SCHOOL SUPPLiES

Just like on the first day of school, you need to be prepared and have your school supplies. That’s why I put together a list of everything you will need to learn Japanese. I have personally use and recommend everything listed below.

NECESSARY NOW

Remembering the Kana: A Guide to Reading and Writing the Japanese Syllabaries
(not absolutely necessary, but nice to have, especially for beginners)

About the Book
Instead of trying to remember each character through repetition, you will learn how to use the basic components of each Kana, then using “imaginative memory” learn how to pronounce and write both Hiragana & Katakana with ease.

In six, twenty minute lessons, the Kana are introduced in such a way that an absolute beginner can learn to read and write them in a fraction of the time normally needed to do so.

About the Author
James W. Heisig is professor and permanent research fellow at the Nanzan Institute for Religion and Culture in Nagoya, Japan.

Sample of Remembering the Kana
Amazon Price: $15.00

Remembering the Kanji, Vol. 1: A Complete Course on How Not to Forget the Meaning and Writing of Japanese Characters

About the Book
Instead of trying to remember each character through repetition, you will learn how to use the basic components of each Kanji, then using “imaginative memory” learn how to write and distinguish 2042 kanji.

This book will teach you how to identify and break up Kanji in a systematic way. It will not teach you how to read them. (see Excerpts from the Introduction of ‘Remembering the Kanji’ by James Heisig to find out more about this book)

About the Author
James W. Heisig is professor and permanent research fellow at the Nanzan Institute for Religion and Culture in Nagoya, Japan.

Sample of Remembering the Kanji, Vol. 1
Amazon Price: $25.00

Japanesepod101.com

Japanesepod101 is a podcast service based in Tokyo. Each lesson uses several people from diverse cast of native speakers. The lessons are targeted toward everyone between total newbies and advanced speakers.

The podcasts are free via iTunes & Japanesepod101.com. However, I highly recommend signing up for the 12 month basic subscription, in order to get access to the transcripts for each podcast.

see my review of Japanesepod101 for more information

Lessons available as of 07.12.2009
Survival Phrases: 60 lessons
Newbie: 130 lessons
Beginner: 301 lessons
Lower Intermediate: 119 lessons
Intermediate: 85 lessons
Upper Intermediate: 61 lessons
Many more video & misc lessons

12-Month Basic Subscription: $60.00
(20% Student Discount Available)

Software & Websites
Anki is a SRS (Spaced Repetition) program that I recommend for studying Kanji (and sentences later).

Reviewing the Kanji is a website based on Remembering the Kanji. Has thousands of users and tens-of-thousands of stories to help you get through RtK.

rikaichan is a Firefox Add-on that will provides in-browser translations for Kana & Kanji.

Denshi Jisho (Electronic Dictionary) is one of the best online dictionaries available. Has extensive Kanji information and many example sentences.

Tangorin is very similar to Denshi Jisho, and uses the same source. (Not as good as Denshi in my opinion. Use it as a backup if Denshi is down)

Tae Kim’s Guide to Japanese Grammar “Explains Japanese grammar in a step-by-step process. It was created as a resource for those who want to learn Japanese grammar in a rational, intuitive way that makes sense in Japanese. The explanations are focused on how to make sense of the grammar not from English but from a Japanese point of view.”

Kanji Poster (Not actually necessary, but very nice to have.)

I bought mine from KanjiPoster.com. This poster is laminated and you can write on it with dry-erase markers. Also, the Kanji are in the order of RtK. (23×37 inches)

The people over at White Rabbit Press also designed a Kanji Wall Poster. This poster is very good quality, but not laminated. It is color coded by JLPT levels. (33×37 inches)

I think a Kanji poster is great to have. In my opinion, either poster is worth the price. Just be warned about the shipping. It ships in a tube and costs $10-12.

NECESSARY LATER

Kanji in Context: Reference Book | Workbook Vol.1 | Workbook Vol.2

Kanji in Context is a series of three books. The books are the joint work of the Inter-University Center for Japanese Language Studies and the Japan Times. The reference book includes all 1945 Jouyou kanji and most of the JLPT N1 vocabulary. The workbooks reviews the kanji from the reference book. Each review contains common compounds and phrases, followed by example sentences.

Reference Book – TheJapanShop: $48.00
Workbook Vol.1 – TheJapanShop: $33.00
Workbook Vol.2 – TheJapanShop: $24.00

Software & Websites
Tae Kim’s Guide to Japanese Grammar “Explains Japanese grammar in a step-by-step process. It was created as a resource for those who want to learn Japanese grammar in a rational, intuitive way that makes sense in Japanese. The explanations are focused on how to make sense of the grammar not from English but from a Japanese point of view.”

Japanese Conjugation Builder handy website that gives all possible conjugations for verbs & adjectives.

Dictionary (Absolutely necessary)

研究社新和英大辞典 Kenkyusha Shin Wa-Ei Daijiten (J-E / E-J / J-J)

三省堂大辞林 Sanseido Daijirin (J-J)

広辞苑 Koujiten (J-J)

Electronic Dictionary w/ Hand Writing Recognition (Recommended)

Canon Wordtank or $200-350

Casio Ex-word $300-400

Nintendo DS w/ Kanji Sonomama Rakubiki Jiten $200-250

iPhone /w Dictionary Software

PDA w/ Dictionary Software

I recommend an electronic dictionary because they come with a bunch of dictionaries, including the ones above. You can also search faster, copy, paste, and write kanji you don’t know by hand.

When you buy a dictionary make sure it has kanji hand-writing recognition, and make sure to shop around because these things are expensive.