A Beginner's Guide To Japanese
Japanese, along with Mandarin, is seen as one of the most difficult languages to learn. Many organisations, such as the Foreign Service Institute, have classed Japanese as a category five language. This means it is considered difficult due to its difference to English. Other languages such as French, Italian and Spanish are ranked as category one, which means they are easier to learn for English speakers. To be honest, I would have to disagree with the above findings. If anything, it is down to the discipline of the individual student as to whether the study process is easy or difficult. I also find it a shame that research findings can scare people away from a fascinating language. Here at italki, we would like more people to take up the challenge of learning more complex languages. For that reason, we have compiled this beginner's guide to Japanese. The aim is to provide an overview of the language in part one and how to study it. In part two we will show Japanese language in use. This is to convince readers that Japanese is not as difficult as the internet would have us believe. Our overall goal is that people already studying one language will also consider Japanese. All things take time, and there is no reason to rush the learning of a second language. PART ONE
What Is Japanese? Japanese is now estimated to be spoken by one hundred and twenty-eight million people. Its exact origins are difficult to trace. There have been heated discussions that Japanese is a combination of Chinese and other Asian languages. There is not enough evidence to confirm this theory. Although some grammar in the languages is similar, without definite proof it is hard to source the origin of Japanese. Some academics believe Japanese originated in the ninth century from the Uralic languages. Uralic is a definition of languages formed in North Asia and Central, Eastern and Northern Europe. How Many Alphabets Does Japanese Have? Hiragana This is the simplest syllabary (symbols showing the syllables words contain) in Japanese. Comprised of forty-six kana, Hiragana allows the Japanese language to be written by breaking up its syllables. The shape of the syllabary has been referred to as curvilinear. The kana are pleasing to the eye. For beginners to the language they are ideal for learning first. With practice the stroke order of the hiragana can be memorised. This will aid students who want to move on to more complex kanji in their studies. Below are the hiragana for the word 'Hello':
こんにちは こ ん に ち は konnichiwa ko n ni chi wa Notice the appearance of the hiragana above as being both curvy and straight. Katakana
Usually described as being for foreign loan words, katakana are slightly similar to hiragana. The main difference is that katakana are not curvy but comprised of straight lines. There are forty-six katakana, but as with hiragana the number used can be increased using diacritics. By placing extra marks on existing hiragana and katakana characters, diacritics extends the number of syllables. If you see the example below we have the katakana for the syllable 'ka': カ By adding a diacritic mark to 'ka' we can now turn it into the katakana for 'ga'. Please see below: ガ Kanji With their beauty, and complexity, Japanese kanji both fascinate and frighten some learners. Estimates to the total number of kanji vary from ten to nearly ninety thousand. The good news is that around two thousand kanji are taught within schools and needed to read a newspaper. So, in terms of learning kanji there is no need to panic. In getting to grips with kanji, it is important to understand the use of stroke order. We would advise beginners to first master hiragana and then katakana before approaching kanji. This is due to the fact that hiragana and katakana originate from kanji. Although kanji appear difficult, they often contain the same if not less number of strokes as in English. Consider the kanji below and the English words they represent: 一 meaning in English: one 三 meaning in English: three 電 meaning in English: electricity 車 meaning in English: car Rōmaji
In order to help foreigners pronounce Japanese more easily, systems such as Hepburn romanisation use the Latin alphabet to write in Japanese. Hepburn is the most popular system to do this, and it was created by a missionary called James Curtis Hepburn. This occurred in the late nineteenth century. For beginners to Japanese, the Hepburn system is pretty much a life saver. Below we have an example of the romanisation of the Japanese word 'densha' meaning 'train' in English: densha = train, in kanji this would be: 電車 meaning 'Electric Car' でんしゃ で ん しゃ densha de n sha If you look at the kana above, you'll notice the use of diacritics again. For the Japanese syllable 'sha' the syllable 'shi' is used. A smaller syllable for 'ya' is added to it to create the syllable 'sha'. What Skills Do I Need To Learn Japanese? To succeed in Japanese, I would urge you to perfect your concentration skills.
