Japanese

I'm not taking this at school because they don't offer it at mine, but I still want to learn teh language. I tried reading simple lessons plans on it but they were too confusing. Anyways, if someone has the time or know someone who has the time to teach me the basics, I would be very much grateful to that or those person(s). Thanks!

Wouldn't it be kinda difficult to learn a language over a bunch of forums? You need to actually hear the person say the words to learn it. I could tell you some words, like 'hello' and 'good-bye': konnichiwa (sp? I'd check but my dictionary is upstairs: lazy right now) and sayonara. I know a bunch of vocab, if you wanna know more just PM me or something. I can't do sentences though (I can do ____ of ____ , like "nozomi no daiya" means "diamond of hope", that's it).

This is a page I found on an anime site, read it if you want the basics: http://www.pojo.com/dragonball/japaneselessons1.shtml

Ive already taken Japaneese 1 at my school. im goin gto take Japaneese two next year. Ill scan some some begiinwers stuff once im able to. Ill scan you all the beginner hiragana stuff.

Ill post some basic words right now

こんにちは Konnichiwa= Hello

well im kinda rusty..eeek i better freshen up over the summer

I found this:

http://www.japanese.about.com

That should help.
EDIT: Oh, yeah Gerudo Kitten posted this some time ago. Should help.

Basic Japanese

Hello, Good Afternoon-Konnichiwa
Good Night- Konbawa (As you can imagine, 'A's are pronounced as a Short 'A'
Thanks- Doumo
Thanks alot- Doumo Arigatou
(Or, if your going extremely polite- Doumo Arigatou Gozaimasu, don't forget, in Japanese, if a U is after a S, its silent, yet form your mouth if you were to say 'u'.)
Goodbye-Sayounara
See you later- Dewa mata

Pronouns (Dai-meshi)

I- Watakushi/Watashi
I (used by boy student)- Boku
We- Wataku****achi/Wata****achi
You- Anata
You (Pl.) Anatatachi/Anatagata
You (For less than a colleague)- Kimi
You(Pl.)-Kimitachi

She-Kanojo
They (Pl. of she)- Kanojora
He- Kare (Keep in mind that in Japanese, E is pronounced as a Long A.
They (Pl. of He)- Karara
It- Sore
Those- Sorera
This- Kore
These- Korera
That- Are
Those (Pl. of that)- Arera

Self Introduction

How do you do- Hajimema****e
Nice to meet you- O-ai deki-te ureshii desu
Let me introduce myself- Jiko-shoukai sase-te kudasai
My name is...- Watashi no namae wa ... desu
Please call me...- .... to yon-de kudasai
I am ... years old- Watashi wa ...... sai desu ( I'll get to the numbers soon)
I have 4 members in my family- Watashi wa yo-nin kazoku desu
I'm from ...- Watashi wa ..... shusshin desu
I live in ...- Watashi wa ... ni sun-de i masu
My hobby is ....- Watashi no shumi wa ... desu

Questions for Conversing

May I ask your name- O-namae wo kiite-mo iidesu-ka
What is your name- O-namae wa nan-desu-ka
How do you write your name- O namae wo oshie-te kudasai
How old are you- Nan-sai desu-ka
Where do you go to school- Doko no gakkou-ni itte imasu-ka
What do you do- O-shigoto wa nan-desu-ka
Where are you from- Shusshin wa doko-desu-ka
Do you speak English- Eigo wo hanashi-masu-ka
What is your hobby-Shumi wa nan-desuka
Do you like ....- .... wa suki desu-ka

I don't speak Japanese well

Pardon- Nan desu ka/ Nan to ii ma****a-ka
I don't understand- Wakarimasen
Could you speak more slowly- Motto yukkuri hana****e-kure-masuka
Once more again- Mou ichido onegai-shimasu
Could you please say that in simpler language- Motto yasashii kotoba de itte-kure-masuka
Please say it in English- Eigo-de itte-kudasai
(More, but too lazy to type all of em)

Numbers (Kazu)

Sorry I Only know limted numbers. I'm still learning too.

