As indicated in my last post, after struggling with the traditional textbook approach, I’ve decided to scrap everything and start afresh. I thought hard about what I wanted from a textbook when I first started learning Japanese and came to the conclusion that I didn’t want any babying or hand-holding. If my target audience can learn trigonometry and calculus, they should certainly be able to handle Hiragana and Katakana without having it spoon-feed to them one lesson at a time. So with that, I came up with the following introduction.<\/p>\n
\nWho is this textbook for?<\/h4>\n
The intended audience of this textbook is for adult English speakers from High School level and beyond. It is intended to be compatible with a classroom format as well as for self-learners. However, for reasons explained in the next section, a conversation partner or a way to interact regularly with someone who speaks Japanese is highly recommended.<\/p>\n
How does this textbook work?<\/h4>\n
This textbook is guided by certain principles for learning any language and some specific to learning Japanese. Based on my own experiences and from observing others, it is my belief that using the language in each aspect of reading, writing, speaking, and listening is the only way to truly master it. In addition, it must be practiced just as it\u2019s used in real life in order for the skills to transfer into the real world.<\/p>\n
However, in the case of Japanese, there is a large amount of new concepts and writing systems that must be mastered before people new to the language can begin to learn real Japanese. This is particularly true for English speakers with no background with Chinese characters or particle-based grammar. Therefore, there is a fairly large amount of background material in the beginning of this textbook to acquaint the new learner to the fundamental aspects of Japanese before starting with the actual lessons.<\/p>\n
It is my opinion that consolidating the background material in the beginning makes for a more comprehensive approach for adult learners as compared to spreading it out through the lessons all the while using crippled and unnatural Japanese until the key concepts can be adequately explained.<\/p>\n
The basic approach of this textbook can be summarized in the following steps:<\/p>\n
\n
- Get a rough idea of the general concept<\/li>\n
- Comprehend via input in Japanese with English translations (both audio and written)<\/li>\n
- Practice output with writing and conversation exercises<\/li>\n
- Get output checked and corrected for further expansion<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
The word \u201crough\u201d in the first step is very important here, especially for the background material. While the first section might seem quite extensive, the goal is to get only a general idea and fine-tune it by jumping in the language. So don’t worry about fully comprehending the first section before starting the lessons. If you continuously refer back as you learn the language, you will eventually learn it all through practice.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
In the first section, I intend to cover Hiragana, Katakana, and Kanji similar to the beginning of my grammar guide. The only difference is more extensive practice exercises and plenty of audio. The Kanji section will be about how Kanji works and how to study it.<\/p>\n
As for grammar, While I won’t go over specific grammar or conjugations until the lessons, I will provide a broad overview. I intend to cover what particles are, classifications of parts of speech, general sentence structure, and when to use the various politeness levels.<\/p>\n
My first dialogue<\/h3>\n
I also spent a lot of time really thinking about the first dialogue. This dialogue was very important to me because I think it sets the tone for the rest of the book. And as I mentioned in my last post, I wanted to get the reader hooked<\/i> on Japanese from the very beginning. After a great deal of thought, here’s what I came up with. (Any resemblance to persons fictional or real is purely coincidental.)<\/p>\n
\u5148\u751f\uff1a\u3000 \u3053\u308c\u306f\u3001\u672c\u3067\u3059\u304b\uff1f
\n\u30af\u30e9\u30b9\uff1a\u3000\u3044\u3044\u3048\u3001\u672c\u3058\u3083\u3042\u308a\u307e\u305b\u3093\u3002\u305d\u308c\u306f\u3001\u30da\u30f3\u3067\u3059\u3002<\/p>\n\u30ad\u30e0\uff1a\u3000\u3053\u306e\u30af\u30e9\u30b9\u306f\u3001\u7c21\u5358\u3058\u3083\u306a\u3044\uff1f
\n\u30b9\u30df\u30b9\uff1a \u79c1\u306f\u3001\u307e\u3060\u96e3\u3057\u3044\u3088\u3002
\n\u30ad\u30e0\uff1a\u3000\u5168\u7136\u96e3\u3057\u304f\u306a\u3044\u3088\u3002
\n\u30b9\u30df\u30b9\uff1a \u306f\u3044\u3001\u306f\u3044\u3002<\/p>\n\u5148\u751f\uff1a\u3000\u30ad\u30e0\u3055\u3093\uff01
\n\u30ad\u30e0\uff1a\u3000\u306f\u3044\uff01
\n\u5148\u751f\uff1a\u3000\u3053\u308c\u306f\u3001\u306a\u3093\u3067\u3059\u304b\uff1f
\n\u30ad\u30e0\uff1a\u3000\u3048\u3048\u3068\u30fb\u30fb\u30fb\u3001\u7d19\u3067\u3059\u304b\uff1f
\n\u5148\u751f\uff1a\u3000\u306f\u3044\u3001\u305d\u3046\u3067\u3059\u3002\u306a\u3093\u306e\u7d19\u3067\u3059\u304b\uff1f
\n\u30ad\u30e0\uff1a\u3000\u30fb\u30fb\u30fb\u306f\u3044\uff1f
\n\u5148\u751f\uff1a\u3000\u3053\u306e\u7d19\u306f\u3001\u30ad\u30e0\u3055\u3093\u306e\u7279\u5225\u306a\u5bbf\u984c\u3067\u3059\u3002
\n\u30ad\u30e0\uff1a\u3000\u306a\u3093\u3067\u3059\u304b\uff1f<\/p><\/blockquote>\nMy goal in this dialogue was to cover the copula (or whatever you want to call it) and the negative tense for nouns and adjectives. I also wanted to have a good mix of polite and casual speech to show how each is used respective to the social position of the characters. I was really tempted to have Kim say \u300c\u308f\u304b\u308a\u307e\u305b\u3093\u300d in his second-to-last line but decided to hold off on negative tenses for verbs for now. I also wanted to write \u300c\u30ad\u30e0\u3055\u3093\u3060\u3051<\/em>\u306e\u7279\u5225\u306a\u5bbf\u984c\u3067\u3059\u3002\u300d but decided that was too advanced. See how hard this is? Actually, what I really<\/em> wanted to write was \u300c\u3053\u306e\u6388\u696d\u306f\u3001\u30ad\u30e0\u3055\u3093\u306b\u3068\u3063\u3066\u7c21\u5358\u3059\u304e\u308b\u3088\u3046\u306a\u306e\u3067\u3001\u30ad\u30e0\u3055\u3093\u3060\u3051\u306e\u7279\u5225\u306a\u5bbf\u984c\u3092\u4f5c\u308a\u307e\u3057\u305f\u3002\u3055\u3041\u3001\u559c\u3093\u3067\u304f\u3060\u3055\u3044\uff01\u304a\u307b\u307b\u307b\u307b\uff01\u300d<\/p>\n
Personally, I think the best part of this dialogue is when Smith says, \u300c\u79c1\u306f\u3001\u307e\u3060\u96e3\u3057\u3044\u3088\u3002\u300d because it really shows that the topic particle is not the “subject” as we define it in English. Obviously, Smith is not saying she’s difficult since that makes no sense.<\/p>\n
So that’s my first dialogue. It will, of course, have an English translation and a non-Kanji version for those who want to worry about the Kanji later. What do you think? I’m pretty happy with it but there will be lots more to come. Even though you really can’t tell yet, I already have an idea of what the various characters are like in my mind. I hope you will all eventually find out as I develop the story and finish the textbook!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
As indicated in my last post, after struggling with the traditional textbook approach, I’ve decided to scrap everything and start afresh. I thought hard about what I wanted from a textbook when I first started learning Japanese and came to … Continue reading