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Don't know where to start? Then this is for you! This post will be focused on Japanese but most of it applies to every language.
*All the resources mentioned are indented so you can easily see the difference between my explanation and a resource.
Episode 1: The struggles of sound-alikes
This really is not talked about enough but you may have noticed that some languages share quite a few similarities. That's why it's important for you to be able to recognize your target language- Even if you have no clue what is being said.
Can you recognize Japanese when Chinese and Korean is also being spoken?
Here is a video, starting at 0:40. There will be three ladies all reading the same text, one in Japanse, one in Mandarin and one in Korean: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AsWY_97jteY
This is also a great video where they compare words of each language. They talk about introductions, hobbies etc. In the video itself they speak Korean, but when they get a task they start comparing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYi2pu6gNY0&t
Episode 2: The uselessness of alphabets
Okay, before you judge- Yes, learning the writing system is important but knowing that the Japanese alphabet is ordened like あいうえお、かきくけこ、・・・ and does not implement 'abcdefg...' should be the least of your worries.
For some reason, people often give this tip like 'Learn the alphabet'. No, learn the writing system, not the order of the alphabet. It is useless in the long run and at a certain point it will come naturally.
Still if you are interested, here are two reccomendations (I do recommend them because one has such a calming voice, while the second is high on energy drinks):
Video 1 (Calming)
Video 2 (Energy)
Episode 3: "I can write!"
As I have mentioned in episode 2, learn the writing system early on. For Japanese it is important that you start learning hiragana as soon as possible, and preferably also katakana. Kanji, on the other hand, should be gradually learned.
*Every Japanese word (also kanji) can be written in hiragana, while katakana is only for loan words. These are words that are implemented from other languages. For example computer is written as コンピューター (ko n pyuu taa), which is literally just the english word but with a Japanese pronounciation. And laptop is パソコン (pa so ko n) which is an abbrevation of the english word Personal Computer.
For this episode literally any writing app or website will suffice, even duolingo does a good job at this.
Here is the website Marugoto which also has an exercise. I also have Real Kana which is a website, but also has an app.
The app I used is called Kana-Hiragana and Katakana (made by Romain Pellen) , there is also a playstore version, from the pictures it looks good but I haven't tried it.
Episode 4: Bob the builder
After you have mastered hiragana and katakana you can start going for vocabulary. Personally I don't recommend handling vocabulary like a nuclear weapon that is going to destroy all insecurities you have about learning a language. Because honestly, vocabulary will definitly get you to understand words, but in Japanese understanding the words and understanding the meaning of the sentence are two VERY different objectives.
A rant
I literally crashed out when I noticed this. ദ്ദി ༎ຶ‿༎ຶ )
Like why are there so many particles? Why do they have so many different meanings? Who are we even talking about? He, she, myself- help??? Why is there no subject in half of these sentences? Oh my god, I think I accidently missed a は while reading this text... Wait is it "the house that is surrounded by the garden" or "the garden that is surrounded by houses"? So um...is this sentence plural or singular /cry/? BRO who is gifting stuff to who??? Why can't Japanese just pick one verb for 'to give' and why does it matter to who the gift is being given to? send help
Back to the explanation
Build a solid grammatical base while- or even before studying vocabulary. Japanese is very different from English so literally anything that is logical for you in your native language will sound weird in Japanese
A few of these basic rules include:
Japanese uses counter words;
Any extra info about a word will come before that word. For example 'The house surrounded by the garden', here we give extra information about the house so in Japanese this will become 'surrounded by the garden the house' 庭に囲まれた家;
Japanese sentence structure is Subject-Object-Verb while English goes by Subject-Verb-Object. In English we say 'He goes to his house', in Japanese we say 'He his house goes' 彼は家に帰る。;
Japanese uses particles to show which function that word has in the sentence. In the beginning you will learn は which is for the main subject, を to indicate the object and に to indicate a place. Later you will find out that these particles unfortunately have more than one meaning.
To build a solid base:
Learn how to form a sentence with a noun and how to form a yes/no question
Learn a few basic particles (は、が、を、と、も、の、に、で)
Learn the difference between weak and strong verbs, and irregular ones. Learn the present, past and negative conjugation of verbs
Learn some time indicators: today, tommorrow, yesterday
Learn how to ask questions with question words
Learn the basic conjugation of i and na adjectives
Learn how to form a sentence with adjectives
Learn words that indicate where something is placed: here, there, over there.
Learn how to say the date correctly
Learn how to use the て-form and the various functions it has
Learn how to give reason（から、それで、だから）, learn how to give contrast （でも、が）, a sequence （そして、それから、て）-> Make sure you know which are used at the beginning of a sentence and which are used in the middle.
