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From: edwards@uwmacc.UUCP (mark edwards)
Newsgroups: net.nlang
Subject: Re: Request for Beginning Japanese Text
Message-ID: <1791@uwmacc.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 12-Dec-85 18:33:34 EST
Article-I.D.: uwmacc.1791
Posted: Thu Dec 12 18:33:34 1985
Date-Received: Sun, 15-Dec-85 06:51:48 EST
Reply-To: edwards@uwmacc.UUCP (mark edwards)
Organization: UWisconsin-Madison Academic Comp Center
Lines: 38
Keywords: Do you know what you are getting into ?


 The best way to learn Japanese is to go to Japan. You can not
 divorce the Japanese culture from the langauge. You can't learn
 levels of politeness from a book, even if all the words are
 there.

 The first year course at UW - Madison uses a book published by
 the Japan Times ( I think the name is BEGINNING JAPANESE ).

 The second year course uses the grey set published by Havard Press
 or something like that. Its written by Hibbet and Saka??.

 3 and 4 year uses no main text book but many short stories.

 Best advice is quit while your ahead! I took the last 2 1/2 years
 here. The work is equal to any of my senior level computer science
 classes ( Compilers, Operating Systems ....).

 In the people who lasted until the 4 year (2 from the original
 1st year course) all execpt one had been to Japan and he went
 during the 4th year.

 You can learn Spanish or French in a fraction of the time 
 necessary for Japanese.

 You can't learn Japanese without learning their Chinese characters.
 There are 2000 general educational characters, with another 5,000
 others.

 A teacher of Japanese once said to friend of mine who took a semester
 of Japanese literature which required 3 years of Japanese (he had
 four years of Japanese), " You have a good start now. Don't quit".

 Where as I think you probably could learn Spanish from a book, I 
 think a native or a fluent speaking person in the language is
 necessary to learn Japanese. (The profs here are Japanese Nationals)

 Good Luck.