Concentration: If you have read some of my other articles you will know I have often covered the topic of distraction. With television, video games and mobile phones our attention has become very fragmented. If you want to succeed in studying Japanese, you will have to retrain your concentration span. When working I aim for four hours of concentration. This is not broken by my mobile phone beeping or some quick internet shopping. I will put my phone on silent and use a pen and pad when writing. I leave my computer switched off too. As many studies have shown, once your concentration is broken it takes around twenty minutes for your focus to be fully restored. This means you can sit down to study for an hour, but if you are distracted twice you will have lost forty minutes of your hour.
To develop better focus and concentration, you'll need patience and a study plan. If you are struggling to concentrate I would recommend you begin by using a study desk in a local library. Then place your mobile phone on silent so you won't be disturbed. Using increments, build your concentration up in blocks of twenty minutes. Do this one week at a time such as the below: Week One: Aim for twenty minutes of undisturbed study per day Week Two: Forty minutes for undisturbed study everyday Week Three: 60 minutes of study undisturbed per day If you can follow this pattern, two things will happen. The first is that you will waste less time during the course of your Japanese studies. By concentrating undisturbed you could literally save years of your time.
There are people who have studied a language for ten years and made little progress. If you know someone like that, consider how they spend their time. Do they play video games a lot, stream movies all the time or endlessly stare at their mobile phones? Try observing people who are very successful, are they more disciplined than the average person? I am willing to bet that they are. The second thing that will happen with a study plan is that you will enter a state which scientists refer to as 'flow'. This is where you concentrate on a task so fully that time flies by and the task also becomes a lot easier. You will also enter a sort of meditation where your worries disappear and are replaced by the enjoyment of what you are currently working on. Personally, I think 'flow' also means less guilt. If you know you have studied efficiently you will feel more confident in your target language. This means you will feel less guilty than if you had spent your time playing a game on your smartphone.
If you are interested in the subject of improving your concentration, then check out my article in the italki catalogue which is called 'Minimalism And The Art Of Learning A Language'.
Is Japanese A Difficult Language To Learn?
Not really. At first glance Japanese may seem difficult but it's really down to how different it is from your native language. When working abroad I took some lessons in Japanese and my class was populated with a lot of Chinese students. As they had experience in writing hanzi characters, which many kanji descend from, they had the edge on me in terms of written Japanese. For the above reason, I put in a lot of extra time learning hiragana, katakana and kanji. That extra study time paid off and actually helped to make spoken Japanese easier for me. I had also constructed a study routine which included small treats to make the learning experience more fun. Please see below for my routine, and think of making your own: 7am to 8.30am: Practice hiragana/katakana/kanji (This involved drinking a pot of excellent coffee and listening to two music albums at the same time). 12pm to 12.30pm: Look through Japanese vocabulary cards (This was done in the first half of my lunch break while munching a sandwich and drinking green tea). 6pm to 6.30pm: Speak Japanese sentences out loud (I did this while getting ready for a night out with my friends). 6.30pm to7pm: Practice lesson with an online Japanese teacher (If I did not go out, I would complete a lesson with the kind of professional teacher that italki offers). If you want to construct your own study routine, try to find out which parts of the language are hardest for you. As you can see from my routine, writing kana was my weak point and needed the most time: ninety minutes. One of the quickest ways to find out your strengths and weaknesses in Japanese is to study with a professional teacher. Although many of us are busy with other areas of our lives, the ability to schedule lessons at home is the best way to make Japanese easier. You will also learn Japanese a lot faster if you study with another person rather than alone. It also doesn't need to cost a lot of money. You can book a few trial lessons to see if Japanese is for you and if you will enjoy it. How Long Will It Take To Become Fluent In Japanese? This question really depends on which part of Japanese you are thinking about: spoken or written. I honestly believe that written and spoken Japanese should be studied at the same time. I know one friend who has a deep interest in Japanese kanji and has devoted years to studying them. He