if i want to learn japanese, what the first ido?
and next step?
thx for helping me :clap

What I did to learn even the simplest bit of japanese, was to research the translation of the word (for example: sakana, it's fish in english), you can just browse through japanese-english dictionary sites if you don't have any japanese books (dictionaries i mean), you can also go to this site, I hope it'll help you ^_^ : http://www.englishjapaneseonlinedictionary.com/ , so for me, the easiest way, (and cheapest)to learn japanese is to browse through japanese-english dictionaries. I hope this'll help you even a bit. :sry

Well if you really want to do it properly, it's always best to take classes because there's nothing better than having a live person speaking the language to you.

If you want to take it slowly by yourself, you can search online for free Japanese lessons. There are plenty available. But no matter where you search, it is recommended that you start by learning the Hiragana and Katakana (the Japanese syllables if you would) that comprise the basic pronunciation of all words. Then progress to simple words and phrases.

Eventually, if you get serious about learning the language, you will want to take the Japanese Literacy Tests that will certify you of a level of proficiency in Japanese.

thx for ur advise twister, but how to understand "the japanese letter" or kanji, i dunno exactly the name @@

How to understand? Well, I got this book (i think about 2 years ago), a japanese dictionary actually, and the last page of it had kanji and hiragana characters... For example, there was one character, and if you make it into romaji, it'd be like "Ka" or "Shi", and so on, and since i lost that book, my only alternative was to search in the internet, for images containing Kanji and Hiragana and Katakana... :sry Oh, and solidsnake's advice is much better too, if you really want to take japanese lessons, you would have to do what he says so you'll be really good at speaking and writing japanese :sry

thx... maybe i'll learn it just slowly, bcoz i don't have enough time for taking japanese class :sry
and can you tell me sites that will help me to learn japanese as you mention..earlier
anyway thx..(sory if i always ask you guys :sry )

^ Kanji is too advanced for beginners. Don't worry about those for now. Read my post above again.

for listening/comprehension, I recommend listening to podcasts here:
www.japanesepod101.com

They have podcasts for absolute beginners, and will teach you simple phrases and go through it slowly with you. (you can build your vocab and pronunciation this way)

(I agree with snake, first step is to learn the hiragana and katakana)

Read through topic "Who's learning japanese",started by hungrydragon.
I found many useful website there.
Recommended: "http://www.japanesepod101.com/" and "http://japanese.about.com/od/japaneselessons/a/wheredoibegin.htm"

:good

I also want to learn japanese, coz' i like japanese. .SMILE

I also don't have much time to enroll in a japanese class and second it doesn't offer in my school...

coz' I also don't have a book..
so I've try to find a thing that will help me to learn japanese.

and I got an application for a mobile phone that will help me learn the hiragana, it's not much but it help me memorize the hiragana...
I also got application teaching to memorize, katakana, kanji(first grade to six grade), jap-eng dictionary with kanji and hiragana midlet.
(It is so handy)...

for the grammar and exercise I've try this site
http://www.guidetojapanese.org/index.html

as for pronunciations and proper writing of hiragana and katakana
http://www.sf.airnet.ne.jp/~ts/japanese/cover.html

And here's the site for application on mobile phone.
http://www.getjar.com/software/
for wap>> http://wireless.getjar.com/mobile/

this is just a first step, and the other steps is up to you...

I hope it help you a little.. .chop



*BTW Taking classes is much better ^^

^ thanks for the link to the mobile applications :good

I dont know the first step..but for me..I learned Jap through watching anime or Japanese drama or movie..hehehe...then visiting/browsing mangolanguage.com...m not sure if its mangolanguage.com..but I think it is...hehehe... :sry

thx guys..
now, i will start to learn japenese

ganbatte~!!

@biscuit: thx for the sharing,arigatou gozaimasu :clap :clap

@syawqy: ganbatte !! ganbarimasu !! :good :good

good luck to everyone learning your new language^^
(lol) also to me^^
:good

haha wanna learn too! learned afew stuff from watching anime :what well it works LOL will take advice given here to help :good thanks! hope i get somewhere :what

Thanks guys im learning a lot.. :good :good

Just some basic things:
-Try not to rely on "ro-maji" as quick as possible.
I'd say this is extremely important.
Basically, learn カタカナ (Katakana) and ひらがな (Hiragana) because using ro-maji is a crutch, japanese kids don't write with it after all.
-Learn vocab from anything, whether it's reading, or watching a t.v. show or anime (which I don't like, :/), and notice some things. But understand that subtitles aren't the literal meaning.

There's a lot more, but I've written enough already.

i second the romaji thing. sure u can type japanese in your computer this way but it screws you up. Try making songs (my teacher made us sing sigh) but it does work for the te form it helped.

lon- don bridge is fall- ing down

ii- chi- ri- tte bi- mi- nde

that was a sample of the "brilliant :what " song

basically for group one polite form of verbs the character straight before the masu will determine the te form.

eg. asobimasu asonde

—V‚Ñ‚Ü‚· ---> —V‚ñ‚Å

hairimasu haitte

“ü‚è‚Ü‚· ----> “ü‚Á‚Ä

japanesepod101.com

very good website.......just download their mp3.....

wow... :what kinda hard..but i will pratice!

:what :what

@@

lol....acutally, i think it all depends on if u jus want to speak it or learn to read and write as well :P

^ milkyway is right...
.
.
gambatte ne kudasai...


it will pay off, happy learning... :clap