15 votes

Tae Kim's guide to learning Japanese

7 comments

  1. ThiccPad
    (edited )
    Link
    Tar Kim's guide is without a doubt the most commonly recommended resource for beginners due to the easier flow and being the first free English grammar guide to the market. One point of contention...

    Tar Kim's guide is without a doubt the most commonly recommended resource for beginners due to the easier flow and being the first free English grammar guide to the market.

    One point of contention is that the guide has not been updated much since its publication

    The other site on the same category, though much less recognized is the imabi.net website which covers most if not all of japanese grammar with its 400+ lessons. The site is through and quite intimidating on first glance for beginners.

    There was some discussions on the two sites on the learn japanese subreddit two years ago.

    https://www.reddit.com/r/LearnJapanese/comments/5sv3gu/tae_kim_vs_imabi_a_discussion/

    For all the starting japanese learners out there here is some app recommendations

    https://www.reddit.com/r/LearnJapanese/comments/ejqdd7/its_2020_for_learning_or_practicing_japanese_what/

    6 votes
  2. flip
    Link
    I just committed to learning Japanese, so this is going to come in handy. Thank you very much for posting it.

    I just committed to learning Japanese, so this is going to come in handy. Thank you very much for posting it.

    3 votes
  3. [5]
    Whom
    Link
    I've been using this as a rough guide (along with WaniKani, which I think the author of this would not be pleased to hear) for the few weeks I've been studying the language. Since I'm early in...

    I've been using this as a rough guide (along with WaniKani, which I think the author of this would not be pleased to hear) for the few weeks I've been studying the language. Since I'm early in that process I don't think I can really judge how good it is, but this is further than I ever got the other times I've tried, and that probably speaks to the quality of this resource for an absolute beginner.

    2 votes
    1. [3]
      0d_billie
      Link Parent
      I tried WaniKani myself last year, and didn't get on with it. I wasn't a fan of the ways they try to help you remember the radicals in order to be able to tell a story about each character down...

      I tried WaniKani myself last year, and didn't get on with it. I wasn't a fan of the ways they try to help you remember the radicals in order to be able to tell a story about each character down the line. I get the reasoning behind it, but it really frustrated me that I had to remember "tsunami" for the radical that legitimately just means water.
      On the other hand, I was approaching this as someone who has a degree in the language, and wanted to use a service to keep my eye in with kanji and vocab, not a total beginner. I can absolutely see how WaniKani would benefit a complete novice. Spaced repetition is definitely the way to go.

      3 votes
      1. [2]
        sandaltree
        Link Parent
        You can also just define custom meanings or ignore the radicals altogether by creating synonyms like 'n' and just autopassing those. There is a note section to define custom mnemonics, too....

        You can also just define custom meanings or ignore the radicals altogether by creating synonyms like 'n' and just autopassing those. There is a note section to define custom mnemonics, too. Nowadays I don't use the mnemonics that much and just brute force the new kanji, unless the story is decent. Especially the pronunciation stories don't really work for me, or if the radical count exceeds 4. I just try to learn the shape subconsciously through the SRS.

        But yeah, for someone who has a degree it's probably not worth the frustration and slow progress.

        1. 0d_billie
          Link Parent
          Oh, I never discovered that! Might have stuck it out a bit longer if I'd have known that was an option, as I was just brute forcing the kanji as well - I didn't have the patience for their...

          Oh, I never discovered that! Might have stuck it out a bit longer if I'd have known that was an option, as I was just brute forcing the kanji as well - I didn't have the patience for their stories, and it's never how I've learned kanji before, apart from a very select few.

    2. sandaltree
      Link Parent
      Why not? I find his old blogpost at http://www.guidetojapanese.org/learn/you-cant-learn-kanji/ is pretty in line with WK philosophy of learning kanji. On another note, I find Tae Kim a good...

      along with WaniKani, which I think the author of this would not be pleased to hear

      Why not? I find his old blogpost at http://www.guidetojapanese.org/learn/you-cant-learn-kanji/ is pretty in line with WK philosophy of learning kanji.

      On another note, I find Tae Kim a good reference but would not use it as a structured learning tool. I tried reading it word by word, trying to master all the grammar points many times and always failed. Nowadays I hardly do any grammar study and just listen/read native content. Noticed a huge improvement when I just stopped drilling independent grammar points and just consumed more content.