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Rosetta stone
psychodude:
The main problem with learning Japanese is that it's the most distant language from English, and considered to be the hardest language for native English speakers to learn out of all major languages known to man. The foreign state intitute I believe it was in the US has once placed together estimates on learning various languages and japanese came out of the box with over 2000 hours of studying and > 6 months spending within the country itself required to learn the language to a basic level.
So taking it you do have a life, including a job/studies/friends/etc you most likely will not have much more time than 10 hours a weeks tops for studying Japanese on top. You'll probably skip some weeks, even with dedication. And might come down to 450 hours a year. It would take roughly 4.5 years then, plus an extra half year abroad in Japan, to learn speaking it onto a basic level.
You're 5 years older, and then what :p. You'll need to remain using it in order to remain fluent in it.
With your 4-6 years to go though, that gives you exactly the right amount of time to get to a basic level if you keep up with those 10 hours a week.
Next to that, if you want to learn a language so vastly different from your own or even remotely different my tip would be start from the beginning. Where did you begin with your English or whichever your native English is? Probably your ABC's, after all you're getting a new alphabet to learn; picture dictionaries, etc. If you want to speed it up for yourself drag it out of just that, and apply it to your every day objects. Post-it's all over the place with the Japanese written on it. Next level is primary school books, working your way up slowly.
And one definite tip, try to get your hands on some real japanese audio, news broadcasts, talk shows, whatever. Just to get the hang of what Japanese sounds like. After all sounding like a dumb tourist is one thing, but if you'd end up having taught yourself an anime accent, you'll just look like a complete idiot :p.
It's like once I met some guy who learned speaking English by watching Monty Python films and Blackadder.... just no ;D
Xenoran:
--- Quote from: psychodude on November 19, 2010, 07:47:44 PM ---It's like once I met some guy who learned speaking English by watching Monty Python films and Blackadder.... just no ;D
--- End quote ---
ahahaha i laughed so hard i nearly had milk out my nose ... thoght it was orange juice .. you get the idea :D aaaanhyway ive started the stickey notes thing already i have some around the house on my fridge andon some things in pantry i might see or use everyday
but its a start ... i found some books im starting with for basics and im trying to find a roseta stone torrent cuz i figure why not ill try it and see if i like it
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