I think I'm learning Japanese!

A big part of what I get up to on the interwebs involves learning, and one of the biggest tasks I've undertaken as of late would be attempting to learn a new language. Specifically, I'm learning Japanese.

I do a lot of my learning at a site called smart.fm (previously known as iKnow). It was recommended by Dannychoo.com, and it's a great learning tool for symbols and vocabulary. Unfortunately, it doesn't mention grammar in the least.

For grammar, Tae Kim's Guide to Japanese Grammar seems to be a pretty solid source of information. It's not as much fun, nor as interactive as the flash-based iKnow program, but it seems to cover quite a lot.

While these two sites are where I learn most of my Japanese, The Japanese Page deserves some mention. It doesn't cover grammar or vocabulary quite as in-depthly as the afore-mentioned sites, but it does provide lessons on common Japanese phrases, phrases for tourists, and Japanese culture that the other two sites miss.

While these websites might not match up to a live teacher and one-on-one interaction with a fluent human being, they're great learning-aids and can be accessed anywhere for free. That said, if anyone feels like volunteering their time to help teach me Japanese, you're more than welcome. d(^_^)b

I'm also going to take this time to test out the keyboard and language settings of Vista. I remember MacOS had a system where romanji would be converted to Hiragana etc. as you type. I'm not sure if this is common among all OS's, or if that's the way Japanese people actual type, but I suppose I'm about to find out. If you can't see the characters, you probably don't have the extra language packs installed for your OS, or maybe you're using Vista Home Basic or something. :p

わたし　の　なめあ　わ　パウル　ミカモナゴ　です

Unfortunately, I don't know any Kanji, so the above was written with all the skill and ingenuity of a first-grader. For those of you who can't read Hiragana either, it says "Watashi no namea wa Pauru Mikamonago desu" meaning "My name is Pauru Mikamonago". For those of you wondering why I'm claiming my name to be "Pauru Mikamonago", it's a rough approximation of my real name spelled out in Japanese characters.

P.S. Vote in my poll! --->