Learn to speak and write Japanese fluently

I picked up a softwear programe CD Disk thing lol, and a book, I’ll install it and see what I can learn.

I don’t thrive well in language classes and I want to learn how to speak Japanese and read Manga in their original Japanese. So in order to prepare my brain for Japan I am trying to learn Japanese online to get the basics and then further my learning via immersion at a school in Okazaki.

I don’t live with my mom anymore so I don’t speak Japanese on a daily basis but I’ve been writing actual letters to a relative and I’m much more involved with using Japanese on the computer. I have found online dictionaries which has made me super lazy from picking up an actual dictionary. Very briefly I even had a temp job at a Japanese company so I’ve discovered the joy of Japanese on a PC rather than a Mac, which makes me a bit sad. (I know of no Mac way to look up kanji by writing it with your mouse.) I’m listening to music in Japanese much more often and since my last entry have been active in the Nikkei community though I’m stepping down my involvement this year. (being Nikkei isn’t hand in hand with knowing Japanese) I even found among my stuff a photocopy of the poster in my mom’s restroom of the required kanji so maybe I should mimic her and contemplate kanji even in there. Though that poster is better for native speakers as a reminder rather than a learning tool. That is helpful though since most Japanese abroad forget kanji from lack of seeing it on a daily basis and god knows that’s me too. (I have sumo wrestler names in a restroom as decoration but that’s not helpful at all.)

i dont know what to write here

When I was little, I used to be big on this because I used to love pokemon XP. But now, I mainly want to do it for my girlfriend, whom I love, and is japanese. Maybe there’s a chance we can learn it together. Heh, who knows…

Well I now know how to write hiragana! Very prod of myself. I’ve learned alot with my Japanese teacher so far ^-

Today I completed lesson #20 from the beginner series. My flash cards now have 84 entries that I can use for drilling (especially for learning kana; I definitely need the practice!). There are a total of 156 beginner lessons available on this podcast as of today… so I still have some catching up to do. Also, I find that it really helps to listen to a lesson every day. Skipping days makes it that much harder to pick up where I left off!

I live in New York and I’m into anime which is what got me interested in Japan. I want to learn how to speak it and write it. But I want to know how long does it really take to learn japanese?

This is a great resource—I’ve started listening to their daily podcasts for beginners, which is a good review for my rusty Japanese basics. Highly recommended.

i’m used to reading in english, fast… slowing down for japanese is hard for me, but my kanji knowledge doesn’t allow me to skim. the best part about trying to read more is that japanese books are printed in a tiny format, so you can carry them with you easily. i read a few pages every day on the train. when the story’s good, it makes me wish my commute were longer than 15 minutes.