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The JTA Vault

Kens Treasure Box

Now this weeks secret technique is kinda special, so much so I actually thought twice about giving it
away. Cause Im greedy like that, no Im kidding, but I do think of it as my own lil secret.

Back when I was learning Japanese and creating all the secret techniques, I collected a folder of the
best Japanese learning websites I could find. And if you dont know me, I am a perfectionist and
learning /information junkie. I am very very obsessive when it comes to gathering information on any
endeavor I take on. Therefore what that means is that this list of the best Japanese learning sites is
very well put together with only the awesomest stuff making the list. Did I mention they are all free?

I kinda thought of this folder as a sort of the root of my special powers (being the worlds most
ridiculous man?) the ability to learn Japanese so fast, which is kind of why I didnt want to give it
away.

But I had an epic battle with my greedy side and won, so now you get to enjoy it as well ^^

Also! This list is extremely old! Its been buried for over 11 years, which is why I call it my treasure
box. So that means, a large amount of the sites I have listed here you will have a VERY hard time
finding anywhere else, and therefore making it very rare.

And of course in the last 11 years there has been some pretty epic new websites published so I
included a little section called new stuff at the bottom. There you can find what I find to be the best
current websites out there.

Now for the prescribed doses, this list is obviously very long and would probably take about a several
weeks of studying to concur. Therefore I made a list of what I consider to be the top four treasure box
websites. So this week, for your homework, (ughh hate that word...) I want you to visit every single
one of the top four websites. And complete the equivalent of a lesson there.

Total work time for the week, about an hour or two.

And then of course you take a look at the rest of the sites whenever you have the time throughout the
rest of the course at your leisure.

2015JapaneseThroughAnimeLLC.
OK have fun as always!

The Top 4
1) Japanese is Possible

http://maktos.tripod.com/jip.html

This is my absolute favorite underground Japanese learning website. You will almost never hear of it
through any conventional means. The best part of it however is that it covers anime Japanese! Which
is absolutely perfect for students of this class, I completed the sites entire 32 weeks of lessons back
when I started learning. The lessons are very down to earth as well, no stuffy boring lessons here,
which makes them very easy to complete. Youll feel as if youre simply talking with a dude your age,
about anime and Japanese and stuff dude.

2) Tim Takamatsu - Japanese Verbs

http://ww8.tiki.ne.jp/~tmath/language/jpverbs/

My second favorite website for learning Japanese, this is an absolute goldmine of information! I used
this site soo much in my original learning. Its really great because it explains the way Japanese verbs
morph/conjugate in very simple lessons. Itll actually function more like a glossary for you, one that
you can refer to in any order you like, whenever you like. The guy also has created some other
awesome study guides that you can check out on his home page.
http://www.timwerx.net/home/index.htm Where he covers stuff like adjectives and particles. But the
verb guide is the most complete and useful of his work.

3) Tae Kims Grammar Guide

http://www.guidetojapanese.org/learn

This one is obviously an utter classic, Japanese learners around the world praise it. It really is a great
amount of material completely for free. And the order in which he teaches everything is great as well,
beginning with causal first as a building block for formal. I went through this guide once when I was
learning, and of course Id suggest youd do the same. Although I wouldnt worry about the vocab and
the exercises too much, the grammar here is really what youre after.

4) Japanese For the western brain

http://kimallen.sheepdogdesign.net/Japanese/

2015JapaneseThroughAnimeLLC.
This one gets a little more technical then a lot of you probably need. But it is very necessary
knowledge about the language, and stuff you would never see in a textbook. And therefore very
interesting! If theres ever a pattern in my line of thinking, its to stray away from the conventional.

Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority its time to pause and reflect. Mark Twain.

All the rest!


Whats Lost in the Translation?

http://www.mit.edu/people/rei/manga-translations.html

Great article any fan of manga should read, especially if you are learning Japanese. Very useful stuff if
you plan to use manga in your studies. The author also has some other interesting articles
anime/manga related on her home page. http://www.mit.edu/people/rei/Anime.html

The Japan Forum

http://www.jref.com/forum/

The godfather of Japanese forums, joining a community in your quest to learn Japanese is a very
smart idea, it helps keeps you motivated towards your goal. Now the Japan forum is not nearly as
active as it once was, however you can still find a mountain load of info in the old threads. I used to
simply sift through them back in the day, looking for interesting topics and learning my booty off.

Japanese Online

http://www.japanese-online.com/

It seems this site has become a paid site since I last used it, but you can still get quite a bit of beginner
content free ^^

CosCom Learn Japanese

http://www.coscom.co.jp/

Just another free site I used to bump around when I was a beginner.

Best Japanese Websites

http://www.uni.edu/becker/japanese222.html

Wow! Hahah this site is really a dinosaur. I honestly didnt use this site all that much but the number
of links you probably wont find elsewhere drove me to include it.

