I really liked Japan, so I want to learn Japanese. Is there any good website that I could go on for free and teaches me fluent Japanese?
2007-03-12 02:16:12 · 7 answers · asked by Ingrid 2 in Travel ➔ Asia Pacific ➔ Japan
I'd like to recommend Japanesepod101.com You can get the podcasts for free. They teach conversational Japanese and cultural tips. It will be a start for you AND you can hear the Japanese spoken which is a plus.
2007-03-13 20:14:29 · answer #1 · answered by dahnnna 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
If you want to learn Japanese well, you have to practice it in person -- learning online will limit your full potential. The Internet is a good start, though, especially if you take up the offer to communicate with Japanese students online.
The good news is that having a live tutor teach you Japanese in person is not as critical for Japanese as it is for tonal languages like Mandarin -- where you really have to watch how you pronounce things. That said, though, Japanese has so many levels of formality and context-specific language, that you probably wont be able to master those parts of the language without a language partner.
If you really want to raise your level of vocabulary, www.alc.co.jp has an excellent dictionary -- just type in what you want to look up in the language bar at the top of the page. It helped me write my MA thesis in Japanese on foreign policy and religious fundamentalism... Good luck!
2007-03-12 23:03:31 · answer #2 · answered by Christian K 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Language is becoming a big business in Japan. If you are looking for fluent learning.. the best way is to meet some Japanese and have language exchange
. they're fluent and free and they might invite you for a homestay..It would take years, even though a practice is always a must.. I know some people who are married to a Japanese Nationals for years but still having a problem with communication, so it depends how far you achieve it.
Check out Japan chatrooms.
2007-03-12 19:26:55 · answer #3 · answered by Ny 6 · 0⤊ 2⤋
There are not a lot of sites that give person to person lessons in Japanese, but I can offer you an option. I teach English at a university in southern Japan and several of my students minor in Japanese for foreigners. If you are willing, I can pass your email address to my students and they can help/teach you Japanese. Several other people on Yahoo! Answers who have asked for Japanese lessons have taken me up on this and my student have contacted them, and have had good results. In turn, you can help them with their English.
If you are willing, message me your email address. Then in turn, I will send your address to my students. They will contact you after that. The people that have done this seem to be very happy. I hope you can be, too.
Good luck.
Just to add one thing. I have to disagree with the first answerer. I never studied Japanese formally, but I did pick up a lot from just playing with kids. Japanese can be a do-it-yourself language if you have the desire and drive. I know, because I did it.
2007-03-12 10:11:10 · answer #4 · answered by Looking for the truth... 4 · 3⤊ 1⤋
I agree that it is best to learn Japanese by actually speaking with someone, hopefully someone who knows what they're teaching. However, you can suplement this instruction by learning kana and kanji by yourself. There are many books available. Start with hiragana, then katakana, then you'll need (at least) the basic 881 kanji. (There are 1,850 essential kanji).
Try this website:
http://members.aol.com/Joyo96/
http://www.joyo96.org/
Ganbatte neeee!
2007-03-12 21:37:08 · answer #5 · answered by chrisviolet4011 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Japanese can be learnt better by joining a institution than online... since Japanese is kind of a language which requires practice and a professional to train... its definitily not a Do it myself language
2007-03-12 09:21:27 · answer #6 · answered by jai 1 · 0⤊ 2⤋
Yes, there is a website called about.com. All you have to do is go to search. Write in "how to write Japanese".
2007-03-12 21:39:15 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