I'm planning to minor in Japanese language and culture when I go to college. I just want to know what to expect. I know it's hard, but I've already started to learn some Hiragana and a few Kanji. And I guess I've been passively learning it by watching so much anime, but I'm still interested in learning the language. Any advice and thoughts are appreciated

Don't use Rosetta Stone.  Ever. 

Don't use Rosetta Stone.  Ever. 

Lol hell no. I'm planning to take college courses.

Don't use Rosetta Stone.  Ever. 

I hate those commercials XDDD

 

I was gonna take Japanese but I went against it ._. I hate learning new languages :s

Edited January 2, 201312 yr by Rainbow Dash

Lol hell no. I'm planning to take college courses.

 

I haven't taken any college courses (i'm going to University next September, but Japanese language and culture wasn't even offered at any I looked into, plus we only get to do one course, which I've chosen Computer Games Development), I just know that Rosetta Stone is the most pointless language program in the world. "Now say "the boy is under the apple""..... ._.' 

I already know jap. it iznt easy but sounds frickin awesome

Japanese is supposed to be one of the hardest languages for English-speakers to learn.  Having taken two during community college, I agree.  There's approximately zero similarities so you're starting from scratch, and kanji's a nightmare.  You're gonna be in for a lot of studying and flexibility if you're gonna take Japanese.

I hate those commercials XDDDI was gonna take Japanese but I went against it ._. I hate learning new languages :s

 

They teach you phrases you'll never use.  I don't think you even get taught how to say hello until 10 or so sessions into the program o.O 

I want to learn it but one my close friends at school is Chinese, and even when she personally tutors me on how to say certain words I just can't pronounce it ):

I thought my name in chinese was produced "For-China". 

I already know jap. it iznt easy but sounds frickin awesome

 

 

Japanese is supposed to be one of the hardest languages for English-speakers to learn.  Having taken two during community college, I agree.  There's approximately zero similarities so you're starting from scratch, and kanji's a nightmare.  You're gonna be in for a lot of studying and flexibility if you're gonna take Japanese.

Yeah, I think I'm prepared for it. I like learning languages (I know 4 right now!) And I think a challenge like learning such a different language like Japanese is what I need. And yeah, Japanese is also frikkin' awesome!

They teach you phrases you'll never use.  I don't think you even get taught how to say hello until 10 or so sessions into the program o.O 

I want to learn it but one my close friends at school is Chinese, and even when she personally tutors me on how to say certain words I just can't pronounce it ):

I thought my name in chinese was produced "For-China". 

Lol haha, that's funny. Nah, I never trusted Rosetta Stone. I prefer the standard method of having it being taught to me in person, be it in a class or with a friend

I'm getting a minor in Japanese as well.  I had four semesters at a community college, skipped a year, and took continued at a four year school.

I'm getting a minor in Japanese as well.  I had four semesters at a community college, skipped a year, and took continued at a four year school.

And? How is it?

I already know jap. it iznt easy but sounds frickin awesome

It also means I can play FM w/out patches!

They teach you phrases you'll never use.  I don't think you even get taught how to say hello until 10 or so sessions into the program o.O 

I want to learn it but one my close friends at school is Chinese, and even when she personally tutors me on how to say certain words I just can't pronounce it ):

I thought my name in chinese was produced "For-China". 

Hehe I dont trust those language programs .-. Id rather learn it from a teacher

It also means I can play FM w/out patches!

Lol, ahh, I'm gonna love importing Jap games! 

And? How is it?

 

It's great.  I'd suggest it to anyone going to a new school.  It's a great way to meet new people.

It's great.  I'd suggest it to anyone going to a new school.  It's a great way to meet new people.

Alright, cool I think it'll be a great learning experience for me

 a friend's Dad is teaching me Japanese at church, and i'm taking a online course on rocket languages.

yeah, Kanji's a pain but if we don't learn Kanji, we're gonna loose the context!

 a friend's Dad is teaching me Japanese at church, and i'm taking a online course on rocket languages.

yeah, Kanji's a pain but if we don't learn Kanji, we're gonna loose the context!

