Verily! It is here! “My _{[or, I guess, your]} First Sentence Pack”. A set of over 500 short, fun, easy, useful example sentences to get you started with the so-called “AJATT Method” of learning Japanese.

Joy!

But, you know what? Behind all this humor, the off-color jokes, the eye-catching banners, the inflammatory comments about already-victimized ethnic groups, and the videos with bad sound quality, there hides a hideous, pus-oozing, gangrenous secret. That secret being the fact that I don’t know Japanese and this is all a hoax to fool you:

You REALLY Don’t Need This. No, Really.

You really don’t need this. I mean, you really don’t need to buy this. You need this even less than you needed the QRG. I mean, buying stuff? Are you joking? In THIS economy?! _{(This is a great break-up line, by the way: “Stacy, I really care about you, mmm kay? But I just feel that it’s not right for us to keep seeing each other in this economy…”, and then next day you’re like “Yeah, dude, I totally broke up with my girlfriend last night…you know, with this economy…”)}
Seriously — why are you even online now? You should just turn off your computer and the lights to save on power…

Also, Japanese literature of all forms is produced in massive quantities. The Japanese language was the first in the world in which a novel was written. The top FIVE highest-circulation newspapers on the planet (including the only newspapers with circulations exceeding 10 million copies) are all published in Japan, in Japanese — not the US, not the China, not the India, but the Japan. Japanese is also the language with the most blogs — more than English, even. There is no shortage of “Japanese sentences” in the world, out there, for free, even.

So Why Would Anyone Even Want This?
_{(And why have I used the word “even” in three consecutive sentences?)}

For the same reason people would want the QRG. Because, when you’re first starting out, things are daunting; things are confusing; everything is new. There’s a lot on one’s proverbial plate. One less thing to worry about can make things just that much quicker and easier. The key words here are ease, convenience and, to quote a Simpsons episode, “can’t somebody else do it?”. Sure, you could go find all your first X hundred sentences yourself, but if the feeling is right and none of the major religions of the world have a problem with it (?) then…you know…one or two sentence packs here or there never killed anyone…hopefully…probably.

Can’t somebody else do it?

Somebody else can do it, my friend. And he already has. Just for you.

What’s In The Package

“My First Sentence Pack” (I am desperately resisting the urge to call it MFSP…must stop…creating…acronyms) comes as an electronic book in PDF format, clocking in at just over 200 pages, containing more than 560 Japanese sentences, with English translations and brief explanations where necessary. Check out this sample page.

Being in electronic format makes the sentence pack ideal, because you’re saved all that slow typing. Those who know, know that what really kills about typing isn’t the actual sentence, but all the ancillary info that goes along with it. Not to mention the increased risk of error. Until now, beginners have mostly had to rely on beginner books (as I did), which are, well, books, on paper. Now all you need do to get your sentences is copy and paste. The idea here is to bridge the gap between “0″ and “independently using native [electronic] media sources, such as blogs”.

Each example sentence is made up of two basic parts: “front” and “back”, just like actual paper flashcards. The front carries the sentence, the back its translation, kanji readings and any extra info if applicable.

A Word On SRSing And Sentences

While this sentence pack is and will be useful and has been made with the best of intentions, please remember that it is not a substitute for exposure to real Japanese. That is, Japanese made by and for native users.

These sentences have been written/chosen as good representatives of fun, simple natural usage. They steer clear of a lot of the sleep-inducing, hyper-didactic, unnaturally anglicized stuff [case in point: incessant pronoun use] that seems to be common in Japanese beginner materials. However, they (1) by no means represent “everything you will ever need to know”, (2) are slightly biased towards things that are easy to translate into/explain in English, and (3) were selected for an audience of non-Japanese speakers (not that you’re not Japanese, but… ) — at some subtle level, this “contaminates” them.