1- Ichi
2- Ni
3-San
4-Shi
5-Go
6-Roku
7-Sichi
8-Hachi
9-Ku
10-Ju

100-Hyaku
1,000-Sen
10,000-Man
100 Million-Oku
Trillion/Billion- Chou.

Oh and all curse word filters cover s*it. I forgot about about that.

Or if you hae money you could go get a book on it like I did. It may take a while to learn,but it's pretty worth it.

Thanks for your help guys, everything is helping me to learn, except the only troubling part now is remembering all the characters, but I shoud be fine. Again, thaks fo ryour help!

I can't wait till I get to high school because I am taking Jappenese.

1-iti
2-ni
3-san
4-si/yon
5-go
6-roku
7-nana/siti
8-hati
9-ku/kyuu
10-zyuu
doru-dollar
sento-cents
en-yen
nan-how many
20-nizyuu
30-sanzyuu
40-sizyuu/yonzyuu
50-gozyuu
60-rokuzyuu
70-nanazyuu/sitizyuu
80-hatizyuu
90-kuzyuu/kyuuzyuu
100-hyaku
200-nihyaku
300-sanbyaku
400-yonhyaku
500-gohyaku
600-roppyaku
700-nanahyaku
800-happyaku
900-kyuuhyaku
1000-sen/issen
2000-nisen
3000-sanzen
4000-yonsen
5000-gosen
6000-rokusen
7000-nanasen
8000-hassen
9000-kyuusen
#-ban

I'm not disagreeing with you on the numbers...Wolf...
I'm just going by what is on my japanese textbook...

If you want to learn Japanese (EUW!) You should PM Detamarenohito from time to time she is learning it as well and could help teach you.
Her user name means Random person in Japanese.
So she could help you too.

I know simple words
Dozo- here you are
aragato-thanks
sayanora-goodbye
yeah, see simple. My friend and I are trying to learn, it's not the easiest language in the world if you get what I mean.

A friend of mine and I are learning little bits of Japanese at a time, because we can't take Japanese until college over here.
Pronunciation: You pronouce all the vowels.
Japanese people also have an accent that makes the "r" sound like "L".
For emaple: The name "Kirara" sounds like "Kee-la-la."

I am a girl. Watashi wa shoujo des.

I think Japanese is in a Subject-Object-Verb order, compared to the Subject-Verb-Object order in English.


And now some random words:
Watashi no mono: Mine
samui:cold
itami: pain
hora: hey
desuru: Hatred
Watashi ha anata ga suki: I like it
Watashi ha sore ga kirai: I don't like it
Anata wa: you
suki: like
inu: dog
ko: child
koinu: puppy (literally "dog child")
neko: cat
kistune: fox
akuma: evil spirit
baka: fool
osuwari:sit
okami: wolf
shi: death
shi ni: death to; die
kastuga: win
ningen: human
keitai: cell phone
kudarai: ridiculous
Jan-Ken-Pon: Rock-Paper-Scissors
na: vegetable
yuki: snow
kanpai:cheers
namida: tear
kanpai: cheers
toboe: howling
hige: whisker
tsume: claw
kiba: fang
tanuki: raccoon
kiseki: miracle

That's all I've got at the moment. I also know an impressive array of Japanese curse words and insults and such, but I don't think the mods would appreciate me posting it here.

Wow. I'm finding this to be very educational...even though I didn't ask for it.

Originally Posted by Evil Tomato

toboe: howling
hige: whisker
tsume: claw
kiba: fang

I take it you are a Wolf's Rain fan, eh? I really want to learn Japanese also, but my school in Rison ("rat penis" in latin) doesn't offer it.

