Anybody learning Japanese?

[Ritsumei]

We fall more into the category of bilingual wannabes, than folks that are actually bilingual. But we're working on changing that. I'm trying to incorporate Japanese into our day wherever I can figure out how to do it. It's challenging because, although I'm ahead of the kids in learning the language, I'm not that good at it yet myself. And I'm pretty much illiterate. Which makes finding resources hard.

 

So, I'm looking for tips, Pinterest boards to follow, blogs... that sort of thing.

 

Thank you!

[Jean in Newcastle]

I grew up bilingual in Japanese and English. Our library is very good in that it has a good Japanese language section (ie. books and media in Japanese). Have you checked your library resources?

[T Baer]

While my mom didn't teach us, I was told when I did take classes (years ago) that my pronunciation was quite good. I was able to teach my son up to a point. He, we are enrolled at the local community college. He will get dual credit for High School and College. Our need to speak it regularly will, I hope, be because of this class. It would be beneficial if I was around native speakers on a regular basis and speaking to them in Japanese.

[T Baer]

I forgot to add that we used Irasshai DVD http://www.gpb.org/irasshai# and their materials from Book Surge. Also using the stickers from Japanese in 10 minutes a day, helped with vocabulary. I have tried Rosetta Stone, but kept "zoning out", something about interacting with the video screen does that to me. Classroom interaction was better for me and of course my summer immersion was the best way for me to learn.

[Ritsumei]

Hmm. I don't use my library much, but it looks like they probably don't have much: there's a section for the Spanish language collection, but no other languages. However, I've discovered that the local Half-Price Books frequently has one or two picture books, so I've been making a habit of checking there. I just scored a really fun one about marathon-racing vegetables. We do get Mango through the library, which is working out well for that.

 

Thanks for the ideas, though!
 

[NotSoObvious]

My husband speaks Japanese and he has been teaching the girls at night before he tucks them in. He just does 10 minute lessons with them and then encourages them to use the phrases they know. At night they go over the...sounds? He has a whole chant he does with them. They practice colors and numbers. They learn songs. Throughout the day they use their phrases to tell me they love me, thank me for dinner, say good night, etc. We eat Japanese food way too much, so he does lessons there, too, and the girls tell the waitress thank you for the food. 

That's what we've been doing this year. We tried a few formal programs online, but their interest wasn't there. They like learning from Daddy, so we'll stick with that for now. They are mastering basics and becoming familiar with the language. He'll continue to add more as they show mastery. 

They are only 10, so maybe they'll be ready for a formal program in a few years.

 

Not what you asked for, but it's what works for us! ;) Maybe just try incorporating it into your routines, learning through songs, etc. first?

[NotSoObvious]

Another idea... do you have a university near you? Can you hook up with a Japanese family from the international student group? You work with their English, they work with your (all of your) Japanese? 

We had a program like this where we used to live, though we didn't take advantage of it!

[YaelAldrich]

This year while we are here in Tokyo (we move here every four years or so) the kids are old enough to actually hang out and take martial arts classes and get more Japanese under their belts (ha ha - that's funny, belts!)  We have been doing Rosetta Stone with one kid (we have a free account through my husband's job) and Mango with another, but we didn't use them consistently (they are already learning Hebrew and Latin).  I will probably keep trucking in RS for my oldest and Mango for the next guy but am thinking about getting Irasshai as well.  My husband is fluent so he can work with them (just like in Latin -- I do Hebrew although I am not fluent)

[Julie Smith]

My husband has dabbled in the langauge on and off since college. Usually off. But just today he pulled out a dust covered learning Japanesse CD language case and talked about listening to it again.

 

I'm more concerned with the kids learning French so that is the language I make sure we tackle every school day.

[elegantlion]

My son and I are learning Japanese together. We use Irasshai from GPB as our main text and program. Beginning Japanese from Tuttle is good, but moves faster, we're supplementing with it on a slower basis. 

 

I also contacted our nearest Japanese consulate and received some great tourism type stuff. 

 

"Jiro Dreams of Sushi" is a great documentary. 

[Geo]

My son and I are learning Japanese together. We use Irasshai from GPB as our main text and program. Beginning Japanese from Tuttle is good, but moves faster, we're supplementing with it on a slower basis. 

 

I also contacted our nearest Japanese consulate and received some great tourism type stuff. 

 

"Jiro Dreams of Sushi" is a great documentary. 

Right behind you elegant! DD will be starting Irasshai this year. Did you purchase the texts? Why are you supplementing? Are you rounding things out to stretch it to a four year course? I'm asking because I have thought about doing that.

[elegantlion]

Right behind you elegant! DD will be starting Irasshai this year. Did you purchase the texts? Why are you supplementing? Are you rounding things out to stretch it to a four year course? I'm asking because I have thought about doing that.

 

We started dabbling with Irasshai the year before we really dug into it. I reviewed both Irasshai and Beginning Japanese on my blog here. 

 

In our case ds really wants to live in Japan and I wanted to approach the learning from more than one teaching style. Irasshai is a good program though. I do think it lacks in learning some Kanji and audio support. The videos are great, Tim sensei is a wonderful teacher, however, I wanted to add more realistic conversational support. Tim sensei does a lot of classroom style speed, which is perfect for where we are. I just wanted ds to be exposed to more natural conversational speeds. 

 

Yes, we have the texts and workbooks from Amazon. This year, ds will be doing some Irasshai and some Beginning Japanese. After this year, I'm not sure which direction we'll take, but he wants to do 4 years of Japanese. We may finish the Irasshai program, we may switch to Intermediate Japanese (Tuttle) - we may integrate them both. I'm hoping we can both take the JPLT at some point. 

 

We're adding a lot of cultural studies and may do a full credit on Japanese history and philosophy his senior year. 

[Geo]

We started dabbling with Irasshai the year before we really dug into it. I reviewed both Irasshai and Beginning Japanese on my blog here. 

 

In our case ds really wants to live in Japan and I wanted to approach the learning from more than one teaching style. Irasshai is a good program though. I do think it lacks in learning some Kanji and audio support. The videos are great, Tim sensei is a wonderful teacher, however, I wanted to add more realistic conversational support. Tim sensei does a lot of classroom style speed, which is perfect for where we are. I just wanted ds to be exposed to more natural conversational speeds. 

 

Yes, we have the texts and workbooks from Amazon. This year, ds will be doing some Irasshai and some Beginning Japanese. After this year, I'm not sure which direction we'll take, but he wants to do 4 years of Japanese. We may finish the Irasshai program, we may switch to Intermediate Japanese (Tuttle) - we may integrate them both. I'm hoping we can both take the JPLT at some point. 

 

We're adding a lot of cultural studies and may do a full credit on Japanese history and philosophy his senior year.  

Have you found that Beginning Japanese covers the Kanji adequately, then? When would you recommend bringing in BJ? Year 2?

Japanese history and culture sounds like a great idea..dd would love to do that herself.