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Studying Japanese Language/Literature/History

Kawaikochan
Found another free resource! :) It's called MIT OpenCourseWare (http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/foreign-languages-and-literatures/21f-501-japanese-i-fall-2009/index.htm)

They have modules with quizzes, lessons and exams. I haven't had a chance to take a good look at it, but I hope you guys will try it out. It seems great so far.

Also it has a ton of different courses, not just japanese or language courses. I think it's a good resource for anyone who wants to learn something new.
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ladyfaile
oh nice. i'm gonna check that out
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ladyfaile
i love MIT.. actually one math class my husband had to take in uni, the teacher was so hard to understand, and so dull, that nobody could keep up and the whole class was failing (they put in complaints but nobody else could teach that class so they were stuck with him) so trying to catch up and get homework done he decided to google the subject and found all these MIT classes recorded and posted online for anyone to access (not sure if it was youtube or what) so he got through the semester this way, he followed the MIT class rather than his own and he said the way the MIT prof explained things made a thousand times more sense and made it much easier to follow. i think his classmates were probably happy that he discovered it too hahaha. without it he would have probably failed, and he's a bit of a math geek so him failing math is like unheard of

it never occured to me to look them up for other (less boring hahaha) subjects like languages etc
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boutux
boutux wrote: i've been following this guy on youtube superscheu and he uploads some awesome videos about life and work in japan. (he's an american assistant language teacher). anyways he started a contest for his subscribers to win a ds shounen jump game or some other inexpensive japanese item of the winners choice and lo and behold i won. Yay panda!!!!(sorry... i'm currently watching love shuffle and using that phrase every chance i get lol) and i'm happy cuz i've never won anything before



the prize i have asked for is an arashi cd, or magazine or smtng to help with my learning japanese. i'm excited. lol it's gonna be interesting to see what he gets me cuz he dislikes arashi and japanese pop in general.


so i received my finally received my prize. matt sent me an arashi note book, an arashi page divider, 3 arashi buttons (matsujun, ohno and sakurai) a JE magazine with losts of poster and a japanese text book "japanese for busy people." i'll check out the text book and do a full review later. he said he send an SD card with lots of japanese music especial arashi's music cuz he know i like them but i did not receive it. the envelope was torn so the SD card must have fallen out during shipping. the arashi note book and page divider are from their beautiful world tour.

i'm really pleased with what he sent me. i just wish i could read japanese so i could read the JE magazine.
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Go-To-The-Extreme
I can only recognize the most common phrases and words in spoken form but have absolutely no idea about the written form. One of my best friends taught herself to speak and write Japanese T___T It is definitely something I want to do! I want to learn about Japanese history and literature. I admire their work a lot. Since I'm addicted to reading books, sometimes I read that a drama I loved was actually based on a novel and it is really difficult to find a translational! eeeeeh so frustrating! *need to learn soon!*
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Go-To-The-Extreme
boutux wrote: so i received my finally received my prize. matt sent me an arashi note book, an arashi page divider, 3 arashi buttons (matsujun, ohno and sakurai) a JE magazine with losts of poster and a japanese text book "japanese for busy people." i'll check out the text book and do a full review later. he said he send an SD card with lots of japanese music especial arashi's music cuz he know i like them but i did not receive it. the envelope was torn so the SD card must have fallen out during shipping. the arashi note book and page divider are from their beautiful world tour.

i'm really pleased with what he sent me. i just wish i could read japanese so i could read the JE magazine.


Oh so cooool!!!
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AdeNike
Boutux I'm happy for you, you almost got axed twice hahaha. I'm making use of Arashai's lessons on AC. The thing is I don't have the time to revise, since I'm studying (as in going to school and all). Plus I have to perfect my German language and I'm learning Korean also.

Love Shuffle is shamazing. 'Say it ain't so, Joe' Yay Panda (other panda synonyms) hehehe.
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Kawaikochan
Go-To-The-Extreme wrote: I can only recognize the most common phrases and words in spoken form but have absolutely no idea about the written form. One of my best friends taught herself to speak and write Japanese T___T It is definitely something I want to do! I want to learn about Japanese history and literature. I admire their work a lot. Since I'm addicted to reading books, sometimes I read that a drama I loved was actually based on a novel and it is really difficult to find a translational! eeeeeh so frustrating! *need to learn soon!*


I <3 Japanese literature. What kinds of things have you tried to read so far? what was the drama you're looking for? I know a couple online sites where you can buy out of print or hard to find english translations.
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boutux
Ok as an Arashi fan I was looking for streams of Kouhaku live as well as Johnny's count down live on new yrs eve. And i was not very successful in finding good quality streams of those shows before midnight Japan time. I did however find this from a really nice person in an Arashi chat room.

