How To Learn to Speak GOOD Japanese FAST

Vid on how long it took me to learn Japanese:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEywrWBRU24

Hey all, a question I got asked a lot after my first vid was how I learned my Japanese. The good news is that I was not an exchange student, I didn't grow up in Japan. In fact, I didn't even do very well at Japanese in Uni (my university lecturer "advised" me not to take third year Japanese).... I kind of threw away the study approach and started learning in my own way, which worked well for me, although in a way that disproportionately fostered speaking ability over reading and writing ability. I found it fun and personally rewarding to work with, live with, and hang out with Japanese people a lot before even coming to Japan, and it paid off for me.

Bad news is that, especially when you come to Japan, full immersion can be exhausting and mind numbing. But again, my advice is this - do not give yourself a break, at least in the beginning. As soon as you force your brain to begin clicking over in 5 year old Japanese, instead of your 20 or 30 or how ever many years English, everything will get easier, and like being a child again, your ability to understand and express yourself with better vocab will grow naturally. Some people can do it, but memorizing long lists of kanji and vocabulary, while a great preparation, just didn't work for me without the connection to how I NEED to use those words.

As for the JPLT exams, my advice is this.
1) If you are studying outside of Japan, go for level 3 first. It shows basic competence and should be attainable.
2) If you are a second or third year Japanese student, and not a lazy one like I was, take level 2. With a bit of study, it is attainable, and shows that you can get by if need be in most work or day to day situations.
3) If you have spent more than a year in Japan, and not spent it all in Roppongi or Nova, or in pubs hanging out with expats, take level 2. You should be able to get it with minimal study just from your day to day use.
4) Level 1 is an SOB of an exam. It shows you are the same level as a university entrant. If you are a native English speaker, Level 2 is all you need to show you can speak, read and get by in Japanese. Level 1 is something you get to show that you can get by just the same as a Japanese person. It tests Japanese that is not used in almost any normal situation, and can only be done by extensive wrote learning and memorization. After trying some different approaches, the way in which I passed was doing nothing for listening (which was easy), learning as many grammar patterns as possible, using flashcards for kanji, and practicing taking the comprehension exam for the timing.

The kanji kards I use are Naoe Naganuma cards which are no longer in print.

What you need in kanji cards are something that gives usage and context, and ideally shows stroke order. The Tuttle cards, that are most common fall short on this. Therefore, the cards that I recommend right now are the White Rabbit Kanji Cards
http://www.whiterabbitpress.com/catalog/index.html

You can find these on most online book seller sites. Thank you to those who recommended these to me - I checked them out and agree, these actually look BETTER than the cards I used.

Other study cards are here
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_b/105-7282300-1674007?url=search-alias%3Dst...

I use this dictionary which has a flashcard function that also lets you make study lists and test yourself. It's not bad, but phsyical flashcards are stil the best.
http://www.coolest.com/jquicktrans/

Point is getting out there and having emotional experiences in the language - fun, embarrassing, frustrating, angering... Watch movies, watch drama, sing karaoke, go drinking and make friends with people from all over Japan so you can travel and see them. All the effort you put in will come back tenfold. Hope this helps

Peace

BGM Music:
DJ Hasebe - Honey Dip

Category:

Howto & Style

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• 日本語
• Speak
• Learn
• Japanese
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• subtitles
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[bunnyluveable]

could u turn ur music off

[Hikosaemon]

@bunnyluveable ok :)

[StarMangledAstronaut]

Can you read Japanese script aswell?

[Hikosaemon]

@StarMangledAstronaut Yes - I worked in Japanese companies a long time, so I function more or less like an ordinary Japanese at work.

[Shamaninja14]

So, basically... you did the same thing every single otaku on YouTube does?

[medusa172]

@BriCareful

no but i can say words one by one.well, i do know how to say "how are you today?" in japanese but i don't know how to spell it.

[DJacKnifeAlpha]

YES!! This is ssoooo helpful! The tip where learning from guys and not really from girls seems extremely helpful.

Ssssweeet...

[interuniversal321]

I know from experience this is very good advice indeed, although it's not easy!

[12012channel]

@Hikosaemon all my Japanese friends just want to speak English one even refuses to speak Japanese to other Japanese people.He just ignores them until they speak to him in English.It is kind of amusing though.

[higurashimori]

日本語を勉強しましたけどよく話せません。書くことはむずかしい­も。i've been seriously studying japanese for about 4 months now, but i have watched nothing but anime(eng sub) and listened to practically nothing but japanese music for 2 years. sadly the game that i had been using to learn japanese got me to about the level of a not-so-smart second grader then said "you're on your own." do you know any good programs/websites/whatever else to help me with my japanese?

[ThunderKnight]

Sorry if that question was already covered in your previous comments btw!

[ThunderKnight]

Excellent advice! I've really been wanting to start to learn Japanese, I'm just not really sure where to start. Unfortunately I live in Texas (HELL YEAH) which means my exposure to Japanese culture is limited to late night subbed animes and games that allow for Japanese language. (if you even want to count that as exposure) Do you have any tips or tricks for those of us with an extremely limited amount of Japanese exposure? Any good software that you'd recommend good sir?