*Comment if I forgot something
This is a link to one of my posts: https://www.tumblr.com/galaxyjapanese/807442706588712960/jlpt-kanji-and-vocabulary?source=share
I linked an anki deck in this post. This deck has vocabulary, grammar and kanji subdivided in JLPT levels
Tofugo is also a very practical website.
Then there is also Tae Kim's guide to Learning Japanese
1. This is a link to his basic grammar guide
2. This is a link to his complete guide
The thing with learning Japanese is that there are a lot of resources so honestly just look up 'Learning Japanese' on google and see which site appeals best to you.
As always questions and/or corrections are welcome
These dividers are so cute credits to @uzmacchiato
your blog is so refreshing! i live in central ontario & am of scottish/english & french-canadian ancestry, with acadian roots on my father's side as well as a bit of kanien'kehá:ka. i love seeing a family story like mine!
unfortunately, my grandfather didn't teach his children french, & therefore i wasn't taught anything but what the ontario govt. mandates. i'm unsure if you've spoken about this before because you grew up speaking french, but do you know of any decent sources for learning québécois french? my grandfather is fluent and someday i'd at least like to have one conversation with him in his first language. :-(
merci beaucoup for all you do for people like us, & highlighting the struggles of the indigenous people here in canada as well!
Hello!! Salut!
For starters in your immersion to Quebec French, try watching shows and movies on Tout.TV’s platform :) it’s all Quebec content, much of it with turns of phrases, some with French from France sometimes.
To learn it, you can try https://mauril.ca/en/. You can watch CBC and Radio Canada programming and learn that way with local Quebec programs.
Ready to take your French and English language skills to the next level? Add the free Mauril app to your language learning toolbox and test
@wanderingfrench on youtube has whole segments on Quebec slang, turns of phrases and expressions.
Otherwise, your biggest key is exposure!
The whole Ricardo Trogi film series (1981, 1987, 1991, 1995) are excellent for hearing Côte-Nord Quebec French, from the main character’s mother. And they’re hilarious films! Bon Cop Bad Cop is another good one, a good poke at Ontario vs Quebec linguistic differences. Other movies and shows like La Grande Séduction, Les Pays d’en Haut, Infoman, all have their variations of Quebecois french. Quebecois French accents vary subtly by region: Montreal vs Saguenay vs Côte-Nord, everything is so regional.
Ex: a book I want to get is ‘la langue de Charlevoix et du Saguenay Lac Saint Jean: un français qui a du caractère” by Claude Verreault and Claude Simard. It’s a ethnographic study of Saguenay dialects. I’ve noticed there’s also lots of dictionaries for Acadian French. Believe me, I have to slow down to understand it myself.
For a quick Quebec French dictionary, try Usito.usherbrooke.ca. Whenever you see a word you’re not familar with while watching Radio Canada with subtitles in French, look it up there. They accept slang!
Of course, talking with your family and even other Franco-Ontarians can get you closer to getting comfy with French conversations. Even just a coffee conversation helps.
If you’re in central Ontario, are you close to Sudbury? They also have the Franco Ontarian Folklore Centre.
When learning a new language, it's important to make mistakes.
I don't know about you, but the last thing I want to do is mess up in front of a native speaker of the language I am studying...
But, when I teach others English (my native language), I don't mind if they make mistakes.
So why am I so hard on myself? Why do I demand perfection of myself but accept less than perfection from others?
The answer to that may reveal some character flaws that I'm not willing to share yet, so we'll skip that and move on to: How can you be more forgiving to yourself when learning a language?
The first step is to try throwing away your shame and embracing the fact that you will make mistakes when practicing a new language. If someone who was learning your language spoke to you in a sentence with glaring mistakes, would you berate them in your mind? Or would you put the mistakes aside, appreciate their effort, and encourage them? (If the first, I'm not sure why you're learning a language yourself haha).
When I ran Japanese/English discussion groups with American and Japanese students, I learnt the phrase 恥を捨てる (haji o suteru) which means "to throw away your shame" (haji also means embarrassment but I like the feel of the word shame instead). I picked this phrase up, and started to use it during language exchange, especially with those who were just starting out. People who hadn't been learning either Japanese or English were overwhelmed with trying to pronounce a language very different than their own language, with different sounds and letters/characters and different grammar structures, and some of them were very shy and hesitant to make mistakes.
So I would just say, haji o sutete ne ("just throw away your shame, ok?"). And this usually helped them to relax because it's kind of funny and can be a good conversation starter. I also began repeating it to myself when I was practicing Japanese, essentially "faking it 'til I made it" because I am still scared of making dumb mistakes (even after more than 10 years).
