Finally! Someone has come out with a strategy for learning Japanese that is easy, simple, and not all that hard. I don’t know why I didn’t come up with this before…oh wait, I did.
Learning Japanese shouldn’t be a complicated thing. People often think that it is, and overcomplicated things for themselves. Granted, learning another language can be a difficult thing, but it shouldn’t be a complicated one. Going around finding “this program” or “that program” will waste more time than it will gain you. You’ll be spending time taking shortcuts and come out way behind in the end. The best way to learn Japanese is to sit down and study it. A lot. Every day. It won’t come right away, and you won’t feel like you’re making progress, but I promise, you are!
The real secret to learning Japanese is perservering, which is pretty fitting since the Japanese culture is obsessed with that concept. I know it takes more time. So many people, though, want to rush through things and they end up coming out with patchy Japanese that they forget a week later. If you want to take Japanese language learning seriously, then you will have to work hard at it. You’ll need to want it. I want you to want it too. I know way too many people who study for about a week and then decide that they don’t care enough anymore (then go back to watching anime 24/7, of course)
Another thing that might help you learn is to watch this video, though it will probably just tickle you a bit.
Please feel free to comment below and tell us how you study your Japanese. How are you going to learn? How are you learning? What do you do to keep yourself accountable? Share your knowledge a little with the rest of the world.
Also: Make sure you go over to whatjapanthinks.com and vote for your favorite Japan blogs!
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said all that, I don't feel like I'm progressing XD
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Practically all the Japanese I know came from reading manga (in Japanese), listening to music and translating it, and watching j-dramas...and translating those for my friends. It's not the best way to go about it, and still you actually do have to sit down and do a lot of work...but hey, sometimes it beats the textbook.
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I'd have to say being born into a Japanese family in Japan. 6 years of intensive language study have convinced me.
The only thing that kept me learning Japanese in uni was that I knew that when I pasted by the grade school on the way to my campus I could stop anyone of those yellow-hatted little rugrats, challenge them to a kanji showdown, and send them crying to their mommies.
The ego-trip always ended when I remembered that they at least could speak fluent Japanese :(
My kanji is at a high school level now but my speaking still stinks.
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Regarding "pre-learning" for university, I'd agree with Koichi. Also at my university it's a prerequisite for the Japanese course being able to read and write both, Hiragana and Katakana! (I'm studying in Berlin, Germany) So it's probably a good idea to learn them, which is not very difficult in my opinion, it just takes time and regular repetition.
As for learning Japanese by watching Anime (apart from the fact that the language used in Anime is supposed to be different from normal Japanese language (I can't tell, but was told)), it might work if you are young enough, at least to some extent. I have a friend in denmark, where on TV they often show simply English shows and movies with subtitles. And my friend stated that he could speak and understand English even before having the subject in school, just by watching TV as a child, so to say. Same thing for his friends. Of course I can't know whether this is true or not, but there might be a chance, since as a child (around 3 years of age I think) you have to greatest potential for learning new languages. Also his English is excellent in every aspect, especially pronounciation.
However, that shouldn't encourage you to try learning Japanese by watching Anime for some reasons that Koichi already mentioned in some post I can't find right now, especially since most of the readers of this blog are already older than 6 years. ^^ So, i suppose it will take almost everyone simply plain hard work to achieve their Japanese learning goals.
Good article. :)
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@Marc
It was bought at some store in Kyoto, off the head of a freeta D:
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Second, is to get the audio CD for whatever book you have. It's essential to help your listening ability, and if you have a good ear, for imitating the tone as close as possible. I realize it's not a tonal language, but that doesn't mean you speak it w/an English accent!
I just take it slow, one chapter at a time, making sure I master all grammar points before moving on. Whenever I have a question, I make sure to ask the sensei to clarify.
It's also a good idea to do all of your homework. Practice listening, reading, and writing.
Another thing that helps is to come up w/sentences on your own, making use of the current chapter's grammar points, w/your classmates, and/or native speakers, if you know of any.
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So, what should I do where should I start. I would someday like to speak and write Japanese fluently, so I understand that I need to make a commitment.
Thanks,
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What articles do you read every day to practice Japanese? I find newspapers a bit too difficult, but as a third-year student I probably should push myself for that.
Ideas?
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I usually get my articles from Asahi.com (sometimes it will redirect you to the English version, but you can just click on "japanese" somewhere and it will take you back). Granted, it is a newspaper, but it's not so bad in terms of difficulty (I think). Careful not to copy the grammar points too much though, it's all really stiff, like a newspaper should be :)
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I started with a website called YesJapan (www.yesjapan.com) really good website. And then I got a private teacher. He was really helpful until he had to go back to Japan. Now I'm back to YesJapan and I really need to practice everyday.
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Lesson: If you're paying for something, make sure you get the most out of it instead of burning out on it.
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