I'm interested in learning Japanese. What advice can be given about learning straight Japanese and Japanese slang? Is there more than one dialect or variation of Japanese I should be aware of?
Is Japanese an easy language to learn?

In my opinion japanese is probably one of the most easiest languages to learn. Its a pretty simple language. I just have a lack of vocabulary. Plus i stopped learning it now that im in college :/

Yes, Japanese is very easy to learn if you have a structure of learning it. Such as learning it through school. You cannot depend on websites and this forum for learning the language because you'd never learn it. As for slangs, it'd be pointless to learn them unless you're a Japanese teenager living in Japan. Seriously, you don't need it, I don't know why you're so interested in it. You'd sound like a complete fool using slangs when you're a foreigner and don't even know the basics of the language. And no, there aren't dialects you need to know. Each prefecture in Japan technically has their own dialect, but really, only obaasans know them and would ever use them.

Also, quit making new threads on the same topics. It's really getting on my nerves.
http://www.asiafinest.com/forum/index.php?...c=93419&hl=
http://www.asiafinest.com/forum/index.php?...c=91268&hl=
http://www.asiafinest.com/forum/index.php?...c=94743&hl=

There is a thread pinned for stuff like this.

Hello splur. I 'm writing a comic book. The reason I'm interested in Japanese slang, becasue I'm writing a comic book. Kids and teens use slang-I need these slangs for my book. Some of the characters in my comic are Japanese, and some of the stories will take place in Japan.
I have a basic knowlege of the language. The only form of Japanese I know how to read is Romanized.
I want the comic to appeal to a wide audience-that's why I'm doing research on as many languages as possible.
I'm sorry if you were annoyed about the threads, but it was kind of annoying that I wasn't getting my questions answered, the first time I posted them. People weren't answering, or they were posting off-the-wall comments.
There are different "bens" spoken in Japan-what's the difference between them?
What forms of Japanese are the most common?
What resources would you reccomend for learning Japanese?
I know basic terms and vocabulary.

Yes, I believe Japanese is one of the easiest language to learn.

Thank you. What advice would you give about learning it.

Seriously, splur, there are some Japanese slang books out there, and I've spent time in Japanese translation forums. What is wrong with me using them? Are you concerned I might take something out of context?
What is wrong with learning Osaka-ben, Kyoto-ben, Tokyo-ben, etc.?

Hmmm...it's tough for me to give advice about learning Japanese because I am in the process of re-learning it myself. But I guess it would be easier for me because I have the accent part down.

I guess it would be to pronounce letter "R" like you would pronounce letter "L" AND letter "R" at the same time...like in "teriyaki". Unfortunately, I cannot give you an English word for an example for the pronunciation of the letter "R". I notice that a lot of Americans have a difficult time pronouncing the "R". Also the "A" is pronounced like you would in "Taco".

Sorry I couldn't be more helpful to you.

Splur, forgive me if I gave you the wrong impression about myself-but some of your comments didn't sound too nice-it sounded as if you were trying to discourage me.

Splur, I know basic some Japanese structure-I know that there are two forms of written Japanese-kana and kanji-is ot neccessary to know both?

What advice would you give abut learning Japanese text-that's what I meant to ask?

FYi, there's a book about using Japanese slang:
http://www.psych-books.com/Using_Japanese_...4900737364.html

I'm not trying to sound discouraging, but I attempted to learn Japanese on my own as well. And proved quite useless when I actually went there. All the vocabulary, kana/kanji I learned went down the drain simply because when I was self-teaching, I didn't have anyone say the words to me. Your brain doesn't develop the proper memory for speech and recognition when you learn it yourself. Yes, it's possible to learn it yourself, but near impossible. There is an exception, if you actually go to Japan and live there for a while or immerse yourself in Japanese friends here somehow, but that doesn't happen often :P. I'm suggesting you go to a class and actually try. That's why I say you shouldn't depend on websites/forums but more use them along with a structured learning.

You need both kana and kanji. Both work together, but kana is to be learned first and then kanji. Learning prefecture specific ben is almost like learning how to speak cockney. Yes, it'd be cool to know, but learning it fully would be nonsense and useless because not alot of people speak it fully but may only use some words from it. So no one would understand you and you'd have a really hard time learning it because no one teaches it... I've only heard like 2 words used from kansaiben when I was in Kyoto. You don't actually read any Japanese until you've learned how to read both kanas and developed a knowledge of at least 150 kanji (You don't know the basics of Japanese till you know this, technically I don't even know the basics of Japanese). Otherwise you'd just be very confused. Don't start with writing/reading. Start with speaking. As for what Japanese is most common? "Japanese" the language, no dialects really leave their prefecture and as I said, mostly only obaasans/ojiisans speak bens.

I'm harsh on people who don't follow forum posting etiquette. It's not you, it's the way you post which nicks at me.

Is learning Japanese text anything like learning Chinese? That is, do certain characters represent more than one word?
Besides buying books on slang, going to translation sites and looking for slang webpages, are there any learning resources I can go to to learn slang?

Not really... other than going there or finding someone who speaks the slang.

Yes, it's like learning Chinese. Alot of characters are the same thing, except pronounced differently.

yea there are certain rules about how to read the characters in situations like when they are combined with other characters and stuff.