• If you're here for vtubers, I highly recommend you go to The Virtual Asylum instead.
    They'll love you there

Favorite ways to self-teach Japanese?

Theanticrumpet

varishangout.com
Was perusing the poor localization thread, getting steadily more depressed, and wondering if you guys have any recommendations for self-teaching Japanese. I have some pre-existing knowledge from middle/high-school classes and a college class, and some of the weeb osmosis going on. But I'd like to be able to just consume manga in Japanese at some point, too.

I've used Lingodeer a little in the past but don't really have an opinion on it specifically and don't know what all else is out there.
 

Theanticrumpet

varishangout.com
there's this discord server about it that could help
I just joined and am poking around but am not really a fan tbh. Too many people, and the chats are just full of cringey assholes.

tbh my motivation to study japanese is very low and I have a hard time sticking to it.
I've definitely struggled with this a lot too. Saying "alright, I'm gonna regularly practice and learn!" then just kinda giving up after a month or so. Motivation is at an all time high thanks to localizers being localizers, but it's still incredibly daunting and hard to get myself to get started.
 

Ene

varishangout.com
Regular
Translator Extraordinaire
wondering if you guys have any recommendations for self-teaching Japanese.
.
I'd like to be able to just consume manga in Japanese at some point, too.
You can make a lot of progress in a year or two if you study everyday for "at least" 30min, I think.
Here's some stuff I use.

Hira/Kana: I assume you already know these.
If you dont: Use chiIdren level stuff on youtube (with phonetics)
4 - Copy.jpg
<-Like this

Daily Studying Material:
I recommend Doing a Anki Kanji deck session (10-20 new words+repeats)
and one Grammar lesson a day, but its up to you.

Kanji&Vocab:
Anki: (flashcard program)
Heisigs Remembering the Kanji (RTK) 6th Edition (Kanji Deck) <-Study before vocab deck, it will make it easier.
^(I dont know if this is the same one I used, but basically its Kanji with stories to help you remember them)
Core 2k_6k Optimized Japanese Vocabulary (Vocabulary Deck) <-Switch to this once you accumulate enough kanji

Grammer:
Tae Kim's Grammar Guide or 今日 IMABI (Use one or both)
(Using a beginner level book is also a good start)

Keep studying until you are able to read simple Manga.

[EDIT]
Personal Tips:

> When studying Kanji, focus on memorizing the meaning of the characters while "just" reading the On/Kon'yomi.
You can focus on memorizing pronunciation when you study vocab, its much easier that way.
> One thing I did at first with Kanji was handwrite new ones once, and again whenever I forgot their meaning on repeats.
> Learning radicals helps with Kanji, but don't focus on them too much.
 
Last edited:

hzp

varishangout.com
oh yeah, kana are just pure drill. Just copy them a couple times. And then use a deck or https://djtguide.neocities.org/kana/index.html to train.
It's really the easiest part.

I'm not a huge fan of "do this before that" personally, because that's how I lost motivation to continue first time (basically, I fell for the study radicals first meme).

Also there's the Yomichan extension (available on both firefox and chrome, so I suppose all the other chrome-likes too). Really useful, I recommend.
 

Hopeful

varishangout.com
Was perusing the poor localization thread, getting steadily more depressed, and wondering if you guys have any recommendations for self-teaching Japanese. I have some pre-existing knowledge from middle/high-school classes and a college class, and some of the weeb osmosis going on. But I'd like to be able to just consume manga in Japanese at some point, too.
TS of that thread here. I completely understand your feelings, believe me.

Not going to repeat too much since Ene's post above already covers the gist of it. Apart from vocabulary (by Anki) and grammar (by Tae Kim), I would also start to practice reading. Itazuraneko's study resources has graded readers. Targeted at children, yes, but you should never let that stop you. My sensei in uni used to lay these out on the table and let us read before the start of each lesson. Once you have a good foundation of the basics you can try reading NHK simple as well.

Other things:
- Rikaichamp and Nazeka are both hover-over dictionaries (Firefox extensions) if you don't need all the extra features of Yomichan.
- Obenkyo is an all-in-one android app that lets you practice hiragana and katakana. It also has Tae Kim's guide built in, as well as its own small dictionary. I highly recommend.
- Any language learning app or website is designed to make you spend more time on it while instituting a false sense of progress. Use them only as supplements.

