(Part 2) Top products from r/japanese

Hey!

For learning the Jouyou kanji, I used James Heisig's Remembering the Kanji volume 1 (and volume 3 for an extra ~1000 kanji). It requires a bit of re-thinking how one should go about learning these things:

Usually when learning kanji, people go in grade order, learning the English meaning of the kanji and memorizing all of the possible readings (for some kanji, you'll have two pronunciations -- for others, you can surpass 10 different pronunciations). I feel that this method is ridiculously inefficient, and Heisig agrees. With RtK1+3, you completely ignore the readings, learning only to write and recognize the kanji, as well as their English meanings. On top of that, you don't learn them in grade order, but rather in the order of the elements that make up those kanji (for example, these are taught to you in order: 口→日→刀→召→昭 ...and so on). Instead of being given a bunch of unrelated complex characters, you're given the building blocks, and then shown how to create the more complex kanji by being able to see them as just their individual parts (for example, 鬱, despite its 29-stroke-count, is super easy when you break it down).

As for actually remembering the kanji you learn, check out Reviewing the Kanji, a free web-based SRS specifically for use with Heisig's books.

A common argument against RtK is the fact that readings are totally disregarded; after all, you can't read Japanese if you can't read the kanji, right?? Of course. But the way we've usually gone about learning them isn't all that great. That's not to say it hasn't worked -- people have used it to success before -- but it's slow, inefficient, and prone to failure. Instead, once I'm able to write and recognize a good 2000+ kanji and can read ひらがな/カタカナ, I've got the ability to use everything I need to learn readings: a dictionary. When you're reading and you come across a word you don't know (say, 竜巻), simply look it up in the dictionary. The dictionary will have the reading right there for you (たつまき!).

Traditionally, people would look at 何 and memorize that it can be read なに, なん, て, が... and probably some more that I don't know. Then do this for every kanji they learn -- memorizing these lists of sounds. My thought is, though, even when you know all of the pronunciations for something... you still don't know which of those readings to use in a new word (the 何 in 如何体... the answer may surprise you!). So you're gonna have to look up the word; heck, you'll probably be looking it up anyway because you don't know the word! If that's the case, why not forget about memorizing these contextless sets of sounds and just look up words as they come? In that way, you naturally begin to pick up how kanji are read, in context.

Sorry for the novel of a comment, but I hope it makes sense. Getting through the kanji can seem like a huge, daunting task, and it takes longer than one might want, but if definitely doesn't take as long as one might fear! Find a pace that works for you -- I went through the first ~300 or so kanji of RtK1 at about 30 a day, but then bumped it down to 10 a day for the remainder of it and RtK3, and it was a glorious pace. Slow? Maybe. But I was making real, consistent progress, and it feels huge to reach the finish line. :) Hope this helps! Have fun!

Adding to the other suggestions, I'd recommend picking up some manga for younger readers (like Doraemon; bilingual versions exist as well). A collection of folk tales would be good too, and they're interesting enough to learn as well.

I recommend them since they have simple vocabulary, visual context, and furigana over the kanji. The sense of accomplishment when you understand what's going on is also helpful in keeping you reading. After a few read throughs, you'll be able to recognize and read the kanji.

You'll want to make it stick by writing them out too, this is a great site.

If you like video games, you can also try older RPGs like Final Fantasy V. Relatively simple story, simple kanji, and the harder ones are first introduced in parenthesis.

Fact of the matter is that it's hard to keep learning on your own without a goal. A manga, book, or game you can finish has an end goal: understanding the material. This makes it easier to keep going and not stop. Another incentive is to have a deadline, so it might incentivize you to keep learning on a schedule if you sign up for the JLPT, with N5 being the easiest. Here are sample test questions.

NHK Easy Web is perfect for starting out. I've always recommended it for learning kana in context, when repetitive writing of them doesn't seem to help memorize them. Plus easy kanji in context, and easy and simple enough sentences. A bit rough going at first, but you do what you can, and you'll likely get the overall sense of the article.

I also like the Japanese Reader Collection and Yotsuba&! are also excellent and easy enough. Just take your time with them, you'll learn a lot. A little light manga never hurts.

I'd love to recommend the Japanese Graded Reader, and do, but they're kind of pricy for what you get. If you have some spare cash, these are worth it.

Japanese From Zero is a wonderful way to learn! Here's the link to the first book if you're interested

https://www.amazon.com/Japanese-Zero-Techniques-Students-Professionals/dp/0976998122/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?keywords=japanese+from+zero+1&qid=1565528459&s=gateway&sprefix=Japanese+From&sr=8-1

The author George also goes over the entire first 4 books in video lessons which is a great addition to help reinforce what you've learned after reading a chapter.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOcym2c7xnBwU12Flkm5RcLIEhvURQ8TB

Okay, this gives me a lot to work with.

Since you can already read hanzi, and especially because you can read traditional hanzi, you have an enormous advantage in terms of reading skills. You'll probably be able to skim Japanese texts and get the basic gist of it with just a little practice. This will make it quite simple for you to use public transportation in Japan.

I recommend that you use Anki and make a card for each of the hiragana and each of the katakana. You should be able to memorize them quite quickly this way. Specifically, I recommend that you put the phonetic sound on the front of the card, and the kana on the back, and write the kana on a piece of paper every time it comes up.

