Hello, Paizo! Seeing as how this is the only message board I frequent that has an "off-topic" forum, I figured I'd make this strange request here. You see, I would love to learn to speak Japanese, or at least become more familiar with the Japanese language, but I have neither the time nor the drive at the moment to actually sit down and try to teach it to myself (and there are no classes for it in my area). So I had an idea, and in order to put this idea into action, I need a recording of someone speaking Japanese.
So, basically, I'm looking for an audio file (preferably MP3, though I suppose a video could work as well- I'm hoping to put this on either my netbook or mp3 player) of someone speaking Japanese, preferably for several hours. Seeing as how I don't understand the language, the actual subject matter doesn't matter to me, I'm just looking to become familiar to listening to the tone, inflection, consonant sounds, etc. I'd prefer not to listen to music, but rather just someone talking- an audiobook spoken in Japanese, an instructional recording in Japanese, or, heck, a lecture given by a Japanese physics professor would fit the bill nicely. I'm hoping to find something I can download for free, so seeing as how I doubt we can give out pirated media on these forums, that's probably out of the question (unless someone can recommend something for me to download by my own means). But if there's anyone out there who speaks Japanese, and happens to know of a good online depository for easy-to-access sound files, I'd very much appreciate it.
Thank you in advance! I hope that wasn't too confusing.
Well, I don't know how helpful this will be, but there's tons and tons of subtitled anime on hulu.
You can listen to Japanese news here. While the sentences are more advanced than what you'll usually find in anime or movies, the pronunciation will be way better for learning, and the pace is generally easier to pick up.
You can listen in normal/slow/fast speed by choosing among ふつう/ゆっくり/はやい listed on the top.
For learning Japanese I wouldn't really recommend anime... too many irregularities and weird pronunciations there. Though if it's the only thing you can get a hold of, then any Japanese is better than no Japanese. ;)
Ah, I forgot to mention, I'm not considering anime (or even most movies) as the best material for what I'm doing. I'd prefer just one person talking for the entire length of what I'm looking for, but I think the Japanese News isn't too far off. Thanks for the suggestions!
This may be what you're looking for. I haven't tried any of the books so I can't vouch for their quality, but it came up on top of Google for "japanese audiobooks online."
頑張ってください～～♪
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You can try recordings from The Japanese Tradition, a series of informational videos about Japanese everyday life, in Japanese. I would recommend starting with Sushi.
All the Zatoichi movies are on hulu.com.
Read more: > http://www.hulu.com/zatoichi-the-blind-swordsman <
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Also, there is this cool new website called YouTube! .
Perhaps that will help.
Read more: > Funny Japan Commercial <
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Edit: I liked the anime series > bamboo-blade <. The first few eps are dubbed, but then it is all in nihongo.
