Anybody here wants to teach Japanese?

[fun2novel]

Is there anybody here who knows Japanese and would like to teach it?

I have a few interesting ideas to make it fun for those who want to teach and for those who want to learn.

The idea is to teach Japanese through visual novels. By teaching you will learn and understand Japanese even better, as they say the best way to learn is to teach.

So anybody interested?

[Ragnar Matryoshka]

You should try this thread. lol

I learned japanese from this.

but i'm too lazy to studying alone, so i take Japanese courses right now.

But if you want to teach me, i would like to learn xD

I'm interested (I won't teach, I can't teach japanese at all)

[fun2novel]

I wish I could teach, but then I will teach you all the wrong things, lol.

I was thinking maybe somebody here would be interested to do it.

[JeMhUnTeR]

This might help.

Also, if you don't mind having a drunk teacher, check out namasensei's http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9987A659670D60E0. I heard it's a good tutorial (I'm still downloading it)

Let's all try to study Japanese together ) I only know hiragana atm, and I stopped studying since a few weeks ago 8-)

[fun2novel]

Thank you very much for your help guys.

However I have the impression that you misunderstand what I mean. I am not looking to study Japanese with what is already available, I can do that on my own. I am talking here about a new way of learning. Learning by doing something you like with someone who can guide you with each step.

For example let's say the teacher plays a visual novel, for example you as a student chose oh I don't know, let's say Kannon. The teacher plays Kannon (through streaming or some other method) and goes line by line explaining what each part of the sentence means and how the grammar works.

That is what I'm looking for. I would have done it myself but I can only explain very simple sentences, so we needed someone who is on a more higher level.

[Fujimoto Takashi]

I would be interested in learning japanese, If you guys could find new, fun ways to teach it then that would be a huge plus for me! I tried studying alone...It didnt work out that well... but i still havent given up.

[Mephisto]

I think the question is can anyone here teach japanese.

It's a pretty big time commitment, and you need to be pretty knowledgeable to teach someone else

[Rairu-kun]

^ I agree. I think what your looking for is a pen-pal. I used to have one. Me and her would try to talk to each other in our native language and I learned a bit. But she started going to college and we couldn't talk all too much. But yea having a pen-pal is basically like having a teacher, thing is you'll be doing some English teaching in exchange. Finding a dedicated pen pal is the hard part,but keep looking and I'm sure you'll find someone.

[zhurai]

penpals? you could also technically use sites like conversationexchange or something

[Kuky_nekoi]

Well, in the 2D world it's kinda easy...

But you know, the 3D world isn't like that... it's kinda hard to find one, and maybe (like me) many of us are too shy to try...

xdD

I've just remembered some "let's learn japanese by writing" thread or something like that in hf... or other forum that I can't remember.

[JeMhUnTeR]

I think the question is can anyone here teach japanese.

It's a pretty big time commitment, and you need to be pretty knowledgeable to teach someone else

exactly. I don't think it's easy to find someone good with japanese on a forum about translated japanese visual novels.

Well, in the 2D world it's kinda easy...

But you know, the 3D world isn't like that... it's kinda hard to find one, and maybe (like me) many of us are too shy to try...

xdD

I've just remembered some "let's learn japanese by writing" thread or something like that in hf... or other forum that I can't remember.

lol

[zoom909]

There was a magazine called Mangajin that would do what you're describing, with manga. They would reprint a chapter of a manga inside the magazine. On the opposite page, they would show each line number with a Romanized sentence, a word-for-word translation in English with grammar markup, and finally a real English translation. It was a helpful way to get started reading manga.

So if it worked for manga, it should work for VNs. You could even stick the explanation inside the VN itself. After you see the Japanese sentence, you click the button and see the explanation, and then you see the English sentence. Assuming anyone ever had the time to do something like that.

One thing about Mangajin though. It would be incomprehensible to someone who didn't know any Japanese at all. They assumed you had already read your basic textbook, and needed some help to get started on reading something "real".

[Kagomeko]

~_~ Well, I'm currently unemployed, so I might try the teaching part, but how do you exactly see this in practice? I did pass that N2 thing.

Oh, and explaining a VN text line--by-line will probably be extremely boring and you can lose track of the story in the meantime. You can't immerse yourself like that.

[fun2novel]

It's not going to be boring, I've tried that with someone already. All we need to do is choose a game with both can enjoy.

[Fujimoto Takashi]

~_~ Well, I'm currently unemployed, so I might try the teaching part, but how do you exactly see this in practice? I did pass that N2 thing.

Oh, and explaining a VN text line--by-line will probably be extremely boring and you can lose track of the story in the meantime. You can't immerse yourself like that.

He got a point...line by line would take forever and it would be somewhat boring, unless the people involved were messing around and having fun from time to time, In the end it all depends on the mood.

[RusAnon]

For example let's say the teacher plays a visual novel, for example you as a student chose oh I don't know, let's say Kannon. The teacher plays Kannon (through streaming or some other method) and goes line by line explaining what each part of the sentence means and how the grammar works.

That is what I'm looking for. I would have done it myself but I can only explain very simple sentences, so we needed someone who is on a more higher level.

Oh, I actually had similar thoughts recently, but with idea to make it inside game.

So it would show you jp string (optionally with furigana/romaji), then it would show you literal word by word translation, and then literature translation. I was thinking about taking apart some already translated VN, but yeah, someone with GOOD knowledge of japanese is still needed for this kind of project.

[Tay]

Yeah, I can't see this being a great way to LEARN Japanese, and I would take a LOT of work to build a curriculum. What I could see, however, is a decent reader streaming a VN and commenting on vocab and grammar. That could be awesome. Line-by-line, though, gets brutal after 30-40 minutes (from experience with Russian).

[fun2novel]

It might not be a great way to learn for someone who is just starting, but those who already know quite a bit and just need some guidance it's a good way to learn.

[Tay]

It might not be a great way to learn for someone who is just starting, but those who already know quite a bit and just need some guidance it's a good way to learn.

Oh, sure, absolutely. Yet, if you're at a place where you can hold your own, read on your own, and just need grammar/vocab colloquial usage instruction, it's best to explore the language in the wild and consult advanced language guides. Russian learners, for example, fall into that trap all the time. Once an advanced speaker and reader, it's important to do your own field research. It's difficult to make traditional learning stick at that point.

This would be cool, if you find someone to do it!

[garejei]

Games and VNs are amazing supplements, but they are not for beginners. Still, they're a fun way of learning new vocab and idioms and increasing your reading speed/comprehension. I strongly recommend them once you feel you're up to it.

Same goes for penpals. You should basically find a penpal if you want to use what you already know. I used Interpals myself and got some great practice out of talking to some Japanese people I met there. It's an extremely good way of seeing how Japanese is actually used by natives. Give it a shot once you're confident enough in your written skills. Oh and no need to be shy, just find a person with similar interests and proceed to geek out. Hell I met a Japanese girl who was hardcore into the same games I myself am a fan of (Tales series, Persona 3-4, etc.) so we had stuff to talk about right off the bat. It's a way to talk to cool people and practice at the same time.

Oh and picking out lines/scenes in a VN to illustrate something could be interesting, I can see it working to a certain extent. But then comes the hassle of finding a good VN and good dialogue that is actually useful in illustrating a certain piece of grammar, and not just random fluff. If I ever did something like this, I wouldn't make a video, though. Just screenshots + written commentary. That should be more than enough.

[fun2novel]

you know a screen shots let's play is not a bad idea actually.