So, if you are worried about making mistakes, it's okay, we all make mistakes. Even native speakers make mistakes. Most people don't care if you make mistakes (and if they do, why do you want to hang out with them?).
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Hat, how are you learning Russian how do you practice the languages you know. Because I want to learn Spanish but I don't live near people or have friends who speak other languages
edit: this post is so long I'm so sorry I got excited, but I hope it helps!
hello nonny, I'm going to assume that you're an american like me who didn't have access to getting another language until way later.
I understand this struggle so much, for the 7 years I spent in Spanish classes I didn't have anyway to practice outside of class. So I had vocab and an understanding of grammar and conjugation, but no practice. Now I get to use it every single day with native speakers and I have fucking spiked in fluency.
First, learn the vowels and like very basic pronunciation rules.
Vowels in Spanish, for example, NEVER change how they sound. A is ALWAYS pronounced "ah" like in mama. U is always "oo" like in moon.
So, with Russian, I'm a bit old fashioned or maybe insane and I have literally labeled everything in my apartment with Russian words. Both with Cyrillic and Romanticised spellings so I can practice pronunciation and recognizing the properly written word. I probably would have done this with Spanish if I was learning it now. I have my classroom labeled with English words for my students. (Edit: I'm also using other resources to help, like a highly praised YouTube instructor, but for this post I'm apparently focusing on Spanish or Romantic languages oop)
And—probably more importantly—BASIC VERBS (actions). Search the 100 most common verbs and then in your goal language, narrate your life with them. Say them out loud or in your head but just do it. So, every time you sit down, say "I sit down" (ie. "me siento" or just say say the infinitive "sentarse" "to sit down" until you want to learn different forms) in your goal language.
Once you get some basic vocab, even if you never speak it, use YouTube videos to reinforce and start working on grammar. And also just look up like conjugation charts and examples. (ie. "to run" in Spanish has like 47 (I'm exaggerating) different forms.)
I don't have any YouTube Lessons/Teachers to recommend for Spanish, because I learned through academic classes however
For Spanish, in school and university, Senor Wooly [youtube link] made me learn so many good basic phrases. The songs repeat a lot of vocab and phrases, for example: "Puedo ir al baño" is a song about a kid who needs to go to the bathroom. You will never forget how to ask if you can go to the bathroom.
Listen to music in your goal language just to get used to the sound. If you catch words you recognize, yay!
Duolingo and free language apps are okay for vocabulary practice, but definitely do not rely on them or let them be your crutch. I use duo for some like basic reinforcement and ego boosting, but not much...
Also, try to keep a journal of words or write everyday in your goal language. Literally diary in your goal language everyday, this is the most consistent practice you can get, even if it's not perfect. DON'T USE TRANSLATE/GOOGLE TRANSLATE FOR PHRASES. If you need a word and don't know it, use a physical translation dictionary if you can get your hands on one, if not I like Spanishdict.com for Spanish (though it's gotten worse because ads). This reinforces the word in your brain. Spanishdict also helps with conjugations.
After some of those, change as many things as you can into your goal language.
If you can, put your personal device/computer in Spanish. Play your favorite video game in Spanish (with Spanish or English subtitles). Watch Spanish TV (documentaries, dramas, soap operas—skip the news for now, news anchors are trained to go stupid fast obviously.)
In classes, we watched Extr@ (Extra) [youtube link to the whole season!!] This was SPECIFICALLY designed for language learners. It's kinda like Friends, but for learning. They speak very slowly and clearly.
Also PLEASE!! Learn about the culture of the places that speak your goal language. For example, there are 20 Spanish speaking countries (22 unique places with Puerto Rico and Equatorial Guinea) all with unique traditions, cultures, dialects, and expressions. Once you advance a bit past vocab and into conversations, you'll sorta lean towards one, like I learned a lot of Mexican Spanish because I live in Texas and had teachers from Mexico, but I learned Spain Spanish from my teacher from Spain, and now, since I work with a lot of students from the Dominican Republic, I'm learning a lot of that style and, apparently, I am picking up their accent.
Not only that but Spanish cultures around the globe are beautiful and lovely, being from Texas I learned a lot about Mexico in my classes, but we also studied Spain, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, Colombia, and more.
Lastly, try to meet people or engage with people who speak the language. Hell, try to get some of your friends/family to learn with you so you can practice speaking to each other. Language is made for communicating, it's social. The best way to learn, is by doing, making mistakes, getting laughed at for still not being able to pronounce "párrafo", and doing it some more.
This is just how I know how to learn, but start wherever and do whatever you want. Search online too, there are lots of good options.
Sorry this got long but I love languages so so much and I ashcnfjcniehf hope this helps nonny!!!
