How I started learning Japanese
みんなさん、こんにちは！
Today I am going to talk about my Japanese study experience.
One day, I decided that I wanted to study Japanese, one of the most interesting languages to me, and so I went and bought the “Minna no nihongo” (みんなの日本語) books.
I have to say that I love this series because the books are written in Japanese, so if you want to understand the book you have to learn hiragana and katakana first . Also, for the grammar, there’s this other book called “translation and gramatical notes” and you can find them in different languages (for me it was Spanish). In this book you can find the vocabulary for each lesson, the translation of the sentences and dialogues, and the translation and explanation of the grammar. I really love the way they do it and that’s why I think that the “Minna no nihongo” series is the best series for those of you who are self-studying the language. For the kanji, I didn’t start learning them until I reached lesson 20 of the first book, but this series has a kanji book that gives you around 16 kanji for every two lessons. I didn’t do that because I didn’t know about it and that’s why I bought “Basic kanji book”. Still, I recommend for you to buy the “Minna no nihongo” kanji book because the kanjis are related to the words you learn each lesson. (I will talk about the basic kanji book in another post.)
Those are the books that I use. In the picture there’s the “Minna no nihongo” and “basic kanji book”. (About the “translation and gramatical notes” book, I found it on the internet and I decided not to buy it so I could save up some money. About the kanji book, I have a printed list of the kanjis you can find in the book.)
Soon I will start with the second book in the “Minna no nihongo series”. This time, I’m going to buy the “translation and gramatical notes” and the kanji book as well.
About practicing my speaking skills, I can do that with my Japanese friend! The best part of it is that I can always get help from her, because she speaks Spanish and I can ask her when I’m not sure about something. So guys, having native friends or friends who are fluent in the language is really helpful.
Also, whenever you’re watching anime or reading manga in Japanese, get yourself a notebook and write down expressions or new vocabulary. That’s great if you love learning new words everyday!
Finally, I would like to say that I’m planning on doing a “weekly Japanese vocabulary” and “kanjis of the week” as I get to learn more.
I hope this post is helpful for those who are self-studying or studying Japanese. Feel free to ask me anything or to contact me if you want to share or talk with me in/about Japanese. I will probably write a review on the “Minna no nihongo” book series soon.