Fundamentally, the Japanese you want is the Japanese that Japanese people get, not the Japanese that someone, even a handsome, charming, well-meaning someone, prepared and selected for you. In other words: these sentences are like training wheels — use them, but you want to ride the bike for real as soon as you can. That’s where all the fun is, and it’s where the bulk of your learning, both in terms of time and quantity, will take place.

In any case, Japanese is full of things that are hard to translate/explain, or seem complex when explained, but that are super easy to understand when you just expose yourself to the language as it is.

So, to conclude, keep being Japanese, keep experiencing more Japanese, and things will get clearer and clearer. Thank you again, and have fun!

さあ、to the sentences!

Buy It Now, Baby !

You know the drill: All that’s left to do is click. Your copy is waiting for you. Buy it now. Do it. You need this. You want this. You deserve this. You’re worth it. Treat yourself. Those aren’t blemishes, those are beauty spots. Et cetera.

You can get your My First Sentence Pack either by itself or bundled together with the QRG/Quick Reference Guide. Choose whichever path suits you best. I’m open-minded like that.

OR

• My First Sentence Pack: $15.95 (special early-buyer price thru October 5: $7.95) OR
• My First Sentence Pack + QRG Value Bundle: $19.95 (save over 30% )

Satisfaction, Or Your Money Back

This is the second “Original AJATT Product” to come out. So, I’m just starting out making these. If you are less than happy with it, don’t sit there feeling bad , just contact me for a full refund: qrg at alljapaneseallthetime dot com — you even get to keep your purchase after the refund . More AJATT products are on their way, so in the exceeeeedingly unlikely event that you don’t like this one, I’m sure there’ll eventually be something you do like. Until then, take a refund .

Another day, another kid named J.R. (different from the last!), all up in my email:

Hey Khatz,

Your method when applied to languages like Chinese and Japanese makes perfect sense but I am trying to learn Korean and Finnish.

My problem is with Finnish. A Finnish word can have up to 14 cases so do I need to make a sentence for each case?  If done that way, it seems like I could make it to 10,000 sentences quite easily, but the 10,000 wouldn’t be the same as say 10,000 in Japanese/Korean/Chinese.

Appreciate the feedback.

OK, first of all, I have a secret ^{(the secret, the secret)} to tell you. Come closer. Closer. ‘K, here we go:

There are no cases in Finnish.^*

Just make whatever sentences you need to make as things come out of your immersion environment. Just treat everything as if it were a different word. Focus on the difference in *meaning*, since that’s what actually counts.

Think about it in English — fundamentally, the difference between “I go to school” and “I went to school” isn’t one of tenses of the verb “to go” or whatever…the two words, “go” and “went”…the two sentences actually have different meanings. In theory, they are mutations of the same word. In practice, they are different words. “He eats the food”, “he ate the food” — these things are different.

Looked at this way, grammatical inflection ceases to be a burden, and instead becomes a tool for expressing oneself more precisely. You go from “Effing sonofa I have to learn all this effing mothereffing B.S.” to “SWEET! I can tell people what I will have done if I were to have been X; the future really is perfect!”.

So don’t think of the depth of variation of a single word. Pretend everything is flat. Treat everything as its own, independent word. Sometimes, it’s just easier this way. In practice, this does mean that every case will eventually be represented in your SRS, but not that you’ll necessarily have to decline or conjugate every single word that inflects — you are after all a human being; you know a pattern when you see it; you don’t need everything declared; you’re a gap-filling, pattern-matching machine. Do as much as you need to “get it”, and no more.

As for number of sentences, I doubt more than 10k will be necessary to reach a high level of proficiency. Remember that the sentences are just a tool/by-product for and of massive exposure to native materials.

For more, check out AntiMoon.com — Tomasz and the crew wrote about learning English, which is closer to what you’re trying to do in terms of certain language features.

Disclaimer: I haven’t actually tried to learn Finnish, but if I were to, this is exactly how I would do it. Starting with a phrasebook, I would just accept the sentences “as is”, and let the patterns present themselves to me over time. In any case the key is always to realize this: learning a language does not require pain, boredom or suffering.

