Alright, I Know NOTHING About Japanese....

[Drew]

...but I'm very interested in learning the language. Last night, I stumbled upon this website, and I figured that this would be a good place to start learning.

However, I'd like to know, are these lessons suitable someone with no knowlage of Japanese? I mean, can this help me learn the basics of the language for someone with no knowlage of the language AT ALL?

If so, what is more important that I practice? Orally practicing the words included in each podcast, or learning how to write them out correctly?

If not, can anyone point me in the direction of some (hopefully free) resources that I can learn the basics of Japanese from?

Thanks for all your help,
-Drew

P.S. I hope this is the right forum for this, I couldn't see where else to put it.

[mark]

However, I'd like to know, are these lessons suitable someone with no knowlage of Japanese? I mean, can this help me learn the basics of the language for someone with no knowlage of the language AT ALL?

Absolutely. I think many of us knew nothing to start out before using JP101 podcasts. Start out with the survival and/or beginner lessons from the beginning and work your way up.

If so, what is more important that I practice? Orally practicing the words included in each podcast, or learning how to write them out correctly?

I think it depends on what your priority is... whether you want to learn to listen/speak, or if you want to be able to read/write.[/quote]

[Brody]

Yeah, this is the perfect place. Stick with the basic ones and the survival ones to begin with. The intermediate lessons can be a bit intimidating (even for me, and I've been studying for three years!)

Practice everything equally: reading, listening, speaking, and writing. I think one needs a good foundation for any serious gains.

Here's an excellent guide about Japanese grammar. You can start from scratch:
http://www.guidetojapanese.org/

And here's a site that focuses on everything. It has some good links for vocabulary and the like: www.thejapanesepage.com

Just take it very slowly and have fun!

[Drew]

Alright, thanks for all the help.

Now, for a completely unrelated question.

I downloaded each of these podcasts from the iTunes software. From there, I am able to view info about each podcast. The folks at JapanesePod101 have kindly included a vocab list with each podcast. For the most part, each character comes out cleanly, but, sometimes, certain characters will come out as unrecognized symbols.

I've enabled East Asian languages, and practically every other thing that could possibly affect Window's interpritation of Japanese characters within "Regional and Language Options"...

...any tips on this? Did I miss something? Soon, my free subscription will run out, and I won't be able to access the site's .PDF's to see what the missing characters were.

Thanks again,
-Drew

Edit: Oh, yes, I knew I forgot something. Kana and kanji-- which is more important to understand first? I mean, must one know some of one to be able to understand another?

[Brody]

Master the two kana sets (hiragana and katakana) as soon as possible.

Sorry, can't give you any help with the computer problem. I have no idea how mine is still running.

[animate]

Yes, master the kana alphabets ASAP. They're phonetic and not as difficult as you might imagine--just pace yourself!

The "survival phrases" here are really good for beginners (or so I read), and the beginner lessons are great as well (start from the beginning; it'll take time). I recommend you pick up a dictionary (Ramdon House has them for $5.99, paperback) and maybe a self-help book. I have the Japanese Rosetta Stone which is also very great (if you can afford it, find access to it). Good luck, and don't be afraid to ask around here!

edit: Oh, yes. The East Asian Languages pack. I assume you're using windows. I assume that you don't know how s***** windows is for languages. Well, sorry--it is. I'm on Windows myself and also cannot see several of the characters. On Mac, it's supported alot better, and the characters look alot sharper and are more easily read. It's just how it is.

I think Japanese is just another reason for me to go Mac

[edited by Jason: While there are times I share the same sentiments about Windows, please refrain from using such language. Thanks! ]

[Brody]

Here's another vital tip:
NEVER, EVER USE ROMAJI.

Use it only as long as it takes to learn hiragana and katakana and then abandon it forever. It becomes too much of a crutch and will drag you down.

(Sorry, but I find romaji to be very disagreeable )

[Bueller_007]

Here's another vital tip:
NEVER, EVER USE ROMAJI.

Use it only as long as it takes to learn hiragana and katakana and then abandon it forever. It becomes too much of a crutch and will drag you down.

(Sorry, but I find romaji to be very disagreeable )

Agreed. Romaji is not at all an adequate way to write/read Japanese.

[jaypunkrawk]

Romajiが好きじゃない。

[KeithH]

I had to write something in romaji a few weeks ago and really had to struggle to do it. It felt... unnatural... and, it was actually harder to read than the hiragana.

[Bueller_007]

I had to write something in romaji a few weeks ago and really had to struggle to do it. It felt... unnatural... and, it was actually harder to read than the hiragana.

Yeah, no kidding... And hiragana is harder to read than kanji.

Writing a Japanese paragraph in hiragana is the equivalent of writing an English paragraph all in upper-case.

Writing a Japanese paragraph in romaji is the equivalent of writing an English paragraph in katakana.

[mikuji]

Drew-san
I agree with all the previous contributions- Yes- do learn kana as soon as possible and you too will find romaji confusing and unnecessary. I would also add: learn the MEANING of kanji as soon as possible. Except for some very common ones I would not bother learning the READING and MEANING at athe same time. It is much more efficient if you learn the meaning first as you will be able to understand words of which you do not even know the sound off. The reading bit will come with time.

I found the Heisig method (www.kanjiclinic.com introduces the method and is also a jolly good site) extremely useful to speed up the process and remove the fear of kanji learning. Kanji are not a nuisance but a great help because of the many words that sound the same in Japanese. Kana does not help in this. I find after a while the kanji are essential to help me to remember the words , not to speak of the satisfaction when I can guess the meaning of a word I have never seen or heard before...[which means sometimes I find JPLT Level 2 vocabulary questions EASIER than Level 4 and I am NO-WAY near Level 2 Japanese!]

Learning kanji is fascinating in itself, gets you to pick up some written Chinese too and is not as difficult as you may think although it takes time- but you have fun on the way !

Good luck!

mikuji

[Elderp]

What is Romaji? I always thought there was only Katakana or Kanji. I am not very good on reading though. I have learned to say lots of things through the podcast but I only know very few things about reading Japanese.

[Jason]

ローマ字 is writing words using Roman characters (ie. the English alphabet) instead of kana and kanji. So ありがとう in ローマ字 would be "arigatou." There are several different systems of ローマ字, all of which are evil and a hinderance to any kind of serious Japanese learning.

[zest]

Hey there guyz,

but i've only recently subscribed to jpod101... but still glad to do so....

Hope some1 can help me out still... onegaishimasu(?)!

I've noticed there's like 2 writing systems...

one's with chinese characters and one's all jap characters...

do I learn them simultaneously OR does one come after the other?

plus... in normal everyday japanese.... which *system* do they use? as in the writing system...

plz bare with my noobness =D

regards