Best way to learn how to do these 3 things

[PorkFan]

Well I've decided I need to do more than waste my life away and thought of 3 things i'd really like to do. none of these will be quick or easy, and i'm not sure what order to do them in, do them simultaniously, or how to go about doing any of them.

1. Learn Japanese. I want to be able to speak it, write it, read it, i want to be able to understand a group of Japanese people chatting away, and be able to talk naturally, be able to talk to a japanese person without them having to slow down or 'over pronounce' words....from the little research i've done, depending on time put in i should be looking at 1-8 years. can it be done online? anyone done it? wheres the best place to start or where to avoid? rosetta stone? youtube? a class?

2. Learn to play Nuvole Bianche by Ludovico Einaudi....I can't play the piano, i did used to know a few tunes when younger but now long forgotten, never tried to be able to read music, i mean i know the higher the line the higher the note. When we were kids and i was about 8 my school tested us all on sounds and tones, to see who would be invited to learn violin. out of a class of maybe 25, 4 of us were chosen, but i really didnt like the sound of learning violin, so declined the offer, maybe if it was something cooler like guitar i'd have gone for it, always liked learning and playing tunes on piano and keyboards, but learnt parrot fashion rather than learning how to read music. can i learn how to play just this one song? or would i really need to learn how to play piano first and then gradually progress to that tune? Where to learn? how quickly is it possible to do from complete novice if i put the hours in? Also i'd class that tune as classical music (rightly or wrongly) but it's the only classical type song i have heard that i like....anything else i should hear?

3. Learn 10 magic tricks, or some amount of tricks, close up magic with cards and coins kind of thing interests me most. I do know someone who is a very good magician, and i'm sure he would help, but i'm pretty sure he gets asked to be shown how to do stuff all the time, and wouldn't realise how serious i was......i'm sure once i learnt a few things and showed him i was serious he would give me a lot of advice. so where do i start? I'm thinking learning how to handle a deck of cards is first? shuffling etc? how do i learn this?

if anyone has any good reccomendations for any of the above, be it books, youtube links, classes, where not to go, or how hard they think ill find each thing, or what to start with, i'm all ears.

cheers

[Johnspex]

How about learning not to start sentences with the superfluous 'well' ?

[Chozza]

Starting with learning Japanese...move to Japan. Immersive learning is the fastest way to learn any language.
If this is not practical what can you do to replicate this ( on top of any courses ).. Watch Japanese tv etc.

[Ross1988]

Get a mate to learn the violin and do 'Divenire' instead...

[sidicks]

PorkFan said:

Well I've decided I need to do more than waste my life away and thought of 3 things i'd really like to do. none of these will be quick or easy, and i'm not sure what order to do them in, do them simultaniously, or how to go about doing any of them.

[b]
1. Learn Japanese. I want to be able to speak it, write it, read it, i want to be able to understand a group of Japanese people chatting away, and be able to talk naturally, be able to talk to a japanese person without them having to slow down or 'over pronounce' words....from the little research i've done, depending on time put in i should be looking at 1-8 years. can it be done online? anyone done it? wheres the best place to start or where to avoid? rosetta stone? youtube? a class?
[/b]

2. Learn to play Nuvole Bianche by Ludovico Einaudi....I can't play the piano, i did used to know a few tunes when younger but now long forgotten, never tried to be able to read music, i mean i know the higher the line the higher the note. When we were kids and i was about 8 my school tested us all on sounds and tones, to see who would be invited to learn violin. out of a class of maybe 25, 4 of us were chosen, but i really didnt like the sound of learning violin, so declined the offer, maybe if it was something cooler like guitar i'd have gone for it, always liked learning and playing tunes on piano and keyboards, but learnt parrot fashion rather than learning how to read music. can i learn how to play just this one song? or would i really need to learn how to play piano first and then gradually progress to that tune? Where to learn? how quickly is it possible to do from complete novice if i put the hours in? Also i'd class that tune as classical music (rightly or wrongly) but it's the only classical type song i have heard that i like....anything else i should hear?

3. Learn 10 magic tricks, or some amount of tricks, close up magic with cards and coins kind of thing interests me most. I do know someone who is a very good magician, and i'm sure he would help, but i'm pretty sure he gets asked to be shown how to do stuff all the time, and wouldn't realise how serious i was......i'm sure once i learnt a few things and showed him i was serious he would give me a lot of advice. so where do i start? I'm thinking learning how to handle a deck of cards is first? shuffling etc? how do i learn this?

if anyone has any good reccomendations for any of the above, be it books, youtube links, classes, where not to go, or how hard they think ill find each thing, or what to start with, i'm all ears.

cheers

Definitely attend a class, at least initially.

If not, this is a good book to start with.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Japanese-Busy-People-Roma...

