Japanese language downloads for iPod

March 24, 2005 8:06 AM

I'm looking for Japanese language study materials to put on my iPod.

I'm an intermediate student of Japanese (three years of college), so I'm looking for a little more than a simple 450 word travel dictionary like iLingo. Specifically, I'd like material I can listen to on the go that will help me pick up the spoken language. Examples could include:

* MP3 downloads of language materials

* MP3 downloads of stories for children or young adults

* Excellent CDs meeting the above criteria that I could rip.

Thanks!

posted by jeffmshaw to Writing & Language (10 answers total)

Pimsleur lessons on CD rock.
posted by matteo at 9:17 AM on March 24, 2005

I'd recommend Pimsleur as well. Ii desu yo.
posted by clevershark at 11:03 AM on March 24, 2005

Yes, pimsleur is great (I'm trying to use it to learn Mandarin Chinese, much to my bad luck I suck at learning languages), although you will need to concentrate while doing it, and you'll need to be using them in an area where speaking the same phrase over and over again aloud won't make you look like a raving lunatic (ie: I wouldn't try it on a train or bus, it might be ok while walking...).

Basically, I tried using it while driving and failed. Trying it at home while having dinner, not so bad (although tough to speak). Trying them at home with nothing else to do? Golden.
posted by shepd at 11:28 AM on March 24, 2005

Best answer: There are some mp3 of native speakers reading Natsume Soseki and Akutagawa stories, available for free download. I also highly recommend the textbook that goes with them - it is inexpensive, and if you're going to be hearing the stories, you may as well read them while you're at it.
posted by vorfeed at 11:34 AM on March 24, 2005

Best answer: I should add that there are a number of book + CD/tape sets geared toward teaching for the JLPT. You can order some here. At your level, the 3 kyuu books will probably be review, and the 2 kyuu books will probably be difficult, but the listening problems from either should be useful.

Also, I have mp3 of the audio tapes from Japanese for Everyone. The dialogues and listening comprehension problems from that text are very native, and quite good for reviewing beginner and intermediate concepts in the third year (I'm just past my third year of study, myself, and I got a lot out of the tapes last year). Normally, I'd hesitate to give out the mp3, but as the Amazon reviews note, the tapes themselves are difficult and expensive to buy. Email me if you're interested.
posted by vorfeed at 12:58 PM on March 24, 2005

Depending on whether you actually like Japanese pop, I find that listening to it improves my skills, if I can take even a little time out beforehand or afterwards to look up words and translate phrases.
posted by Jeanne at 5:19 PM on March 24, 2005

Response by poster: Thanks, everyone! Some fine tips.

Jeanne, if you know of any good Japan pop download sites -- and/or recommend some songs with simple lyrics, the type I could understand with effort -- I'd be grateful.
posted by jeffmshaw at 7:03 PM on March 24, 2005

Project J has profiles of a number of Japanese pop/rock bands, with one mp3 download for each.
posted by milov at 3:29 AM on March 25, 2005

You could download Japanese television shows or dramas (my personal favorite happens to be Gakkou e Ikou!) and strip the audio feed for use in your iPod. The grammar/vocab used tends to be quite conversational, rapid, and complex, which is why I recommend it.

If you'd like some information on where you can find stuff like this, email me. (Some of the links may be of dubious legality.)
posted by armage at 6:33 AM on March 25, 2005

This comes somewhat late; I looked for some time for something along the lines of your request, but really couldn't find anything. Koetaba's book section may help, but it focuses more on literary works than language materials or children's works. (If you want the corresponding texts, Aozora would be the place to start.)

Seconding Armage's recommendation of TV shows, but I personally have used anime for the same purpose -- I've found it to be quicker to download due to the larger fan base. AnimeSuki is a list of unlicensed, fansubbed shows. As far as recommendations go... I like Mahoraba for it's wide variety of speaking styles, and Atashin'chi is a slice-of-life series that my host family in Japan watched all the time.
posted by shirobara at 3:17 AM on March 27, 2005