How long does it take to learn Japanese?
+How long does it take to learn Japanese?
A very long time.
Some will comment that, at a good pace, fluency is achievable in 4 years. Thinking in terms of “I have 4 years to become fluent” may help to prevent you from making the common beginner mistake of rushing, crashing and burning due to short term thinking (e.g. setting your new cards/day limit to 100 in Anki because you think it is taking too long to get through your deck, then finding yourself totally overwhelmed in a week’s time and giving up).
-Namasensei
+Namasensei
Namasensei is often watched by beginners learning Japanese, because his alcohol-fueled antics are strangely both entertaining and powerfully motivating for some anons. Unfortunately, this is a double-edged sword; as he’s always shitfaced drunk, tends to teach in an ineffective fashion, has terrible handwriting, and messes up the stroke order of some of the kana.
-[His te-form video teaches you that the te-form is the command form, which is misleading and will cause you a great deal of confusion if you actually try to read anything with that assumption. It will also confuse you when you read a grammar guide and see it being explained as having a completely different function (a conjunction used to make compound sentences). When the te-form appears to be being used to make a (light) command, what is really going on is that "てください" is being contracted to just "て".]
- -Using Google for Japanese:
+Using Google for Japanese:
Set your search to google.co.jp for (much) better results.
-I can’t figure out what this means
+I can’t figure out what this means
Google 「X」, 「X」とは, or 「X」という言葉(の使い方) where X is your inquiry. 「ｘ」ってどういう意味, の意味 etc. also yields results.
-How to find reading materials?
+How to find reading materials?
Search for the Japanese title in Japanese along with the keywords 一般小説 青空文庫形式 txt
@@ -200,20 +198,20 @@Check the Cornucopia of Resources.
-What is the difference between x and y?
+What is the difference between x and y?
Searching google for 「ｘとｙの違い」or 「"x" "y" "違い"」 will usually find you the answer you’re looking for. If you can’t understand the answer you find, you aren’t on a level where you should worry about the difference of x and y yet.
-When should I start reading?
+When should I start reading?
You can start reading as soon as you finish a grammar guide. Reading will be somewhat easier if you know 1000–2000 or so words, but you shouldn't delay it beyond that point. Your first attempt at reading will be difficult regardless of how many words you know.
-は vs が
+は vs が
The Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar has one of the best explanations on the matter and is relatively concise. A great (but very long) explanation can also be found in Making Sense of Japanese Grammar - What the Textbooks Don't Tell You (available in the CoR). I would refer to those, and take all others with a grain a salt or not at all.
-How many words do natives know?
+How many words do natives know?
Words only include the dictionary form. Proper nouns and compound words are excluded. For a different study addressing the related question of how many words you need to know to achieve adequate comprehension, see this image. (This won't directly correspond to the number of words you need to learn in Anki, since many words have obvious meanings and readings.)
-These two words have the same reading, and meaning. How do I distinguish them, and why is Japan trying to fuck me?
+These two words have the same reading, and meaning. How do I distinguish them, and why is Japan trying to fuck me?
They have the same English meaning. Which, in case you couldn’t guess it, means you’ve gotta look it up in a J>J dictionary, or otherwise perform a Google search. If your grammar isn’t at a level where you can understand the descriptions, or distinctions you should be bettering your grammar instead of your vocab. If you can only read English definitions, then assume they are flawed before assuming that you’ve been fucked.
-How do I choose which kanji reading to use? Should I learn onyomi and kunyomi of kanji?
+How do I choose which kanji reading to use? Should I learn onyomi and kunyomi of kanji?
Readings for words are usually clearly defined, and any of the dictionaries in the sections above will tell you how a word is read. For more in-depth information on readings, refer to this wikipedia entry.
-What's this WaniKani thing?
- -WaniKani is a paid website which teaches you 6000 words and 2000 kanji. This may seem like a nice prospect, but reality is that the free open source software Anki will accomplish exactly the same for you. WaniKani limits your potential by providing you with a fixed schedule that you cannot exceed. With Anki, you can learn at whatever pace you wish and it does not cost you anything. Anki is also highly modular and can be adjusted to suit your preferences, while WaniKani offers next to no customization. If you still want to use WaniKana's content, there is a free Anki deck in the CoR.
- -Individual kanji study - production or recognition?
+Individual kanji study - production or recognition?
It probably goes without saying that learning to recognise the meanings of a kanji does not equate to learning how to write it, but what might be less obvious is that learning to produce a kanji often does not equate to learning how to recognise it. If you begin by studying only production, there will be times when you spot a character and think "Ah, I know this one!", but be unable to recall its meaning. In short, learning one skill will aid in learning the other, but to 'master' either skill requires dedicated practice of that skill.
-So what reason is there to do production if you don't care about writing? As it gives you a more intimate understanding of the kanji, it will likely aid in your ability to distinguish similar-looking characters and read messy fonts, but it's a very time-consuming skill to learn so it's up to you to decide if it's worth it.
+So what reason is there to do production if you don't care about writing? As it gives you a more intimate understanding of the kanji, it will likely aid in your ability to distinguish similar-looking characters and read messy fonts, but it's a very time-consuming skill to learn so it's up to you to decide if it's worth it. Most people do not learn to write.
+ +What's this WaniKani thing?
+ +WaniKani is a paid website which teaches you 6000 words and 2000 kanji. This may seem like a nice prospect, but reality is that the free open source software Anki will accomplish exactly the same for you. WaniKani limits your potential by providing you with a fixed schedule that you cannot exceed. With Anki, you can learn at whatever pace you wish and it does not cost you anything. Anki is also highly modular and can be adjusted to suit your preferences, while WaniKani offers next to no customization. If you still want to use WaniKana's content, there is a free Anki deck in the CoR.
+ +Duolingo
+ +Duolingo's Japanese course teaches little and is generally considered bad. You can do it on the side if you enjoy grammar exercises, but it should at most be viewed as a minor supplement to the method described in this guide.
+ +Genki - Genki tends to be more comprehensive than Tae Kim, and it has exercises that you can practice. This works as an engaging way to learn new grammar points, which may help drill grammar rules into your mind. The obvious downside is speed, of course. This resource can be found on the bottom of the pastebin.
+Genki - A textbook which has exercises that you can practice, which may help drill grammar rules into your mind. The obvious downside is speed, of course. This resource can be found on the bottom of the pastebin.
