learning japanese

mystix

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I know this is a long shot, but anyone knows if there's any schools or person here in Singapore teaching japanese using the Kitani Method?
Saw their intro video and was blown away by how easy it was to understand the whole skeletal framework of grammer just from 1 lesson.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUFExxTeZhU

I emailed them they say they are only in japan but offers skype lessons.
I would love to take that but the prices are quite steep.
 

pricklepantz

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Hi... does anyone know what's the difference between taking Beginner vs JLPT preparation in Ikoma?

My goal is to pass JLPT and I've never done a formal Japanese class before.
 

cutthroat

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Step 1: Master Hiragana first
Step 2: Master Katakana first
Step 3: Attend classes.

Genki is mainly for non-Asian students and not a good book for self-study. You can try Japanese for Busy People or Minna no Nihongo.

But the best if you can is to attend classes.

Learning a language is like a journey, some people take weeks, some people takes years, some people take a lifetime. Important thing is to enjoy the journey. Cheers and good luck.

Wish i saw this before i started my class. First lesson and i'm alrdy struggling with hiragana. Conversation wise was pretty okay but because all the languages i know use english letters, it was completely foreign to me as compared to the rest of my class that were chinese students and were able to grasp and memorize hiragana a little.
 

zhirong

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Hi... does anyone know what's the difference between taking Beginner vs JLPT preparation in Ikoma?

My goal is to pass JLPT and I've never done a formal Japanese class before.

JLPT prep course is like what it says it prepares you for the JLPT. Basically you will go through the grammar that is likely to be tested on JLPT, you will have vocab list to memorise, there will be short test and listening and reading practices. If you are starting from abosolute zero, then I will advise to at least have some fundamental Japanese at the JLPT level you want to take before joining thenprep class. It is very lecture heavy but very effective at preparing for the paper.
 

Star Platinum

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Trying to learn Japanese on my own. Had the basics like hiragana and katakana mastered.

Got myself Genki textbooks from a friend but Minna no Nihongo is considered better? I checked Kinokuniya but Minna doesn't have the full version translated to English unlike the Japanese version...

Any buttie knows where to get the full English version?
 

castafarian

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VEF888

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Thinking of signing up for beginners course at JSC. Any recommendation for good teachers at JCS?



Heard some of the teachers doesn't communication in English at all, in that case will be tough for the students.



Thanks.
 

cutthroat

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Anyone here took classes at Tomo language school before? Any reviews? Thinking of jumping from Bunka to Tomo as Tomo claims to put more emphasis on conversational Japanese.

Also, i've tried sourcing the net for material which is purely in Hiragana for reading practice as i feel my reading is a little weak. I'd like to practice and get a good grip on it before i move to Katakana however there seems to be very limited material in Hiragana, a few paragraphs on kids stories and thats it. Any useful links or story books i can perhaps buy from Kinokuniya?
 
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FrostWurm

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Thinking of signing up for beginners course at JSC. Any recommendation for good teachers at JCS?

Heard some of the teachers doesn't communication in English at all, in that case will be tough for the students.

Most teachers, whether JCS/Bunka/Ikoma will start the initial phase using English as the medium of instruction.

As to how long they continue using English, it varies by school.

Also, some teachers don't really have good English so ya...
 

PingJun

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Anyone here took classes at Tomo language school before? Any reviews? Thinking of jumping from Bunka to Tomo as Tomo claims to put more emphasis on conversational Japanese.

Also, i've tried sourcing the net for material which is purely in Hiragana for reading practice as i feel my reading is a little weak. I'd like to practice and get a good grip on it before i move to Katakana however there seems to be very limited material in Hiragana, a few paragraphs on kids stories and thats it. Any useful links or story books i can perhaps buy from Kinokuniya?

Tomo language school was set up by my ex-Japanese teacher. When I learned Japanese from him in Ikoma, he was quite good.

I didn't study at this school, but from the reviews and the comments in FB, it seems like it's not bad.

I believe that the students can eat some snacks, drink tea or coffee while attending the lessons.

BTW, they are not using "Minna no Nihongo" but another textbook.

P.S. I'm now learning Japanese through Chinese language. That's why I didn't study Japanese in Japanese language school.


For me, I would find a bit difficult to just read Japanese in Hiragana. It would be good if it can be a mixture of Hiragana + Kanji. Why?

Because, in Japanese, there can be words in same Hiragana characters, but different meaning. You won't be able to tell from Hiragana, but can tell from Kanji.

For example. はし. It can mean 橋 or 箸. Bridge or chopsticks.
 
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cutthroat

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Tomo language school was set up by my ex-Japanese teacher. When I learned Japanese from him in Ikoma, he was quite good.

I didn't study at this school, but from the reviews and the comments in FB, it seems like it's not bad.

I believe that the students can eat some snacks, drink tea or coffee while attending the lessons.

BTW, they are not using "Minna no Nihongo" but another textbook.

P.S. I'm now learning Japanese through Chinese language. That's why I didn't study Japanese in Japanese language school.


For me, I would find a bit difficult to just read Japanese in Hiragana. It would be good if it can be a mixture of Hiragana + Kanji. Why?

Because, in Japanese, there can be words in same Hiragana characters, but different meaning. You won't be able to tell from Hiragana, but can tell from Kanji.

For example. はし. It can mean 橋 or 箸. Bridge or chopsticks.
If you don’t mind me asking, which sensei is this?
 
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