learning japanese

[avalanste]

And so few days ago I went to ask sensei the same question, バナナマンの日村さんと設楽さんはどっちが好きですか？

And she also said Shitara san...LOL

 

[dimitri_can]

For those who are interested to learn some free Japanese lessons.
Only for fresh beginners.
http://www.meetup.com/SGJapaneseMeetup/events/234461979

 

[imt204]

Just to check which is correct:
あなたの妹の彼氏
or
あなたが妹の彼氏

 

[dimitri_can]

Just to check which is correct:
あなたの妹の彼氏
or
あなたが妹の彼氏

Both are grammatically correct.
What is the English sentence?

 

[imt204]

Both are grammatically correct.
What is the English sentence?

Your sister's boyfriend.
In this instance, Im not really sure to use が or の

 

[avalanste]

Your sister's boyfriend.
In this instance, Im not really sure to use が or の

あなたの妹の彼氏 Your sister's bf.
or
あなたが妹の彼氏 You're the sister's bf.

 

[dimitri_can]

Pls do not ever use the word "Jap" in front of a native Japanese!
It's considered very rude.

https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20130827185816AAPt4Qc

 

[theslacker]

Any recommendations for learning Business Japanese? I've passed N2

Seems like only Bunka has such courses?

 

[dimitri_can]

Any recommendations for learning Business Japanese? I've passed N2

Seems like only Bunka has such courses?

i also offer... u can pm me for more details. =)

 

[dimitri_can]

For those who are interested to do a cheap prep course for N2, i am currently offering one via Meetup for $5/session.

http://www.meetup.com/SGJapaneseMeetup/events/235128901

Cheers
Can

 

[lyzergnature]

Greetings to all,

I am keen to take up part-time Japanese classes, and would like to have your recommendation.

The time slots I am looking at is the weekends.

I have little to no foundation in Japanese. The most I have did is some Hiragana and Katagana practices, a little of present&past-positive&negative noun conjugation and some present&past-positive&negative verb conjugation. The latest revision I am touching on is on the basic ha(wa),ga,wo,ni,de,kara grammar usage.

I am keen to sign up for the year long elementary course at JCC. I am not sure if going for the intermediate course is a good idea. The intermediate course requires students to have at least a N5 in JLPT. If not, the student will be required to pass an entry test.

I am looking for a holistic environment where they will not only trained their students to be competent readers and writers, but also encourage the nurturing of good speakers.

I appreciate any of your valuable recommendation. Thank you!

 

[dimitri_can]

Greetings to all,

I am keen to take up part-time Japanese classes, and would like to have your recommendation.

The time slots I am looking at is the weekends.

I have little to no foundation in Japanese. The most I have did is some Hiragana and Katagana practices, a little of present&past-positive&negative noun conjugation and some present&past-positive&negative verb conjugation. The latest revision I am touching on is on the basic ha(wa),ga,wo,ni,de,kara grammar usage.

I am keen to sign up for the year long elementary course at JCC. I am not sure if going for the intermediate course is a good idea. The intermediate course requires students to have at least a N5 in JLPT. If not, the student will be required to pass an entry test.

I am looking for a holistic environment where they will not only trained their students to be competent readers and writers, but also encourage the nurturing of good speakers.

I appreciate any of your valuable recommendation. Thank you!

Before i start, how committed are u to learn the language? Are u committed to spend like hours to revise and read in advance what is going to be taught?

I do offer free Skype lessons via http://www.meetup.com/SGJapaneseMeetup/events/235037395
if u wish to try out first.

I can give you a breakdown of what i know of all the schools here in Singapore, but ultimately it all boils down to your own effort, how u surround yourself with the language. No such school in Singapore can encourage the nurturing of good speakers. It's own effort.

