Hiragana42 Review. “Learn hiragana through mnemonics in a day” Hiragana42 is an ebook by Koichi (of Tofugu) for people looking to learn how to read hiragana. Using mnemonics, it’s possible to learn all the hiragana in days or even hours (one person emailed us saying it took him 30 minutes to be able to read everything!). Since most Japanese resources require you to know at least hiragana, you’ll be opening doors to all sorts of other books you could never use previously. Hiragana42′s aim is to get you to that point very quickly without sacrificing quality. Download Hiragana42 (Free) Pros Totally freeeeee! Cons Doesn’t cover hand writing hiragana (who writes with their hands these days anyways?).
Pictures Final Word? If you’re looking to learn Japanese, you should start that journey with hiragana. TextFugu Review. TextFugu is an online Japanese textbook made by Koichi (from Tofugu, the site you’re looking at right now) for beginners of Japanese. It’s made especially for self-learners of Japanese and focuses on fixing a lot of the problems self-learners tend to face (burn-out, getting stuck, staying motivated, etc). Because TextFugu is an online textbook, it makes use of things like audio, video, worksheets, and other fancy things that make the learning experience better. If you’re the right kind of learner (self-learner+beginner) TextFugu’s made exactly for you. If you’re another kind of learner, it might be worth taking a look at some of the other resources you can find in the Japanese Resources section!
(Of course, you’re always welcome to email Koichi if you have questions, too). Visit TextFugu → Pros Helps you to stay motivated with a mix of psychology, inspiration, humor, and simplicity.You can email the author to get questions answered (and your questions also help to shape changes as well!) JAPAN 041 First-Year Japanese, Part 1. Paper Course Instructor(s): Shauna K Palmer BACredits: 0.50 add to cart Description: This course is an introduction to Japanese language, culture, and history; emphasizes vocabulary development as students learn basic skills in speaking, listening, reading, and writing. Course Content: 1. Paper Courses: Assignments for this course can be submitted online or by mail, email, or fax. Notes: To turn in oral assignments students will need a way to create MP3 files. Teach Yourself Japanese. Learn Japanese | JapanesePod101.com (Audio) - Download free podcast episodes by Wizzard Media on iTunes.
Learn Japanese Online for Free - its fun with easy flash quizes! Kanji Game, a free program for studying Japanese characters. Learn Hiragana, Katakana, compounds, and vocabulary. - Aurora. Foreign Languages and Literatures | 21F.503 Intermediate Japanese I, Fall 2004. Foreign Languages and Literatures | 21F.504 Japanese IV, Spring 2009. Foreign Languages and Literatures | 21F.505 Advanced Japanese I, Fall 2005. Foreign Languages and Literatures | 21F.506 Advanced Japanese II, Spring 2005. Accent and Tricky Pronunciation : Lesson 1-2 : Japanese Lessons : AAW. Accent The Japanese accent is easy to learn, because there isn't one. Once you've got all the sounds floating around in your head, putting them together into words is easy. Just remember: all syllables are created equal. There isn't an accent on the beginning, middle, or end of a word--just nice and even.
Every syllable in a word also gets exactly the same amount of time (including short-looking ones like "i" or long-looking ones like "kyo"). This isn't too hard to pick up listening to anime, but just remember: It's "he-n-ta-i" (listen carefully: ), not "hen tai" or "hen tai". Long Vowels The only time this gets tricky at all is with (cue evil music) "long vowels. " For example: "Ryooko" If you listen very carefully, that "oo" in there sounds like a long "oh" sound in the middle, about twice as long as a regular "o" sound.
