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In what order did/do you learn this beautiful language?

I've got the hiragana down and am currently working on katakana. And some vocabulary and basic kanji on the side. When I've got both hiragana AND katakana down I want to really start learning my vocab and kanji, but it's also very important to learn the grammar of course.

In what order did/do you learn Japanese?

Also :) do you have some nice tips for me? I've been wanting to learn Japanese for 10 years and I'm so happy that I'm finally doing it... I can't afford classes or expensive books at the moment (I'm a 24 year-old, stay-at-home mother; my son is 7,5 months <3 ), so if you know some awesome links for me, please share ^^.
posted by bubblybaby

Comments 14

  • leenalee
  • bubblybaby
    bubblybaby
    Thanks, Leenalee! :)
  • DS25
    DS25
    Once you get to the point of starting to learn kanji, just follow this site:
    http://www.kanjidamage.com/

    It's astonishingly good, and the "offensive" parts actually makes you learn stuff faster ;) Just follow the introduction and start from the first kanji and a notebook ^^ You'll learn actually useful stuff - and not only newspaper jibberish - and you will be explained which is the real meaning of a word inside a context, and not some vague definition.
  • DS25
    DS25
    Once you get to the point of starting to learn kanji, just follow this site:
    http://www.kanjidamage.com/

    It's astonishingly good, and the "offensive" parts actually makes you learn stuff faster ;) Just follow the introduction and start from the first kanji and a notebook ^^ You'll learn actually useful stuff - and not only newspaper jibberish - and you will be explained which is the real meaning of a word inside a context, and not some vague definition.
  • bubblybaby
    bubblybaby
    Thanks so much, DS25 :D
  • Wumbology
    Wumbology
    I would recommend learning the correct pronunciations. I found this video on YouTube by MissHanake on the pronunciations and it really helped. Her other videos help a lot too. Also, it took me about two weeks to learn hiragana but I think you can learn katakana fast since you already know hiragana. Katakana was easier for me to learn since I already got the other alphabet down. Even though hiragana took me about two weeks to learn, katakana took me an hour so I think you will learn it fast too. あんばってよ!
  • Wumbology
    Wumbology
    がんばってよ!*
  • mog86uk
    mog86uk
    @Wumbology MissHanake's videos are so awesome! Here's her video explaining how to pronounce the kana sounds well:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSlDo_XE4FM

    Here's some other VERY helpful videos for pronunciation...

    The five vowel sounds are the same in each letter, so this is one of the most important things to learn:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPJIwff3w0I

    Pronunciation warm-up excercises:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPtFZ-8Jov4
  • mog86uk
    mog86uk
    My order of learning was fairly similar: first learnt hiragana, then slowly learnt katakana (can read both as easy as English alphabet now). Then learnt some vocabulary and basic conversation. Then learnt some kanji. Then started learning proper grammar and also started using JCJP (completed level 6, and keep using Practice daily). Then learnt how to recognise the most commonly used 2000 kanji and their meanings.

    Now I'm learning all the main pronunciations (readings) for those 2000 kanji. Then next I'll do a much more thorough job of learning grammar, start reading more Japanese books, and start practicing writing the kanji by hand. Also hoping to go travelling in Japan in a few months.

    It's a long journey learning Japanese, so good luck to you with whatever order you decide to do things. ^^
  • astrolabio_R
    astrolabio_R
    Thanks so much, mog86uk xD
  • FaeDreamer
    FaeDreamer
    Hi from a fellow mom!
  • FaeDreamer
    FaeDreamer
    It cut off part of my message...trying again. Here's a couple resources I use: Erin's Challenge https://www.erin.ne.jp is a great site with beginner (and advanced) videos, activities, culture info and lots of other stuff. I also listen to JapanesePod101 which you can get on iTunes or Stitcher Radio.
  • DeadWitness
    DeadWitness
    My worse mistake probably was ignoring the grammar.

    As soon as I could easily write the kanas, I went straight for the kanji (using the Kanji look and learn textbook) while also having japanese class in the university. That way I was able to learn what students would usually learn in 2 years in just 1. Next year I went to Japan with a scholarship since I aced the tests. And I had a bad time the first half year. That's when I realized grammar was far more important for a beginner than kanji.

    Basically, try to learn as many sentence structures, prepositions, verb forms and the characteristics of different word types before going for the kanji.

    It's okay if you don't know how to write many nouns/verbs/adjectives as long as you can speak a few and you know what you are saying. Once you have all the basis, you will need an intensive kanji training.

    But that's just my opinion and I suck at this. xD
  • bubblybaby
    bubblybaby
    Thanks DeadWitness :) grammar to me felt like one of the most important things, too. I got the kana's down and know some basic vocab (from learning, but also because I've been watching anime for the last 10 years lol...), so I'm going to dive into the grammar (while on the side getting some kanji down). I think they are both important ^^.
bubblybaby

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