Ikoma
One of the more popular schools here in SG.
Employs fresh grads from Japan to teach beginner classes, uses direct method (using Japanese to teach Japanese, not much English used in class), if you are lucky, you will get a good teacher who has 1-2 yrs experience. Overall well-rounded education with Minna no Nihongo 1st edition textbook.
Did my N1 and N2 prep classes there. Prep classes are good, but normal classes can be a bit boring as you might be repeating the same grammar for 1 hour (depending on the teacher), but changing the vocabulary (based on my sources). Allows replacement of classes. Class size: 8-18 students per class

Fees from zero to N5: $360 x 4 terms + $40 (textbook) + $20 (registration fee) =$1500

Bunka
Another popular school here in SG
Prides itself for its patented teaching method from Japan.
High teacher turnover rate. Speaking is more focused when you go to Pre-Advanced level.
Hard to jump school once you start lessons with them as their grammar structures do not follow the norm which other schools use. Did my Pre-advanced 3 classes with them after i got my N2, but stopped after 2 lessons as level of students wasn't on-par to a Pre-advanced 3 level. Teacher tends a bit biased towards clever and handsome guys (have some experience back then and was also informed by other fellow students who took her classes). Ever told us, don't use electronic dictionary in class, else why come for class?
While i agree with what she said, i saw that she did not tell one of her "apples" off for using the electronic dictionary. Allows replacement of classes (i think 3 lessons per term if i am not wrong).

Fees from zero to N4: $360 x 6 terms + $340 x 2 terms +$20 (registration fee) = $2860 (assuming no textbook fee)
Divide by 2: $1430 (est. for N5)

Hougang Japanese Language School

One of the oldest Japanese schools out here in SG. Uses the book, Nihongo no Kiso (the grandfather book of Minna no Nihongo 1st edition). Very cheap fees, but school style is a bit like old school kind of tables..
Did my N2-N5 studies here under principal and 2 other teachers. Was introduced to 国語 (こくご/the Japanese that native Japanese learn) by my 1st teacher, but she went back to Japan after a few yrs of teaching. Principal (Kitahara-sensei) is very traditional uncle, u either like his teaching method or you don't. Sai-sensei is a Taiwanese lady who studied in Japan then after that stayed in Singapore. Conducts her lessons in Mandarin. Nakai-sensei is a Japanese, has some weird habits, but both Sai-sensei and Nakai-sensei are very good in teaching).

Fees from zero to N5: $680

JCS (not JCC)
The education institution for taking JLPT.
Haven't studied there before, but have dealings with their counter staff as i need to register JLPT for my student at times. Large class size as fees are cheap. Recently changed their syllabus to using Minna no Nihongo 1st edition. Can't comment much about here.

Fees from zero to N5: $736

Pyaess Japanese School
Another school that also using Minna no Nihongo 1st edition. Prides itself for using 2 teacher system in 1 class. 1 teacher will teach grammar for 1.5hrs, the other teacher will teach conversation for 1.5hrs.
Something i realize from their website: they put each class is 3 hours (link), but when you view the class schedule is only 2hrs 45 mins (link)...

Fees from zero to N5: $220 x 3 terms + $52 for textbook =$712

Tenrikyo Mission Centre
Some buddhist-related mission centre organized Japanese classes.
Not sure about how their course fee work.
http://kaigai2.tenrikyo.or.jp/singapore

You should go down to every school that you are interested in, talk to their teachers, get a friend who is well-versed in Japanese to go down with you.

However, once again i like to say, learning Japanese is like taking a degree, if you wanna take up the language, be serious about it. Good luck in finding the school that you want.

Last but not least, shall share with you my story... hope it drives you.

 

[dimitri_can]

Yesterday i had a small chat with 2 of my students. They were facing some problems at the language school that they were studying. The teacher at the language school encouraged them to use words that they didn’t know. To me, i feel that that is encouraged, but i don’t think they should at the level when they don’t even know the appropriate word to use.

Ok, back to the main topic, they were wavering because they were not sure why they were studying Japanese. Initially it seemed to be for work purposes, as time passes, that reason seems to have disappeared.
I remember when i was taking my JLPT 2 (old N2) the 2nd time, there was a period i was seriously depressed because of too much Japanese. Cos every day i was touching Japanese, studying Japanese, grammar and Kanji. At that time, i was very fortunate to have a very good senior which i got to know online. He was a JLPT 1 holder. He was teaching me Japanese vocabulary and JLPT 2 grammar. I told him about my problem that i faced. He told me that it’s a symptom that everyone who studies Japanese excessively/no time to study Japanese will have. Basically, when you have this symptom, you will find that whatever you try to study, it will not go into your head. He told me to relax, don’t touch Japanese for about 1 week, let my mind relax and ask myself the above 2 questions. That was when i really started to think about what i want for myself in the future.

