Japan Vlog 35-- What I have been learning in Japanese class and methods I use to study

[brianator145]

@totalis2: I normally use clustur. com

[NinjaBunnii99]

I learned ta, na, te form in one class period in high school. The book we use is "Adventures in Japanese." (I'm in Japanese 2)

[taboo79ley]

japan is amazin ill check ur blogs thanx

[B4IRUTUARU16]

is there smfin wrong with the cam??

[PadawanKim]

@B4IRUTUARU16 I think my computer was having problems when I uploaded this particular video. Sorry about the choppiness!

[B4IRUTUARU16]

@PadawanKim np

[PussyCatDoll14]

Thank you sooo much for making this video! So, I have a question: do people in Japan have to know romaji? I heard that they have to. I just want to clarify if this is actually true. So, if it is true then that means that you would have to know romaji too in order to be fluent in Japanese right? However, it's actually within us to know it since it uses the english alphabet to write the Japanese words. However, if you were to write in romaji, I guess you would have to know how to spell right.

[PadawanKim]

@PussyCatDoll14 Well, everyone in Japan is required to take English courses in school, which would use romanji to teach them English words. Romanji isn't something I've ever thought of having to "learn," so I'm having a hard time answering your question. You wouldn't have to learn romanji in order to be fluent in Japanese, really, but it's something that would probably naturally come to you as an English speaker, anyway. Thank you for watching! :)

[roynsky]

For those of you with access to a DS and an R4 or anyother thing like that, I'd recommend, doragana, kaite oboeru (I think I spelled it right). Its meant for little children but it's teaching method is quite good. It teaches you all the Hiragana and Katakana within maybe 40 days. And it also teaches you the first few kanji. I highly recommend this game for all beginners. (The game is Japanese, but it isnt hard to figure out what they're saying).

[roynsky]

Head on over to my channel, I'll review it in my next video, I'll post it like next week Thursday-ish...oh yeah you might as well check out my Rosetta Stone videos:P

[iareryc3]

I honestly don't like this game. I tried it mainly to see how it is. I only learn grammar and new kanji. The kanji is weird for me because they're all over the place in terms of grade school. That is pretty much it. It's a great software mainly for beginners. If you score really good on the placement exam you will skip the first 10 lessons. I suggest Genki, Minna no Nihongo for people who are learning. Kodansha Kanji Learner's Dictionary is an awesome kanji dictionary. Good luck to everyone.

[MisterNES]

Anki is good. Personally, I use Surusu (formerly called Khatzumemo) simply because I can access it via the web from my cellphone. I love being able to do reps wherever I am.

[PadawanKim]

That sounds like a cool program. I, unfortunately, have crappy internet and no cell phone :( (I know, it's crazy).

[mickmouse13]

Great =) I'm glad your learning so well (its a handy thing to know in japan) do you know of anything good for hiragana besides memorization. Im currently memorizing a ton but i know some of them i pick up right away because i have a (story) to go with them and other i spend alot more time on. Know of any cheep/free books or something?

[PadawanKim]

I don't know of any good hirigana-learning books. :( My Japanese teacher back home gave us a homemade book for learning hirigana that basically had a lot of little stories to go with the shapes and the strokes.

One example I remember from the top of my head is that for な (na) it kind of looks like someone yawning and is about to take a "na"p. Silly things like that. :)

[mickmouse13]

hah. I will remember that. I think i found one though. ITs called remembering the kana (by the same author of your book "Remembering the kanji"

[SideriaSleep]

One book is called "Kana de Manga" It teaches you how to right hiragana and katakana and words that begin with that character to help you memorize them. There are books that follow in the series such as "Kanji de Manga" for later on as well.

[mickmouse13]

Thanks.

[mj06ir2008]

Hello!

I have been doing some japanese learning of my own but so far only hiragana and katakana, not so much Kanji yet. In your experience would you say that there is a pretty fair balance of all three used in everyday japanese life of are some more frequent? Also, do you know of any good online sources for kanji stories and lessons?

Thank you!

[mj06ir2008]

Hello!

I have been doing some learning of my own, starting with hiragana and katakana, but I don't have a lot of info on Kanji. Would you recommend knowing a strong blend of them all of are some elements more frequent then others? Also, do you know any good online sources for Kanji stories and learning?

Thanks!

[forgottenmemories21]

I have MJC.. I'm currently on lesson 102. I agree that for the price it's a great learning tool but I'm also disappointed. I don't like the way they teach kanji. Some are too small to recognize. Also, I'd like to see more drawing practice of the kanji in the lessons before the games that expect me to draw it from memory. Also, After lesson 100 it's called "Open Plan" and you can't see how many lessons are left. I think this is a draw back because I'm starting to lose motivation to continue :(

[PadawanKim]

Oh...yeah, I've also noticed that the print for the kanji is very small and sometimes the stroke lines run together. Thanks for the input!

[forgottenmemories21]

I have MJC.. I'm currently on lesson 102. I agree that for the price it's a great learning tool but I'm also disappointed. I don't like the way they teach kanji. Some are too small to recognize. Also, I'd like to see more drawing practice of the kanji in the lessons before the games that expect me to draw it from memory. Also, After lesson 100 it's called "Open Plan" and you can't see how many lessons are left. I think this is a draw back because I'm starting to lose motivation to continue :(

[draftlove]

私（わたし）はアメリカの映画（えいが）がすきなので、毎日（ま­いにち）、英語（えいご）の勉強（べんきょう）をしてます。

あなたも日本語（にほんご）の勉強（べんきょう）、がんばってく­ださい。

映画＝えいが＝movie

毎日＝まいにち＝every day

[PadawanKim]

ありがとう！

[fizzywakey]

I use the Heisig kanji file in my Anki, too. I'm just like you with the paper absolutely crammed with written kanji. :) I love the visual stories involved with Heisig's method. The stories get weird after a while... for the more complicated ones. Weird is good, though... makes it easier to remember. :)

Love all your vids by the way.

[Fourthworth]

Thanks for the Anki program information! :)

[TravelingBlogBum]

I'm not fluent by any means, but I believe "My Japanese Coach" for the DS is one of my most favorite games. You can pick it up for 10 minutes and review or spend a couple of hours playing the games, learning the lessons, or exploring the other features. Later on in the game you can turn the romaji on or off.

[valakin]

Really? I have a friend who studies under a nationally accredited teacher. He told me that MJC was probably the worst learning aid he had ever seen/used.

[TravelingBlogBum]

to valakin,

MJC is the best Japanese learning aid for the DS. It's much better than "Mind your Language: Learn Japanese" for the DS.

I'm not comparing it to any book or computer program out there, but out of all the games I play on my DS the "My Coach" series is my favorite.

That's my opinion, but I can understand if your friend didn't like it. There will always be someone that will like the game or dislike the game. That's how everything is.

[insanitythesurfer]

That sounds awesome. Is it easy to find? Or kinda rare?

[TravelingBlogBum]

No, the "My Coach" series is easy to find. Every time I drop by an EB games store or in any local mall I find at least three different "My Coach" games. Japanese might be a little hard to find. Just buy it from Amazon if you can't find it in your local game store.

I seriously like the game.

[insanitythesurfer]

Fast response. :PI guess I'll check EB games before amazon... Thank you.

[TravelingBlogBum]

No prob, I just happen to be online and I get alerts when I get a response!

:P