[BoRED S2upid]

You don’t do thing by halves then. I was expecting fly a plane, drive a supercar, swim with sharks type things.

[mikef]

I did private Japanese lessons with a native speaker in London for three years and visited there several times. I am a linguist by educational background and speak several European languages.

I wouldn’t say I’ve reached the level of reading/writing and comprehension of colloquial Japanese that you describe, so 5+ years is probably about right depending on your aptitude and perseverance

It’s a very rewarding thing to pursue, but not a trivial pursuit

[generationx]

Chozza said:

Immersive learning is the fastest way to learn any language

This. I’ve been in another country for five years now - you learn quickly!

[PorkFan]

BoRED S2upid said:

You don’t do thing by halves then. I was expecting fly a plane, drive a supercar, swim with sharks type things.

Actually i usually do do things by halves, or not at all....this is what i want to change.

someone mentioned living in Japan....i actually plan to do that....but think the initial move and first few weeks or months there would be so much more enjoyable if i already had a basic grasp of the language.

thanks for the replies

[putonghua73]

PorkFan said:

Actually i usually do do things by halves, or not at all....this is what i want to change.

someone mentioned living in Japan....i actually plan to do that....but think the initial move and first few weeks or months there would be so much more enjoyable if i already had a basic grasp of the language.

thanks for the replies

Couple of questions:
1. Have you been to Japan before?
2. Is your plan simply to learn Japanese or work in Japan?

Working in Japan is a whole different ball-game i.e. what skills / experience do you have, Japanese level, etc? In terms of the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (Nihongo N?ryoku Shiken), from knowing a number of people who have lived and worked in Japan inc. an ex-ex gf, you need Level 2 minimum - and this is hard. Level 1 is stupidly hard because there is a big, big gap between Level 1 and 2. The lower levels are only worth doing to get exam experience - nothing else.

Do not underestimate how hard it will be learning a language sufficient to live / work in a different country - particularly Japan. Whilst Japanese is not tonal (like Chinese), the grammer IMO is significantly harder. I would try and learning hiragana and katakana [writing systems] before you get to Japan. If you put in the effort, shouldn't take longer than a couple of months. Once you get to Japanese language class, you'll then start on the Kanji (traditional characters - taken from Chinese).

You will also need to get out of your comfort zone because it will force you to expand the type of conversation situations that you will experience, and expand your vocabulary. I remember a discussion on GaijinPot (Japanese language / ex-pat website) many years ago when someone remarked that if all you do is go out and eat ramen, then you'll only be really good at ordering ramen, but will have limited experience doing anything else i.e. you need to break out of your comfort zone and speak Japanese in a wide variety of situations.

Note: GaijinPot requires something of a thick skin (or it did - haven't used it since 2010).

All the best with learning Japanese. As someone else has already pointed out, learning Japanese is a substantial undertaking by itself. Set yourself a realistic time-frame and measure your progress. Do not try to achieve all 3 goals in the same time period because you'll be setting yourself up for failure.

P.s. PM me with your address. I'll post the following to you completely free because I'm never realistically going to use them:
Let's Learn Hiragana
Let's Learn Katakana

P.p.s I'd also recommend using iTalki to find a Japanese teacher for 1-2-1 via Skype, Whatsapp, etc. Once a week group classes only get you so far, and you'll probably find that for the same cost you can find a Japanese teacher for remote teaching 1-2-1, until you get to Japan.

Edited by putonghua73 on Monday 25th June 13:49

[moe1984]

The Duolingo App is good for learning the basics of a language, they have a Japanese course

[LordLoveLength]

PorkFan said:

3. Learn 10 magic tricks, or some amount of tricks, close up magic with cards and coins kind of thing interests me most. I do know someone who is a very good magician, and i'm sure he would help, but i'm pretty sure he gets asked to be shown how to do stuff all the time, and wouldn't realise how serious i was......i'm sure once i learnt a few things and showed him i was serious he would give me a lot of advice. so where do i start? I'm thinking learning how to handle a deck of cards is first? shuffling etc? how do i learn this?

cheers

you need a decent deck or 2 to start with - get hold of some 'bicycle' decks. They are bigger poker size not bridge size. The bigger deck is a bit harder to manipulate, you will find it's easier to handle the smaller deck so start with the bigger. It makes it easier when presented with a random deck to 'do something'

New decks are tougher to work with also, so keep a 'good' deck aside and start practising with a more worn deck. Go to the 'good' deck periodically to get the feel of it.

You can (and should) practice shuffling and card control whilst doing other tasks - it should be second nature. Watching TV is ideal.
You should practice riffling, shuffling, firing deck from one hand to another, false cuts all whilst watching something else.
When you get acomplished you will be able to control cards at the top or bottom of the deck whilst playing around for 15 minutes or so.

Lots of stuff on youtube, or the book is 'expert at the card table' by S W erdnase

Good luck