Learn japanese with a teacher.

[polzy]

.

Deleted, no longer relevant.

 

[Satellizer123]

I'm willing to participate, good sir ^^ Hope my JP will get better thanks to your tutelage :D
*I can read Hiragana and Katakana, but almost no grammar... I'd have to ask you to start from the beginning*

 

[polzy]

Beginners are welcome, i'll throw you a pm with the first lesson =)

 

[Satellizer123]

Got it, awaiting your message :D

 

[両儀式]

Hmm, I'm pretty interested in trying this to see how it works out. I've been looking for a more solid method on trying to learn Japanese.

I know most of the Katakana and some Hiragana but I lack in Kanji, I hope this will help me improve in anyway. Hope to hear back from you.

 

[Decalcomania]

I will be a guinea pig. I know both Katakana and Hiragana (Haven't started on Kanji) and I don't know any words except for the basics.

 

[polzy]

First wave of lessons has been sent, it will be very basic, but don't worry, soon you'll wish it'll still be this easy =)

 

[Satellizer123]

A question sir, some sources online state that there are about 2000 kanji or so; but, the number of words that use Kanji cannot be that few :/ so what is this 2000?

 

[Keisuke Kurogami]

im very interested on this

 

[Decalcomania]

A question sir, some sources online state that there are about 2000 kanji or so; but, the number of words that use Kanji cannot be that few :/ so what is this 2000?

It is the amount of Kanji characters that an average Japanese adult knows.

 

[Satellizer123]

It is the amount of Kanji characters that an average Japanese adult knows.

Or maybe, 2000 is the kanji parts when creating a word? Like "Nippon", it has a tower-like part and a box-like part, no? Pardons for bad description... ^^

 

[Decalcomania]

But, when English have like 100000 words or so in ordinary dictionaries, it just doesn't fit :/ I think, just the kanji for cat, dog, apple, school... the most simple words can easily reach 2000

There is Kanji for literally everything, such as fish, the top shelf of a bookcase, hegemony, etc. Most, if not all, things do not have a full Kanji name, so I would not worry about it.

 

[polzy]

It's not quite the case.
Actually there is much more than 2000 kanjis, but there is 2000 'common' kanjis that are supposed to be known by the average japanese.
Each kanji has a 'meaning' associated, but can be read differently depending on the kana linked to it, or the other kanjis linked to it.

For exemple:

水　-＞　mizu -> "water"
下　-＞　Shita　-＞　"under"
下水　-＞　Ge sui -> sewers ( understand: The water that is under -> the sewers)

But it goes further than that, a kanji can be read in lots of way.

生　→　Nama　→　Raw
生きる　→　い　きる　→　Living　（As you can see, the kanji is now read "i", with the appendage of "kiru')
生まれる　→　う　まれる　→　To be born　→　（And now it is read "U”　With "mareru" Appendage）
学生　→　がく　せい　→　Student　→　Gaku means science, sei is linked to life in general, so gakusei -> someone who lives in the science -> a student

Hope this has been helpfull =)

 

[Keisuke Kurogami]

waaaa Kakkoi >.<

 

[Satellizer123]

That's more like it ^^ I make a few kanji flash cards, but it seems that I will have to add a bunch of variable readings xD

 

[polzy]

Talking about that, i'll be introducing kanjis at the next lesson, so make ready some paper and pencil, because you'll never remember them if you plan on using the japanese keyboard =)

 

[Keisuke Kurogami]

kay ^^
but i still din hav enough time to spare >.<
wish i can get holiday soon

 

[~SnowAngel~]

Kanji is one of those things that any single way of working doesn't seem to work 100% x-x
There's different methods used in plenty of textbooks. But the biggest issue you'd have is motivation to learn.
My advice is to use different ways and see what works~ you don't have to do all of them, but each has something good to offer.

1. the literal way~
You're given a kanji, it's meaning, reading, stroke order, and that's about it. x-x You're not told how/why/when the reading changes. Kanji power or just Tutle books is one example. This is usually best when learning all the kana. It just takes time.

