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If I want to learn Japanese, I'm confused about where to start. There are so many sources, whether it's apps, articles, books, or even videos. Finally, I found this book, which seems, at least, to be able to give a general overview of the basics of the Japanese language. Put this book as an introduction, an acquaintance.
Five days later...
(... after reading for one hour a day...)
I read it but it was no use....
In short, before and after reading this book, my perception of the Japanese language didn't change:
DIFFICULT!!!
I went through many pages of this book without grasping a little. Maybe reading will be a little more effective if I read it very slowly, trying to understand one sentence first before moving on to the next sentence - instead of just flipping through it like reading a novel.
Maybe it will also be a little easier if this book is in Indonesian, the only language that I really master (although I don't guarantee a score of 10 if I do its review questions). The content of this book more or less compares the grammar of Japanese with the grammar of English, because it is indeed intended for speakers of the English language. Whereas perhaps there are some things in the Japanese language that are closer to the Indonesian language than the English language. The English language is explicit, clear, and specific, while both the Japanese language and the Indonesian language can be ambiguous. In fact, this book says, (more or less) translating the Japanese language into the English language is like a nightmare.
For example, in the English language, the subject must be stated. "Where are you going?" "I am going to eat." In a Japanese sentence, the subject doesn't have to be there. The same is true in the Indonesian language. At least, according to me as a native speaker, in speaking Indonesian, incomplete sentences are often used. "What do you want to do?" "I want to eat."
Another example is that there is consideration of politeness in both the Japanese language and the Indonesian language. For example, in the Indonesian language, it is more polite to ask, "What is his name?" rather than "What is your name?" although according to grammar, the second sentence is the correct one.
Another example is that there is no plural marker. In the English language, for example, to express an object that has a quantity of more than one, "s" is added. "Dog" becomes "dogs". In the Japanese language, there is nothing like that. The same is true in the Indonesian language, the plural marker doesn't have to be clear. For example, someone says, "There is a dog over there." The dog in question could be one, or it could turn out to be many.
In fact, because "dog" can mean a swear word, sometimes it is "polite" to say, "There is a gogok over there."
At least, this book suggests that maybe it's good to start with daily conversations - just like every child learns their mother tongue. Besides that, master hiragana and katakana first, and kanji later.
Anyway, overall, with this book, I haven't been successfully convinced to learn the Japanese language, hahahaha.
Five days later...
(... after reading for one hour a day...)
I read it but it was no use....
In short, before and after reading this book, my perception of the Japanese language didn't change:
DIFFICULT!!!
I went through many pages of this book without grasping a little. Maybe reading will be a little more effective if I read it very slowly, trying to understand one sentence first before moving on to the next sentence - instead of just flipping through it like reading a novel.
Maybe it will also be a little easier if this book is in Indonesian, the only language that I really master (although I don't guarantee a score of 10 if I do its review questions). The content of this book more or less compares the grammar of Japanese with the grammar of English, because it is indeed intended for speakers of the English language. Whereas perhaps there are some things in the Japanese language that are closer to the Indonesian language than the English language. The English language is explicit, clear, and specific, while both the Japanese language and the Indonesian language can be ambiguous. In fact, this book says, (more or less) translating the Japanese language into the English language is like a nightmare.
For example, in the English language, the subject must be stated. "Where are you going?" "I am going to eat." In a Japanese sentence, the subject doesn't have to be there. The same is true in the Indonesian language. At least, according to me as a native speaker, in speaking Indonesian, incomplete sentences are often used. "What do you want to do?" "I want to eat."
Another example is that there is consideration of politeness in both the Japanese language and the Indonesian language. For example, in the Indonesian language, it is more polite to ask, "What is his name?" rather than "What is your name?" although according to grammar, the second sentence is the correct one.
Another example is that there is no plural marker. In the English language, for example, to express an object that has a quantity of more than one, "s" is added. "Dog" becomes "dogs". In the Japanese language, there is nothing like that. The same is true in the Indonesian language, the plural marker doesn't have to be clear. For example, someone says, "There is a dog over there." The dog in question could be one, or it could turn out to be many.
In fact, because "dog" can mean a swear word, sometimes it is "polite" to say, "There is a gogok over there."
At least, this book suggests that maybe it's good to start with daily conversations - just like every child learns their mother tongue. Besides that, master hiragana and katakana first, and kanji later.
Anyway, overall, with this book, I haven't been successfully convinced to learn the Japanese language, hahahaha.