Regarding motivation: it helps if you don't commit to too much to begin with. Saying "I'm going to read raw manga by the end of the year" is a shitton more intimidating than "I'm going to sit in front of the flashcard program every day for half an hour, to start". It also helps if you have more salt in your system. I, for one, am salty enough that I no longer need a salt shaker for my morning omelette.

Remember, every small step is still a step forward. Good luck!
 

immahnoob

varishangout.com
Regular
Patron of the Forums
I've lost motivation like 5 times or some shit, but this thread might help me out.
Although, real life issues might bog me down again, nowadays it's pretty hard to feel that what I'm doing isn't an affront to some higher entity in my mind.
 

wtf

varishangout.com
I haven't really tried to learn japanese seriously, but from my own experience learning english, I'd say that the most important thing is immersion. Most non-native fluent english speakers are so out of necessity, often because they are into something without information or a community in their native language. This doesn't apply as well to native english speakers because everything is translated to or written in that language. You should try to correct that: if you want to learn about something regarding anime or related to Japan, try to read pages written in japanese; you could also watch anime with japanese subtitles, and it doesn't hurt to listen to the same piece of media multiple times. At first it will suck since you have to look up everything you don't understand and you might only get the gist of whatever you consumed, but by doing this your comprehension will quickly improve. You're better off trying to make sense of a japanese text than spending literal hours on one Anki deck.

Grammar is the second most important thing. Unless your brain is extremely good at pattern recognition or you spend many years doing 24/7 immersion, you need some knowledge of syntax, whether it is because you want to understand complex structures or because you want to create your own sentences. I've heard good things about Tae Kim's grammar guide and Cure Dolly's videos, however, I haven't used these resources myself.

As for vocabulary, the best way to learn terms and words is by natural exposure within the context of a real sentence; that is, if you find an unknown word whose meaning you can't infer, look it up in a dictionary. If you find that word often, it's a good idea to remember it with a Spaced Repetition Software like Anki. Do note that Anki and SRS in general are memorization tools, not learning tools, which means premade decks are usually worthless unless you've already learned the contents of them. This page and this article are great introductions to memory and the spaced repetition effect, and if you use Anki, learn how to use it effectively, its options, its plugins, and what you can do in it. Advice on memory and Anki is often contradictory because everyone is different and has different use cases, so test different settings and use whatever you feel more comfortable with.

And regarding kana and kanji, writing them in a notebook FIFTY MOTHERFUCKING TIMES kinda helps to build recognition and muscle memory. Of course, you should follow the stroke order (you start seeing patterns even in such a small set like the kana) and you may want to take a look at how professionals write, after all, you don't learn a new writing system everyday.

Please take this post as a set of suggestions; you should use and do whatever is best for you.
 

Frostbite.exe

varishangout.com
Was perusing the poor localization thread, getting steadily more depressed, and wondering if you guys have any recommendations for self-teaching Japanese. I have some pre-existing knowledge from middle/high-school classes and a college class, and some of the weeb osmosis going on. But I'd like to be able to just consume manga in Japanese at some point, too.

I've used Lingodeer a little in the past but don't really have an opinion on it specifically and don't know what all else is out there.
Isnt there like multiple
 

Vortex

varishangout.com
Actually in order to use Japanese everyday, I just buy raw Japanese manga or light novel I like a lot and usually stick to watching Japanese youtube than watching western youtubers. Also manga I like a lot usually don't have furigana, so it is a good way to learn kanji.
 

aiharajoan

varishangout.com
i use my uni materials (Genki 2nd edition text + workbook) when i took jpn 101 and 102. also has 201 and 202 content, so i can keep myself up to speed.
 

cute

varishangout.com
I'm using Genki, Anki flashcards, and watching an 80s educational series called "Let's Learn Japanese" (all of the episodes are on youtube but I downloaded it from avistaz)
Recently I wanted to start reading Yotsubato and this site came up when I searched for it which is pretty great, press spacebar and it switches between Japanese and English https://bilingualmanga.com/manga/yotsubato/chapter-1

I also joined a bunch of japanese discord servers too but i haven't really learned much from them other than various ways of telling people to die and how to be racist against white people
 
Top