>[ka]

----
>か

You can probably find a pre-made deck that does this, including audio. You should be able to do about 20 new cards each day with Anki, so once you've got the kana down fairly well, start drilling vocabulary with it. I've always made my own deck, but for your purposes, I think a pre-made deck would be fine. I hear that a lot of people use the "Core 2000" deck.

While you're doing this, run through Tae Kim's guide, doing one lesson each day. Once you've finished Tae Kim, that'll give you all the grammar you really need. Grammar is helpful in learning a new language, but most people spend way too much time on it.

For speaking/listening practice, I highly recommend the Pimsleur method. It's expensive, but it's also available in most college libraries.

頑張って！加油！

The Tofugu guide is a really good place to start for new learners. The rules established are broadly applicable, and will quickly let you pick up the order with minimal cross-referencing the further you get in your studies.

Beyond that choose a reference you like for when you need to look it up (I'm partial to The Essential Kanji for a book or Jisho.org for electronic forms), but generally don't fuss over stroke order. Avoid trying to treat it as a distinct topic, simply practice it when you learn vocab/kanji and know that when your starting you'll probably be looking things up quite frequently. A few hundred kanji in you're guesses will start to become pretty good, and beyond that you'll probably stop thinking about it entirely.

Practically every manga I've seen has furigana on it. Anything intended for teens and below will have them for sure.

You can buy them online fairly cheap now as well, though shipping will probably take a while. e.g. https://www.amazon.com/One-Piece-Vol-1-Japanese/dp/4088725093

Edit: one other note, I've found that most shounen manga (one piece, shingeki no kyojin, etc) will contain a lot of world-specific language or dialects. If you really want something more focused on real world language usage, you might try to find a story more based in modern-day society rather than a fantasy world.

A very comprehensive answer! I would only add that the book, Fluent Forever contains additional advice on maximising your use of spaced repetition and using dictionaries, phrase books and textbooks to their maximum potential.

I went through those textbooks at university, but skipped An Integrated Approach to Intermediate Japanese. After Tobira, which we rushed through, we dealt with authentic materials - blog posts, excerpts from books, websites, and so on. Basically, after Tobira you will be very close to the level needed to use Japanese-Japanese dictionaries alongside Japanese-English and you'll really be able to fly on your own.

It's also definitely possible to self-teach, but do try to get a Japanese penpal or Skype partner. There are a ton of websites out there if you look.

For Japanese specifically, I'd recommend Introduction to Japanese Linguistics by Natsuko Tsujimura.

Good book to have; it's not a language learning textbook or even a reference grammar. It's more a modern scientific description of the language, so possibly quite different than other material you might be familiar with.

I actually worked with her at one time.

One of my favorite books of Japanese idioms is "Complete Japanese Expression Guide" by Mizue Sasaki. https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Japanese-Expression-Guide/dp/0804834237

While I would always recommend buying a copy, it's possible that a clever person might find an epub or pdf version of this book with a quick search.

Just starting from a random page in this book, I see:

面子を立てる -- to save face

身から出た錆 -- to suffer the consequences of one's own deeds

道草を食う-- to fool around on the way

見栄を張る -- to show off

-- and so on, for a total of around 600 common expressions (with some explanation as to their origins).

Heisig-ist here. I get the criticism but people always gloss over that there's an entire separate book for tackling the readings.

The isolation of these 2 elements is very intentional. It just also means that a feeling of actual pay-off is very delayed.

There are other successful ways to learn kanji of course, but Heisig's method is completely effective if fully followed through.

I have an old Japanese for Dummies book that is all in romaji. Looking at the second editon on amazon, looks like they use Japanese text AND romaji.

I've used this before my trip to Japan few years ago and it's good beginners level.

https://www.amazon.com/Drive-Time-Japanese-Beginner-Level/dp/1400006082

Try these:

How to read classical Japanese

Readings with annotation, commentary, and dictionary

I used these textbooks when I took Classical Japanese. It is technically designed so it can be used by people with no Japanese knowledge, yet I had taken three years of Japanese before I took the class and it was still a little challenging. I highly recommend them, however. They're worth every penny, in my opinion.
Edit: the texts are all in pre 1946 orthography and sample a wide variety of texts from the year 712 to 1800-something

http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/0070723362/ref=sr_1_3_up_2_har_olp?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1334200821&sr=1-3&condition=used

Keene's work is considered canon:
https://www.amazon.com/Anthology-Japanese-Literature-Mid-Nineteenth-Representative/dp/0802150586

Forgot to add the link to the book. https://www.amazon.com/Essential-Kanji-Characters-Systematically-Reference/dp/0834800829/ref=sr_1_1_twi_har_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1518028995&sr=8-1&keywords=Essential+Kanji%3A+2000+Basic+Japanese+Characters+Systematically+Arranged+for+Learning+and+Reference

万葉集
読んでないけどこういうの？

In Search of Japan's Hidden Christians: A Story of Suppression, Secrecy and Survival
https://www.amazon.com/dp/4805313560/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_YYmwDbSC4N0YC


Samurai William: The Englishman Who Opened Japan
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0142003786/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_zZmwDbVYM6T8Z