From: zuzu <sean.zuzu@...>
Date: 2004-10-07T23:45:42+09:00
Subject: Re: Bit of the Matz Interview (in Rubyist Magazine)

On Thu, 7 Oct 2004 23:06:59 +0900, Joey Gibson <joey@joeygibson.com> wrote:
> Jamis Buck wrote:
> 
> > As for learning to speak it first... things like speaking and
> > listening are, in my experience, much easier to learn when you have
> > someone else handy to speak or listen to. Learning to speak "in a
> > vacuum", as it were, seems like it would be harder than just learning
> > to read or write.
> >
> > It's kind of a moot question for me, at this point, since I don't
> > really have the time to learn either speaking, or writing, right now. :(
> 
> 
> I have been learning Japanese for a few years now through a combination
> of cds/tapes and books. I bought the Pimsleur Japanese I set on cd
> (which I'd be willing to sell...) and then checked out levels II and III
> from my local library. These are collections of 30 half-hour lessons
> that you can do in the car. And that's what I did. I would do a lesson
> on the way to work in the morning. Then in the afternoon I'd either do
> that one again, if I didn't feel like I got it, or move on to the next
> one. Sure I looked funny to passers-by, but who cares? I learned a lot
> from doing it.
> 
> The "problem" with courses like this is that they teach you things at
> times without a good explanation of /why /something is so. For example,
> they don't explicitly explain the various patterns of verb conjugation.
> You can certainly discern those patterns, but they are not explicit. And
> they only teach the polite verb/adjective endings; this isn't really a
> problem since a visitor to Japan would use the polite level of speech
> anyway, but it can be frustrating when speaking with a Japanese friend
> who might quickly start using the familiar forms with you instead of the
> polite forms. Not a huge thing, just something to be aware of.

this is why i do not care for the pimsleur method.  as peter payne
[http://www.peterpayne.net/] once described on the different learning
styles, my mind works much better with the substitution method.  e.g.
taberu -> tabenai -> tabemasu -> tabemasen -> tabemashita -> tabete...
 (sorry for the romaji; someday all email will use utf-8.)

kodansha publishes many great books on learning japanese.  bonjinsha
has excellent kanji books, now in english translation (e.g. basic
kanji 500).  popular textbooks include the ones from hawaii
university, nakama, and youkoso; of which i'd probably recommend
nakama most of all, but i started on the hawaii-u books.

for learning the glyphs (alphabets), frankly the best method is to
practice writing them all out everyday for at least 3-4 months.  _do
not learn with romaji_, it'll mess-up your brain.  start with
hiragana, then katakana, then kanji.

-z

> If anyone wants to ask me any questions about the Pimsleur tapes, I'd be
> happy to answer them. I have no affiliation with Pimsleur, other than
> being a happy customer.
> 
> Joey
> 
> --
> She drove a Plymouth Satellite
> Faster than the Speed of Light...
> 
> http://www.joeygibson.com/blog
> http://www.joeygibson.com/blog/life/Wisdom.html
> Atlanta Ruby User Group http://www.AtlRUG.org
> 
>