is not interested in speaking Japanese but simply enjoys the craft of writing in Japanese. I asked him why he does not practice speaking, he said that he is interested in kanji as a way of relaxing. The process takes him out of himself and away from the stresses of life. This may sound a little odd but the quickest way to become fluent in Japanese is to really enjoy the process of learning it. Otherwise studying it will feel difficult and time consuming. I love to study and write kanji. Overall I study two hours of Japanese a day. Thirty minutes of the two hours is devoted to kana. I know this is not enough on a day to day basis but whenever I get extra time in the week I spend more time on written Japanese. I enjoy popping in my headphones, sipping green tea and writing out the kanji while listening to the Rolling Stones. For me the writing is not a tick in the box process but a labour of love. Hopefully you will adapt this same feeling to all aspects of your Japanese studies. If you enjoy your study, the time will fly and you could be fluent before you know it. PART TWO A Language Of Many Meanings
Japanese contains many small touches which make it interesting to study. They can be anything from the level of politeness contained in a sentence to the meaning of names. For an example, please see the below Japanese forenames and their meanings in English:
Midori - meaning Green in English Yuki – meaning Snow in English Asking For Coffee The above can be done in several different ways depending on how well you know someone, and your position to them. Family members can ask each other for coffee in a very informal way which would simply be the noun followed by the particle 'wa': コーヒー は? = Kōhī wa? = You want coffee?
If you have known someone for a while but the connection between you is limited, you could ask for coffee using the word 'O kudasai' meaning 'please give me': コーヒー をください = Kōhī O kudasai = Please give me coffee If you have never met someone before, we would suggest the more polite way to ask for something which is 'Onegaishimasu': コーヒー を お願いします = Kōhī Onegaishimasu = Please give me coffee There are many different ways to ask for something in Japanese, phrases such as 'Won't you please have some coffee?' are often used. When studying Japanese I've met people who use other phrases and feel that 'Onegaishimasu' is way too formal for a coffee shop. I still feel more comfortable using it, and it will be up to you which phrase you want to use when ordering food and drink. Will It Be Embarrassing If I Make A Mistake in Japanese? The Japanese language can be complex in its different levels of politeness. As a nation, the Japanese are very aware this can be difficult for foreigners to understand and get right. If you visit Japan, you will be grateful that the Japanese have a lot of patience with people using their language. Off the beaten path you will meet Japanese citizens who may not have come across foreigners who can speak Japanese. They will be very curious about you and ask a lot of questions. The last thing on their minds will be that you made some small mistakes when conversing with them. There are some simple expressions which will help if you have any problems speaking with native Japanese people: Sumimasen, watashi wa rikai dekimasen = I'm sorry I don't understand? Mōikkai itte itadakemasu ka = Could you repeat that please? Is It True Japanese People Don't Want To Speak English? This is another myth which populates the internet. In terms of personal connections it is really down to the individual. I cannot speak for people in Tokyo as I have spent my time so far in Kyoto, Kobe and Osaka. When I have visited those areas, particularly Osaka, I did not come across too many people completely fluent in English. This could also be put down to appearances. Some people are worried their English is not good enough and do not speak any to avoid embarrassment. The same could be said about other countries. In Shanghai I found that most people under thirty could speak very good English, but I would have to start the conversation first. In Osaka it was very clear that people do want to talk to foreigners. They are very friendly and curious when they find out you can speak some Japanese. What I am trying to point out is not to suspect that people do not want to talk to you. But please realise they may simply be worried about how they will sound in English
If you travel on your own then you will always need to be forward and try to start conversations wherever you are. Breaking the ice with anyone is never easy, but being able to get by in the local language is always a plus. Make Connections Before You Arrive If you are worried about making connections when travelling, then italki can be a big help. Not only can you make friends before you set off on your journey, but you can also get advice from a professional Japanese teacher. As well as offering language lessons, the teacher will educate you on Japanese customs and even offer inside knowledge on where to travel and stay. With some friendly advice you could save a fortune on your dream trip to neon lit Tokyo.