I hope this helps some:

Tora- tiger
Neko- cat
Nekomimi- kitty ears
Koneko- kitten
Nyan-nyan- kitty
Nyako- kitty
Nyaa- meow
Ame- rain
Yuki- snow
Sabishii- Alone, lonely
Itai- Painful
Youkoso- Welcome!
Mochiron- indeed, of course
Yaro- bastard
Muko- damn you!
Yareyare- Oh my goodness
Sugoi- Wow/amazing/awesome/terrible
Ao(i)- blue
Kon- Dark blue/ navy blue
Chotto...- A little (inconvenint). Nice way to say no.
Fuyu- Winter
Sukoshizutsu tabemasu- nibble (literally, to eat little by little)
Anou…- um…
Ne?- Right? Ya know? Isn’t it?
Bijin- Beautiful women
Chikan- Pervert
Oshiri- Tus
Ganbatte!- Go for it!/ hang in there
Mo ichido onegaishimasu- one more please
Konichiwa- hello/ good afternoon
shishou - martial arts master.
ohisashiburi - long time no see!
okaeri - welcome home.
gomen - sorry!
itadakimasu - thanks for the food.
shihan - another word for master or instructor.
sensei - teacher or instructor.
-chan - some little kid or child.
deer senbei - biscuits of deer.
takoyaki - dumplings made w/ bits of octopus meat.
oba-san - aunt, young women.
baka - idiot.
shishou - martial arts teacher
ohisashiburi - long time no see
okaeri - welcome home
itadakaimasu - thanks for the food
shihan - word for master or instructor
sensei - teacher or instructor
-chan - child/friend
-kun - teenager, young adult
-san - adult
-sama - master
-dono - used in the era of samurai. never use it to address a client or superior. very formal to address one's master. stick to -sama.
gan - face
guro - black
ganguro - black face
kono mushikera me! - you insect!
shi-tappa - henchmen
kono san-****a - you third rate hack
burei-mono - insolent fool
sasuga ni - your skill is as expected
ta-su-ke-te! - HELP ME!
gomenasai! - I’m so sorry!
otaku - anime/manga fan
manga-ka - person who creates manga
yume - dream
moshi wake arimasen - i have no excuse for my self
warui! - my bad!
nihongo - Japanese in Japanese
kono akutou me! - you villain!
ore ni nakasero - leave it to me
soko made me! - this is as far as you go!
kono kari wazettai ni kaesu - I swear I’ll return this favor
kondo wa zettai ni makenai! - this time, i'm not going to lose
zettai ni makenai - i'm not going to lose
aku wa horobu - evil will always perish
taberuzo! nomunzo! - i'm going to eat! i'm going to drink
o-sho-yu - soy sauce
so-su - sauce
shio - salt
kosho - pepper
sato - sugar
ichigo - strawberri
gochiso sama - i've had a feast, thank you
waribashi/ohashi - chop sticks you break in half
gohan kudasai - may i have a bowl of rice please
okawari! - seconds please!
ittai nan nanda, kono mushi wa!!! - there's a bug in my soup!!! either there really is a bug, or you put it there to avoid paying the bill
geh! senkou da! - watch out! its the teacher!
shi koku da! - i'm late!
hai! - yes!
iie! - no!
shukada wa inu taberae ma****a - my dog ate my home work
tetsuya ****eiranode, shinuhodo nemui... - i did an all nighter and i'm dead tired.
sensei, kibun ga waru inode, hoken****su ni ittemo iidesukda? - teacher, i don't feel so well, could i go to see the school nurse?
sensei, sono kotai, machigatte imasuyo - teacher that answer's wrong
ote - shake
neko-chan - kitty
neko - cat
wan-chan - doggy
inu - dog
kora! - hey!
totte koi! - fetch!
osuwari! - sit!
esa wo yaru - give them their food
neko nade goe - cat petting voice
sampo no jikan - time for a walk
[fido], tasuke wo tsurete koi! - fido, go get help!
baka wa kaze wo hikanai - idiots can't catch colds
yuki-daruma tsukurou! - let's make a snow man!
oooh, samui! - oooh, it's cold (cold)
furueru hodo samui - i'm so cold i'm shivering (colder)
shinu hodo samui - it's deathly cold (coldest)
sabu - cold (slang)
yuki-gassen da! - it's a snow ball fight!
nanika atatakai mono tabeyou - lets eat something warm
onna- a woman or female
musume- a girl, daughter
me- female, weak
migite- right hand
migichu- left hand
onnaoya- a mother
gin- silver
gin'iro- silver color
-iro- color
mikazuki- crescent moon
chojo- the eldest daughter
nakanaka- very quiet
kin'iro; kojiki- golden color
joshu- a female; woman
kodomo- a child
yako- going by night
kon'ya- tonight
anki- learning by heart
youke- dawn
jame- heavy rain
makkura- pitch black
harusume- spring rain
shonen- lad; youth; young boy
kakudo- angle
shojo- little girl
yuki- snow
hatsuyuki- the first snow of the season
fubuki- snowstorm
kumo- cloud
kuro-- black; dark
yukiguni- snowy country
shirakumo; hakaun- white clouds
aozora- blue sky
an'un- dark clouds
sekimen- to blush
makkuro- jet black
kikyo- returning to the capital; bellflower
makka- deep red
chichi- father
nashi- a master; owner
jikkei- a real elder brother
kyodai- brother
deshi- a pupil; disciple; apprentice
montei- a student; dsciple
kokoro- the heart; mind
shujin; aruji- the master; owner
shufu- the mistress of a house
nipponto- Japanese sword (also known as a katana)
monka- a pupil; disciple
token- swords
hoseki- a jewel; precious stone
kire- kill

