Easiest way to learn Japanese? - Or best resource for it

[Michael Wade]

I'm curious if anybody has a recommended course or book that can cover most of the bases at once. Something I can devote an hour a day to.

 

[Suburban Bastard]

Paid language courses (Duolingo is only good for hello, goodbyes, thank yous, it’s very bad for anything past basic)
College courses
Books
Living abroad and not staying in your room all day

But really it all comes down to commitment, there is no easy way to learn a language, you’re relearning how to say everything you know.

 

[Lemmingwiser]

Languages are learned through immersion. Nothing beats going to the country.

My current diet for learning the language of my choice is:

10 minutes duolingo / day
30 minutes media consumption / day (tv series, music)
120 minutes of interaction / week (apps like hellotalk, hinative, tandem to connect you with native speakers)

 

[Agent Abe Caprine]

30 minutes media consumption / day (tv series, music)

I've listened to hours of Norwegian black metal and only know enough to get kicked out of a church. Your mileage may vary.

 

[Lemmingwiser]

I've listened to hours of Norwegian black metal and only know enough to get kicked out of a church. Your mileage may vary.

I don't listen passively. I try to write down the lyrics of songs and check if I'm doing it right.
I talk back and practice pronunciation with tv shows.
If I'm tired I'll turn on subtitles, but if I'm fresh, I'll turn them off.

Sometimes it means I watch only half an episode per day because I'm rewinding and practicing.

 

[Jewthulhu]

 

[Exegesis]

Reddit

 

[Lip Glossary]

Move to Japan and teach English.

 

[skykiii]

Disclaimer: not an expert.

One of the odd things I found is gaming can help. I find picking up language easier if I have an active use for it. Like no joke I can still read those runes from Ultima simply because they were required in the games.

Something similar with Japanese, I once spent a long time on a game that taught the kanas, and I can still read those to this day.

Building vocabulary has been the hardest part.

 

[Kyff]

Renshuu is pretty good as apps go. But, as always with apps, you'd probably want to use it alongside a textbook and consuming a lot of whatever Japanese media you're into.

Back in the day, I used Japanesepod101. It was very useful for me as an absolute beginner. I remember the host being pretty irritating though, so that might be ymmv.

I've found Pimsleur's method useful if you want to quickly be able to speak and not have retard-foreigner accent. But it's boring, and best for absolute beginners only, imo

 

[Cat tit bingo]

Just watch anime, from my decades of watching I've become perfectly fluent
"Moshi moshi masaka bakana, desu oneesan sugoi deka chinchin, yamate!!!"
That's how you ask for a second serving of rice.

 

[Lemmingwiser]

Renshuu is pretty good as apps go. But, as always with apps, you'd probably want to use it alongside a textbook and consuming a lot of whatever Japanese media you're into.

Back in the day, I used Japanesepod101. It was very useful for me as an absolute beginner. I remember the host being pretty irritating though, so that might be ymmv.

I've found Pimsleur's method useful if you want to quickly be able to speak and not have retard-foreigner accent. But it's boring, and best for absolute beginners only, imo

Pimsleur is a great starting point

 

[No-Eyed Square Guy]

I learned by accident/neccessity so this may be bad-on-average advice:

Act like a baby. Don't worry about writing or alphabets. Learn to distinguish sounds. Even if you don't understand the words, once a Japanese sentence doesn't sound like a stream of nonsense—if you can repeat it without understanding, like imitating a musical melody without knowing what notes it is—then all that remains is vocabulary.

It's a kind of "immersion," but you can do it by watching Watame or whatever. Cartoons may actually be superior to live people, as a first step, because their mouths don't move right and you have to listen to distinguish phonemes.

The bad news: If you're accustomed to English, Japanese will probably never truly "speak to you" or become the language of your mind, because it's vague as fuck. I catch myself thinking in French (the other other language I know) all the time. Never Japanese.