StayDead/Chris, have you found it necessary to learn Japanese script first, as an aid to learning the spoken language? You could learn to speak Japanese at near native fluency without understanding a lick of the written language, but have/were your lessons in Japanese script? Obviously, written Japanese is a lot more complicated than written Russian, I'm just slightly worried about learning another alphabet...
Well, all my Grammar I learnt on YesJapan which is all in script minus the English telling you what it is to help explain it. I doubt I would of gone as far without learning the written language first as currently, until I get to Japan I'll mostly be reading the language, which is what I'm trying to do as much of throughout the day.
Parksey wrote:To be honest, Igor, I was in the same boat - Japanese characters just so look alien to us, that it makes a simple sentence look much more daunting than it actually is.
When I first started, well when I started Hiragana I really couldn't work out how it could make sentances, then when you realise all it is, is the different kana are just phoenetics it makes it alot easier to understand, I have no idea how it works with Russian though.
However, a week ago, I knew nothing about any kana, and now I can read pretty much most hiragana sentences. I'm still a bit rusty on katakana, but I'm getting there.
Good work! Now you've just got to work out what the sentances mean, that's where it gets hard.
I'd probably still be reading romaji if it wasn't for Chris and StayDead advising me otherwise. In fact, I'm now reluctant to go back to my romanised Japanese for Busy People (should I?) as I fear it may slow me down. I'm reluctant to spend a tenner on the kana version of the book as well, mind, seeing as I already own it, technically.
I have no idea really as I haven't used any textbooks, but if I was to go get one now, I'd definately get the kana version, I just find romanji confuses me more than helps now. It's like sometimes seeing what a word is in kana which I already know in Kanji I forget what the word is, Kanji really has helped me remember things somehow.
I'd try and immerse yourself in it as much as possible. Even if your progress is slow, once the mist around the script clears you should speak back up, and you've not spent anytime using romanised words that, really, has no place in texts of that language.
Absolutely this, the best way to get better at a language is to try and have it thrown at you every five seconds of the day, that's why it's so much easier to become fluent in a language if you live in that country. It's why learning English for all of us was so easy, as every second after we were born and maybe even before it's all we ever heard.
Ways of combating the fact you're not in the country really helps if you're obsessed with the pop culture/culture like I am. Half of my day when I'm doing other things is usually spent listening to Japanese music, or I'll be trying to read a Japanese website or now writing my blog, or of course watching anime. I suppose that's one of the godsends of learning Japanese, you can do that, where as with Russian it might be harder.