Concentrate on learning the hiragana and katakana before moving onto stuff like Grammer and Kanji. Its like in english, where would you be without the alphabet?

i would love to learn japanese it is something i am going to study at university

All you guys are lucky who are taking it in high school! Neither of the two high schools I went to offered it! And I got shut out of it last year! Next year I FINALLY get to take it though, so I'm really looking forward to it.

Originally Posted by Sir Chuc

Concentrate on learning the hiragana and katakana before moving onto stuff like Grammer and Kanji. Its like in english, where would you be without the alphabet?

I have to disagree -- I learned Japanese by getting through the basics in romanji before memorizing what Kana character goes with what syllable. I think this makes more sense. Of course, you should do all that before you try and learn Kanji. I still don't know much Kanji.

The Quick and Dirty Guide to Japanese

This is the best, especially because it provides simply, easy explanation and usage of conjugation, as well as lots of different words.

Sentence structure is usually: Subject-Object-Verb
It can sometimes also be: Object-Subject-Verb

Wa = Subject marker/tag
Ga = Object marker/tag
Wo (usually pronounced "o") = Direct Object marker/tag

When writing "wa" as a Subject marker/tag, always use は ("ha")

Hope this helps!

I know English (obviously), a little Spanish, and a little Hindi (considering I was born and grew up 13 years of my life in India).

There's more to learning a language than vocab, guys. Listing huge vocab lists does not help anyone learn a language if they cannot speak/write correctly and know the proper grammar. I can say Nihao Ma, but that doesn't mean I speak Chinese.

Wa = Subject marker/tag
Ga = Object marker/tag
Wo (usually pronounced "o") = Direct Object marker/tag

These are all particles, there a dozens more of them, by the way. These are the very basic ones.

I have to disagree -- I learned Japanese by getting through the basics in romanji before memorizing what Kana character goes with what syllable. I think this makes more sense. Of course, you should do all that before you try and learn Kanji. I still don't know much Kanji.

Well I agree with Sir Chuc, I have been learning for some time and I started with the Hiragana/Katakana alphabets. Learning in romaji is pretty useless IMO, as romaji is close to never actually used (Apart from Names etc).

So You Want To Learn Japanese.

