Japanese Fonts For Firefox

I really want to learn to speak Japanese, and the interent is the cheapest and best place to learn I think as I'm not really in any hurry, but I'm looking for a plug-in or extension for Forefox so it will be able to read Japanese Fonts. I searched on google but I could'nt really find anything, Anything help or links would be really helpful.

 

Have you tried on View>Character Encoding>More Encodings>East Asian > your choice of encoding on the main menu? I use this when viewing faqs in gamefaqs that have japanese characters, it works great.

 

You need to install Japanese font packs and language support into your operating system.

http://greggman.com/japan/xp-ime/xp-ime.htm

 

I've tried to learn Japanese that way but in the end the things found on the internet is really supplementary material. You'd really want to consider finding other sources of information about the language ie: at the library, or a native speaker

 

That's true, though I pushed my way through a RPG in japanese and learned to recognize some of the characters and even words but mostly in katakana. This is one language (along with Mandarin and Cantonese) that is only learnable with assistance and not on your own.

 

you should atleast get a good book about japanese and possibly find a japanese friend my girlfriend teaches me some new japanese word everyday, it works very well with someone elses help.

but all you need to do is install the japanese language files from microsoft, and also if you want to be able to type in Japanese or any other language go to control panel/regional and language options/add other languages/ and check the install files for east asian languages, if you want to add a language to type in go to details on the same tab, and you can add pretty much whatever language you want, to switch back and forth from english and japanese i use the language bar that is a toolbar on the taskbar and you can adjust the type of input, ex. hiragana, katakana, etc. it works very well but you really have to know a decent amount about japanese to use it.

do this if you don't　ばか！！！

 

I couldn't agree more.
The best way to learn Japanese is to just to submerge yourself in everything Japanese. Movies, music, radio, books, CDs, Manga, Anime, DVDs, Anime DVDs, Japanese Forums for students, Japanese people (preferrably of the opposite gender as you) as e-mail pals, Skype people in Japan and talk to them in English about their culture, DICTIONARIES!!! Get the Kodansha Furigana dictionary (its really really good), etc. etc.

Check out the Kyoto Podcast on iTunes (free to listen to). It is an Enhanced podcast with 100 or so pictures in each 30 minute podcast. AND also as a video cast.


Which links to some Japanese NHK lessons here:
www.nhk.or.jp/lesson (requires RealPlayer)
MP3 versions of the above:
http://www.hickorytech.net/~nic111/

I taught myself Japanese for 3 years on my own. The only Japanese class I took was an Art and Culture class about 2 years ago. Over the period of 3 years, I had two very nice Japanese ladies for pen pals. It was frustrating that they would never talk about themselves, their dreams, or anything personal that gives a perspective on their values. Meanwhile, they're laughing about how silly we Americans are at opening our hearts to people we've "only" known for 6 months. I was ALWAYS struggling to keep them interested in me.. I started drawing pictures, taking photos, playing music, talking about new movies, music, interesting news, weather, everything I could, etc. etc. etc... They get bored after a while, and when they do, the time for them to reply to your e-mail goes from hours to days to weeks to months..Eventually I just got sick and tired of running myself into the ground to keep her interested. It was getting to the point where I was spending 2-3 hours writing an e-mail with a picture/song/whatever in order to get a response from her within a week that she spent barely 10 minutes writing. If I didn't spend 2-3 hours, then she wouldn't respond for 2-3 weeks. You will learn quickly that they will lose interest if you don't keep things fresh.

After that, I took a Chinese language class, and when it ended, I found myself teaching myself Chinese. Not so sure why I stopped learning Japanese.. I guess its not that I stopped learning Japanese but that I started learning Chinese, and didn't have time for Japanese.

Japanese PenPals:
http://www.japan-guide.com/local/

Chinese has culture that is just as cool as Japan:
(Chinese New Year Gala 2006 Intro, requires real player)
http://www.newyeargala.ntdtv.com/2006/big5/2006_Gala_Promo_English.ram

I got Skype, and talked to several in Japan (through the Internet). Might I recommend a guy under the alias "Uncle Japan" he is a HAM radio operator that speaks English good enough to hold a conversation with. I must say though, I had more fun talking to the Chinese women than the Japanese ones over Skype. They are just more hmmm.. interesting people to talk to... I had at least one Chinese women (an English teacher in China btw) sing to me several songs in Chinese on several occassions, once when I was falling asleep. I wish sooo much that I could have recorded it. She had such a beautiful voice. You have a better chance of getting hit by lightning than getting a Japanese women sing Karaoke to you when she isn't drunk and not at a party.

Good luck!! I hope you have many years of success with your Japanese study.

 

I'd certainly have to disagree with that.. Although I have 7 or 8 Mandarin Teachers on Skype, most of what I've learned so far has been because of just sitting down at a desk and studying characters and definitions exhaustively on my own...
The only thing you need other people for is pronunciation. Of course, it is more important that you have a teacher for Mandarin than for Japanese because linguistically Mandarin is far more complex. Once you know all furigana (Japanese katakana+hiragana), and can say them properly, you don't need any help at all.. Just pick up a Furigana dictionary and sit at a desk 4-5 hours EACH day for the next several months.. You can sound-out EVERY word in the book. Its just a matter of the amount of time that is invested. Soon you look at a string of Japanese characters, and instantly know where each words begins, ends, and what it means... It was one of the most amazing points of my life when I was able to hold a full Japanese written communication with my pen pal after only 2 years of study.

