Eyes on Final Fantasy Forums > Reference > Study Hall > How long does it take to learn Japanese "by yourself"?

[Peter_20]

I haven't taken any lessons whatsoever, and any Japanese knowledge of mine has been taken from the Internet.
I spend two or so hours a week on this; anyway, I've been at it for six weeks now, and I've noticed some improvements; at least I can read and understand small parts of the Japanese video game dialogues. XD

How long will this take?
I mean, how long will I have to stay patient?

[Araciel]

I don't know anything about japanese, but when you said 'stay patient' I just thought of something. When I lived in Quebec, I made no real effort to learn French, and though I was bombarded by it whenever I left the house, at home it was all English all the time.

You are clearly making an active effort, but remember, children generally aren't proficient with a language until at least their fifth year. While I'm not comparing you to a five-year-old, it could mean you have a long way to go. Maybe it'll take you less time to become fluent because your brain is more developed than a child's, or maybe longer because not only is there one (or more) language already in there, but all kinds of other information.

As long as you're making a good effort, you should learn a lot though

Good luck!

GANBATTE (or somesuch...hope i didn't just swear)

[JKTrix]

I've been casually learning Japanese (from the internet as well, and a couple of books) for a couple of years. And by casual I mean 'when I feel like it', not any sort of set program. By now I know enough to survive a vacation in Japan (which I did last year), but I wouldn't be able to hold a substantial conversation with anyone for long before asking if they could speak English.

I know in High School I was learning French, and I did that for 5 years. I think by my 3rd year I was able to make some fairly complex sentences, and by 5th year I was pretty good. Japanese is different from French so it's not too good of a comparison, but I can expect probably around 3 years for me to be comfortable with the language. If I were studying it properly.

I think once you get the fundamentals down, it all boils down to your vocabulary. Vocabulary is the hardest part for me, simply because there are so many words :P Getting sentence structure correct and knowing when to use e instead of de and stuff like that is hard enough, but once you get it it's solid. Vocabulary is a constant stream of new info.

I'd say keep up with it 'till you get bored. Whether it's next week or next decade :P I'm sure you learn new things about English once in a while (if English isn't your 1st language) even if you don't take English lessons anymore, so as you expose yourself to more of the language you will pick up more and more.

I'm actually interested the JET Programme where you live and work in Japan for a year or so. They teach you Japanese as well. I just have to get a Bachelor's degree before my passport expires...

[Jimsour]

Take lessons. Honestly.

I tried to learn it without lessons untill I found my university was doing lessons. Puts everything into context.

[NeoTifa]

it would probably take a while. i learned what german and russian (not very much at all) on my own, and it takes patience and constant environment. i would always listen to german bands (like rammstein and megahertz and such) to immurse myself in it, and if you can be around it all the time, it makes it easier. like spanish, which im taking now, i can just walk out the door and be surrounded by it :P (stupid retards blaring latino music until 3 am!!! grrrr) and my bf's familia married into mexicans from l.a. (:\ double no-no spanglish PLUS l.a. accent.)

in short, surround yourself in the language and culture and you will learn faster

edit: and learning it with a friend helps you guys learn faster and you teach each other. me and amber learned together

[Chaos Is the Key]

Without even one book, and just leanring from the internet, I'd say it's near impossible to learn it well enough to even use basically, and if you're talking about learning it fluently by yourself, it'll never happen, at 2 hours a week, it'd probably take a year or two for you to get well enough to not call someone some sort of insulting name, or say something that makes no sense.

[Peter_20]

Originally Posted by Chaos Is the Key ^

at 2 hours a week, it'd probably take a year or two for you to get well enough to not call someone some sort of insulting name, or say something that makes no sense.

lol, sounds promising. XD

[Miriel]

If you're hardcore, I supposed you can learn enough of it to get by in a few months.

That's if you're seriously hardcore.

I had a travel guide in Mexico who spoke like 5 different languages. He said he was in the process of learning Chinese so that he could go live there for awhile. I asked him how he was doing it and he said that he had put Chinese characters all over his room, the walls, the ceiling, everywhere. So that from the moment he woke up to the minute he went to sleep, he would be immersed in Chinese.

Isn't that nuts? I think it's nuts.

But if you have the determination, you could learn anything fairly quickly.

Also, I think this would be better for the Study Hall. *kicks*