You've eaten at a few Japanese restaurants, seen some anime, hosted an exchange student, and had a Japanese girlfriend. And now, somewhere in the back of your tiny brain, you think that Japanese would be a good language to learn. Hey, you could translate video games! Or Manga! Or even Anime! Pick up Japanese girls, impress your friends! Maybe you'll even go to Japan and become an anime artist! Yeah! Sounds like a great idea!

So you head down to the library, pick up some books with titles like "How To Teach Yourself Japanes In Just 5 Seconds A Day While Driving Your Car To And From The Post Office" and "Japanese For Complete And Total, Utter Fools Who Should Never Procreate". Hey, you already know a few words from your manga collection/girlfriend/anime. Excited and impressed with your new knowledge, you begin to think: "Hey. Maybe, just maybe, i could do this for a living! Or even major in Japanese! Great Idea, Right?

WRONG.

I don't care how many anime tapes you've watched, how many Japanese girlfriends you've had, or books you've read, You don't know Japanese. Not only that, majoring in the godforsaken language is NOT fun or even remotely sensible. Iraqi war prisoners are often forced to major in Japanese. The term "Holocaust" comes from the Latin roots "Holi" and "Causm", meaning "to major in Japanese". You get the idea.

And so, sick of seeing so many lambs run eagerly to the slaughter, I have created This Guide to REAL TIPS for Studying Japanese. Or, as is actually the case, NOT studying it.

This should be an obvious.

Despite what many language books, friends, or online tutorials may have told you, Japanese is NOT simple, easy, or even sensical (Japanese vocabulary is determined by throwing tiny pieces of sushi at a dart board with several random syllables attatched to it). TheJapanese spread these rumours to draw foolish Gaijin into their clutches.

Not only is it not simple, it's probably one of the hardest language you could ever want to learn. With THREE completely different written languages (none of which make sense), multitude of useless, confusing politeness levels, and absolutely insane grammatical structure, Japanese has been crushing the souls of the pathetic Gaijin since it's conception. Let's go over some of these elements mentioned above so you can get a better idea of what I mean.

The Japanese Writing System

The Japanese writing system is broken down into three separate, complete, and insane, parts: Hiragana ("those squiggily letters"), Katakana ("those boxy letters") and Kanji ("roughly 4 million embodiments of your worst nightmares").

Hiragana is used to spell out Japanese words using syllables. It consist of many letters, all of which look completely different and bear absolutely no resemblance to each other whatsoever. Hiragana were devloped by having a bunch of completely blind, deaf, and dumb Japanese people scribble things on pieces of paper while having no idea why they were doing so. The resulting designs were then called "hiaragana". The prince who invented these characters, Yorimushi("stinking monkey-bush-donkey") was promptly bludgeoned to death. But don't worry, because you'll hardly use Hiragana in "real life".

Katakana are used only to spell out foreign words in a thick, crippling japanese accent, so that you'll have no idea what you're saying even though it's in English. However, if you remember one simple rule for Katakana, you'll find reading Japanese much easier: Whenever something is written in Katakana, it's an English word! (note: Katakana is also used for non-english foreign words. And sound effects, and Japanese words). Katakana all look exactly the same, and it's impossible, even for Japanese people, to tell them apart. No need to worry, because you'll hardly ever have to read Katakana in "real life".

Kanji are letters that were stolen from China. Every time the Japanese invaded China (which was very often) they'd just take a few more letters, so now they have an estimated 400 gazillion of them. Kanji each consist of several "strokes", which must be written in a specific order, and convey a specific meaning, like "horse", or "girl". Not only that, but Kanji can combined to form new words. For example, if you combine the Kanji for "small", and "woman", you get the word "carbeurator". Kanji also have different pronounciations depending on where they are in the word, how old you are, and what day it is. When European settlers first came upon Japan, the Japanese scholars suggested that Europse adopt the Japanese written language as a "universal" language understood by all parties. This was the cause of World War 2 several years later. Don't worry, however, since you'll never have to use kanji in "real life", since most Japanese gave up on reading a long, long time ago, and now spend most of their time playing Pokemon.

