Learning Japanese Without Taking Classes?

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So I've recently been trying to learn Japanese. I have a couple of books and Rosetta Stone, but I don't have anyone to practice with. There aren't any schools nearby that teach the subject, so I can't take a class. Has anyone else had a similar problem with trying to learn a new language? Is anybody else here learning Japanese? I would like to find someone to practice chatting with.

I'm impressed. Japanese is generally a language people shy away from. I learned it years ago through a combination of classes and living in Japan. There are a number of podcasts for learning Japanese (Japanese101.com is among the good ones), and some include as a premium service the ability to Skype with natives.

There are also language-exchange websites, where you can find people who want to speak English and will in exchange speak their language with you. I don't know the URLs for such sites, but you might find someone that way too.

頑張ってね！ (ganbatte ne!)

I want somebody to practice it with..

I take eurotalk but I too have no one to talk to.

Japanese is quite easy to learn for most Asian I think...

A long time ago I tried to teach myself Japanese, and bought some books to go along with it. It didn't last very long though, as the books I think were more oriented to business travelers so the vocab focused on company stuff instead of normal conversation.

But I've also run into the same problems with picking up Norwegian, with lack of classes nearby and lack of people to practice it with. I'm too busy at the moment to really find a solution to this though.

You could see if there are any online courses. I have learned some Italian and Spanish from the Steps courses on the BBC: http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/steps/ There doesn't seem to be a Japanese Steps course, but you could see if there is anything similar on any other websites.

I'm trying to (re)learn too - I'm half Japanese - and I recently joined a local group on Meetup.com for people wanting to learn Japanese (mix of native Japanese learning English and native English speakers learning Japanese). So you can try that, if there's a group close enough.

I found Japanese to be a very easy language, I've been studying it for 10 years now. My first year was spent studying it on my own, the second was with a private tutor, and then I took it in high school and college. Good luck!

I've just started to teach myself.

My strategy is to follow 'Khatuzomoto's' advice over at http://www.alljapaneseallthetime.com/blog/about .
A lot of it rings true to me, though I'm not sure I'll take it as far as he has at the moment (I'm still mentally preparing).

- I've downloaded a lot of podcasts in Japanese to get used to the sound and I watch a lot of Japanese movies/drama's/anything I can get my hands on, and I rip the audio from it afterward so I can put it on my ipod and listen to it when I get sick of the podcasts/music. It's kind of like listening to a dramatised audio book;)

- I also play Japanese games on my nintendo DS (right now Lux Pain, as it it's simple and involves lots of reading) and I try to write down sentences that I pick up here and there to expand my vocabulary.
A good site for that is www.playasia.com as shipping costs are reasonably cheap.
A good site for other Japanese media is www.yesasia.com and for most products they do free shipping (at $39 and above..I think).

- I'm still waiting for a book that teaches kanji to arrive and once I've started that, the actual Japanese immersion'll start as I learn to understand more and more Japanese ^^
The book is: Remembering the Kanji by Heisig (he teaches you how to remember kanji via mnemonics ).
I also got : "The complete guide to everyday Kanji" (still waiting for it) though it's out of print now.

- I've also found some Japanese pen-pals on www.japan-guide.com and www.mylanguageexchange.com (<- you have to pay for this one).
And today I've signed up at www.sharedtalk.com (which is by rosetta stone) to find some penpals who are serious about stuyding a language.
The basic rule with language exchange partners is: you teach them a language and in return they teach you a language.
Though as long as I can't speak proper Japanese, I'm just helping them with their English.

One thing to remember is that a lot of people won't respond to you when you contact them, most likely because they get flooded by other people's e-mails... So, don't feel bad or take offense if they don't respond back.
It took me at least 30 or so e-mails to get around 5 pen-pals:P The main thing to remember is that, eventually you will have someone respond to you:)

(and of course, be careful with passing out any personal information!)

- Another great place to go to is www.lang-8.com where you keep a diary every day in the language you're practicing and people correct your sentences for you (in return you correct other people's entries).
I would save this site for when you have a grasp on basic Japanese though.


Apart from the above, I've also bought some books.

1. Japanese for Busy People.
This book SUCKS. Especially the romanized version, it's useless.
I would stay away from this one if you're serious about studying Japanese.
And I've heard a lot of other people say the same. Though these days I do use it every now and then when I have nothing better to do.

2. Japanese the Manga way
This takes a 'scene' from a manga and it explains the grammar used in it.
It's a pretty good book imo as it teaches you the polite way to say things but also the (less) informal way to say things.
And you can practice your reading by deciphering the manga:P

3. Oxford Beginner's Japanese Dictionary
This is very useful for beginners as it has lots of example sentences, which is very handy when a word is used differently than it would be in English + it's an excellent way to expand your vocabulary.
The words are in kana first and then in kanji.
Though you might outgrow this dictionary fairly soon, it's a good way to start.


One of the most important things to learning a language though, is that you practice *every day*.
Make it a habit (e.g. learning 15 new words/phrases everyday and reviewing 50) and try to apply it on as much as your activities as you can (e.g. listen to Japanese podcasts/music/etc. while doing an activity that doesn't require sound, watch Japanese spoken movies instead of English ones, scan cnn.co.jp every now and then etc.).[b]

Oh wow another person is using rosetta stone :O I've been using rosetta stone for almost a year and that chatroom is ridiculous ! ! I can literally count the times that I've been in a talking game with someone and that one time where I went in with a dude who was fluent and spent time in Japan and everything. After 2 chatonium sessions with that guy, my head started to hurt X_x

I am learning Japanese by watching anime everyday. I am currently only picking up the speech and some letters if openings and ending songs have Japanese subs but it goes somewhere. I already recognize quite a few words and sentences. I am too lazy to check out online lessons to learn the grammar though for now. I tried to learn hiragana too but I also got too lazy. I remember I was just as lazy when learning Polish alphabet as a kid too. Learning alphabets just isn't my thing. I wish I already knew the basics and could practice reading words and sentences with actual meanings instead of decoding sounds.

I am not learning Japanese but wanted to suggest a language learning App on your phone for practice. I am currently using Duolingo to learn spanish and think there might be an option for Japanese amongst the other languages. I'm not sure what other Apps are available but I am sure there are some.

I wish you luck learning the language.

There is a website for people who want to learn foreign languages called Mango Languages.

It should have a course for those who want to learn Japanese and you can learn at your own pace.

You could practice Japanese with me. ^.^