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So I know that jiko shoukai is self-introduction. And benkyou is study. So I
took a guess and figured that self-study is jiko benkyou. The context of this
is if someone asks "how did/do you study Japanese?" And the reply is "I
studied by myself." or just "Self-study.". So just to make sure I took a quick
look at Google Translate and it gave me these options:

  * jishuu 
  * dokugaku 
  * dokushuu

But didn't give jiko benkyou. So what would be the proper word to use for this
response?
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2014-01-31T01:20:24.993
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word-choice
What is the proper word for self-study?
The proper word for self-study would be 独学。
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2014-01-31T06:58:29.923
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To "How did/do you study Japanese?" you'd respond

> [独学]{どくがく}です。  
>

(not [自習]{じしゅう}です, [自己勉強]{じこべんきょう}しました or [独習]{どくしゅう}です.)  

I think the word [自習]{じしゅう}(する) refers to "(to) seatwork" or "study hall".
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2014-01-31T08:21:19.173
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The most proper word for self-study is 独学

自己で勉強する <=> Study by my-self.
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2014-01-31T10:06:25.783
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I believe the most proper wording is the one in the other answers
[独学]{dokugaku}. This word means (at least to me as a non-native
speaker/learner of Japanese) self-study as in to learn something substantial
by oneself.

I think another phrase that one can use is [自分]{じぶん}で[勉強]{べんきょう}しました. This
phrase also literally means "I studied it by myself." I would take this one to
be less formal in use and meaning. But I could be wrong on this point (and I'm
sure I'll get downvoted if that's the case).

While [自己]{じこ} does mean self (actually each half of it means self in a
different sense in both Japanese and Chinese), it doesn't mean self as in "by
oneself" so it cannot produce a compound that would mean study by oneself. Cf.
[自己紹介]{じこしょうかい} = to introduce oneself. So [自己勉強]{jikobenkyou} would mean the
study of the self. The word [自我]{じが} also means self but refers to something
like the _ego_ in psychology -- not the self of self-study. ([Here's the
Japanese wikiepdia on it](http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%87%AA%E6%88%91))

Consequently, the newly added answer [自己]{じこ}で[勉強]{べんきょう}する is one that sounds
extremely unnatural.
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2014-02-02T22:34:08.860
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Another option is the word 独得(どくとく). It means learning by oneself according to
the app Imiwa?. Denshi Jisho lists the same meaning and says it's a common
word. I've used it in conversation and wasn't corrected but that doesn't mean
much.
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2014-03-10T07:03:43.857
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