I was borne in a not so well to do family. My dad wasn’t working and my mum (accountant) was the only breadwinner of the family. Everything that i wanted, i had to earn/achieve myself. When i was young, like everyone else during my era, we were watching animation like Doraemon, 魔神坛斗士，Slayers, Ultraman Tiga, etc. I became very fascinated with the anime and the songs. I was thinking if i could understand what they meant, that will be very special for me. So the desire to know Japanese slowly grew. I was also kinda having lots of doubts on the translation presented.

I started to watch more Japanese shows when i entered polytechnic. Although i had to rely on subtitles, it was ok for me. At that time, i still remember that my mum will nag at me cos she had to pay the phone bills for the use of the 56kbps modem. During my 2nd year, I was lucky to be able to take Japanese as one of the free modules. I took that and after that i didn’t continue, due to the financial issues at home. The point that really changed my direction in Japanese was when i was in army when i started to earn my own pathetic allowance (at that time, sadly my mum was not around anymore), when my colleague at that time (now a professional translator) kept on telling me how good his classes are. That was when i started to think what i want in life. So in Jan 2006, i started my language journey with Hougang Japanese School. I was very lucky to meet a very good beginner teacher, Seki-sensei who taught me for 1 term (20 lessons). It was she that introduced to me 国語 (the Japanese that Japanese people study in their school), then later on Kitahara-sensei, who was teaching me till i reached my JLPT 3 (old N4). Halfway during my intermediate studies (Jul 2007? ) , i jumped over to also try Kitahara-sensei’s JLPT 2 class (at that time, i knew i had the ability to learn more cos i was doing a lot of self studying for JLPT 3), i took the JLPT 2 (old N2) instead of JLPT 3 (old N4). Yup, i didn’t make it, but i was happy with my grade, 177/400 (passing mark: 240/400) .Till now, that score is still vivid in my mind.

In Jan 2008, i went over to Ikoma and took their JLPT 2 course. My teacher, Ms Bullet-Train (everybody calls her that when she’s not around, haha) cos she speaks like a bullet train during comprehension time. I must admit, she’s really a good teacher. But unfortunately, i think she doesn’t teach JLPT 2 anymore. While i was in Ikoma, i was also taking online classes from good teachers based in Japan. At that time, Seki-sensei (my Beginner-teacher) had already went back to Japan to continue with her business (she’s a CEO of a IT solutions company at that time). So i had 5 teachers (Ms Bullet-train, Seki-sensei, 2 teachers from Japan, my senpai) during my 3rd year of taking Japanese (2008).Took my JLPT 2 and passed, which was why i had a very strong foundation in my JLPT 2 stuff. That same year at Sept 2008, i joined my ex-company as a IT helpdesk agent. My company sent me to Japan for 2 weeks to sit with 2 friendly uncles (50+ years old) to learn Business Japanese (how to answer phone calls, write emails,etc) from them. To me, it was really a good opportunity. Over time, i had came to understand how Japanese people work (the 本音 and 建前 at work), how efficient they are, etc. I was also fortunate that with the salary that i was drawing, i was able to go Japan very often. I also attended Bunka at that time to try out the Pre-Advanced class, but i didn’t continue after a few lessons, due to the standard of the class. But i must say, the teacher was a very good teacher.

Then 2009 was the year i took my N1. Yup, failed badly. (180+/400), but i retook it in 2010 , with the help of my online sensei from Japan. The week before i took my N1, i went to Japan to do my last minute revision studies. The exposure was really good for me, which was the reason that i score well for my listening.