Politeness Levels

Politness Levels have their root in an ancient Japanese tradition of absolute obedience and conformity, a social caste system, and complete respect for arbitrary heirarchical authority, which many American companies believe will be very helpful when applied as magaerial techniques. They're right, of course, but no one is very happy about it.

Depending on who you are speaking to your politeness level will be very different. Politeness depends on many things, such as age of the speaker, age of the person being spken to, time of day, zodiac sign, blood type, sex, whether they are Grass or Rock Pokemon type, color of pants, and so on. For an example of Politness Levels in action, see the example below.

Japanese Teacher: Good morning, Harry.
Harry: Good Morning.
Japanese Classmates: (gasps of horror and shock)

The bottom line is thatPoliteness Levels are completely beyond your understanding, so don't even try. Just resign yourself to talking like a little girl for the rest of your life and hope to God that no one beats you up.

Grammatical Structure

The Japanese have what could be called an "interesting" grammatical structure, but could also be called "confusing", "random", "bogus" or "evil". To truly understand this, let's examine the differences between Japanese and English grammar.

English Sentence:
Jane went to the school.

Same Sentence In Japanese:
School Jane To Went Monkey Apple Carbeurator.

Japanese grammer is not for the faint of heart or weak of mind. What's more, the Japanese also do not have any words for "me", "them", "him, or "her" that anyone could use without being incredibly insulting (the Japanese word for "you", for example, when written in kanji, translates to"I hope a monkey scratches your face off"). Because of this, the sentence "He just killed her!" and "I just killed her!" sound exactly the same, meaning that most people in Japan have no idea what is going on around them at any given moment. You are supposed to figure these things out from the "context", which is a German word meaning "you're screwed".

When mostAmericans think of Japanese people, they think: polite, respectful, accomadating. (They could also possibly think: Chinese). However, it is important to learn where the truth ends and our Western stereotyping begins.

Of course, it would be irresponsible of me to make any sweeping generalizations about such alarge group of people, but ALL Japanese people have three characteristics: they "speak" English, they dress very nicely, and they're short.

The Japanese school system is controlled by Japan's central government, which, of course, is not biased in any way (recent Japanese history textbook title: "White Demons Attempt To Take Aaway our Holy Motherland, But Great And Powerful Father-Emperor Deflects Them With Winds From God: The Story Of WW2"). Because of this, all Japanese have been taught the same English-language course, which consists of reading The Canterbury Tales, watching several episodes of M*A*S*H, and reading the English dictionary from cover to cover. Armed with this extensive language knowledge, the children of Japan emerge from school ready to take part in international business and affairs, uttering such remarkable and memorable sentences as "You have no chance to survive make your time", and adding to their own products by inscribing english slogans, such as "Just give this a Paul. It may be the Paul of your life" on the side of a slot machine.

Secondly, all Japanese people dress extremely well. This fits in with the larger Japanese attitude of neatness and order. Everything has to be in it's correct place with the Japanese, or a small section in the right lobe of their brain begins to have seizures and they exhibit erratic violent behavior until the messiness is eradicated. The Japanese even FOLD THEIR DIRTY CLOTHES. Sloppiness is not tolerated in Japanese society, and someone with a small wrinkle in their shirt, which they thought they could hide by wearing a hooded sweatshirt over it (possibly emblazoned with a catchy english phrase like "Spread Beaver, Violence Jack-Off!"), will be promptly beaten to death with tiny cellular phones.

Lastly, the Japanese are all short. Really, really short. It's kind of funny. Not ones to leave being tall to the Europeans or Africans, however, the Japanese have singlehandedly brought shoes with incredibly gigantic soles into style, so that they can finally appear to be of actual human height, when in reality their height suggests that they may indeed be closer in relation to the race of dwarves or Hobbits.

