How to Learn Japanese

Konnichiwa! Welcome to the land of the rising sun.

Steps

1. Consider why you are learning Japanese and select the method and financial investment that best reflects the results or purpose you wish to achieve. Everyone learns at their own pace, so accept the following as general recommendations and tailor them to your individual needs.
2. If you are learning for fun because you like Japanese culture such as manga (comics) and anime (animation) or for travel, get an audio learning CD. Just spending an hour a day can build up grammar usage and teach you simple stock phrases and useful vocabulary. Listen to it during your commute to work in your car or have it ready on your portable music player for lunch and breaks or walks in the park. You won’t need to learn how to read or write any of it. You’ll also have more fun on a short trip to Japan knowing a few useful phrases than wasting your preparation time cramming obscure characters into your brain. Your trip should be fun, so spend your prep-time picking places to visit, referencing maps, reading about culture or history and setting your itinerary.
3. If you are learning for business or you want to live in Japan, consider enrolling in a college level course, an intensive program or night school. Learning to read and write will be crucial to your long term success and having a mentor during the early stages is ideal for developing good study habits and asking all the questions you will have about Japanese language and culture.
4. Japanese has four writing systems. Hiragana, Katakana, (Rômaji) and Kanji. Rômaji is not commonly thought of as a part of the writing system but it actually is. Rômaji is literally “roman letters”, an example would be “sushi” or “Tokyo” as they appear here. Hiragana and Katakana are syllabic alphabets. Hiragana is used for native Japanese words. Katakana is commonly used for foreign loan words, like Makudonarudo (McDonald’s). Kanji are Chinese characters the Japanese have modified and used for centuries. Begin studying all three writing styles early on if literacy is important for your purpose of learning the language. Kana (Hiragana and Katakana) can be learned in a few weeks and you can use them to write anything you want, all in Japanese. Kanji typically takes several years but is a great enhancement of your abilities. As you become more versed in Japanese, what you used to write in Kana you will begin to write more with Kanji.
5. Use flashcards to learn A) Vocabulary and simple phrases: They can be used while waiting for a meeting, on a train, etc. Some free cards can be found on the web to get you started, or you can buy higher quality cards at most college bookstores or online. B) Kanji: Look for cards that show stroke order (how to write the character) represented in the calligraphy of the vocabulary side and have example compound words on the definition (answer) side. Do not hesitate to pick up a pack of blank 3×5 cards to make your own flash cards that are exactly what you want to learn. Low tech is often the most effective way to get what you want out of your study time.
6. Join a Japanese language conversation group in your area. Conversation groups abound and are usually easily found with a simple internet search or phone call to your local civic center or library. Train your ears to pick out what is being said. Even if you don’t understand it, try to be able to repeat what was said so you can begin to pick it apart and develop comprehension.
7. Make Japanese friends with whom you can regularly practice. Lots of Japanese people want to learn English so it is possible to find many who are willing to help you practice if you are equally willing to share your natural English skills. Simply having friends to trade notes with can help everyone improve their abilities. Do things with your friends that involve language but aren’t “study time”. If your Japanese friends haven’t lived in your country very long, show them around town. Go sightseeing. Remember, you have to blow off steam regularly or you’ll get stressed out about all those Kanji you have to memorize. Having fun is the best way to accomplish two goals at the same time.
8. Finally, take a vacation or look for an opportunity to live in Japan. The ultimate test is going there and trying out your knowledge. It’s very exciting and quite an awesome experience to immerse yourself in another culture, even for a short period. Do not be discouraged if you do not immediately understand everything that is said to you or you can’t read or write as well as you expected. Everything becomes easier with time and always remember why you started, to enjoy exploring something different and to have fun.

Tips

• If you can afford to take a year off and go to Japan, many universities such as Sophia University in Tokyo and Doshisha University in Kyoto both offer intensive one-year programs in Japanese which will bring you to near-fluency in a short period of time. However, if your goal is to become fluent, you will get the most out of learning language in Japan if you study for a year or more prior to your visit. Ideally you don’t want to waste your first several months studying Kana and basic vocabulary when you could have learned it beforehand. Even so, there’s nothing wrong with jumping in if that’s your style.
• Working in Japan is a great way to learn, but teaching English or working in a foreign company will usually give you very little hands-on experience with the language. Since your Japanese co-workers will probably speak English fluently, you’re better off in a Japanese company where the lingua franca is not English.
• Romaji is the “Romanization” of Japanese language. In other words, how to write Japanese using English letters. For example “Hoteru e ikimasu”, I am going to the hotel. If you ask a Japanese person who can’t speak English to write what they are saying in Romaji they will know what you mean.
• Learn the culture of Japan. It will go a long way to understanding your new Japanese friends and provide plenty of things to talk about using your new language skills.
• Host a Japanese exchange student or become an exchange student yourself and experience living with a Japanese family. There are many programs that offer three months to year long “home stays” in Japan. Even more flexible lengths of time may be available through some institutions such as a weekend or you may be able to find a host family through friends. If you do not go through an institution, be prepared to remunerate your host, either in cash or in kindness or by offering to host them when they visit your home country. But make sure what you are committing to up front before you book any flights and that both you and the family you are visiting are 100% clear on the details. Avoid long stays that are not associated with an educational institution or well-known program as these tend to treat your stay more as a hostel/room-and-board scenario as opposed to a cultural exchange in which you benefit from spending time with family members of the home you will live in.
• Movies and TV shows are often difficult to understand, because it’s impossible to ask the actors to explain what they’ve just said. However, variety shows tend to have a lot of subtitling, which makes them much easier to understand and learn from if you have a basic command of the written language. In general Japanese TV is very entertaining with slapstick skit based comedy and evening dramas/soaps that are easy to follow.
• If you are seeking the most inexpensive way to learn, find free help for learning Japanese online. There are free audio lessons, writing lessons, and tons of other resources. Some websites are listed at the bottom of this page.
• There are even software programs that can teach you the language. But remember there is no substitute for hard study time and the dynamic environment of speaking with real people.
• Learn from context. If you’re in a situation where someone hands you chopsticks and offers you an appetizing dish, you don’t need to understand what was said. You’re about to eat something nice. Say Arigato Gozaimasu (thank you very much). Enjoy the simple things.
• Study some material for about 30 minutes a day. This totals up to about more than 180 hours a year. 30 hours more than being exposed to Japanese in a college class!
• Another good place to check is http://www.thejapanesepage.com, they can teach rômaji and the actual letters. If you need to translate words, go to http://babelfish.altavista.com/ and you know the rest — although you will likely get a translation that is total gibberish. (Japanese to English.) Or, you can type something in and use English to Japanese.