Wow, such a long post. 2 hours to write, with all the memories. So i guess with some calculation, you can calculate when i started teaching. (^_^)

In conclusion, what i want to say is, to all Japanese learners, including my students. Find your motivation, your drive to study Japanese. When the drive is there and the goal is firm, work towards that goal. Don’t let anything waver your thoughts. When you are tired in studying, take a break, go somewhere that you like with a friend, your loved ones and come back to study again.

 

[lyzergnature]

Hi dimitri_can,

I really appreciate your kind effort and time in sharing your experiences and insights! It really helped me a lot to consider to enroll in the Japanese schools.

I would like to express my gratitude for your advices for the time being. I will digest what you said and get to a resolution before getting back to you.

Edit: After reading your sentiments, I would like to share that I have the similar situation as you. I also come from a average income family, my mom was a housewife and my father was a taxi-driver who was the only breadwinner of my family. I am not going to conceal my passion that I got from consuming the Japanese media. Anime, drama, yes, they were and still my motivation for learning Japanese. I wanted to understand more of that language, that language that shares the Kanji that I know of from Mandarin, I really want to know why and how the meaning of the same word got into the two languages having different meanings. I wanted to make out some meaning from that understanding.

When I watch dubbed Japanese drama or subbed animations, yes, I know that I can be a passive consumer, just take in that translation that some other people had provided, and get away with little to zero knowledge of that language. That was during my poly years as well.

After my grad school in which I took a few modules on Screentext (it has something to do with understanding how films on screen works, and how it differs from literature text or any other form of medium), I began to realise that understanding a play of work has to be done in its native language. Meaning, while translation works to understand the dialogue of the play, making the meanings to the individual audience had to rely on their understanding of the language, and perhaps also rely on their individual experiences to connect and make meaning with the screen. In short, it could refer to puns, jokes, or any other hidden agenda within the dialogue, that each individual makes their own inference and meaning.

My motivation aren't that strong, and what I am not keen to get towards an academic level of N1 or beyond within a short period of time. I could do that, but I don't think I would want to do that. I wan to get to know the language in a moderate tempo, savouring the essence that crafted out the cultural values behind that language (like how I did with Mandarin and English, i was a terrible language student when I was pre-NS. After NS I started to know that language is a coherent form of culture, we use language to get to know how a particular culture behaves and works, and everyone has their own version of English or any other language that they are good with.

Then again, I could see myself staggering and taking my time to wriggle up the JLPT level. I am sure I will make it to the N1, but I cannot confirm how long it will take me to reach it. I have friends who are great readers and writers. They could be equivalent to N2 or somewhere in between N1 and N2, but it takes a lot of them to be engaged into a decent conversation. So then I thought, I can crammed up during my travelling in the MRT (Yeah, they always delay here delay that, say when it rains we have to drive slower in manual for safety reasons blah blah), but when it comes to practicing conversation ,I couldn't do that in my convenience for say in the MRT. Looking back at my friends, I began to wonder if I should value conversation skills over technical writing and reading skills per say.

And yes, studying alone is demotivating. I can see my self holing up at the nearest library for a whole day every weekend trying to absorb all the Japanese text, but if I don't find a way to play around with what I absorb, I foresee that I will need to reabsorb again those text the following week.

Sorry for the long erratic rant!

Back to the choice of schools, I find that Pyaess provides a very structural format of their schedule and lessons. I could be wrong though, but I find that their fees are relatively affordable.

 

[dimitri_can]

No need to get back to me unless u wanna try my free classes. i stopped taking students for the time being..

while i try to be very objective towards all the schools, its quite hard, thus its good that u should do more research on the schools.
Some other threads that talk about the schools:

http://www.meetup.com/japanese-7/boards/thread/2955557/0/
https://www.facebook.com/BunkaLanguageSchool/reviews/

It's hard to find a good teacher to teach Japanese nowadays, tbh.
my student who is also taking classes at XXX told me that the teacher told the class that 日本へ行きます and 日本に行きます is the same, where there is actually a nuance difference.

If u can get a teacher to explain to you the difference between

1) 日本へ行きます and 日本に行きます
2) 「私は友達にプレゼントをもらいました」 vs 「私は友達からプレゼントをもらいました」

then that teacher is a good teacher.

