Learning Japanese (The Maddox Way)
It would appear that I’ve taken up learning Japanese again. It’s only my 8 millionth attempt and at the risk of sounding like a massive Weeaboo I just want to be prepared for the day I eventually go to Japan and immerse myself into the culture.
I’ve tried podcasts and various online resources before in an attempt to get at least a basic grasp of the language but to no avail. It’s all well and good learning this word and phrase here and there but constructing a sentence has always stumped me.
I would have gone on a course IRL but I know my tendency to be a bit flaky with that kind of thing, so wanted to make sure I has some understanding before I attempted something a bit more costly. (FYI Cardiff folks, the university runs courses a few times a year if you’re interested)
So it’s a stroke of luck then, that I found a lovely iPhone app to help me learn the basics, and as such I’ve been taunting my twitter follwers For just £2.99 you get 30 full lessons that include quizzes, vocab and writing exercises as well as spoken lessons in English complete with pronunciation from a native speaker. I tried the lite version for free first (I love it when apps offer you a taster) and after conquering the three free lessons I was hooked and quickly forked out my three quid for the full thing.
The interface is simple and like most iPhone apps very intuitive when it comes to navigation, the spoken lessons are nicely paced but you have the option to pause them if things are moving a little too quickly.
I have literally no idea why, but apparently a penguin is involved in the teaching somehow.
What I love about this app, is that is teaches you about constructing a sentence from the offset in the simplest way possible. For example, when asking for something you use this little system.
Noun - Marker - Request
Sake-o kudasai = I humbly request some sake (this is always the first phrase that comes to mind, I’ve got a feeling it’ll soon become the screen saver for my brain)
I like this because it teaches you the method rather than just giving you a useful phrase to memorize, which is good for basic survival but useless in the long run.
It is by far the most useful and interesting language app I’ve ever tried or downloaded and I’m absolutely in love with it. If you are thinking about learning Japanese, I strongly suggest you try it out, I doubt you’ll be disappointed.
Anyway, look at my awesome quiz scores…
*gloat*
