" Where do I even start?!"
The loaded question that fills everyone with instant panic and confusion! Yes, I too was a slave to this overwhelming panic! (Probably still could class myself as overwhelmed, but you have to start somewhere right?)
I made the classic mistake of trying to learn by copying and repeating all these self-help "useful phrases everyone must know to speak Japanese!". There are hundreds of them just on You Tube alone! So...I learned to sound-copy some stuff...great!
Next...try to listen to other speakers...and try to follow what they are saying...
uhm...I can't understand much of what is being said, let alone try to even answer...NO....utter despair!!!
It became very clear that this is not the way for me. I need to understand first what all these sounds are (because let's face it, at this point, it all is just a bunch of sounds grouped together. It has no meaning yet). So if I can't understand what I'm hearing/saying, how can I even begin to respond? There are these little annoying things called "conjugation", the annoying tenses etc. that make up any language. It makes a lot more sense to learn those first before I can leap to reciting a whole masterpiece by some famous Japanese poet.
Everyone is dishing out advise on which material to use and what is the best way forward, that alone is enough to make my head swim!
Basically, I narrowed it down to a few popular choices. The general consensus is
1) The Genki Series
2) Minna no Nihongo
3) Tae Kim's Guide To Japanese
4) Japanese from ZERO
5) Japanese Pod101
6) Memrise
Oh there are so many more! I did extensive research on each of these because I do believe that once you are making a choice, you have to stick to that choice to fully appreciate that material. I am not going to tell anyone which material to use themselves, because we are all different, have different reasons for wanting to learn Japanese and we have different uses in mind for that acquired knowledge.
What I end up choosing
I personally decided to go with Japanese from ZERO, as it literally starts from scratch, but with the aim to get you talking immediately. At a glance each chapter covers;
- a lesson goal,
- a review of the previous lesson, advice from the teachers,
- new words,
- new phrases,
- culture clips (which I find fascinating),
- grammar,
- a Q&A section,
- new hiragana and katakana,
- writing practice,
- everyday words, drills,
- and lastly, a question activity section where you respond to questions
In my research about which book to use, I found that some people were put off by the fact that the Japanese is in romaji. Ok, your first thought; " But I'm supposed to ditch romaji and dive straight into hiragana!". Well, that's assuming you know all your hiragana and katakana before you even opened a book (which is a bit unrealistic!). The kana is introduced progressively as you would learn it line by line, like you were taught your ABC's in school. Gradually the kanas replace the romaji, until it is all kana. If, like me, you already learned your hiragana and katakana, you can simply answer the questions in kana for added practice. You get plenty of kana reading practice on the website in the mini games too, so I really don't understand why some people are so against this course for that reason.
Anyway I will see where this takes me and hopefully I can stay motivated throughout this journey.
Important thing to remember;
Don't get overwhelmed!! Stop! Take a breath, and just focus on one thing at a time.
But most of all, have fun learning!
いきましょう！
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