 

[dimitri_can]

Back to the choice of schools, I find that Pyaess provides a very structural format of their schedule and lessons. I could be wrong though, but I find that their fees are relatively affordable.

go talk to the school then.
get a friend who has at least N3/N2 to go with u and gauge.
$700++ dollars might be a bit funny, go and double check with them on the prices...

For your friends, i think it all boils down to how much they talk and practise conversation outside class. You only have that amount of time in class. Teacher have to teach new vocabulary, grammar, etc, etc... I have a few students who are very good in speaking, but for them, they really put in a lot of effort to study.


Just to give a rough gauge, i studied every day for like 3-4 hours when i was in NS, since i was a storeman, at times nobody come collect stores, then i can study... my friend (the professional translator) was worse, he studied like 8 hrs a day, before he finished his NS, he managed to copy out the whole Japanese dictionary, remembered the words, which was also why he could become a translator i guess.

When i got to N1 level, i studied like 32 hours a week. almost went crazy. I cried after i saw that i passed my N1 exam...

 

[lyzergnature]

Thanks for the follow-up!

Yes, I think it is important for me to get to the school to inquire on a few issues before I start to enroll myself into their lessons.

And yes I totally agree on the nuance for へ/に and に /から. I was trying a few N5 questions I was like "...okay you got me on this one."

There is no doubt a subtle difference in the meaning between the two, but a few of the redditors that I come across (they claim they are native speakers) claimed that it sound the same to them.

There was a few discussions on that somewhere in this thread previously. It was a certainly a good read (it was some time ago since I last perused it).

By the way, I understand that you started your beginner courses at Hougang Japanese School but it was way back when it was 2006. Would you be able to comment on the status on the school as of now in 2016?

From what I heard, the school uses some amount of romanji to help students get aboard their learning journey. I do not really welcome the idea of that, and would very much prefer to head into hiragana/katagana/Kanji. However, despite the issues with romanji, I still have come across quite a good amount of positive reviews for Hougang Japanese School. I would be keen to check it out as well.

Thanks again

 

[dimitri_can]

Thanks for the follow-up!

Yes, I think it is important for me to get to the school to inquire on a few issues before I start to enroll myself into their lessons.

And yes I totally agree on the nuance for へ/に and に /から. I was trying a few N5 questions I was like "...okay you got me on this one."

There is no doubt a subtle difference in the meaning between the two, but a few of the redditors that I come across (they claim they are native speakers) claimed that it sound the same to them.

There was a few discussions on that somewhere in this thread previously. It was a certainly a good read (it was some time ago since I last perused it).

By the way, I understand that you started your beginner courses at Hougang Japanese School but it was way back when it was 2006. Would you be able to comment on the status on the school as of now in 2016?

From what I heard, the school uses some amount of romanji to help students get aboard their learning journey. I do not really welcome the idea of that, and would very much prefer to head into hiragana/katagana/Kanji. However, despite the issues with romanji, I still have come across quite a good amount of positive reviews for Hougang Japanese School. I would be keen to check it out as well.

Thanks again

There is actually an article by a professor who is from the teaching course, which i also took, even though i am from any training school. You can do translations for the below article.

http://www.alc.co.jp/jpn/article/soudan/029.html

Generally, the Japanese native speakers or the school teachers who don't go for the Japanese teaching course won't know how to explain the difference between へ and に. Unless, they complete the teaching course, which i took like 6 months to complete for just Part 1. Part 2 is another 1-4 years of study.

For Hougang, the school starts off with Romaji and Hiragana. Some teachers would use Romaji throughout... some teachers won't. Really depends on the teacher's teaching style. If you are confident enough, u can go straight and attend Beginner 2.

Having said that, the textbook (printout) has a combination of Romaji, Hiragana, Kanji and English.

