage.
Get Japanese copies of children's classics such as Winne-the-Pooh, A Christmas Carol, etc., which are aimed for elementary/grammar school children. Read them and compare with the original English.
Jordan's book has plain style Japanese starting with chapter 9.
Most minor Japanese sentences are in the so-called "direct" style.
Live in Japan for a while. [A bit drastic, isn't it? -- Editor]
Read manga and watch T.V., preferably watch some show with subtitles.
LOTS OF PATIENCE!! Learning a new language is never easy.
Continue to:
My Books
