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Serenity
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  United States
 173 posts Joined: Jul, 2005
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 Posted - 2013/08/15 :  00:22:49
  
 
  
        
My voice teacher (who is awesome) suggested that I learn Japanese because so much of the music fits my range and voice type. Given the connection between hardcore and Japan, I figured this would be a good place to ask for resources!  
 
Anyone have great links, audiobooks, etc for learning the language? I'm your typical american and only know English and smattering of Spanish, so I don't have much experience in this type of thing. Any help is appreciated!  
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Elipton
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  United Kingdom
 1,268 posts Joined: Apr, 2013
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		 Posted - 2013/08/15 :  01:15:27
  
  
  
 
There are some handy phone apps that are very simple in concept, but help you memorize the 3 types of script. If you're on Android, "Super Kanji Search" is a great tool.  
There was another one that just listed each of the katakana and hiragana and their pronounciation but I dont seem to have that anymore. Anyway, that might of some help.
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silver
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  Japan
 12,579 posts Joined: Feb, 2001
  894 hardcore releases
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		 Posted - 2013/08/15 :  01:27:33
  
 
  
  
 
I can speak Japanese, read a little, can't write anything. It's the hardest language in the world to understand because it is so different to all other languages. 
 
If you want to read Anime, learn to read first. 
 
If you want to sing, focus on learning how to pronounce the words correctly. 
 
If you want to watch movies, learn how to speak. 
 
If you are a nerd, learn all 50,000 kanji characters and show up regular Japanese people :) 
 
If you are a super nerd, learn the near 3 million other Kanji characters and get your own Japanese TV show. 
 
The best to learn is to get a teacher, girlfriend etc and just practice with them, you might be able to find a person in Japan that wants to speak english and do a language exchange on skype or something?
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Serenity
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  United States
 173 posts Joined: Jul, 2005
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		 Posted - 2013/08/15 :  01:50:47
  
  
  
 
quote: Originally posted by silver: 
I can speak Japanese, read a little, can't write anything. It's the hardest language in the world to understand because it is so different to all other languages. 
 
If you want to read Anime, learn to read first. 
 
If you want to sing, focus on learning how to pronounce the words correctly. 
 
If you want to watch movies, learn how to speak. 
 
If you are a nerd, learn all 50,000 kanji characters and show up regular Japanese people :) 
 
If you are a super nerd, learn the near 3 million other Kanji characters and get your own Japanese TV show. 
 
The best to learn is to get a teacher, girlfriend etc and just practice with them, you might be able to find a person in Japan that wants to speak english and do a language exchange on skype or something? 
   
 
Yeah, the main focus is on learning the words and how to speak them properly. But I'd also like to be able to read some, not for anime, but because I'm a nerd. I doubt I will be able to learn all 50,000 kanji characters though. Even with a photographic memory that seems unrealistic!    
 
And thanks Ellipton - I will see what apps I can find via google.
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Samination
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  Sweden
 13,248 posts Joined: Jul, 2004
  195 hardcore releases
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		 Posted - 2013/08/15 :  07:53:07
  
  
  
 
How do you read Anime? =P 
Is that like watching Manga?
 
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DJ D-Luc-D
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  United Kingdom
 458 posts Joined: Feb, 2012
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		 Posted - 2013/08/15 :  17:46:56
  
  
  
 
Heh, I've been trying to learn Japanese too :P I've been using Nihongo o Narau, which is ok :P
 
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My mixes: http://soundcloud.com/dj-d-luc-d --- http://www.youtube.com/DJdLucD    Check out my netlabel Touitsu Recordings: http://touitsurecordings.jaycore.eu --- http://soundcloud.com/touitsu-recordings --- http://www.facebook.com/TouitsuRecordings
 
 
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Brian K
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  United States
 8,663 posts Joined: Sep, 2001
  528 hardcore releases
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		 Posted - 2013/08/15 :  18:40:55
  
  
 
learn the hiragana alphabet first.  romanji is nice to have as a crutch when you first start but you're going to need to memorize hiragana and then katakana.  learning to write them I think helped me memorize them easier, but I took it back in high school back in the 90s so I don't recall the starting point much. 
 
worry less about kanji as it's primarily two hiragana characters together, plus they are a lot more intricate to write. 
 
having a japanese to english/english to japanese dictionary is nice to have as well.
 
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Warnman
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  Germany
 2,677 posts Joined: Jun, 2010
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		 Posted - 2013/08/15 :  19:54:43
  
  
  
 
quote: Originally posted by Samination: 
How do you read Anime? =P 
Is that like watching Manga? 
   
 
Once again, Jacket: there are people out there trying to understand the conversations in a movie/cartoon and do not simply wank to each scenes.
 
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Ravers unite! 
 