2. Pictographs~
People say that chinese was derived from pictures, and Japanese was derived from Chinese. Soo they make some kanji like pictures and break it down. They do that so you'd remember/understand the kanji better. Unless you practice writing what you know using it with others, you might eventually forget.

3. Heisig.
This guy is popular for his book "Remembering the kanji" which has 3 volumes. Vol 1 teaches the kanji stroke order, a meaning (might not be correct), and asks you to make a "story" of how it's put together. People criticised this saying that you could learn it in the wrong context, which would make it more difficult. You also have no way to understand how it works together or is read.
Vol 2 focuses on readings, vol 3 is more technical and advanced. (not the normal 2000 kanji) http://www.saiga-jp.com/kanji_dictionary.html

4. Sentence Mining.
This one i've not tried yet, but it sounds promising~ The idea is that you have a sentence, and take it apart. You learn everything you can about each part, and that supposedly greatly helps you learn. It would cover all the ways to read a given kanji, the particles, etc. The problem with this is that it's more random if you don't have set boundaries, and you may get into something you don't understand. It also means that you're accountable for error, so it would be better to have full material and go from there.

5. Immersion.
This is about surrounding yourself in the language~ it's proven to work since it requires more ways to learn something, and is more enjoyable. This can be things like music, language settings, randomly naming objects, using phrases, etc. You'd naturally start using the language like you've known it forever, which I found useful~
The problem with this is that too much can cause a burnout, or you're likely to not understand/practice what you're immersed in.

6. Practical reading.
This is a powerful way to learn, and is used by alot of university type of material, such as the popular books Nakama, Genki, or "read real japanese." The idea is that you read paragraphs or stories in the language, learn the words in the paragraph and read it again. It's accumulative, so that you get to practice often. There can be a few problems with this~ but they're understandable. The first is that you may get confused about when to use what reading. This can be solved by learning kanji words as vocabulary, rather than a reading. You'll eventually see certain kanji together as a word, instead of one at a time.

7. Practical writing.
This is where you'd go to a language exchange online, write a journal, and native people will correct it. While you'll get plenty of practice trying to use and understand the words, people often won't give explanations.

 

[polzy]

I learned kanjis using method 1 and 2.

You're given a kanji, stroke order, Meaning, 'pictographic origin',On/Kun reading (a kanji usually can be read in two different way, ON-yomi and Kun-yomi, one is used when you read a kanji alone or with hiragana appendage, the other is used when you combine two(or more) kanjis together).
For exemple, the kanji for 'high' 高　when used with an hiragana appendage is read: 高い　-＞　たかい（Takai)
but when used with the kanji for 'test' 校　-＞　高校　-＞　こうこう　（Koukou)　-＞　highschool

There's also something that might be important: Kanjis are made of 'key', basically, you can dissect a kanji into various key that usually have a separate meaning.
休み -> Yasumi -> To rest
is made from two key, the one of the left (2 strokes that look like a bent T) represent an human
The second key, the cross with 2 'appendices' is the key for tree.
So, the man + the tree = someone who rest against a tree

So yes, there is many ways to learn kanjis, but most of all, you'll have to work hard on memorizing them at first, and then with practice you'll remember them without any efforts.

 

[polzy]

I recently became aware that the private msg system is sometimes buggy.
So if any of you are still waiting for the lessons, you can tell me so through pm, or add Helebron on skype i will correct that =)

 

[Satellizer123]

Say talynez-sensei do you have Facebook as well? xD

 

[polzy]

i do, i believe you can find me under talynez or helebron

 

[Slayn312]

Hmm... Am I still able to join the lesson??? I know nothing bout katakana or hiragana except some letter from katakana....

 

[polzy]

Yes you can, although since everyone else knows their kana, i designed the lessons with kanas in mind, so you might want to atleast learn hiragana =)

 

[Slayn312]

Hmm... Things is I know nothings of those two.... But I'll learn it.... The lesson you sent me.... Do you want me to translate the one in hiragana into english or romanji???