Best way to learn Japanese?

[Masaru]

Yeah, furigana is when the kana are above the kanji.
Okurigana, I believe, are when there are hiragana in the middle of a word composed of kanji.

Also, there's an online bookstore that's actually based in the US, so you don't have to pay the same amount you did for your books on shipping! Haha..

It's called Kinokuniya, and it's pretty much really awesome. I've ordered from them a bunch of times; shipping is pretty reasonable like I said, starts at $6 and scales depending on how much you spend (becomes free at $100).

The only thing is that they have about 7 or 8 locations, so sometimes it can be hard getting everything you want grouped into one shipment.

Here's the link; if anyone wants help navigating it maybe I can make a guide or something.

http://bookweb.kinokuniya.co.jp/indexohb.cgi?AREA=03

[Neko-Hime]

[quote="KougaHane (post: 1521807)"]I think lots of popular shounen and shoujo manga have okurigana(hiragana above the kanji) try naruto or one piece, althought I'm not sure where to buy them in Japanese other than the internet. Alternatively, you can search 漫]

You're talking about furigana Okurigana is the kana suffix that follows the word: in 高かった, かった is the okurigana (so says the great Wikipedia xD)
I've found that anything aimed at youngish readers has furigana.
The ones I've read in Japanese are Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle, Kuroshitsuji (Black Butler), Fullmetal Alchemist, and RG Veda. Of those, only RG Veda was without furigana transcriptions. It caused pain. xD

[JesusFreakGamer]

Hey hey! Hope I'm not digging up an old thread! Anki is pretty good, but I run linux, and couldn't figure out how to make it work... I actually wound up using a combination of a pencil, a notebook and an iPhone app to learn hiragana. I worked a row at a time every day, and eventually was able to get all the "regular" kana down. If you get those, ten ten marks and combination hiragana come pretty quickly :-).

For general Japanese study, I would recommend checking out TextFugu. It is an online textbook, but it includes more than just text... It has links to videos, audio clips and an online forum. It primarily focuses on self learners and keeping you motivated to learn. It is broken up into "seasons" and currently the first one is free. The free part won't really teach you much if you are in between beginner-intermediate, but it will let you know whether or not you want to continue with it. Hope this helps!

[Neane]

Very Helpful Thread indeed.

[Tigerchu]

It depends you how you learn best. Everyone's different^^
You might try studying the written language first, or phonetics first (spoken) because that's they way kids learn, I think (usually, I think).
And if price is an issue you can look on the internet for free radio stations and get some listening practice in. And look on Youtube for Japanese comments on stuff (look up Japanese videos, like "neko" or something [that means cat]). You might not get the most polite comments (reading wise), because it's Youtube, but you can still find politeness every once in a while. You just have to know where to look.

[CENT0R1EL]

Mango Languages is an online base program that you can pay for OR is free if you use your local Library Card and your Library has bought the program. It is well structured like Rosetta Stone — building on your vocabulary and sentence complexity as you go — but is non image based and has more flexibility about understanding the words and meanings. You can hover over the text to get translations as well as built in explanations from the narrator about the lesson and its nuances. I used it for nihon-go in highschool.

=]

[jtire]

Ello AnimeGirl, I'm new here and i couldn't help but take a notice to ur question as i stumbled around the forum ^_^". Currently I'm trying to learn japanese too and so far its progressing quicker than i thought, although I had to put extra effort behind but trust me it pays off with time with this site, and some aside researches but mostly 97.999% with this site: (http://www.japanesepod101.com) its a podcast teaching type of site... well i'll let the site do all the talking :/. I'm not really good with explanations since i tend to go on and on. But one thing i know for sure is they are trustworthy 0:). Just sign up for the seven day free trial, and download the newbie and beginner lessons to ur computer or ipod, (something like that) before the trial period end and u should be fine (thats what i did). and if the seven day trial is up and u see its was helpful, u can decide to continue otherwise enjoy the ones they gave u the chance to download legally and use. . Hope that was helpful. Gosh, for my first comment on this forum, I think i kinda went overboad |:\ ... lol

[jtire]

wow, this thread or forum thing is really messing my brain up:eh: .. I thought i posted a super long reply and it went, apparently it didn't:shake:.. anyways as i was saying.. evidently as can be seen i'm new to this whole forum thread thingy:-^o^-:... but as i was saying in the previous comment i posted... u should really give http://www.japanesepod101.com a try, it will help quicken the learning process well and really familiarize you. In other words, you'll have one big smile on ur face by the time ur done trying out the free 7 day trial period thingy. It really helps to download the newbie, beginner, particles and all that goody and listen to them now and even later in the future, but u gotta do it whenever u sign up before trial period ends (thats what i did:sweat::lol:*.. don't worry its legally safe and obviously they knew people would download it to their ipods or computer or whatever, otherwise why would they allow it. Hopefully it helps:angel:

[goldenspines]

Apologies, jtire. Your post got caught in the filter. It happens to every new member. But don't worry, it will wear off after a little while. ^_^

[ABlipinTime]

Recently, I learned of this program:
http://www.tagaini.net/
It's been extremely helpful in my study efforts. Give it a try.