Learning Japanese online - good websites?

[GreenFloyd]

I apologize for the post redundancy and thank you to those who provided helpful websites! Cheers

[merkypie]

is that really necessary? ...like weren't you one of the people commenting on how snarky and unhelpful Official had gotten in that other thread?

yes, we understand the glories of Google, but sometimes people want personal testimonies or advice. i see nothing wrong with this thread since there's no other currently active thread about Japanese learning resources.

That's the reason why I posted the link. There is over ten threads about Japanese language advice because people don't know how to LOOK for the previous thread and keep knocking the other ones into oblivion. Sometimes there'll be a thread on the bottom of the first page, but someone will just start a new thread because they couldn't bother to scroll down the page look for the existing one (or even bother looking at the next two to three pages for it). If people stopped being so LAZY and actually use the search function then maybe we wouldn't have dead, repeated, threads all over the place with the SAME information. Not to mention that the forums' database is probably bloated and is probably the main reason why this place is always suffering from a SQL memory problems and slowdown.

How can this place help people when people don't want to help themselves to the plentiful information that's ALREADY available? It's like giving someone a raft but they still insist on swimming to shore. So, yes, it was completely necessary.

No offense to the, OP. I might add.

[teabot]

is that really necessary? ...like weren't you one of the people commenting on how snarky and unhelpful Official had gotten in that other thread?

yes, we understand the glories of Google, but sometimes people want personal testimonies or advice. i see nothing wrong with this thread since there's no other currently active thread about Japanese learning resources.

That's the reason why I posted the link. There is over ten threads about Japanese language advice because people don't know how to LOOK for the previous thread and keep knocking the other ones into oblivion. Sometimes there'll be a thread on the bottom of the first page, but someone will just start a new thread because they couldn't bother to scroll down the page look for the existing one (or even bother looking at the next two to three pages for it). If people stopped being so LAZY and actually use the search function then maybe we wouldn't have dead, repeated, threads all over the place with the SAME information. Not to mention that the forums' database is probably bloated and is probably the main reason why this place is always suffering from a SQL memory problems and slowdown.

How can this place help people when people don't want to help themselves to the plentiful information that's ALREADY available? It's like giving someone a raft but they still insist on swimming to shore. So, yes, it was completely necessary.

No offense to the, OP. I might add.

maybe it's because as a forum admin for about five years i no longer believe the forum-going public knows what the search function is, much less how to use it, or maybe i'm just a bit grumpy overall today, but i still think posting a bit.ly link to a lmgtfy page is not an appropriate response.

yes, i get it that the thread's repetitive and that people are lazy, but pointing it out in a post with a lmgtfy link and no comment, is pretty much the equivalent of saying (and excuse my crude language) "hey, dumbass! there's this magical website that answers questions. have you heard of it? it's called Google." i used to think lmgtfy was pretty funny, but now i think it's a snarky and dismissive way to answer someone. it's a forum after all, if you can't be bothered to give them an actual answer, is it really worth the time to create a lmgtfy link merely to point out another user's laziness?

i don't expect you or anyone else to spoon feed someone your annotated list of top 10 Japanese-learning resources every single time there's a new thread about it, but it's much more productive to respond in a way that directly lets them know there are other recent threads on this topic and that it's better to use the other thread instead.

for example:

oh hey, actually we have another thread about Japanese learning here: [link here]. you'll probably find some resources over there, and it keeps things more organized if we keep the discussion in one place.

maybe you know how to internet, but it's possible not everyone who joins these forums knows the etiquette/how to use them.

besides, by the time the post is created and the question asked, it's there. pointing them to a Google search is not going to prevent or reduce dead threads.

[eacat]

Different threads yield different responses. Scored some new links off of this one. =)

[Sooyong]

Sorry to not be entirely on topic here, but maybe the forum needs to be re-organized to avoid repeat threads. For one, the "FAQs and Links" section needs to be near or at the very top. People are very quick to go into "Current JETs" or "Aspiring JETs" without realizing that a resource list (including links for learning Japanese) is right here. And if there are complaints about it not being updated, maybe it would be updated more if people looked at it more often.

[cursosenvalladolid]

Thanks for the great resource to learn Japanese.

[SPR_255]

Try Livemocha.com

You can practice teaching English to earn tokens which can be used on Japanese lessons, which will be corrected by native Japanese speakers! It's a pretty nifty website.

[Samurai_Steve]

I would also suggest www.yesjapan.com. They have a free membership area with limited, but entirely useful, lessons. Very in depth. Also, for a fee, you have access to their very-well-polished videos and/or their compete set of lessons.

[agaerlan]

I know this thread is a tad old, but it came up for a search for me. Some great links were shared. Another one I've been trying out is

http://nihongomaster.com

It's new and everything is short and sweet. I like the achievements you can gain along the way. Kind of a virtual high five haha.

[KIKKI.K]

Sorry for reviving this thread.^^ I realised I know a great site for kanji learning.

I use Heisig's method for kanji learning.
(please don't reply to this saying his way sucks or whatever, if you can learn kanji by writing them out over and over again, good for you, Heisig works so much better for me, and many others.)

If you've taken a look at it, but don't like having to come up with so mnay imaginative stories on your own, try http://www.kanji.koohii.com People have posted up hundreds of their own stories for each kanji that you can choose from and use as your own if you want. It also uses spaced repitition, which helps you remember the ones you have a bit of trouble with very well.

[Koyuki]

Not necessarily a website to learn Japanese, but http://www.jisho.org is a must-use

[Curtain Shrew]

Just backing up what others have said really.

Memrise is GREAT for memorising Hiragana and Katana. I haven't tried kanji yet though. I've been using it alongside the night course I'm taking to reinforce what I have learnt.

I also used japanese101. Downloaded some of the materials during the free trial but I'm not going to pay for it.

Youtube also has good resources. The vlogger 'Gimmeaflakeman' has some video lessons called 'Japanese for Morons'. Some of it is just silly and you won't use it but other stuff is quite useful.

Good books are Japanese for Busy People and Minna No Nihongo.