Oh that's nice! haha, that's true, Kanji's annoying but very important.

Oh that's nice! haha, that's true, Kanji's annoying but very important.

yep. other than that it's fun.

Japanese is a pain, yes, but don't grow too complacent after the first few classes. After all, the language course cannot teach you everything. Learning passively while watching anime is actually good - it helps train your ear for the language. If your college participates in any sort of foreign exchange, see if there are Japanese students there to practice with. Conversation skills are incredibly hard to develop if you don't speak it routinely. If there aren't any Japanese students, try to form a group with your classmates and practice conversations with them. My friends and I sometimes call each other see how long we last by speaking Japanese only. Over Facebook, we also message each other in Japanese.

 

I also suggest you practice typing in Japanese. Any computer will have an option in their Language settings that asks if you want a Japanese keyboard. Start typing before you get to class to get your kanji and katakana typing speeds up to make your essays go by much easier. And the best advice I have for you - if you're thinking about any extended stay in Japan or plan to involve yourself in Japanese long-term, I suggest researching the Japanese culture and their lifestyle. This does not include anime, manga, or videogames. One of the main issues with people taking Japanese is that sometimes they don't realize their perception of Japan is Internet stereotype at best. In order for you to effectively communicate, you must understand their background and take it into consideration. For example, some phrases in anime like 行け！(pronounced 'ike', means GO!!!) uses a verb form known as plain command form. The plain command form is quite common in Japanese media, especially in manga and anime, since to conveys the right amount of urgency and power for a desperate situation. However, if you use that phrase in real life, it would be considered extremely forceful and rude.

 

That's enough of my spew. Japanese is a wonderful language to learn despite all its challengers. Though, to be fair, English was actually my second language, and if I wasn't born in America, I would've never gotten the hang of it. So don't worry, you're fluent in one of the world's hardest languages already. (So many danged grammar exceptions and oddities...)

yep. other than that it's fun.

 

SUGOOOOOOI!

Japanese is a pain, yes, but don't grow too complacent after the first few classes. After all, the language course cannot teach you everything. Learning passively while watching anime is actually good - it helps train your ear for the language. If your college participates in any sort of foreign exchange, see if there are Japanese students there to practice with. Conversation skills are incredibly hard to develop if you don't speak it routinely. If there aren't any Japanese students, try to form a group with your classmates and practice conversations with them. My friends and I sometimes call each other see how long we last by speaking Japanese only. Over Facebook, we also message each other in Japanese.

 

I also suggest you practice typing in Japanese. Any computer will have an option in their Language settings that asks if you want a Japanese keyboard. Start typing before you get to class to get your kanji and katakana typing speeds up to make your essays go by much easier. And the best advice I have for you - if you're thinking about any extended stay in Japan or plan to involve yourself in Japanese long-term, I suggest researching the Japanese culture and their lifestyle. This does not include anime, manga, or videogames. One of the main issues with people taking Japanese is that sometimes they don't realize their perception of Japan is Internet stereotype at best. In order for you to effectively communicate, you must understand their background and take it into consideration. For example, some phrases in anime like 行け！(pronounced 'ike', means GO!!!) uses a verb form known as plain command form. The plain command form is quite common in Japanese media, especially in manga and anime, since to conveys the right amount of urgency and power for a desperate situation. However, if you use that phrase in real life, it would be considered extremely forceful and rude.

 

That's enough of my spew. Japanese is a wonderful language to learn despite all its challengers. Though, to be fair, English was actually my second language, and if I wasn't born in America, I would've never gotten the hang of it. So don't worry, you're fluent in one of the world's hardest languages already. (So many danged grammar exceptions and oddities...)

i agree completely!(altho it's so much more fun to be lazy and just watch anime.)

Japanese to me is an easy language to speak. The only problem I have with this language is the Kanji...there is way too many characters.

