My brother, who works for a large international company, spent last year in Japan on business. As a surprise, he paid for me to fly to Japan for a visit. I was overwhelmed with not only the beauty of the country but the charm of its people. When I came home, I resolved to learn everything Japanese because I'd like to return. I hope this article will help those struggling with how to learn Japanese; if I can do it, anyone can!
The first thing you need to do before you start learning Japanese or any other language, is to determine the reason why you need to learn the language. While your motive may not be so important in beginning the study of other languages, it's a critical factor in determining how to learn Japanese. Why? Well, if you're just going over to Japan for a very short time and will be spending most of your time with people who know English, all you probably need is a brief introductory course that teaches you a few essential phrases like hello, excuse me, I'm sorry, and the like. However if you need to speak and understand conversational Japanese from basic to intermediate level, then you need to learn more than just a few basic Japanese phrases.
If you fit into that category, you may want to try either a formal Japanese course at a school, college, or university. You may also find it more cost effective and easier to learn Japanese with audio-based language learning programs, software games or watching Japanese movies. Regardless of your choice of how to learn Japanese, make sure you select an audio-based method. You need to hear the language spoken by a native speaker. Books alone will not do. A good Japanese audio-based program is an example of an extremely natural learning method. It attempts to replicate the way Japanese children actually learn their language in the first place.
How does this work? Small children will first learn how their home tongue sounds like when their parents speak to them. They learn through careful listening. As this takes place, the children are picking up vocabulary words they'll be able to use themselves as they learn to talk. Have you ever noticed that if you ask a toddler to "bring me the ball," he will comply long before he's able to form the words himself? He's acquired a passive vocabulary, but not yet an active one. You'll find, as you find out how to learn Japanese, that you'll follow the same progression recognizing words first, then understanding them, and finally being able to use them correctly.
What about writing? You may ask. How will I ever learn to write Japanese if I can't even read those strange looking Japanese symbols? Well, it's up to you to decide whether you need to learn them or not. If you are just planning to visit Japan for a short holiday, then you possibly may not need to learn to read Japanese to begin with. However if you want to become fluent in Japanese then it is a good idea to learn to read the Japanese language as well. If you decide that for you, reading is an essential step in how to learn Japanese, study the kanas, hiragana and katakana, two basic components of the very complex Japanese writing system. And make flash cards!
Speaking the Japanese language is its most important aspect, and not reading and writing as most people would like us to believe. You will have a huge advantage over other people traveling to Japan who do not speak the language, if you can manage to learn conversational Japanese even if it is just at a beginner level. So regardless of your decision on how to learn Japanese, concentrate on learning to speak it well, and enjoy your immersion in another culture!
Of course, trying to learn the Japanese alphabet isn't necessarily an easy task. This is where the use of alphabet mnemonics and other related Japanese alphabet memorisation techniques come in handy. You see, you can learn certain kana by associating them with specific ideas and text of sorts. Let's take the character for 'no' for example. Whilst normally this character may not bear any real resemblance to anything, if you associating it with a 'nodding alien' for example, the Japanese kana for 'no' becomes easier to remember.
By making a number of these mnemonic associations, you'll be able to quite easily associate the Japanese alphabet with much easier to remember images and visual mnemonics. Japanese is a difficult language to learn, particularly for English speakers or speakers of any of the romantic languages. This is because Japanese has every little in common with such languages, and an almost entirely new order of communication must be learned.
For instance there are a number of sounds in the Japanese alphabet that are quite unique to japanese. The difference between the 'r' sound in Japan and English is quite vast, and many foreign speakers often confuse this letter with sounding like something it doesn't. It's important to educate yourself in the correct way to pronounce the Japanese alphabet characters, as opposed to just memorising them.
With a good solid foundation in the Japanese language, you'll be able to develop further skills that will go towards greatly assisting you in life, and mastering the language. Know that memorising something such as the Japanese alphabet will take a lot of time and patience, however with perseverance will pay off.
Like attempting to study any language, learning an entirely new order of strokes and writing system won't necessarily be easy, but given the right amount of time, the right amount of practice and with enough devotion, learning the Japanese alphabet will become second nature to you once you've been exposed to the writing techniques enough. Memorisation and repetition are incredibly important.
So know that, like with all things, the Japanese alphabet can be mastered, but it is recommended that you practice it at least once daily, and try and prevent yourself from reading what's known as the 'romaji' characters, as they don't help to build up your confidence in reading Japanese character's specifically. Give it time and practice, and you will soon reap the rewards.
Both Gerrit Du Plessis & John Hubert are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
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