Japanese culture is also very "interesting", by which we mean "confusing" and in several cases "dangerous". Their culture is based on the concept of "In Group/Out Group", in which all Japanese people are one big "In" group, and YOU are the "Out" group. Besides this sense of alienation, Japan also produces cartoons, and a wide variety of other consumer products which are crammed into your face 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The Japanese also like cock fighting monsters that live in your pants, taking baths with the elderly, and killing themselves.

Japanese food is what some people would call "exotic", but what most people call "disgusting", or perhaps, in some areas, "whack". Japanese food evolved in ancient days, when the main staple of the diet was rice. People got so sick and tired of eating rice, in fact, that they ate just about anything else they could find, from seaweed to other Japanese people. This has led to the creation of such wonderful foods as "Natto", which I believe is a kind of bean but tastes like battery acid, and "Pocky", which is a stick with different frostings on it, the flavors of which include Sawdust and Strawberry.

Despite this variety of foods, however, the Japanese have succeeded in making every single thing they eat, from tea to plums, taste like smokey beef.

As if learning the language wasn't hard enough, Japanese classes in America tend to attract the kind of student who makes you wish that a large comet would strike the earth. There are a few basic type of students that you'll always find yourself running into. These include The Anime Freak, The Know It All, and the Deer Caught In Headlights.

The Anime Freak is probably the most common, and one of the most annoying. You can usually spot a few warning signs to let you identify them before it's too late: they wear the same exact Evangelion shirt every day, they have more than one anime key chain on their person, they wear glasses, they say phrases in Japanese that hey obviously don't understand (such as "Yes! I will never forgive you!"), they refer to you as "-chan", make obscure Japanese culture references during class, and usually fail class. You have to be extremely careful not to let them smell pity or fear on you, because if they do they will immeadiately latch onto you and suck up both your time and patience, leaving only a lifeless husk. Desperate for human companionship, they will invite you to club meetings, anime showings, conventions, and all other sorts of various things you don't care about.

The Know It All typically has a Japanese girlfriend or boyfriend, and because of this "inside source" on Japanese culture, has suddenly become an academic expert on all things Japanese, without ever having read a single book on japan in their entire lives. You can usually spot Know It All's by keeping an eye out for these warning signs: a cocky smile, answering more than their share of questions, getting most questions wrong, questioning the teacher on various subjects and then arguing about the answers (a typical exchange: Student: What does "ohayoo" mean?,Teacher: It means "good morning", Student: That's not what my girlfriend said...), being wrong, talking alot about Japanese food and being wrong, giving long, unnecessarily detailed answers which are wrong, and failing class.

The Deer Caught In headlights are those students who took Japanese because either a.) they thought it sounded like fun, b.) they thought it would be easy, or c.) they just need a couple more credits to graduate. These students wear a mask of terror and panic form the moment they walk into class till the moment they leave, because all they can hear inside their head is the high pitched scream their future is making as it is flushed down the toilet. They are usually failing.

Although many of Japanese-language students are smart, funny, hard working people, none of them will be in your class.

If you can get past the difficulty, society, and classmates, you will probably find Japanese to be a fun, rewarding language to learn. We wouldn't know, however, since no one has ever gotten that far. But hey, I'm sure You're different.

Author's Note:This whole essay, although sprinkled with truisms here and there, is a joke and should be taken like one. I'm actually a Japanese major myself, and even if I've given it a bit of a hard time, I love the Japanese language, and I think everyone should give it a try.

You should just be ready for a whole lot of pain.

HAPPY LANGUAGE LEARNING!


Here are some of my links that I use:
http://www.thejapanesepage.com/howtowow/index.php
http://members.aol.com/writejapan/
http://www.jfet.org.uk/FS1.html
http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~jwb/japanese.html
http://genki.yousei-ziploc.com/

..oh, and I agree with Eijiro - definately learn kana first.