xD there are many other colors out there <3

I know! I just need to figure out which ones I want to use!

ao, akai, pinku, orenji, kuro, shirou, um.. *thinks* xD

I have to say, I halfway disagree with Chasm. It completely depends on if YOU want to focus on speaking first or if you want to get down to business and get the writing out of the way as well. To be honest, if you're good at memorization, writing is not that hard (not counting Kanji, of course). Most courses urge you to learn Hiragana/Katakana right off because they are the basics. The ABC's sort of. If you have patience, it does NOT set you up for failure.

You're going to have to learn them eventually. I, personally, would rather know how to write/read/speak/listen all at once then to just speak/listen and then try to get in the written in there as well. Written, to me, also helps with speaking because of the double sounds are shown in written but sometimes rather difficult to tell in speaking. You'll probably have to go back and pretty much re-learn half the word you already know. Except how to write it instead of it's meaning/sound. I, personally, would find that even more frustrating. >3<

Not to mention, -again at least for me- I remember how a word looks if I can't remember what it actually is. With it written in kana, I can usually remember how it looked and break it down and get it that way.

Just some thoughts while I've been learning it. >3<'

Hey Az. Yeah, I think i'd rather learn all at once as well. I only just poked my head into the thread but I hope it gets some lovins. :)

And lovlov. I hear ya! I was all black and white city when I first joined..well, and pastel pink but now it's like aww heck naw!

Oh, I guess my own little tip when it comes to learning any of the writing: whiteboards are love. So are flashcards. (actually, flashcards are good for anything but sentence structure)

Also, particles suck. Not really a tip. Just a warning.

I've tried to learn to speak first and only learned some of the basic words..
I figured I'd try to learn the japanese "abc's" and learn how to do the sounds and write them first.. I find it easier to me.

Thanks for your input Azrael :3

I want flash cards D;

Well, there are kinetic, visual, and auditory learners and people just need to learn which one they are and learn ANYTHING that way to benefit themselves. c:

I have visual and audio =w= I get the books with the CD helpers. <3 Japanese for Dummies ... failed for me xD

Exactly. Like I said, for me personally -and for a lot of people I know- it's easier to get it all at once. I mean, after you have them down, it becomes second nature almost. I have to think harder to write it in romanji than I do to write in the kana's. ha.

People who aren't visual learners, though, probably have a more difficult time learning the writing. >3<' But I always have been. I have to see something to understand it... Probably why I'm 100x better at Trig than I am at algebra...

Demon, when you're learning the kanas, I'd suggest just learning it row-by-row at first. Each time you have one row down, add on another one. That's what I did... after that, just refine by writing the chart over and over. Flashcards are good for recognition, though.

I know I may sound stupid, but I need all of the techniques to be able to learn most of the time. x3

I learned using Adventures in Japanese, I really liked the first book, tons of vocab and sentence structure, it was great. We're using Nakama in college and I hate it.

Lovely, you don't sound stupid. >3<' Not at all.

Az. do you know where one can get the PDF files of the books you used?

Thank you. x3

There are times where a teacher is teaching me something and they explain it like three times and after that, I just say that I understand when I still have no idea what they were talking about when the whole class understood.

Lovely.. that sounds like me.. ._.

Mmm that happens to me sometimes until I hear it a whole different way from what the teacher said it... or -if possible- a picture is drawn. XD

And I'll look, DK.

Pictures do help teach people. =w=

What this thread needs is a steady lesson plan D:

yes a lesson plan would be helpfull!

http://productsearch.barnesandnoble....&pos=-1&ugrp=2

Okay, they aren't PDF but the hard versions you'd have to buy. On BN they don't look too terribly expensive. The workbooks are damn amazing, though. They're really helpful. Er, but they don't seem to have the actual textbook. Let me check amazon..

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_no...nese+1&x=0&y=0

There, amazon has it. Not too terribly expensive, either.

very very helpful it would be, yes.

Az - thanks :3 I'll save up for them <3

<3 Definitely get the workbook at some point, too. It's a good way to help reinforce the sentence structures. I'd suggest -if you have the ability- making copies of the pages, too? So you can go back and practice if you need to. I wish I'd had my old book but I don't know where it went x.x'

Anyway on Amazon you can look and see the sort of style of the textbook. It's pretty organized, I like it.

I agree with Az. Romanji hurts my head. @.@ but I can read Japanese very well in Katakana. I'd say don't start worrying about Kanji yet for sure, but knowing the kana for words definitely helps with pronunciation and grammar.

the books on amazon are so expensive ;-;

;-; I... didn't think that was a lot for a book... x.x' But... then again, I guess since I have a job it isn't too much to me x.x'

Hey there's some used ones for 30$?

And yeah, definitely don't worry about Kanji right off. Kanji -to me- is useless until you have the basics down.

right now I just wanna learn the katakana and higarana.. I saw kana cards at borders but.. I didn't have enough.. I'm hoping if I print out the cupon i got.. I might have enough for them..

I saw some learning stuff on J-list that looked helpful I wants D:

Oh lord don't buy kana cards, make your own. >3< Just look up a chart online and copy them onto some flashcards. No need spending some money on something you can make yourself.

I'm out of ink! ;-; I can't print out anything .. *stares at copies of japanese blank notebook pages* ._.,

XD You don't have to print anything. Just look up a chart online and copy it onto some flashcards.

like
"A
(ah)" on one side and "あ" on the other side or something like that. ("a" being it's romanji and 'ah' being how you say it)

xD My handwriting is bad at first so writing it out is a no no for me until i've practiced writing =w=,

and I'd need Index cards or something to make the flash cards... which I'll try to get sometime this month. I might have some messed up kana charts I printed out somewhere..

If something isn't printed out perfect.. I won't use it ._.,

XD Dork. But I wouldn't waste your money on something you can make yourself. I've seen those and they're damn expensive.

Also, guys, I think I'm going to order the 2 and 3rd edition of the Adventures in japanese books. Both for the sake of having them... and I got paid today. XD

Scan them for us! 8D

The kana cards I REALLY want are on J-list >< but the person who buys me my stuff.. reFUSES to shop online or give me the money to do so myself D< frikken *** he is D<

eh, I can sorta see it. My mom doesn't like online shopping, either.

and I can't find a cheap one for the third one. Oh well.

what is the best way to make flash cards with out needing index cards ._.

cut up 6 rectangles on a sheet of paper

On lesson plans, I know how to make a lesson plan since I am in a program called UTAP which stands for Urban Teacher Academy Program. I can give you our lesson plan template if you want. o3o

My pens bleed through paper =w= so it wouldn't be a flash card if you can see the answer xD

Love - =w= are the lessons included?

don't use permanent marker

Well, it is a template on how to write a lesson plan. We fill it in ourselves. xD

I'll try it :x

Do you want me to send it to you through PM? I'll leave out the ESOL/ESE part. xD