^{_{*OK, maybe there are, but only because and as long as people keep saying so. They’re a theoretical construct that’s generally useful for analysis, and generally worth crap-all for praxis.}}

• 「最近、「雰囲気」を「ふいんき」と読む人がとても増えており、テレビのアナウンサーも「ふいんき」を使用する人がいます。」
  http://bit.ly/IujXB #
• Surusu: service down temporarily. Will be back up within 24 hours. #
• Surusu: service restored. #
• Surusu: backup in progress #
• “a child can imitate the rhythm and musical contours of the language long before he can say the words”
  http://bit.ly/kME0a #
• MDさん斯く語りき「God exists, and he wants me to be able to listen to the Beatles AND study Japanese!」
  http://bit.ly/1CQob #
• Surusu: backup in progress #
• Faced with their own ignorance on a topic, adults react with guilt and shame; small children get excited at the learning opportunity. #
• 日本を含めて世界中の殆どの言語学習者の問題は、東洋伝統芸武術に喩えると、「守破離」の「守」の部分が成ってない事にあるんだ。素直にネイティブの物真似をするのが王道。その物真 #
• Don’t try to read in the same way all the time. Logistics and energy need to be considered. Change your reading style/content to suit these. #
• Surusu: backup in progress #
• “[Teachers] cannot think or labor for you, they can only put you in the best way of thinking and laboring for yoursel[f].”–Joseph Priestly #
• Surusu: backup in progress #
• In a sense, the work of an AJATTeer is not to find Japanese media to hang onto, but to find Japanese media to throw away. #
• “I am your supermaaaaaan 是你的超人”
  http://bit.ly/408D8z #
• Full version here –> http://bit.ly/10uUQm #
• “The school system was crafted to deliver factory slaves to Henry Ford, and cubicle slaves to
  XYZ Insurers.”
  http://bit.ly/LhR67 #
• Those 5 or 10-minute gaps you have scattered throughout your day. Those could be Japanese, too. Give them “Japanese citizenship”(WTF?) (^^). #
• YT: 側田 – 未輸
  「請不必囂張 舖張 得戚得這麼誇張
  用自大偽造力量 擊我不倒只得輕傷
  多囂張 舖張 得戚得這麼誇張
  賣弄著極大陣仗 想我消失並未自量 」
  http://bit.ly/ri0Hj #
• Speak quietly and act loudly? #
• ‘Those who dwell on the “Why I cantʼs” at age 16 will probably still be doing exactly the
  same thing at age 66!’
  http://bit.ly/LhR67 #
• Don’t “follow” or “agree with” AJATT. *Refer* to AJATT. Pick and choose (what parts will be up to you — all up to you ), like jellybeans. #

A funny thing happened on the way to my email:

Hey Khatz,

I’m currently using my SRS to practice sentences, but I’m having trouble keeping up with the workload. In your recommendations you say you should be able to write (copy out) each sentence.

Do you recommend copying out the sentence every time it shows up in your SRS? Or just the first time, or every time you miss it? Whats your stance on this. I’d be interested to know because at about 1 minute per card writing everything out, I tend to burn out pretty fast. Sorry if you’ve answered this somewhere on your site already, I couldn’t find it if you have.

Thanks for your time,

J.R.

Great question. I’d been meaning to address this at some point . This is of course all assuming you’re doing the “classic”/”original”/”vanilla”/”recognition”-type sentences, where you are to read aloud and understand a sentence written in actual Japanese. For Japanese, I continue to use this type of sentence card myself because it’s so time-cheap. Anyway, to the point:

Writing out the sentence (or some part of it, e.g. the part you got wrong) each time you miss it is enough*. In fact, it’s ideal, I think. It’s the perfect balance between thinking (“which ones should I write?”) and effort (“I need to sit up with pen and paper and write this shizzle!”) and gain (“I know stuff!”).