 

Well, my previous statement was based on my experience. It's good to know you have done that. Unfortunately, I don't have that amount of time on my hands to try it myself and I also don't have the resources you possess. Like you said, in order to learn by yourself those languages, you really have to immerse yourself on the languague in question. I have watched several animes, played several RPGs (which are text intesive) and I do recognize some of the characters and words, and because of this, I can read with a pretty good japanese accent if I see something written in romanji, but i still fail to read Furigana properly as I don't spend 5 hours a day reading. Unfortunately, I don't know of any good resources to learn Kanji which is the main point I used in order to state my previous comment. Besides, like you said, you skype with people, there's some interaction with someone that knows better and I strongly believe that if you're in doubt, as silly as it may be, you have asked questions and you have received answers. Granted, you stated that most of what you have learned was learned was by sitting on a desk stuyding on your own but when I have done that, I have reached a point where I must ask something and that's where I stop. For instance, I sincerely don't know how spacing is treated in japanese, and God knows I have searched for that. I just don't have the resources and as previously stated before, Internet stuff is somewhat superficial. One really must know where to search and it seems you certainly do.

Are there any more links you could provide us so we can go on learning by ourselves?? For Mandarin and Japanese.

PS: Sorry if I sounded like bashing you, it's not my intention.

 

hmm..I guess I just buy a book and learning software instead of aimlessly looking on the internet.....

 

well..thanks for the link sidicas, but I don't have the XP installation disk

 

See my post in the podcasts thread
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?p=1230812#post1230812

That's a shame. Windows XP is really good when it comes to Japanese and Chinese input. I've run Linux, and the IME is just so-so. One of the reasons I'm running Windows XP now is that my 1st Japanese penpal used to send me messages from her cell-phone and they were in an encoding that was like ISO-2022-JP but had extentions in it for strange shaped characters often used in Japanese smileys.
http://club.pep.ne.jp/~hiroette/en/facemarks/
.. In linux, the smileys didn't show up properly, even though I had a bajillion Asian fonts installed. I think it was a problem with my locale settings & character maps, but I couldn't find any way to fix it (and believe me... I tried loooong and hard).
I HIGHLY recommend Windows XP for learning Chinese & Japanese.

Hmm. I haven't used Software much to help me learn foreign languages.. But I know of a few friends who use Rosetta Stone and say it works incredibly well.. Make sure you read reviews of all the language teaching software you buy.. I think there is an "instant-immersion" software out for Japanese, but I heard it is really bad (jumps from incredibly easy on one disk to incredibly hard on the next disk, leaving the user stranded and confused after finishing the easy disk).

Not only that, but Windows XP has a "Multilingual User Interface Pack". It's on my school's MSDNAA site. It is 5 CDs and it adds support for several dozen languages. Menus, Buttons, Help documents, the whole kit&kaboodle... The problem is, I've never found any place where you can actually *purchase* it. I got it through my school for free.
http://www.microsoft.com/globaldev/DrIntl/faqs/MUIFaq.mspx#MUIques1
Installing this and setting it to Japanese will TRUELY immerse your Desktop in Japanese like you might have never imagined


If you're learning Mandarin, and want to know a bit about the culture. Then watch channel CCTV-9 (you'll probably have to request it). It is entirely in spoken English, but it is broadcasted from China. I learned a LOT about Chinese people & the country watching CCTV-9, but I don't think I learned any Mandarin. If you can't get it on TV, then watch it over the internet with PPLive (with reduced quality).
http://www.pplive.com/en/index.shtml

You can watch ANY CCTV channel with PPLive, but usually CCTV-9 is the only one that is in English.

And the link to Skype I mentioned earlier:
http://www.skype.com

 

you can buy a $1000+ piece of paper that would be the best way to learn, it is called a plane ticket ^_^

seriously though if you ever get any opportunity to go, go. I am planning to go to Osaka soon (my girlfriend is from Osaka) and i might just stay

 

Wow... I mean just wow... you are so lucky.. See if you can get her to teach you that cute Osaka accent.

 

She is actually in NYC right now, i will have her teach you Sidicas, no i won't. she is coming back tomorrow anyway!

and looking at what you said? why would i want to talk like a cute girl from Osaka? hahahaha

seriously though every Japanese person i have met is more than willing to help you learn, most people in general would be glad you would want to learn their native language.

 

Try Power Japanese.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...-4791510-5327842?v=glance&s=software&n=507846

 

haha...I would love to have a japanese girlfriend!!

 

go to your local bookstore and pick up Making out in Japanese, it is the best phrase book ever, and it is pretty hilarious in my opinion, some of the stuff they have in there.

it is pink you can't miss it.

 

cheers circa

 

Hey man, I'm just curious, how did you find those people on skype? I don't use skype, but does it have a feature like ICQ in which you can search for people within a specific region? I'm trying to learn mandarin myself, but it's hard to learn the language when I don't practice it outside of class.