"Happy Hardcore: Love it... hate it... it's fun!" (Matt Stokes)
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 Edited by - Warnman on 2013/08/15  19:55:05 | 
      
        
        
Ionosphere
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  United Kingdom
 3,750 posts Joined: Dec, 2004
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		 Posted - 2013/08/15 :  20:22:04
  
 
  
  
 
http://www.linguaphone.co.uk/japanese-complete-cd-course-1.html  
 
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This- http://www.discogs.com/artist/Ionosphere    THIS - http://soundcloud.com/ionosphere    VIDEO - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nYWkHCkaho 
 
 
 
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Charger
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  Singapore
 278 posts Joined: Jun, 2012
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		 Posted - 2013/08/16 :  05:37:48
  
  
  
 
Before learning Japanese, it'll be better to start of with learning Mandarin since Hiragana characters mostly originated from the Chinese characters but with a slight difference in pronounciation. The characters of both language do have the same meaning like: 
 
Japanese hiragana 
電話 (Denwa) - Telephone 
 
Mandarin 
電話 (Dianhua) (Traditional) / 电话 (Dianhua) (Simplified) - Telephone 
 
If you can master mandarin characters, hiragana would be a breeze for starters. ;)
 
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 Edited by - Charger on 2013/08/16  05:38:25 | 
      
        
        
Samination
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  Sweden
 13,248 posts Joined: Jul, 2004
  195 hardcore releases
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		 Posted - 2013/08/16 :  07:51:55
  
  
  
 
quote: Originally posted by Charger: 
Before learning Japanese, it'll be better to start of with learning Mandarin since Hiragana characters mostly originated from the Chinese characters but with a slight difference in pronounciation. The characters of both language do have the same meaning like: 
 
Japanese hiragana 
電話 (Denwa) - Telephone 
 
Mandarin 
電話 (Dianhua) (Traditional) / 电话 (Dianhua) (Simplified) - Telephone 
 
If you can master mandarin characters, hiragana would be a breeze for starters. ;) 
   
 
isn't mandarin supposed to be even harder to learn than Japanese? 
 
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Happy, UK Hardcore, Freeform, Makina and Gabber 
http://samination.se/  ---------------------------------------------
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Charger
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  Singapore
 278 posts Joined: Jun, 2012
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		 Posted - 2013/08/16 :  09:30:19
  
  
  
 
quote: Originally posted by Samination: 
quote: Originally posted by Charger: 
Before learning Japanese, it'll be better to start of with learning Mandarin since Hiragana characters mostly originated from the Chinese characters but with a slight difference in pronounciation. The characters of both language do have the same meaning like: 
 
Japanese hiragana 
電話 (Denwa) - Telephone 
 
Mandarin 
電話 (Dianhua) (Traditional) / 电话 (Dianhua) (Simplified) - Telephone 
 
If you can master mandarin characters, hiragana would be a breeze for starters. ;) 
   
 
isn't mandarin supposed to be even harder to learn than Japanese? 
 
   
 
No, mandarin is simpler to learn than Japanese. There's only 2 kinds of characters, but each kind is used by a specific community. China uses the simplified characters while Taiwan uses the traditional characters. You can only use either of the types of characters at once, unlike Japanese, you have to use Katakana, Hiragana, and another type of characters all at once in normal writing which is much more confusing to learn. 
 
The catch is, mastering Mandarin just makes your life easier when you are learning Hiragana, since pronounciation-wise, certain characters will sound similar to the mandarin characters and writing-wise similar to the traditional characters of mandarin.
 
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Brian K
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  United States
 8,663 posts Joined: Sep, 2001
  528 hardcore releases
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		 Posted - 2013/08/16 :  18:01:03
  
  
 
quote: Originally posted by Charger: 
Before learning Japanese, it'll be better to start of with learning Mandarin since Hiragana characters mostly originated from the Chinese characters but with a slight difference in pronounciation. The characters of both language do have the same meaning like: 
 
Japanese hiragana 
電話 (Denwa) - Telephone 
 
Mandarin 
電話 (Dianhua) (Traditional) / 电话 (Dianhua) (Simplified) - Telephone 
 
If you can master mandarin characters, hiragana would be a breeze for starters. ;) 
   
 
that's kanji not hiragana, and mandarin is much more difficult pronunciation wise than japanese. 
 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiragana
 
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djchexmixer
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  United States
 363 posts Joined: Apr, 2006
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		 Posted - 2013/08/16 :  19:33:56
  
  
  
 
I've been using the Pimsleur's Japanese audio lessons. They're about 20 minutes a lesson and my commute is over 30 minutes, so I listen a lesson while I drive to or from work. 
The lessons are easy to follow and you can go what whatever pace.  
 
I went from knowing zero Japanese to some basic communication. 
 
 
I'm not learning to read or write, just speak. So if you just want to learn to speak there's an option for you.
 
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https://soundcloud.com/djchexmixer    Happy Dance Fusion Vol. 2:  https://soundcloud.com/dj-cruelcore-neo/happy-dance-fusion-vol-2
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silver
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  Japan
 12,579 posts Joined: Feb, 2001
  894 hardcore releases
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		 Posted - 2013/08/19 :  02:11:22
  
 
  
  
 
Do not start leaning mandarin or kanji first! That's like learning to run before you can walk and NO Japanese learning books will be in Kanji
 
 
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