Learning Japanese?

[Sairensu]

Not sure where to post this, but I there are A LOT Japanese games I am interested in which are never going to be localized.

I know a bit Japanese, it's not much though, I can read Hiragana and Katakana and several words but I am more and more thinking about learning Japanese.

Which ways are the best to learn the language, and how long does it take to understand Japanese games? If my knowledge gets better, I also wanna help translating the games for people who kinda feel like I do right now and don't know ANY Japanese.


Uh yeah. Also general discussion about it here?

 

[chris888222]

Most Japanese games have kanji, which can be very difficult for people to master. Knowing Chinese (if you do) is actually a great way to tackle kanji (I am doing so)

People normally start with hira, I go to katakana straight. They are mostly western loan words which can be very easy to pick up if you put in effort.

Tbh, I learnt kana by playing Japanese Pokemon.

 

[Cyan]

you could check this topic:
http://gbatemp.net/t290986-learning-japanese-the-nihongo-faq

There are some links to website and books name to learn the language.

 

[Heran Bago]

Buy textbooks used by colleges, you can find out what textbooks they use from asking by email. Study the crap out of them.

Often a junior college class or a private tutor are your best cheaper bets if you want to get serious about it.

 

[Sairensu]

Thanks for the link and the answers!

You think I can find some textbooks on eBay? I live in Germany and I'm not sure if any of the schools around here teach Japanese. ):

When I'm playing Japanese games, I always try reading the Katakana for words I may know lol! Kanji are really hard to learn, I only know like... 2 or 3.


I wish instead of making games Japanese they'd make all games on English by default, since everyone knows a little English! That'd be cool.
(though I guess some games would still have to be translated because of the Engrish... lol)

 

[doyama]

Thanks for the link and the answers!

You think I can find some textbooks on eBay? I live in Germany and I'm not sure if any of the schools around here teach Japanese. ):

When I'm playing Japanese games, I always try reading the Katakana for words I may know lol! Kanji are really hard to learn, I only know like... 2 or 3.


I wish instead of making games Japanese they'd make all games on English by default, since everyone knows a little English! That'd be cool.
(though I guess some games would still have to be translated because of the Engrish... lol)

You've obviously never been to Japan, since most people there know little to none usable English. It's nice because in most 'tourist' areas the signs are in English, but ask some random person for direction and you better be good at pantomiming stuff.

 

[GamerzInc]

Thanks for the link and the answers!

You think I can find some textbooks on eBay? I live in Germany and I'm not sure if any of the schools around here teach Japanese. ):

When I'm playing Japanese games, I always try reading the Katakana for words I may know lol! Kanji are really hard to learn, I only know like... 2 or 3.


I wish instead of making games Japanese they'd make all games on English by default, since everyone knows a little English! That'd be cool.
(though I guess some games would still have to be translated because of the Engrish... lol)

You've obviously never been to Japan, since most people there know little to none usable English. It's nice because in most 'tourist' areas the signs are in English, but ask some random person for direction and you better be good at pantomiming stuff.

Or make sure you know enough japanese to communicate well enough where you wanna go.

To OP, some great books that would help you learn the language would be the Genki books, I, II, and III. I think there are three of them. I have some in my backpack. I'll post back later today on more.

 

[Gahars]

Turning Japanese is one thing, but learning Japanese? I can't help you there.

(Sorry, I had to.)

If you're really must learn the language, then there's always the FAQ on the site, or a program like Rosetta Stone.