Konnichi wa!
The
Japanese Language Home Page
at About.com is a good place to start.
First, a bit of terminology, some things that aren't always made clear in
the literature...
- Kanji - There are many thousands of kanji. Each one is a picture
that has a meaning, and they can be combined for further meanings. They
are the "picture writing" you've probably seen, and evolved
from the Chinese.
- Kana - There are two sets of these, with 48 (I think) in each set.
Each represents a Japanese syllable, and they are used to "spell"
kanji. That is, instead of writing a picture, you can use the sounds of
the kana to "spell" out its pronunciation. Each one also has a
Romanized spelling which is the same in each of the two sets.
- Hiragana - One of the two kana sets. Think of it as a font,
with katakana being a parallel font. Japanese words are usually
spelled with hiragana, though katakana may be used for emphasis or
special effects.
- Katakana - One of the two kana sets. Think of it as a font,
with hiragana being a parallel font. Foreign words and foreign words
which are commonly used in Japanese are spelled with katakana.
Here are some learning resources, mostly available from Amazon.com...
Learning Resources
+ Beginner's Kana Workbook - Practice Drills for Writing Hiragana and Katakana
Just as the title says. Teaches you to write the characters.
+ Calendars...
+ Easy Hiragana - First Steps to Reading and Writing Basic Japanese
+ Easy Katakana - How to Read and Write English Words Used in Japanese
+ Easy Kanji - A Basic Guide to Writing Japanese Characters
A bit less emphasis on how to write the characters than is provided
in the workbook mentioned above, but a lot more information on what
they mean and how they're used.
+ Japanese Complete Course - Living Language
Textbook with exercises, companion dictionary and cassettes. Also available in
compact disc.
This series is a classic, excellent for self-study.
A good learning tool but it probably moves too fast for the beginner.
I found this to be true of the German and Spanish versions even
though I had some previous experience in those languages, and in
Japanese I'm a real beginner! It would probably be best to follow
along a bit in the listening guides before hitting the road with
these casettes. The three levels can also be purchased separately.
+ Remembering the Hiragana - A Complete Course on How to Teach Yourself the Japanese Syllabary in 3 Hours
+ Remembering the Katakana
+ Remembering the Kanji I - A Complete Course on How Not to Forget the Meaning and Writing of Japanese Characters
+ Remembering the Kanji II - A Systematic Guide to Reading Japanese Characters
So far, I've purchased only the Hiragana book. It's rather clever,
teaching you little memory hooks. After the first lesson I found
that the method does work, though I wonder if it can work as well
with something as big as the Kanji set. In past experiments with
associative tricks meant to improve one's memory, I've found that
they work well only if you have a good memory to begin with! That
is, if you can remember the hooks, you can pretty much remember the
material itself just as easily, and if not, not. Maybe these will be
better.
+ Learn Japanese the Fast and Fun Way
Cassettes and a colorful large-format book, with a pullout dictionary
(containing an excellent food section, very handy for the restaurants!),
flash cards, and other goodies to enhance the learning experience.
You can also purchase the
book alone.
+ Vocabulearn Japanese/English Level 2
+ Vocabulearn Japanese/English Level 3
An all-audio (cassette), no-reading-required offering. Good for
vocabulary-building while you commute. A word is spoken, then
its translation, another word is spoken, then its translation...
an excellent tool! I've used the German and Spanish versions.
The three sets are available as a single package or separately,
though the all-in-one package seems to be currently unavailable.
The new versions are "music enhanced".
After you've learned Japanese, visit
http://www.shonenknife.net,
home of the most famous band in the world from Osaka! But if you
can't wait, you can visit my Shonen Knife page now.
30 Januaro 2002 modifita.