Learning a language (Japanese) for my son

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Blackhawk
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Learning a language (Japanese) for my son

Post by Blackhawk »

My eldest, who is 18, graduated high school this year (honors diploma + honor roll.) Due to his autism he's still several years away from being able to do college. The plan was to get him a part-time job to give him some real-world experience and, honestly, a nudge toward growing up. Toward those ends, we got him enrolled in several different programs for getting the disabled into the workforce. The problem is that the virus has put all of those programs on hold, and he really needs them to move forward.

In a couple of weeks his brother (16) returns to school. He'll be home all day, and we're going to make sure that he uses at least part of the time productively. He won't be in school, won't be in college, and won't be working, so he's going to spend a couple of hours per day on various things. Cleaning, some exercise, and some study. For the study, we're leveraging what he already loves. He's currently following an online coding course (he's interested in computer science - possibly programming.)

He's also fond of Japan (thanks, Nintendo), and is interested in studying Japanese. It won't be his first language (he has three years of high school Spanish with straight As under his belt.)

What I'm looking for is a good way to get him started. It would be best if it was AV, not just books, and if it was guided (a series of lessons) rather than just a self-paced type approach, as he's a little lacking when it comes to self-motivation. It would also be best if it didn't cost hundreds of dollars (IE - it can't cost a lot or we can't do it.) It might also be best if it didn't rely on speech recognition for progress, as he has a noticeable speech impediment that might make it frustrating.

Any help?
(˙pǝsɹǝʌǝɹ uǝǝq sɐɥ ʎʇıʌɐɹƃ ʃɐuosɹǝd ʎW)
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Isgrimnur
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Learning a language (Japanese) for my son

Post by Isgrimnur »

Duolingo phone app.
It's almost as if people are the problem.
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dbt1949
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Re: Learning a language (Japanese) for my son

Post by dbt1949 »

Had a friend of mine learn Japanese. She lived in San Francisco and worked in building design. It seems, at least at the time, that the Japanese were really interested in building designs in the area.
Anyrate just shows there are opportunities out there for people who know Japanese.
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gilraen
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Re: Learning a language (Japanese) for my son

Post by gilraen »

He can get started with Human Japanese. I paid $10 for the app several years back, but they have a Windows version that's about $20, I think. Everyone learns languages differently. If nothing else, it will give him an idea if he would do better with more videos, or more books, or more vocabulary training, and you can go from there.
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Re: Learning a language (Japanese) for my son

Post by Isgrimnur »

And then you can take some field trips!


http://japanindiana.org/english/index.html
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Blackhawk
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Re: Learning a language (Japanese) for my son

Post by Blackhawk »

FWIW, he doesn't have a phone, and his tablet went sideways a couple of years ago. He'd likely be working from a Windows laptop.
(˙pǝsɹǝʌǝɹ uǝǝq sɐɥ ʎʇıʌɐɹƃ ʃɐuosɹǝd ʎW)
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Anonymous Bosch
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Re: Learning a language (Japanese) for my son

Post by Anonymous Bosch »

Here's a useful list of free language-learning sites you can choose from.
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hitbyambulance
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Re: Learning a language (Japanese) for my son

Post by hitbyambulance »

probably would be remiss to not mention https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/7 ... e_Trilogy/
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wonderpug
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Re: Learning a language (Japanese) for my son

Post by wonderpug »

Look into the Pimsleur audio program and let me know if it seems like a good fit for him. If I can find them, I have the full set (units 1-3) on CD somewhere and I’d be happy to send them to you. I really really liked the Pimsleur approach. I completed unit 1 and half of unit 2 before traveling to Japan, and with an electronic dictionary to help fill in vocabulary I was able to navigate the country and have some awesome conversations with locals.

I also highly recommend “Remembering the Hiragana” (book) for learning the two phoneme-based alphabets. It can be done in as a little as a week or two and after learning the katakana he’ll immediately be able to read a ton of things written in Japanese, since a lot of words are actually just English loan words written in a Japanese alphabet. (The third type of alphabet, kanji, is the big symbol based one similar to Chinese characters. That’s a much longer journey to learn.)
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Re: Learning a language (Japanese) for my son

Post by Hipolito »

Ohayo! (Actually you're in Indiana but that's close enough.)

My friend who's studied Japanese for years and has been to the country a few times suggests these options:
- iTalki one-on-one tutoring. From a quick check, classes range from $7.00 to $20.00 an hour.
- Mango, $7.99/mo for a single language or $17.99/mo for all their languages (though I don't know if Japanese is one of their single-language options, and I don't know whether it can be used on Windows or requires a smartphone).
- A local Japan-American society may offer online classes. The Japan-American Society of Chicago does, but their summer term already began and classes are about $200.
- Human Japanese as already mentioned
- Local library may have Japanese learning CDs like Pimsleur or Living Language, or a book called Total Japanese.
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Re: Learning a language (Japanese) for my son

Post by Kasey Chang »

I think there was a Japanese learning "battle" game bundle on Fanantical somewhere. It's even occasionally on sale for under 10.

EDIT: Actually, that's the same trilogy that hitbyambulance mentioned in his post.
Last edited by Kasey Chang on Fri Jul 24, 2020 1:36 am, edited 1 time in total.
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wonderpug
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Re: Learning a language (Japanese) for my son

Post by wonderpug »

wonderpug wrote: Thu Jul 23, 2020 12:14 pm Look into the Pimsleur audio program and let me know if it seems like a good fit for him. If I can find them, I have the full set (units 1-3) on CD somewhere and I’d be happy to send them to you
FYI I found the set, so if you think it's a good fit just holler and I'll send it over. It looks like they've modernized their content since I bought these CDs, so if you want your son to try Pimsleur out there's a 7 day free trial of their modern audio-only offering.
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Blackhawk
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Re: Learning a language (Japanese) for my son

Post by Blackhawk »

Thanks for all the tips! I'm looking into some of these, and can hopefully find something that fits. Some of the best reviewed options out there seem to be Android-only apps, which sucks.
(˙pǝsɹǝʌǝɹ uǝǝq sɐɥ ʎʇıʌɐɹƃ ʃɐuosɹǝd ʎW)
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Re: Learning a language (Japanese) for my son

Post by hitbyambulance »

Kasey Chang wrote: Thu Jul 23, 2020 9:48 pm I think there was a Japanese learning "battle" game bundle on Fanantical somewhere. It's even occasionally on sale for under 10.

EDIT: Actually, that's the same trilogy that hitbyambulance mentioned in his post.
and it's in this bundle for $4

https://www.fanatical.com/en/bundle/ver ... e-bundle-3
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Blackhawk
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Re: Learning a language (Japanese) for my son

Post by Blackhawk »

Thanks! It turns out that I already bought that for him a year or so ago (I don't think I even told him at the time) to put aside for when it was needed.
(˙pǝsɹǝʌǝɹ uǝǝq sɐɥ ʎʇıʌɐɹƃ ʃɐuosɹǝd ʎW)
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