How To Study Japanese Online

By ken cannon - 11:35 PM




“How far can you get with Japanese alone?”


Ken Cannon here, I recently saw a question on a forum like this that caught my attention.

Basically, is it possible to study without a teacher for whatever reason that may be.

And the answer in my opinion is … yes and no.

On the one side, there are tons of other resources out there that can be used to learn Japanese besides a live teacher. So the answer is yes.

But on the other side, you can’t expect to learn a language with no guide what so ever. In my case I did happen to take classes in college with a teacher. But that was 4 years after I had learned in the first place. (and to be honest it was a easy A)

So as you may know I used self study programs. (Pimsluers, LLJB, rosetta stone, ect.) And I did learn the language! But I had a guide.

And in my opinion, a book, even the great “Genki”, really isn’t a “complete” guide. A book can’t teach you to speak a language, simply because… a book can’ speak. However they are indispensible as a study resource.

So to sum it up, Yeah! Japanese self study is possible! But without a guide of some type the Japanese forest is ten times as big (corny metaphors ftw..)

Ken Cannon

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7 comments

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  2. Hey, I was just wondering whether it's possible, too :) ... well, I don't realy have to learn it, but I watched some anime with subtitles recently and learned some words this way without any effort... I think in combination with some structured lessons, which can be found on YouTube e.g., one can learn it.
    I learned English in a similar way... I mean, I had lessons at school, but they were mostly boring and not very helpfull (I wonder who chose the topics). I rather learned it by reading some books and watching movies with subtitles :)
    I found it very helpfull at first to choose books that weren't yet translated (Harry Potter e.g.). This way I had to read the english version unless I wanted to wait :P . Of course that might be a bit more difficult with japanese works...
    Oh... a friend that knows both languages might help, too (Skype helped me a lot with that :) ).

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  3. I agree... i learnt japanese by myself (the basics). the basic japanese is ok when you study on it alone.. but when you go to high level, then you'll need a teacher because the japanese sentences become more complex..
    (this is what i tot ^_^)

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  4. i doing self hearing and so far i've been memorizing and learning hiragana alphabet. i'm not sure if i'm going about it the wrong way but, i feel i can understand a little when i watch some animes. i read something you mentioned about learning casual japanese first then formal but it's kind of hard to find casual verbs online. thanks for your guides. i enjoy your work.

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  5. Ohkay, I want to learn Japanese. And well i'm starting from your Lessons. Is that a good thing? I'm not learning it to understand Anime. I'm learning so i can understand Japanese in general and be able to use it when i go to Japan. So... Should i keep learning from you or use a program. Btw, my school doesn't offer Japanese. I live in the heart of Texas and well.... the people round' here don't really be needin' to use that Japanese language. (Typing with Texas Accent ^^^) So.... What do i do!?

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  6. There are series of books called japanese for busy people, is it helpful to learn Japanese

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  7. I found this post reliable and easily understandable, language learners are always keen to get knowledge from new resources to build vocabulary with Japanese . It is always better to choose an online japanese course rather than a private tutor.

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