Two more notes: One, "oo" is also sometimes written "oh" or "ou" or even as an o with a hat on it (ô) or a line over it. "Ryooko" "Ryokoo" Sentences Double... This, That, The Other Thing, and You : Lesson 2-3 : Japanese Lessons : AAW. This, That, and The Other Thing You already know "this" ("kore"), and "that" is similar: "sore". But in Japanese, there's a third word, "are", which means basically "that over there". They work this way: "kore" = something near the person talking"sore" = something near the person being talked to"are" = something that's not near anybody Here are a few examples: "Kore wa pisutoru desu. " In the first sentence, the person is talking about something that they're holding.
It's possible you're wondering about "which" at this point; the answer is "dore", but since you don't know how to ask questions yet (unless you've been studying elsewhere), we'll save that for next time. Ko-So-A-Do, A Deer, A Female Deer... You might have noticed a bit of a pattern with these words--they all end in "re". For now, to keep your head from exploding, we'll only look at one more set. "kono katana" ("this katana")"sono terebi" ("that TV")"ano hito" ("that person over there")"dono bakudan" ("which bomb") "Terebi desu.
" Questions and Answers : Lesson 3-1 : Japanese Lessons : AAW. Asking Questions Let's get right to the point and check out the basic way to ask a question in Japanese. Compare these two sentences: "Kore wa juu desu. " ("This is a gun")"Kore wa juu desu ka? " ("Is this a gun? ") Notice the little "ka" at the end of the second one. That's a new particle, and it marks any sentence as a question. Although there are ways to ask questions with more complicated answers (which we'll get to), and all of them are marked as questions by sticking a good ol' "ka" on the end, simple yes or no questions are so easy to make it's not even funny.
"Kore wa uchuusen desu ka? " Again, in every one of those cases, the only difference between the statement and question is the "ka" on the end. Yes and No Ok, now for some answers. These conversations involve Mirai and Ryuu, whom you'll be seeing more of in future examples. Mirai: "Kore wa masutaado desu ka? " It would be possible to just answer "Hai" or "Iie" in all three cases, but that would be a little blunt. What? Yes and no: Adjectives : Lesson 3-2 : Japanese Lessons : AAW. Split the Difference Japanese adjectives are easy, because basically, they work exactly the same as English adjectives--you stick them in front of the word you want them to modify. At this point, the trickiest thing to learn about adjectives in Japanese is that there are two different types of them: "na" adjectives and "i" adjectives (that's "i" as in "eee", not like the letter I, by the way).
Let's pick a couple of each to play with: "Hen" is a word fans of Urusei Yatsura are probably familiar with, meaning "strange" or "weird". The first thing you'll notice is that the i-adjectives all end in "i". Guess why they're called i-adjectives. The na-adjectives don't, however, end in "na"... yet. "Kore wa ii desu. " "Kore wa hen desu. " Now it should make some sense. Na-adjectives are just a wee bit trickier, in that when you want to modify a noun with them--but only then--you need to put a "na" between the adjective and the noun. What About Kono? "Kono karee wa karai desu. " Is It? More Vocabulary. Being There: Existence Verbs : Lesson 3-3 : Japanese Lessons : AAW.
Here, There, and Everywhere Before we get going, let's learn a new set of those ko-so-a-do words to go with places: "koko" = here (place where the speaker is)"soko" = there (place where the listener is)"asoko" = over there (place near neither the speaker or listener)"doko" = where These words follow the same pattern as all the other ko-so-a-do words, and have nice useful English equivalents. Only one little issue: using them isn't quite so simple. Being There Your first non-desu verb: "imasu". "Watashi wa koko ni imasu. " Woah, that's longer that you'd think. "Imasu" is a general-purpose "to be" verb, meaning "am" or "is" as they relate to the existence of something.
With some color coding, we thus have: Watashi wa koko ni imasu. = I am here. The Knights Who Say "ni" Convenient Monty Python reference aside, "ni" is a particle that shows up all over the place. "Watashi wa koko ni imasu. " Gaahhh! The first step in making this more confusing is a second new particle, "ga". "Nyan-chan ga imasu! " Learn Japanese » Introduction. Learn Japanese Words - Core 100 List.