2015JapaneseThroughAnimeLLC.
PopJisyo

http://www.popjisyo.com/WebHint/Portal_e.aspx

Read Japanese website with pop-up hints!

The Japanese Slang Jisho

http://www.angelfire.com/anime4/jslang/

Amazing resource for learning Japanese through anime! Or just being a slangy dude in general.

The Japanese Page

http://thejapanesepage.com/

Yet another page I used to learn the basics when I first started learning, the best resource here I feel is
the grammar section.

English to Japanese Dictionary

http://www.freedict.com/onldict/jap.html

For some reason, this was the main dictionary I used whenever I wanted to translate from English to
Japanese. However I now feel Denshi Jisho is a better resource for that. But just another alternative
for those who dont like Denshi Jisho

Nihongo Resources

http://www.nihongoresources.com/

This website seems like a great resource (hahahhah. stupid non-funny puns..) Anyways, I dont
remember using it all that much, but I bookmark it for a reason! You can access the entire grammar
book they published for free there. Plus many other stuffs I neglected to use/dont remember using!
:D

Yookoso!

http://www.yookoso.com/

A giant link resource you can make your own treasure box out of! ^^

Outpost Nine

http://classic.dryang.org/japanese/index.shtml

A hilarious editorial about a big black guy who becomes a English teacher in Japan to Japanese middle
schoolers. Itll make you laugh, and shock you with things youd never thought could happen
anywhere. Youll wanna read mostly in order, from the bottom of the page up, on the editorials part
2015JapaneseThroughAnimeLLC.
of the site. Despite the sites candid valor, you will learn a great deal about what its REALLY like to live
in Japan.

Tetris no Miko

http://www.angelfire.com/geek/tetrisnomiko/pronunciation.html

http://www.angelfire.com/geek/tetrisnomiko/sfx.html

http://www.angelfire.com/geek/tetrisnomiko/mangaka/becomemangaka.html

http://www.angelfire.com/geek/tetrisnomiko/japan/japan.html

This site used to have a galore of very informative and interesting articles about the REAL side of
Japanese manga. Sadly in the 6 years since Ive last checked this site the girl running it has downsized.
And now these four pages are all that is left :[

Scientist in Japan

http://mac122.icu.ac.jp/ridge_html_book/jc9.html

http://mac122.icu.ac.jp/ridge_html_book/

Scientist dude writes about what its like to live in Japan in a very systematic non-blog way. (Did I say
he was a scientist already?) Anyway, youll learn a lot about Japanese culture here.

Japanese Culture Glossary

http://www.redbrick.dcu.ie/~melmoth/japan/index.html

Another culture extravaganza site, this one contains more of the not so ordinary things.

New Stuff
(new 5 years ago when JTA course launched... so now its old-new stuff)

Denshi Jisho

http://jisho.org/

New Favorite EN to JP dictionary. Plus the JP to EN isnt too shabby either.

All Japanese All The Time

http://alljapaneseallthetime.com/blog/

This is the new talk of the town when it comes to learning Japanese. Great method, youll learn a lot!

2015JapaneseThroughAnimeLLC.
Hungry for words: Mostly Japanese

http://maki.typepad.com/justhungry/

I just recently found this blog, and I like it. Maybe Im just a sucker for offbeat, candid topics. But its
good stuff, I currently read on a regular basis.

Maggie Sensei

http://www.maggiesensei.com/

Run by Victors (Gimmeabreakman from Youtube) dog. Yeah well aside from that, awesome
resource. Its centered a little bit more towards intermediate students but awesome all the same.

Tofugu

http://www.tofugu.com/

This is Koichis website, whom I mentioned in the last lesson. Awesome culture, language and
sometimes just weird posts, I also currently read on a regular basis.

KeyHoleTV

http://www.oiseyer.com/index3-e.php

The ability to watch Japanese TV from your computer. Havent used it yet, but it is another one of
those talks of the town so I had to include, and it just sounds cool right?

JGram

http://jgram.org/

Just heard of this one recently but I really like the idea. The grammar taught is sectioned into JLPT
levels. If thats your goal then this is a great way to learn from the top down.

Ultra handy Japanese Verb Conjugator

http://www.japaneseverbconjugator.com/

This is one of those things I wish was around when I was learning. Love it, Makes morphing verbs even
easier. Sometimes there are exceptions to the rules I present because Japanese likes to makes things
as hard as possible, jk. But with this as a reference, you need not worry any more.

Japanese Level Up

http://japaneselevelup.com/

2015JapaneseThroughAnimeLLC.
A site Ive been keeping my eye on for the past couple years, the person running the site is VERY spot
on when it comes to learning Japanese fast, and having fun while doing it. Great site. I believe the site
was originally themed on learning Japanese like a JRPG, which I love btw.

2015JapaneseThroughAnimeLLC.

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