Learning Katakana

[Riqz85]

Has anyone learned Katakana off a website or something free anyway?

I've read somewhere (probably on these forums) that most games use katakana to use english words, and you're pretty well off if you can understand them.

Does anyone have any reccomendation on where and with what to start learning? I've seen the katakana "alphabet" but would like to know how you guys learned it and with what method?

Maybe writing down the symbols and saying it out loud, maybe using a book, mp3's or as above a website.

All info is much appreciated thanks!

[Flake]

Do you already know Hiragana? Because learning Katakana on its own is going to be pretty rough, especially if you don't know the more 'traditional' Japanese.

Go to a used book store. More often than not, you can find super cheap foreign language primers on the clearance section. Look for one with activities and a lot of practice sections.

In learning a language, 'doing' is the only way to become proficient.

[Riqz85]

Yeah i have no knowledge of japanese except what i learned watching 400+ one piece episodes with english subtitles.

I will grab a book asap though yes and start practicing. Although how limiting is teaching yourself a language? I am Italian and learned all the languages i know when i was small (Italian English and French), but never actually managed to learnn german from scratch.

I did hate German though. Learning Japanese before I die is definetly on my big to do list and i think it's time to start.

[Flake]

You'll never actually learn Japanese unless you surround yourself with Japanese speakers, pay for an immersion class, or are some kind of prodigy.

You can learn a little on your own though. Maybe you'll like it enough to go the distance and get the training it actually takes.

Just for reference though, learning Katakana on its own is kind of a weird idea. Hiragana and Katakana are equally important in written japanese.

[Riqz85]

I heard Katakana and Hiragana are pretty similar.

And I wanted to learn Katakana to start off with because most videogame entries are english words translated into Katakana.

So with a basic understanding of Katakana I can figure out the menu options in Japanese games?

Am I wrong in thinking that?

[jfrost]

They're not similar. Symbols represent the same sounds, but are written quite differently.

[Breetai]

Just print out a katakana (heck, the whole kana (katakana/Hiragana) chart and use it as a reference when playing games. Sound EVERYTHING you can out. Spend 20-30 minutes a day writing and sound out the characters. Before long, you'll be able to write/sound the characters without looking and read kana on your games.

It's not rocket science, it's just learning a new alphabet and sounding things out. You did this in kindergarten and the first few grades of elementary school with the alphabet. Just practice and you'll get it.

So with a basic understanding of Katakana I can figure out the menu options in Japanese games?

Pretty much. You won't get every menu option, but you'll be able to read a lot of it.

[Anayo]

Memorize these for free

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katakana
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiragana



Memorize these after paying for them.




Memorize the following thru a mix of paying and using free websites.


http://ajaxime.chasen.org/
http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~jwb/cgi-bin/

[lisalover1]

Learning the Katakana will definitely help with import games [Enough to get you through the menus of a simple arcade port], but there's no substitute for learning real Japanese. If you're really serious about it, take a class or something. I'm taking a college class alongside my high school classes for Japanese; I'll be starting my 2nd year of them [3rd semester] this fall. I can already somewhat understand speech in Japanese games, or at least get the general idea of what's going on. Also, learning Hiragana won't help with anything unless you know words in Japanese.

[fingersmaloy]

Dude, all you need is a kana chart. I taught myself Japanese out of a textbook for an entire year before ever taking any classes, and it was enough of a head start to ensure that I learned almost nothing new in my first two years of high school Japanese. Not saying that works for everyone, but if you just want to learn katakana, it shouldn't take more than a few weeks, tops.