Any help for a beginner on learning Japanese?

[JAEason989549]

I'm wondering since a couple months ago I got a JapanesePod101 membership and the ultimate getting started pack came with it.
I know they're by the same people, but I want to know if the lessons on the site are better.
I've been doing that and another thing because sometimes I get confused with the Gengo and have to take a break. I love peter and the gang and have been enjoying the lessons
Oh and only if you can answer, what level will gengo bring me up too? I want to know which level I should do on this website if I do stick with him.
And thanks ahead of time for answering! どうもありがとうございます

First question has been answered. Thanks Abr856!

Oh and do you or anybody have any suggestions on what I should be doing?

I'm very new to Japanese and I keep hearing from different people that "Oh, this one's better!" "No, you have to do this along with another program!". I'm just confused.

I've been using Human Japanese a little bit too and have learned Hiragana and am learning Katakana.

I'm only 14, and I want something easy to use. And I know learning a language is not easy, I mean I want it to be easy in the way that I don't have to use 50 programs. Is JapanesePod101 enough?

Edit: 76 views and one reply? Come on people! I know there is a lot of really smart, educated people on this website that can answer.

[abr856]

I did the Gengo course, and to be honest I did not finish I was expected more from it and was not fullfilled by it. It was a distraction from the jpod lessons/courses, my advice stick with the JPOD lessons and forget gengo.

[JAEason989549]

Thanks for the advice! I'm looking into the Nihongo Dojo series which is so recommended on this site! So far liking it

Edit: I edited this post to include my new questions now.

[mmmason8967]

Personally I think it's better to do one good course; I can't see how trying to do multiple course at the same time will help you to progress. I'm sure Nihongo Dojo is a good choice.

You asked about what you should be doing...

Learning the kana is good, essential even. For me, learning to write them (not just read them) was very important. When you've learned how to write them, you find that all the ones that look similar are written differently and are easy to tell apart.

Install the IME if you haven't already done so (the IME lets you type kana and kanji using a standard English keyboard).

Install Rikaichan if you haven't already done so.

Have something to keep your interest going. I think most students have something they do on their own that is often way above their level, but is fun anyway. I read a blog written by the staff at a Harajuku boutique, which I find endlessly fascinating (and frequently baffling). It just needs to be something that grabs your interest.

Hope that helps.

マイケル

[JAEason989549]

Thanks for replying! I agree on the Kana thing. The first few lessons of Nihongo doujou have kanji, romanization, and kana. I've made a point of starting to read the Kana before the romanization on the lessons (Except Katakana).

I have it for the most part except Katakana. I think for now I'll stick with Nihongo doujou.

I've installed the IME thing already and it's pretty nifty. When I type it, though, I always feel like I'm cheating, since you're actually typing Romanji despite what comes on the screen.

I've never heard of Rikaichan. I'll have to look into that.

And I think have some things that keep my interest up. I like to watch this one youtuber called ciaela. She lives in Japan and makes a lot of her videos in Japanese (subtitles though). Well, I guess I'm an otaku, because I do watch some anime too in Japanese.

Thank you mmmason8967! どうもありがとうございます！

[mmmason8967]

Rikaichan is an add-on for Firefox. It's a pop-up Japanese-English dictionary: basically you hover the mouse over some Japanese text on a web page and Rikaichan will pop up a box telling you how the word under the mouse pointer is pronounced (in hiragana or katakana) and the kind of translation possibilities for the word that you'd find in a Japanese-English dictionary. It's great for having a go at Japanese intended for Japanese readers that you otherwise couldn't tackle because you don't have a big enough vocabulary and you can't read kanji.

I know what you mean about the IME feeling like cheating. But apparently something like a third of Japanese computer users use a QWERTY keyboard and the IME. And even if you use a kana keyboard, you get the kanji exactly the same way (i.e. you enter kana and then press the space bar to convert it). Still, I like to use the two-character version of romaji because it feels a little less like typing in romanised words and a bit more like specifying a character: you use ti for chi, tu for tsu, si for shi, hu for fu and nn for n, and for compounds you use (for example) tya for cha, tyo for cho, syo for sho, and so on.

マイケル

[JAEason989549]

Thank you mmmason8967! I have Rikaichan now and it's very helpful! Nice to see that there is some very helpful people on this site.

[wesleejr1893]

Looks like your questions are answered now, so I'll just reiterate some sound advice: Work at a pace/level that is comfortable for you. Acknowledge the suggestions you are given and pick the ones that fit your style. There's really no wrong or right way, though there may be some ways that can take you to your destination faster, metaphorically speaking. As an example, when I started my Japanese endeavor, I focused mainly on learning ひらがな and カタカナ. Didn't care about grammar, learning new words, or making sentences. Just wanted to know the syllables, how they were pronounced, and how to write them properly.

Have fun and がんばって！

[community.japanese]

Thank you very much for helping your colleague, everyone!
JAEason989549-san, if we could help you in any other way (making good use our materials, questions about lessons, for example), please feel free to ask us any time! Hope we can help you too

Natsuko (奈津子),
Team JapanesePod101.com