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How to start back learning.

Pascal-P

Pascal-P

So Im finally back to learning Japanese, after 4 months of no practice and I've decided to start learning from the beginning again. What advice do you guys have on how to study effectively for about an hour a day? Also, is there a page like the 'download all audio tracks' page, but for the Language and Writing lessons? It's sort of inconvenient navigating lesson by lessons downloading each pdf. It's good to be back.
2679

2679

Hello and welcome back :D. I've searched thoroughly, but unfortunately there's no "download all audio" button for the writing lessons. I personally have downloaded all of them lesson by lesson when I practiced for JLPT. Also, for writing and learning new kanji, I'm trying a new approach on the second volume of Remembering the Kanji by Heisig and I find it quite useful :). I can spare abt 2 hrs/day for language studies and I do it with Heisig's books. I simply write, rewrite, think, rethink and try to make associations for kanji characters and it works out pretty well. As far as the vocab goes, I increase it along with the kanji learning process. I can't think of another way to continue learning Japanese right now, as I finished the RJP courses. Good luck with your lessons !
Pascal-P

Pascal-P

Thanks, good luck with your studying! If you're looking to study more, you could try and find a copy of "How to Sound Intelligent in Japanese" by Charles de Wolf. It's deals with a lot of vocabulary for academic and specialized areas, like philosophy, arts, politics, science, mathematics etc. I used it a while ago when doing some translation. It might be good for you if you're thinking of studying in Japan.
2679

2679

Uh, can't find it in my country. But I'll ask my cousin who's in the US to buy it for me and bring it to me when he comes back here to visit. Thanks for the book.
Sharon-O7

Sharon-O7

I have a new job in a couple of weeks teaching Japanese to primary school students. I want the lessons to be fun. Do you have any suggestions where to start? Thank-you for this course I am enjoying the lessons
CatPanda

CatPanda

I would recommend studying for an hour a day doing SOMETHING correlated to Japanese. These "Long Breaks" should stop, these long breaks are what cause MOST self-learners to not succeed in their eventual multi-lingual goals. I started in 2008 on this site, and the longest break I had was while I was in Costa-Rica with no internet access. (Maybe there were more, I'm not sure). Either case, long breaks are long periods of time where you forget things you spent so much effort to learn. Having to re-learn them is not ideal. At some point though, you run out of material, that's ok, the Rocket Japanese suite is more or less a comprehensive beginner's guide to Japanese. The sooner you start interacting with real Japanese people, the better, (whether it be via skype or lang-8.com) whatever you do try to find the right place to nurture your linguistic abilities. I recommend staying away from Rosetta's Shared talk, there are too many trolls and they are likely to teach you bad habits (I never used the software, but I do know Japanese friends who go on there specifically to troll people). For intermediate resources, I strongly suggest getting into contact with a Japanese tutor who can help work with you to fix things you may have misinterpreted, join a class, go on an exchange, go to a Japanese school in Japan... there are a lot of options, but you have to be proactive for your own studies. On that note, those who successfully navigate this multi-lingual battle will be rewarded handsomely, I've won speech contests, I'm eligible for full-ride scholarships to Japanese universities, my Japanese linguistics have essentially saved the entire essence of my social development. Japanese is one language where GOOD translators aren't that ample, and the one that are actually GOOD are rich because they combined their linguistic skills with some other trade to make some kind of international bridge with Japan. So yeah... STUDY!
2679

2679

あぁぁぁ。デレクさんが帰ってきました! Good point on saying that RJP is just a beginner's guide, because up until I sat through the JLPT N3, I believed that this would be enough for my exam and I was extremely wrong. I'm still waiting for the results, though I'm not too confident that I'll pass it. As I know, you've spent quite some time in Japan, am I right ? How did you manage to go and study there, or do what you have been doing there ? Thanks
Neil-M26

Neil-M26

My approach is perhaps the pain approach-think zen and some self-denial. Core words and phrases. Listen, speak, listen, speak, practice, and write each word or phrase down over and over and over and over again until you can see it and hear it in your mind. In some cases I'm talking serious repetition, but for me the writing is just key...hear, say, write, say..over and write again, all over again.
Pascal-P

Pascal-P

@Everyone Thank you for your advice. I've since jumped back into Heisig, and am trying for at least 45m-1hr of study a day of various Kodansha grammar guides, and playing Japanese video games in my spare time. Until recently, I've had very limited opportunity to speak Japanese in real life--and I haven't been able to find any Japanese tutors or classes. My chemistry teacher, however, referred me to an exchange student of his from China, who had lived in Japan for about seven years. Since he's more fluent in Japanese than English, and I'm the only person at my school who speaks any of the language, he's always trying to talk to me. So I've finally had a bit of luck! Thanks again for everyones' advice.

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