The new Duolingo course for Japanese has launched. I made a Kazamatsuri club on there which you can join with the code G9NPQ6.
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Has it launched? It’s still hatching on my side. Or is it different for other countries?
I definitely can’t seem to find any Japanese courses for any language… It might have to do with the region.
Yes, just says “Coming soon!” when I visit the page…
I know it’s launched on iPhone in the US. Might depend on platform and region.
I’m not sure how many of you already know about it but Satori Reader could be really useful for Japanese learners.
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How have you been studying Japanese? Did you take formal classes?
First I studied in a academy combined with autodidact online lesson but since the last year I study it in a university.
I need to pick up the pace on my Japanese. I’ll probably need to be at an N1 level of proficiency before I can achieve my goal of reading and understanding VNs in their original language. I’m barely N3 level by my estimate.
I’ve recently been made aware of the conflicts involving the transfer of the Rewrite+ project, as well as the supposed inadequacies of the Amaterasu translations. The revelation was depressing, to put it lightly, considering how much I loved and was moved by Rewrite and the translation that Amaterasu provided.
That’s when I realized that the solution was simple: become fluent in Japanese, especially the written language. This way, I can buy and read the VNs without having to worry about licenses, translation conflicts, and long waits for localization.
It might take a few more years of hard study, but I’ve resolved myself to do it. Then I’ll finally be able to read other VNs that have been on my list for years such as Kud Wafter since it looks like poor Kud will never get an English release.
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I am around N3 right now and the most of the time I only have big problems with a few unknown kanjis and some special or outdated way of speaking in some characters like half of the characters from Utawarerumono Futari no Hakuoro.
You’d be surprised; most people don’t need N1 
Go for N2 then learn by doing (rather than learn by taking an exam)
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Exactly this. There are only 2 reasons to pass N1:
- to say you did
- so the Japanese government and/or companies will favor you on immigration/hiring
Both are good reasons but unrelated to the goal of reading VNs. N1 is a joke because the major difference between it and N2 are just a bunch of weird kanji/vocab that nobody uses. It’s a terrible indicator of advanced fluency and in some ways, is a waste of time when you could be working on more practical Japanese. I’ve even heard stories of Japanese natives failing the N1, which wouldn’t surprise me in the same way the average American would fail an advanced English vocabulary exam. In my experience, N3 is good enough to struggle through VNs, and N2 is enough to get through most things.
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I see, that’s good to know.
In that case, I’ll work towards N3, then N2 level, which should take roughly 2 years anyway. Less if I could spend time studying in Japan.
On another note, I started using Wanikani just the other day; mainly as a supplement to my Kanji books. Not sure how effective it’ll be, or if I should go for the subscription yet. It’s slow for someone at my current level though.
I was studying Hiragana from Japanese-Lesson.com by myself (ofcourse). I stayed for preparation year (for college), I thought I would learn Japanese! I want to live in Japan! That’s the dream!
They don’t give preps Japanese. Only English. So, here I was learning Hiragana. “Was”, because after seeing Imabi’s guide for beginners, my effort looked like nonsense. Mora? Morae? Pitch changes words meaning!? That makes sense. But I don’t know whether I should try self-developing or take courses from somewhere.
Thanks, any help will make me happy.
Questions for anyone here that is proficient in Japanese.
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How long have you seriously studied and how much of it was formal?
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What resources did you use?
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Have you lived in Japan at any point? How long?
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How did you juggle your studies with education/work?
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I have had private lessons for almost four years including having taken exams under boards here in the U.K., I have not yet been to Japan and luckily did not have any problems with time management because I was rarely ever in school due to illness. I’m probably not helpful at all, but one of the textbooks my tutor taught me from was 新日本語の基礎 Shin Nihongo no Kiso.
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I started self-learning for half a year and got decently deep in Japanese on my own. I learnt hiragana, katakana and around 80 kanji (which really aren’t that many when you realize that 10 are for the numbers and 10 more are even simpler than the hiragana を. Grammar and such isn’t too difficult if you understand a bit of grammar in a language that works with a verb and complements to the verb (direct, indirect / akkusativ, dativ and all this stuff). You can get all the grammar necessary to form simple sentences understood in under a month. From there on, you need to get vocabulary and this is where having a text book that structures lessons around different topics comes in handy.
Since learning vocabulary on your own can be pretty boring and requires a huge amount of motivation, I recommend attending to lessons where you’ll be able to practice your oral skills as well, both speaking and listening to your teacher (who will hopefully be native).
Also I don’t quite know what you mean by “pitch changes the meaning”. As far as I know, that only affects general meaning conveyed by a sentence as would happen in pretty much any other language, specially when informally speaking. As for particular words, I’d say there’s no huge pitch rules, but @Khsellhu might be able to help here.
Hey everyone, I’ll be travelling to Japan February next year for three weeks. What resources should I look at for getting around and things? I have some vague memory of hiragana from primary school Japanese but not a lot else :b
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If you want to get a basic understanding of the language to go around there instead of spamming preset phrases, I can recommend checking out this page and learning everything up until basic grammar (basic grammar included). While not required, learning Katakana might help you with identifying some words that come from English.
From then on, for vocabulary, just write down a list of words that you may need. For instance, if you’re going to a restaurant, you might want to write chopsticks, fork, knife, meat, fish, vegetables and so on. Then, look for the translation and memorize those. That way, you won’t be forced to saying specific phrases that you may forget when you most need them.
Anyway, that’s my advise. Going everywhere with a smartphone and google-translating everything is another option, and I’m sure there’ll be some others. Just pick the one you think will benefit you the most.
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I’ve had success in learning some kanji with repetition software such as Anki or a handful of iOS apps. It worked pretty well, problem is, I always seem to lose motivation. Anki can feel like a chore but it’s a decent way to learn.
