Jump to content

Recommended Posts

Well my wife and I would lov to learn Japanese but we do not have access to lessons where we live, I recently got Skype and wondered if it could be used to learn Japanese, I have seen the services that do this but they are expensive so I wondered if anyone had heard of alternatives that work.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Have heard if English being taught over skype,in conjunction with video calls, but not Japanese.

 

Try looking at thejapanesepage.com for simple lessons and possible avenues of learning there.

Link to post
Share on other sites

I think it can be done.

Provided that the sound quality is good enough.

IMHO, there are much more that goes on when you have a man2man situation. The brain and senses picks up more.

If people were to use Skype, it will take a bit of getting used to.

Like moving the camera around.

"show me what you have written / I want to see you writing it"

"ah, you wrote like this, I want you to take attention here ..."

" Look at my mouth (close up)"

 

so, this multi-tasking can be a concentration breaker ...

If you don´t have any other means, I´d say why not!

Link to post
Share on other sites
Originally Posted By: pie-eater
Oh I see now, I think. I was confused as to what you wanted.


One of my mates does it based in the UK teaching English to Chinese businessmen in China. Apparently,very well paid and has a nice little classroom set up around the pc and web camera.
Link to post
Share on other sites

Forget it!

 

At least for now. Coz you lack the basics. How can you have a conversation without the basics?

 

I don't learn Japanese, but the ways to learn a language, any language, are similar anyway.

 

1. Get a good course (book + CDs). Check what's good. Ask for recommendation here. Then buy it and do the course.

 

2. I really mean DO the course and not just browse through chapter 1-4

 

3. Learn to read Hiragana and Katagana. It's simple and you can do that within a day. Kanji is more difficult though and can take a few month intensive study.

 

4. Get some alternate source to read or listen Japanese. Soap, funny stuff, Jav porn, type does not matter, but you must be interested in the topic, not just coz it's Japanese.

 

5. Get some primary children books that avoid Kanji as much as possible. Look at simple Kanji anyway.

 

 

After you finished the course you can identify your weaknesses and get an online tutor to help you in that area. You can look for some on MSN, Skype etc. iTalki is very good, so is polyglot-learn-language.

 

Not sure what you think about lingq, but I do have great respect for Steve Kaufmann. You can watch him here (1/5):

 

Link to post
Share on other sites
Originally Posted By: Kraut_in_HongKong
Kanji is more difficult though and can take a few month intensive study.


It took you a few months?!
Wow, you must be a slow learner.

And the impression I got of you before now was one of a genius who knows everything! wink
What a letdown!
Link to post
Share on other sites
Originally Posted By: grungy-gonads
It took you a few months?!
Wow, you must be a slow learner.


I am a soso learner. I never really looked seriously at Japanese. But i think Kanji has less characters the Chinesen, and that should make it a bit easier. I am not sure how many Kanji you need to get by. For Chinese you need about 3000 characters to read a newspaper.

But I believe one can crack Kanji also with the right method. Problem for most is not really the learning but more the 'forgetting'. If you can prevent the 'forgetting' then your learning will be more efficient. "Heisig's" "Remembering the Kanji" looks like a good approach, I would try that, or similar ways to get the Kanji. And keep doing it every day.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remembering_the_Kanji

Link to post
Share on other sites

What a dumb comment. Less characters makes it easier.

 

Quantifying a language is idiotoc. So is believing the right method applied will produce superior results. Very bureacratic.

When someone lacks the openmindness and flexibility from the start, alternative methods (like skype) will not work - that is obvious.

Simply, believe in what you want - that will give you palcebo effect.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Back on topic fellas

 

Heres what you do:

 

Go to the find skype users function then search for people that are in `skypeme mode` - then set the location to Tokyo, Japan -(or define otherwise)

 

These are people that WANT to chat - so send a message introduce yourself politely- mainly the Japanese people using sjype I would go out on a limb and say they can speak/ understand the queens to some extent.

Chance your arm some would be keen to help I`m certain - its educational- fun for both parties.

So Yes you can utilise it to learn Nihongo- why wouldn`t you either ?

Link to post
Share on other sites
Originally Posted By: Jynxx
Less characters makes it easier.


Reading is one big key to language acquisition. There is also no doubt that a character based script such as Kanji is way more difficult to tackle then a phonetic script such as English, Korean, Hiragana etc. At least I can read it phonetically after a short time of learning.

I never learned Russian, but I learned the Cyrillic alphabet before I went to Russia on Biz. With that it was easy to work out the restaurant menu since they got many loanwords.

There are also people that believe Chinese is more difficult to learn if you do NOT learn the script (one less associated fix). Not sure if that applies to Japanese though as the language syntax is very different.

I believe Japanese has many loanwords too such as スキー and オルガスム
Link to post
Share on other sites

You have neglected one important isssue and kept on with your crap.

No one can correct your own pronunciation on a language CD.

Chinese is difficult for some people just because you can have so many different sounds (intonations) - That makes it a musical approach. Easier for kid to grasp. Difficult for one who has hearing problems and can not sing.

Your phonetics can suck big time and you won´t know it. Reading and writing a language is different to speaking and hearing.

Link to post
Share on other sites
Originally Posted By: Jynxx
You have neglected one important isssue and kept on with your crap.


This type of slur happens when people run out of arguments. You aren't there yet, or?

Can you explain why it does not make a difference to learn 1000+ characters vs. just 30+? Even Kato Lomb said that any character based language will takes 3 times the time to learn. I agree there.

There are different approaches to acquire a new language. My approach would be to learn a basic vocabulary to be able to have some simple conversation.

For the correct pronunciation I don't have difficulties to copy what I hear quite accurately. But I acknowledge that some have problems in that area (Schwarzenegger springs to mind).

If I would start Japanese I would just buy a good course with CD, and go trough it. For the right pronunciation maybe get the 3 Pimsleur courses and do them simultaneously (the are 100% audio, very good, but don't go very deep). Then at the same time watch some JP comics and get some simple books. Talking I would probably do when I feel the time is right.
Link to post
Share on other sites

I am not so interested in reading, while Japanese script facinates me I figure start the spoken and then look at the reading as it will make more sense once you get a grasp of the grammer.

 

OK some good advice, thanks, I will be back in December / January so it would be great to be able to speak with the locals.

 

Trip number six for me hence the interest.

Link to post
Share on other sites
×
×
  • Create New...