Learning Japanese Online
Global OnLine
March 5, 1999

Do you want to improve your Japanese skills? The Web can help. No matter what your skill level is there are numerous sites geared towards teaching you Nihongo. While they're no substitute for a skilled teacher, they're extremely convenient because they allow you to study on your own time. We've listed some sites that will help you begin using the Web as a valuable language learning tool, but more are popping up. Get your feet wet by visiting the sites below, and do your own Web search to discover even more.

If you've never studied Japanese before, jumpstart your studies and explore some of the many sites geared towards beginners. Swing by some of the following sites to learn the basics of written and spoken Japanese. Learn simple grammar and pronounciation along with katakana, hiragana, and kanji.

Visit Namiko Abe's Mining Company Guide to Japanese Language. It's one of the more comprehensive guides for beginning and intermediate students of Japanese. The site contains cultural, and general information about Japan along with information about learning Japanese. http://japanese.miningco.com/

For a list of simple lessons, stop by: http://www.japanese-online.com/language/LSNIndex.HTM.   Learn how to meet and greet a neighbor, discuss the weather, days of the month, going to the post office, etc.

Learn more about Janglish (English-like words used in Japan that are not actually used in English.) Study the Janglish list at: http://home.att.net/~keiichiro/janglish/list.html

More advanced students can challenge themselves to reading Japanese literature online at http://etext.virginia.edu/japanese/texts.html

Those completely bored by grammar structure and rote memorization, or too stumped by online Japanese literature online, can drop by some one of Web's more entertaining Japanese language study pages.  Discover what sounds animals make in Japanese. In English a cow says moo, but what does it say in Nihongo? Find out by visiting http://www.georgetown.edu/cball/animals/japanese.html

Or check out one of GOL's customer pages. This one is geared towards students of Japanese who would like to know something about Japanese signs, billboards, plaques, banners, or any other such objects for displaying a message to the general public -- in pictures and words. http://www2.gol.com/users/xroads/html/japanese_signs.html

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