Topic by Haramir 2015-04-06 17:16:40

  • From: Brazil
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Hello folks. As said in the topic's name, I'm looking for some accessible way to learn japanese. I have tryed to talk to a few teachers here in Brazil, but most of them don't know how to teach me due to the differences in our alphabet. I really don't mind to learn japanese from an english teacher. Even though english is not my first language, I know enough to keep me going. Any tips and/or suggestions of metods, teachers, etc, will be very welcomed.
Best regards, Haramir.

The true blind is the one who refuses to see.

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Reply by CAE_Jones 2015-04-06 19:38:37

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I bought a Listen and Learn Japanese package (from EPCOT of all places), which included a workbook but I just used the cassettes.
Then I supplemented it with this website:
http://www.sf.airnet.ne.jp/~ts/japanese/
It was good at the time, in that I didn't have a way of reading Japanese text, but it uses graphics with alt tags. It's very basic, but it provided enough vocabulary for me to fill up a few note cards to study at random.
I mostly use this online dictionary to look up individual words or idioms:
http://rut.org/cgi-bin/j-e/dict
(Which reminds me that I was going to look up some things over the weekend and forgot...)

But all of these were back when getting Japanese support out of a screen reader was tricky if you couldn't already read Japanese, so there are probably better resources available now.

看過來!
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    George... Don't do that.

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Reply by Haramir 2015-04-06 19:44:25

  • From: Brazil
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Thanks Cae, I'll surely take a look. I'm currently using protalker, which helps alot with pronunciation and stuff like this, also, it makes NVDA able to read japanese symbols properly.
Best regards, Haramir.

The true blind is the one who refuses to see.

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Reply by assault_freak 2015-04-06 23:08:17

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Not sure why brazilian teachers would find it difficult to teach you because of the alphabet... Japanese braille exists as well, and it isn't too hard to learn though I haven't tried mastering it myself yet. I speak it much more than I write it.

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Reply by Haramir 2015-04-07 03:34:23

  • From: Brazil
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Hello there. Yeah, I'm aware that there is braille in Japan, though I have no idea of how it works. I really like many aspects of being brasilian, honestly. But the accessibility problems here keeps me wanting to go live somewhere else.
Best regards, Haramir.

The true blind is the one who refuses to see.

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Reply by assault_freak 2015-04-07 05:23:08

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Many countries have that isue. I count myself very lucky to live where I do. Good luck finding Japanese classes or websites... if you have any questions feel free to ask and I'd be glad to help.

Discord: clemchowder633

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Reply by queenslight 2015-04-07 10:25:04

  • From: Denver, Colorado
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Not a japanese clas exactly, though it is a "podcast":
http://learnjapanesepod.com/

queenslight's Website

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Reply by Haramir 2015-04-07 13:36:03

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Thanks dude, I really appreciate all this stuff.
Best regards, Haramir.

The true blind is the one who refuses to see.

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Reply by queenslight 2015-04-07 14:32:49

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Anytime!
smile

queenslight's Website

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Reply by kaigoku 2015-04-08 20:42:29

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Also, for Japanese braille, check this article out on Wikipedia. It has a comprehensive table of symbols that correspond to one of the Japanese alphabets.
Article here.
As you get further into your studies of the language, you will discover that as far as the Latin-based alphabet, also known as Romaji, is concerned, Japanese is rather simple in that it is a phoenetic language.
I would also be more than happy to assist you with any questions you may have about speaking, writing, reading, etc in Japanese. My favorite thing to do is write Japanese text on IOS devices. the keyboards are straightforward and nice to use.

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Reply by assault_freak 2015-04-08 22:43:34

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kaigoku, I'm curious... how do you find the japanese keyboards on IOS? I haven't used it all that often, but how do you find selecting Kanji and the like? Assuming you use voiceover.

Also, a small correction... Japanese braille doesn't corespond technically only to one alphabet... where Japanese braille is concerned, there is only one writing system, since there's no way to braille Kanji and it's all based on hiragana, which technically means that both hiragana and katakana are included in Japanese braille without distinction. Be interesting to chat sometime!

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Reply by Haramir 2015-04-09 02:00:13

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Kaigoku, thank you very much!
Best regards, Haramir.

The true blind is the one who refuses to see.

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Reply by kaigoku 2015-04-09 03:08:44

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Assault_freak, I know that technically, Japanese Braille does correspond to both Hiragana and Katakana. However, I tend to classify them as a pair representing one single alphabet. I'm probably to blame for that little error, but it just makes sense in my head considering they use practically the same conventions. BTW, I tried adding you to Skype. Not sure if you've gotten my friend request. smile

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Reply by assault_freak 2015-04-09 09:57:15

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Gotcha. I did accept it, but knowing skype it's probably impossible to tell a lot of the time who's online and who's not. I find I get false info about that all the time. lol And you're right that they basically use the same conventions, and if you're blind it's basically indistinguishable unless you're being told or your screen reader can tell the difference. haha.

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Reply by Haramir 2015-04-09 14:17:20

  • From: Brazil
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Hello all. Wow, you guys gave me a nice material during this topic, I really like it. So, another question that appeared on my mind. I heard there's a way to actually write japanese characters using a conventional keyboard. Do you guys know how to do it? There's also the possibility of buing a japanese keyboard, but I'd like to try out other alternatives first.
Best regards, Haramir.

The true blind is the one who refuses to see.

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