Learning How to Pronounce New Words

   If you want to be able to have conversations in Japanese as soon as possible, you'll need to have perfect or near perfect pronunciation; I have two great resources to help you accomplish this:

  1. RhinoSpike:  RhinoSpike is pretty straightforward; you submit text that you want a native speaker to read, you get a recording of it that you can put on your iPod. It can take awhile to get someone to record something for you, but you can speed up this process by recording something in your native language for someone else. Every time you record something for someone else, your own request will move higher up on the list, letting you get what you want faster. When you have large blocks of text you want a recording of, RhinoSpike is the best place to go. 

 2.  Forvo: Forvo is a like RhinoSpike but its focus is on providing recordings of individual words instead of blocks of text. The thing I like best about Forvo is their search options. (RhinoSpike doesn't have a search function) You can use their search bar to look for specific words or you can use their category filters to find a group of words (the "common words" category is very useful). Like RhinoSpike, you can make requests and download mp3 files of the recordings.

So basically, if you need a large amount of text or an uncommon word recorded for you, use RhinoSpike. If you only need individual common words, use Forvo.

Have any questions or suggestions? - Let me know in the comments section :)

Links: 

1. http://rhinospike.com/
2. http://www.forvo.com/

Another Site to Watch Anime in Japanese

 I found an alternative site you can use to find and watch anime in it's original Japanese. Here's the link: http://tvanimedouga.blog93.fc2.com/. This site is in full Japanese, so beginners will have a little trouble, but it's not all that hard once you mess around with the site for a bit. On the left hand side of tvanimedouga will be a list of all of the available anime titles. From there, just follow links and you will be led to a different site that has the episode that you want to watch. Great way to find and watch anime that hasn't seen a release outside of Japan yet!

Link: http://tvanimedouga.blog93.fc2.com/

Insanely Cheap Imported Manga

  I spent 2 weeks in San Diego, CA and got the chance to visit the best book store in the world: Book Off. Book Off is a large chain of used bookstores in Japan and they have a handful of locations here in the States. Chances are, most of you don't live near a Book Off store, but if you ever travel, check if there is a Book Off anywhere nearby.

 I love manga, and since I've started learning Japanese, I've been searching for affordable Japanese imports that I can use to practice reading. It seemed entirely impossible; anywhere I went online, the shipping and tax would make a single imported manga volume cost 20 dollars!

 Typically, B&M ( Brick & Mortar ) stores don't carry imported books, only their translated versions at best, but this is how Book Off is different. Book Off actually specializes in selling imported books at insanely discounted prices and their selection is excellent. I ended up buying 11 Japanese language books and each book only cost 1 dollar! I spent so much time in their manga section, that I didn't really have time to browse other sections, but just by walking through the aisles, I saw that they also sold imported video games, movies, and CDs. Book Off is absolute paradise for someone who is looking for affordable imported products.

 Check Book Off's website for locations near you but be aware that some of their stores don't carry imported books ( these are typically mall locations )

Link: http://www.bookoffusa.com/

Japanese in Anime and Manga

 I stumbled across an interesting site awhile ago and I think you should check it out. Anime-manga.jp was created specifically for Japanese language learners who are into manga and anime. Using this site will help you become more familiar with Japanese expressions that are common in anime and manga. ( these won't really be expressions you can use in real life situations with out sounding ridiculous half the time, but you'll still learn plenty of useful words ) 

 Upon visiting the site, you'll see 4 different categories: character expressions, expressions by scene, word quiz, and kanji game. Character expressions and expressions by scene are where you'll be learning new expressions/words and word quiz and kanji game is where you will be tested on it. I think any level of Japanese language learner can get some use out of anime-manga.jp, but this website will focus on teaching you to read for the most part. Use this site in combination with reading manga and watching anime.

Link: http://anime-manga.jp/index.html

How I Acquire New Vocab

  Everyone has their own way of learning new vocab words so I'd like to share with you the way I do things. ( you need to know hiragana first for this to be effective )

Step 1: Watch anime on crunchyroll.com and turn the subtitles off by right clicking on the video (some videos don't have this option) 

Step 2: When you hear a word repeated often during the show, pause the video, try to type out the word and look it up online using Jisho. 

Step 3: Use Evernote to add the word to my vocab list. Put in the hiragana AND kanji form of the word and the definition in your native language.

Step 4: Every time you add a new word, you'll see the other words on your list. The repeated exposure to these words will eventually cause them to be etched into your memory.

I recommend that you watch Kaasan - Mom's Life on Crunchyroll since the language used is simple and it should be easy for you to pick out individual words.

Add Evernote to your Japanese language arsenal: evernote.com