Indeed, you may often find, as I do, that there is a strong correlation between ability to write out the sentence and ability to read it correctly. There may always be things you can read but not write, but there will be few/none that you can write but not read. For whatever reason or reasons, the act of writing out the parts you get wrong will impress them upon your memory a lot more than merely seeing them. Maybe it’s because the writing out forces you to focus a bit.

Anyway, have fun. If anyone else has tips for J.R., feel free to share .

_{*N.B.: Just so we’re clear, this post is about sentences. For kanji, you’re going to want to write everythaang out.}

Thank you for using Surusu.

As you may be aware, Surusu has up until now had periodic 15~20-minute service interruptions while backups are taken.

Wanting to eliminate the need to interrupt service in order to take a backup, today I started working with a “live backup” solution.

Unfortunately and quite ironically, this “live backup” solution led to the loss of the very user data — yours and mine — that it was intended to protect.

Fortunately, I had taken a full, “normal” backup just one week ago.
It has become necessary to restore this week-old backup.
As a result, one week’s worth of entered cards [anything entered between September 12 and September 20 (Japan time)] have been lost, and may not be recoverable. Repetition data has also been reset to September 12 status, although this does not represent a significant problem since it will just mean extra review.

Your time and data are valuable.
I apologize deeply for the inconvenience.
I shall continue to work to find stable, sustainable ways to ensure the integrity of the system.
For now, that may mean the occasional 15~20 minute service interruption while a very pedestrian backup is taken.

The Good News

The Surusu interface has been updated extensively for even more pleasant use. There have also been dozens of back-end fixes. Notably, the sporadic problem with “Extra Reps” processing not going through, has been repaired.

Thank you again for using Surusu.

Best regards,

Khatzumoto

[P.S.]: Will This Sort of Thing Happen Again?

No.

This was the first Surusu data loss incident of any kind in all its nearly 4 years of operation. And the fault was ultimately human error — mine. At the time, I was in a rush to get cool new stuff working “invisibly”, with minimum inconvenience to everyone else.

The webhost/server is one of the best out there…the database system is stable…the programmer was in too much of a hurry . A deliberate pace and simple safety checks, as has been the usual policy, can and will prevent all loss of this kind.

The immediate short-term direction is more frequent backups. Beyond that, adding functionality so we can all download and back-up our data locally is a high priority, something I want to add as soon as possible.

So, both as a user and a programmer…I’ll do my very best and more. Your concern is completely warranted, and I feel your pain — my data, all 25000 odd cards and  nearly 100000 reps — are in there, too .

Deepest apologies again for the inconvenience .

• Japanese kids never run away, never give up, never skip a day of Japanese. Even if they wanted to, their environment won’t let them. #
• “Another reason for Jamaican [track athlete]s’ success: their attitude”
  http://bit.ly/ej6mJ #
• Poor experiment-design strikes again. It turns out that age may not be a deciding issue at all with memory.
  http://bit.ly/jKn54 #
• “A simple practice done regularly is superior to a complex practice done irregularly ”
  http://bit.ly/QqQTS #
• Tip: don’t pause video. Turn down the volume. The continual motion reminds you to turn it on/up again. #
• Pure 100% immersion may not always be possible. So what? Focus on what you *can* change, not on what you can’t. #
• The Ferris on Why Language Classes Don’t Work
  http://bit.ly/10kh5 #
• I have a dream. That young white boys can grow up to be world-class sprinters without people casting ethnic aspersions on their ability. #
• 「条件を変えれば、行動は必ず変わる！」
  http://bit.ly/vJvuz #
• Saying “I study animals in the wild” is sort of like saying “I study computers with the power plugged in” — it should go without saying. #
• All problems are solved by a sequence of small actions. The difference is in the length of the sequence. But the actions are always small. #
• Japanese sites for Japanese kids — that includes you.
  http://bit.ly/sJ1y7 #
• Maybe instead of “learn” a language, we should tell people to “experience” it instead. That alone could end the bias toward boring things. #
• “Crimson Tide”… that them thar dialogue is just as cool in 日本語
  http://bit.ly/1MlEfH #