Learning Japanese: Introduction

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Learning Japanese: Introduction

Monday 4/23/2014

                   I've wanted, for a long time, to learn Japanese. I kept looking for an easy way to learn, and I wanted to know what others opinions are on the learning it were. There are not that many good websites for Japanese learning... I take that back, there are a few, but what I was looking for was review on textbooks and a helpful guides. They're either good for a little bit or cost money. My plan is to try out textbooks and give my honest opinion on where it gets hard for me, when it's super easy, and just my personal journey through learning Japanese. I've only really learned Hiragana so far, but am working on learning Katakana. I do know both should be learned around the same time and don't put off katakana, it will set you back later on.

So far my way of studies for Hiragana are:

1. Hiragana Flash Cards From Barnes and Noble

2. Free Hiragana online Drag n Drop Game

3. Free Hiragana and Katakana practice. This website has a lot of useful worksheets I'll be reviewing later.

4. Try and find a Hiragana and Katakana printout stroke order practice sheet. The one I have you no longer can get, but I'll be copying it for my personal use. (I'll update this later)

5. Hiragana and Katakana song

At this point I've decided to buy a graph paper notebook. It would help me keep my characters about the same size and help with the stroke order when writing. Since I want to be able to speak, read, and write Japanese.

My shopping list so far inculdes:

2 binders (I'm going to go for a theme. I have a Harajuku binder already and it holds BYU online Japanese 1 Part 1 in. I'll be looking for more of these)

Page protecters (Qty will  be updated later, and updated link if not what I was looking for Current date: 6/3/2013)

1 Divider sets (only one because it comes with four sets)

Textbooks I'll be starting with:

1. Japanese for Busy People I (Kana Version)

1. Japanese for Busy People I workbook (Kana Version)

2. Yookoso 1

2. Yookoso Workbook 1

3. Yookoso 2

3. Yookoso Workbook 2

The text books are in order from classes at my college. I.e. Japanese for Busy People I is the first year of Japanese. Yookoso 1 and workbook 1 are the second year of College. Yookoso 2 and workbook are the third year.

Since I'd like to make this a cheaper guide to help those that purely want to learn and not spend a lot of money I'll tell you tricks I take and if they end up being worth it.

I'll be going to Walmart for the shopping list this Wednesday (6/5/2013). I already got a copy of Yookoso I, but like I said I don't want to spend a lot on a textbook at this time, so I bought an older ed from HPB. I got my used copy for 5 Dollars after shipping, and 99 cents before. The Yookoso from HPB I bought was published in 1999 and in very good condition. I haven't found the workbook for it yet, but its not the textbook I'll be starting with so I'm not as worried.

Before buying any textbooks I'd check your local used book store and see if its worth it to buy it from there. I know that my personal used book store where I live wouldn't sell Yookoso I for 99 cents, but as long as its around 5 dollars then it would be the same as getting off HPB.  When I go shopping 6/5/2013 I'll be looking for Japanese for busy people I from my used book store, as well as Yookoso 2, and see if they have the workbooks for all three textbooks. I'll be looking and compairing prices to make sure I get the best deal for my dollar.

Now I know some people may ask why page protectors? Well I'll tell you why I want them. I want to take a binder and put things I've printed out, like  the worksheets from my third study options. That way I don't write directly on them and can reuse the print outs if I stop learning Japanese for a time, or need to practice a little more. Since some websites have few print out I'll be using the dividers to separate them and keep them nice and neat in one binder and not have thousands.

Once I start studying I'll keep you updated on what I'm doing to study and keep the links coming to help you learn Japanese. I do hope this guide helps you.