http://www.freshverse.com/tv.php

Freshverse is a board that streams live Japanese stations. The host decides what channel is watched and when the channel changed but it is live from japan. Right now i'm watching the talent show that Matsujun co hosts on NihonTV called "Showtime". For me this is an awesome find for the new yr. so if u don't mind watching raw stuff, from variety shows to dramas to anime and news the same time it Japan (live stream) come check it out. u have to register which takes a few seconds but imo it's totally worth it as a Japanese enthusiast!
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Kawaikochan
tianna wrote: Soooooo, I decided to try out Japanese Online Institute because their trial is only $9 and that's about as much as I would pay for lunch, hehe. My first class is tomorrow morning. I'll be sure to fill you guys in :) I registered for 3 different levels of flex lessons: beginner 1, beginner 2, and grammar. I decided to start at the beginner level because I've never taken formal lessons, so i kinda wanna see how it progresses. However, you can view the lesson description before you register for a particular class, and i think this will mostly be review, but I'm looking forward going over it with an actual japanese teacher.


So, I just noticed that JOI has a friend referral program. The person who refers get 3 free lessons and the person who signs up gets 1 free lesson. We should let each other know if we sign up :)

http://www.japonin.com/refer_for_free_japanese_lessons.html

btw, i'm still taking lessons here and definitely recommend it. I haven't had many lessons that are one on one in the intermediate classes, but I am still learning lots.
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boutux
i would not mind signing up but my issue is time. cuz my work schedule always changes and always leaves me exhausted i'm not sure i should pick this up now. when i go on vacation next month i'll probably sign up. i will let u know.
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ladyfaile
boutux wrote: Ok as an Arashi fan I was looking for streams of Kouhaku live as well as Johnny's count down live on new yrs eve. And i was not very successful in finding good quality streams of those shows before midnight Japan time. I did however find this from a really nice person in an Arashi chat room.

http://www.freshverse.com/tv.php

Freshverse is a board that streams live Japanese stations. The host decides what channel is watched and when the channel changed but it is live from japan. Right now i'm watching the talent show that Matsujun co hosts on NihonTV called "Showtime". For me this is an awesome find for the new yr. so if u don't mind watching raw stuff, from variety shows to dramas to anime and news the same time it Japan (live stream) come check it out. u have to register which takes a few seconds but imo it's totally worth it as a Japanese enthusiast!



cool! i will so make use of this :D
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ladyfaile
i so need to kick my studies into high gear. we are probably going to Japan this fall :D i found some more free apps and have started studying some useful kanji. i need to learn enough to at least be able to read signs if i go shopping without a guide i'm finding tae kim's guide too complicated now. it's full of so much grammar lingo that i'm not even comfy with in english, i think at this point i might have to just skim through it and focus on certain parts that are more useful, i don't necessarily need to know every in and out of grammar and conjugation, for now i just need to be able to order food, ask directions and whatnot. i would love to be able to carry out a conversation but i need to shift my priorities right now to "tourist survival japanese" and then build on it from there. i'm pretty sure i could muddle through right now with some help but i'd like to be as independent as possible. there was talk of me staying longer than the rest of the family since they may not be able to take a lot of time off work and it's like my dream to go there and do and see so much. so i may be on my own *~scary~* for a few days eek eek eek so excited but so nervous at the same time. if we ever get internet set up at work i'll give rosetta or livemocha another shot.
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boutux
yay i'm so happy for u. if all goes well maybe we can organise to meet up there. do some site seeing, shopping, eat some strange food and try to find arashi (wishful thinking about the last part.) for some reason i don't have that fear of being on my own in japan. u'd figure as a black foreigner with less than basic japanese language skills i'd be scared but i'm more excited than anything. i guess i'm excited cuz 1. it's japan and 2. it's my 1st real taste of independence, having my own place and having to fend for myself. it's about time. i do need to up my survival japanese skills as u put it though. but my friend who is up there told me i'm way more advance than he was when he came over and he's held his own. he assures me that i'll be fine. i have 2 and 1/2 months to study hard before going and i will try my best to make use of it.
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ladyfaile
yeah i'm sure you'll do fine, you'll be in the city right? when my sister in law's sister was there she did fine in the cities but when she was in rural areas she had a tough time communicating, less people speak english and the japanese dialect is slightly different so she had a harder time understanding them. like i said i'd love to be able to have conversations with people but i'll settle for being able to order food on my own lol
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