If you have the time you should check out this website called Tofugu. On there you can find a whole bunch of things on Japanese language and culture. Also listening to Japanese music is kind of helpful...

I'm currently in my seventh year of learning japanese and I'm really bad at speaking japanese, I'm better at writing. But I have to admit that I'm a really really lazy person and I didn't really do much to improve my japanese other than trying to understand animes without subtitles.

 

I can only recommend to you to take any chance to practise your japanese you get. Whether it is writing with a japanese person, taking part in a exchange to Japan, anything you want to do. Where I live there are people offering communication practice in different languages. Yeah if you come anything japanese related I'd recommend to give it a try. And yes, Kanji are difficult, there are some really easy ones but most of them are really difficult, at least for me.

 

And of course you could play japanese games, which would be great too.

I went to Japan with 15 other students, who were learning japanese, last autumn, it was part of an exchange program with our partner school in Tokyo. We were there for two weeks and it was so much fun. I was actually surprised how well I was able to speak japanese, before I thought I'd mostly speak english but it worked!

My family also hast this tradition of being the hostfamily for a japanese student from our partner school, who always come in spring for a few days. I rarely spoke with them because I was really scared of saying something in a too rude way.

 

As mentioned by others already, anime is not really how they speak. You can use some from that but I'd recommend you ask someone, who'd been there already for a longer time. Of course the japanese people won't kill you for doing anything wrong. I was just really glad that I didn't do anything wrong.

 

Since I came back from Japan I've kept in touch by writing letters, in japanese.

Two years ago I was an exchange student in Canada for five months and their way of teaching japanese was different than I was used to in my country. Looking at something from a different point of view.

If you have a friend, who is either in the same japanese course or simply also learns japanese, it might be even better. Most of the time I learned japanese I didn't really had anyone to talk about japanese and one year ago, a student transferred to my school and I became good friends with him. I can talk about japanese with him and from time to time we play japanese games to train our vocabulary or speak japanese. But his japanese is way better than mine, so usually he says something in japanese and I reply in german or english, I understand what he says but I'm just terrible at spoken japnese and I won't do it unless I had to do it.

So, Yeah. That are my experiences, of course everyone experiences different things.

 

Okay, this turned out longer than I intended, but I hope it was helpful. Just remember to learn vocabulary and all that stuff, don't be lazy like me and just have fun learning. I had a time where I was about to quit learning, I was getting really bad and got worse and worse and I had no fun, but somehow it changed overtime and it's gradually getting better. Also if you have problems just ask your teacher or someone else.

頑張れよ！Ｏ(≧∇≦)Ｏ

楽しんでね！＼（＾ ＾）／

^_^

I have been studying Japanese since I was Ten. Japanese has always made sense to me.

 

For an English person, it is hard if you are trying to compare it to English. Japanese has taught me that English is very redundant. Why do I have to say I over and over in a conversation? Obviously, I am talking about myself. I have always had trouble with pronounciation in English: too many rules and stuff. You know long vowels, short vowels, ck, ch, tion, ion just a mess. Japanese is pretty strait forward to me.

 

Kanji is a breeze for me. I think of them as pictures, and when you really understand what is the basis for Kanji it makes perfect sense. Maybe it is easy to me because I pay attention to detail a lot. Particles make life easier in translating, in my opinion

 

Advice to people:

Don't use Rosetta Stone.

Expose yourself to Japanese everyday: music, anime, reading, writing, etc...

 

Japanese is not my only language. I study Korean, Latin, French, Russian, and Greek all mostly to help myself in school.

I have been studying Japanese since I was Ten. Japanese has always made sense to me.

 

Japanese is not my only language. I study Korean, Latin, French, Russian, and Greek all mostly to help myself in school.

 

The earlier you start, the better.

O.O *goes into a corner and cries*

I want to be able to learn and eventually speak so many languages, too! But Ii I learn too many languages I'd mix them up...

You are really awesome. I give you my respect for that!