Hougang has come a long way to date, i can say that the school really trains you to be independent in your learning. Those who don't have a strong determination to learn, would be kinda left behind, i guess. It all boils down to individual learning, as i have mentioned in my earlier posts. I was really very lucky to have 2 teachers that really drilled me a lot, my Beginner teacher who taught me 国語 and Kitahara-sensei. Kitahara-sensei can be quite boring at most times, but his style is more like i feel quite old-fashioned, but very effective. If not for 2 of them, i think i wouldn't become such a hardworking teacher myself.
__________________________________________________________________________________

Back then in 2006, Kitahara-sensei (my beginner 2 class->advance 1 class)
will do the following:

Lesson 1:

Part 1:
Start off to read out the vocabulary for the chapter, then you have like 10 minutes to memorize, cover the Hiragana and read aloud just by seeing the English meaning.

Part 2:
He will explain the grammar, then again ask you to memorize the example sentences, then he will say the English/Chinese, then you will answer with the correct example sentence or you look at the English meaning and say out the correct example sentence.

Part 3:
Then after that, he will get you all to practise with different vocabulary using the pictures in the textbook and practise.

Lesson 2:

Part 1:
Cover the Hiragana, read aloud just by seeing the English meaning.

Part 2:
Revise the grammar

Part 3:
Then after that, he will get you all to practise with different vocabulary memorized in Part 1 using the pictures in the textbook and practise.

So you can see that his way is really like forcing you to memorize and read in advance before coming to lesson. That's why some students don't like his way of teaching.

Sai-sensei (attended her Intermediate 2 classes, just for fun)

She likes to give lots of handout, just like me... lol

Lesson 1:

Part 1:
Read vocabulary together x 2 times as a class

Part 2:
Explain grammar.
Get students to form sentences using the grammar learned.

Part 3:
Then after that, she will get you all to practise with different vocabulary in Part 1 using the pictures in the textbook and practise.

Lesson 2:

Part 1:
Read vocabulary together x 2 times as a class

Part 2:
Revise grammar.

Part 3:
Then after that, she will get you all to practise with different vocabulary in Part 1 using the pictures in the textbook and practise.
_______________________________________________________________________________
I haven't been to Nakai-sensei's class, but he is a bit 孤僻, but heard he is a very nice teacher...

The part about Romaji...not everyone who starts learning the language is like you, already know some Hiragana, thus every school will introduce this, but some students u know, just come study for fun, very hard to find motivation, so what happen? Teacher will be forced to teach via Romaji... if not, class cannot go on... So if you do end up in a Beginner 1 class, try to motivate the class to learn Hiragana...

If you can get Sai-sensei, Nakai-sensei, Kitahara-sensei or Tomoko-sensei (not sure if she is still around), i think you should be ok...

Just feel free to ask more if you need any clarifications... Good luck in finding the right school.

 

[PingJun]

Reading Dimitri_Can's san story of the journey of studying Japanese Language make me think of a story. A true story happened in Taiwan last year.

There's a Taiwanese guy who likes Japanese language and Japanese culture very much.
So he started to learn Japanese Language, and he has a positive and serious attitude when learning the language. And he learns the language until JLPT 1 standard.

However, not too sure of the reasons, but despite of his positive and eager learning attitude of the language, he kept failing JLPT 1 exams. He learns and re-learns the language, took and took JLPT 1 exam, but he still fails the exam. (I have forgotten whether he has mentioned his marks).
However, he didn't give up. He keeps learning JLPT 1 standard and keeps taking exams. He still goes to Japan to travel and speak Japanese Language with the locals.

Finally, he passed his JLPT 1 exam last year. He took a total of more than 10 JLPT 1 exams before he makes it. (I can't remember whether he took 11 times or 15 times before he passed his JLPT 1).

In his post and photos, I can see that he has lots of Japanese learning books, and the notes he has made while learning the language.

I didn't know whether there are 2 JLPT exams period in Taiwan, but even if there are 2 JLPT exam periods, this guy actually used more than 5 years to keep studying and taking JLPT 1 exams before he passed.

And I am sort of regret now that I didn't save his story (after seeking his permission). Because now I can't find this story while searching online.

 

[dimitri_can]

There is some hidden secret, which i found out and can't share publicly for passing N1. This guy who failed his N1, there is a high chance that his foundation is not good, that's why Japan foundation didn't allow him to pass...