did you learn japanese in a very short amount of time?

[epokw]

It really shouldn't take you longer than 5 years :s I learnt Urdu in 1 year and English in 9 months, I don't really expect it to take any more than 3 years to learn Japanese.

I'm 4 months into Japanese (1.5 months of ACTUAL Japanese) so far and I'm going great

[furrykef]

The problem is defining "learn Japanese". People have ridiculously different ideas of what it means to learn a language. (I know one person who claimed she "learned Spanish" and can't even understand basic sentences... apparently, having a semester or two means you can say you've "learned Spanish" without elaborating on what you mean by it.)

If you mean enough to be fully functional in the language -- you can understand most of what's said to you and you can always make yourself understood easily enough -- five years should be plenty if (and only if) you're diligent. If you mean becoming a native-like speaker, it'll definitely take longer.

For instance, I caught you making a minor grammatical error in English in this post ("more happier" should just be "happier"). Then again, even natives slip up and type things like that sometimes. (I'm especially prone to making odd mistakes because of not paying attention when I revise my text.)

- Kef

[epokw]

The problem is defining "learn Japanese". People have ridiculously different ideas of what it means to learn a language. (I know one person who claimed she "learned Spanish" and can't even understand basic sentences... apparently, having a semester or two means you can say you've "learned Spanish" without elaborating on what you mean by it.)

If you mean enough to be fully functional in the language -- you can understand most of what's said to you and you can always make yourself understood easily enough -- five years should be plenty if (and only if) you're diligent. If you mean becoming a native-like speaker, it'll definitely take longer.

For instance, I caught you making a minor grammatical error in English in this post ("more happier" should just be "happier"). Then again, even natives slip up and type things like that sometimes. (I'm especially prone to making odd mistakes because of not paying attention when I revise my text.)

- Kef

I'm not an English native though

I lived in Canada for 7 years though...

[furrykef]

I'm not an English native though

I know. My point was that you said you've "learned" English, but you still made an error (albeit an error that some natives make sometimes). I'm not disputing that you've successfully learned English, of course -- you certainly seem to speak it well enough to validly make the claim -- I'm just pointing out that producing near-flawless text in any language is pretty difficult and takes a long time. There's a pretty wide spectrum from being able to squeak by to being nearly flawless, any of which could reasonably be called "having learned a language".

- Kef

[J_Wisdom]

When you know enough Japanese to communicate about the subjects that interest you then you have learned Japanese. If you apply yourself most folks can get to that level in as few a 3 -5 years, some even sooner.

I know some will disagree, but think about it for a second. I have been speaking English all my life, but I can still pick up a dictonary, turn to any page and find at least one word I don't know. I can walk down any street and find someone who speaks phrases I have never heard before. Does this mean I "don't know English" or "I am still learning English"? Of course not.

So if someone say to me "yeah, I have been speaking/writing/reading Japanese for 25 years and I still only speak at a high school level or JR high school level". I say good for you

[leonl]

When you know enough Japanese to communicate about the subjects that interest you then you have learned Japanese. If you apply yourself most folks can get to that level in as few a 3 -5 years, some even sooner.

I know some will disagree, but think about it for a second. I have been speaking English all my life, but I can still pick up a dictonary, turn to any page and find at least one word I don't know. I can walk down any street and find someone who speaks phrases I have never heard before. Does this mean I "don't know English" or "I am still learning English"? Of course not.

So if someone say to me "yeah, I have been speaking/writing/reading Japanese for 25 years and I still only speak at a high school level or JR high school level". I say good for you

Congratulations! I think you just made the most sense in this entire topic. Particularly your first two sentences.

P.S. T.J.P へようこそ

[john2]

The problem is defining "learn Japanese". People have ridiculously different ideas of what it means to learn a language. (I know one person who claimed she "learned Spanish" and can't even understand basic sentences... apparently, having a semester or two means you can say you've "learned Spanish" without elaborating on what you mean by it.)

If you mean enough to be fully functional in the language -- you can understand most of what's said to you and you can always make yourself understood easily enough -- five years should be plenty if (and only if) you're diligent. If you mean becoming a native-like speaker, it'll definitely take longer.

For instance, I caught you making a minor grammatical error in English in this post ("more happier" should just be "happier"). Then again, even natives slip up and type things like that sometimes. (I'm especially prone to making odd mistakes because of not paying attention when I revise my text.)

- Kef

I think knowing a language is
1. The point were you need not know all words in a sentence to understand the whole sentence, and infer new words.
2. The point at which you can understand a sentence despite errors.
3. The point at which it seams natural.
4. The point at which thought can be ordered in the language.
5. where one can express all necessary needs.