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I Would Love To Learn Japanese But Finding The Time Is Hard

There could be a multitude of reasons why someone may want to teach themselves Japanese. You may possibly be planning to take a trip to Japan for work or pleasure. Perhaps you just like learning new languages and want to learn Japanese for fun. If you are able to speak another language you will be given a wonderful feeling of achievement.

My personal reason for learning Japanese was because I was planning a long trip to Tokyo. I was going to be there for 3 months and I figured if I didn’t make the effort to learn Japanese I would have a really hard time getting buy (I mean there’s only so much you can get from vending machines, right?). I’m never quite sure how to answer when people ask me if I’m fluent in Japanese.

To be honest with you, I can do fairly well when it comes to speaking Japanese, but I’m not sure if you could really call me fluent. I’m not really sure I’ll ever be 100% fluent No matter how much you learn there’s always more. For me, a big test of how far I’ve come is when I can sit and watch a Japanese anime or movie and can understand what’s going on.

There is still a way to go in my learning but I’m getting there, slowly but surly. Going from knowing almost nothing at all to being able to speak pretty good Japanese wasn’t easy, and you’re probably wondering how I did it.

If you want the honest answer, it took many hours of study and perseverance. If you think it’s going to be easy to do this then you will be mistaken. In essence, learning any new language takes a huge amount of time and effort. I have to admit though that anyone who puts their mind to it can succeed as I have.

Finding enough time to study with other things in life can be tough. If you try hard enough there’s always moments when you can fit in study while doing other things like traveling to and from work while listening to Japanese podcasts or other audio.

If you found this helpful and you’re ready to find little bits of time in your day to learn Japanese, check out Speak Japanese and Japanese Pod 101 Review.

Tags: I want to learn Japanese, I want to speak Japanese, Language, language learning, languages, Learn Japanese, reference, Speak Japanese

4 Overlooked Tips To Help You Learn Kanji Fast

For most people who are suffering the pain of memorizing Kanji, the amount of characters is terrifying and makes you feel desperate for any shortcuts you can find. I will tell you straight up that learning Kanji is not easy. Chances are good you will spend most of your energy on Kanji while learning Japanese. Don’t worry, I will give you some good tips to shortcut your Kanji learning, so when you try to read a Japanese newspaper or Manga next time, you won’t feel totally lost and confused.

Tactic #1: Ignore the old learning order

To step into the Japanese learning world, you should first study the 100 to 200 most commonly used Kanji. But then, step right in front of the ones which are difficult, even if they seldom show up, as you encounter them in your studying. When you begin to do this, it will probably not feel easy, but you cut out the part of you that says “Oh that’s a tough Kanji, I’ll wait till later to learn it,” so you will actually end up learning more Kanji faster.

Tactic #2: Memorize the composing parts:

In the dictionary, there are 20 or 30 of the 214 radicals that are used more commonly than others. Memorizing them means knowing most of Kanji, or at least being able to see the big picture. Then, identifying new Kanji will not be that hard. You will start to understand what a Kanji means simply by looking at the basic radicals that it is made up of. You can call it chunking, and you will find learning 3-5 radicals takes less effort then memorizing 15 Kanji. Piecing the radicals together to make new meanings and words is the next step.

Tactic #3: Get the tough stuff out of the way first

This tactic focuses on the written Kanji. If you really want to get a good understanding of Japanese, take the time to try reading something in Japanese each and every day. This will help you learn the conventional combinations of Kanji and their everyday uses. With a little practice you should be able to start picking up things naturally.

Tactic #4: Say what you read:

Identifying the word, knowing what it refers to, and correct pronunciation are the 3 essentials in learning Kanji. As long as you aren’t studying in the library, go ahead and practice reading out loud. Reading aloud gives you the opportunity to practice all three parts of learning a Kanji at the same time.

You have to make efforts in learning Kanji, but not that much. These tricks will make you learn faster.

If you liked this article and want to apply these tips for Kanji, check out Learning Kanji and Review of Rocket Japanese.

Tags: Education, Language, language learning, Learn Japanese, learn Kanji, learning Japanese Kanji, memorizing the Kanji

Easy Japanese With These Four Tips

Remember your first few days in middle school or high school when you were signed up to take Spanish or French as a second language?Well, learning Japanese can generate the same sort of excitement and anticipation. In spite of the fact that it’s totally different than any of the Romance languages, Japanese is not that difficult to learn if you follow these four tips I formulated when teaching my students.

1. Make Mistakes. Sounds odd but that’s the best way to learn. So, give yourself permission to err, and you automatically give yourself permission to learn in a way you never would’ve realized. When you discover a weakness, you can figure out a way to strengthen it. So, it’s very important to fail often!

2. Learn Katakana. A writing system the Japanese use for importing words from other languages into their own, Katakana is most used to express English words. Learning Katakana will help you sound out words that are very familiar to you, only they will be written in Japanese. Learning to read Japanese that makes you sound out words you already know is a real confidence builder as you begin learning.

3. Take Chances. Speaking in any language, even your own, can sometimes be risky business. Take the risk. The worse that can happen is that you will learn what NOT to do. Go ahead, take a chance. Chances are you’ll win, and if you don’t – you’ll learn. No matter how awkward your Japanese may be, your efforts will be appreciated in a magnanimous way. No matter how much you bone up on your phrases and customs, you’re going to be recognized as a tourist and you’re going to make some gaffes. Realize you are what you are – a tourist; don’t be so afraid of making mistakes that you don’t have a good time.

4. Repeat, Repeat, Repeat. It may get boring, but stick with it. Repetition fixes things in your brain so that they become almost automatic in response to certain situations. Brushing your teeth or combing your hair are things you do without thinking about them at all, practicing your phrases can help them assume that sort of nature.

Should you have some quiet time at home, use it to read up on culture or to practice common phrases. You’re commute time can double as your learning time. Put some lessons on your iPod to listen to as you walk to work, or while you’re riding the bus or train. Play CD’s in your car.

Japanese is an intriguing language to learn, being well-spoken in it can advance your career, earn yourself foreign friends, or ease your travels in the Land of the Rising Sun.

If you enjoyed this article and you’re itching to start learning Japanese, check out basic Japanese phrases on my website, where I teach you how to learn Japanese.

Tags: basic Japanese phrases, easy ways to learn Japanese, Education, Language, language learning, learn easy Japanese, Learn Japanese, reference

Teach Yourself The Technique Of Speaking Fluent Japanese

Communication in any language relies on pronunciation of words. As hard as you try to construct a well thought out sentence in Japanese or another language you normally can’t put yourself across as you hoped. Avoiding this is the key. Sounds are a key factor in any language. Speaking any language in that particular country means I expect others to speak certain sounds in the right way. Depending on where you are, sounds are spoken in varying ways. A bit like tuning in a radio we have to get on the right wavelength to understand sounds we hear and work out what is being said.

The Blocks of Pronunciation – Look at two main things when studying pronunciation. Firstly, we must produce that sound and then understand how the sound is heard Over the years saying a sound and understanding how it sounds can decrease. We can’t be put off from learning different languages, but just have to rely on extra help to succeed. Here are some tips on how to learn Japanese. Am I saying it right? Speak the letters Check how your mouth is functioning. Physically knowing how a word sounds will make things much easier for you.

Learn which sounds are the same English does have a vast amount more sounds than Japanese If you are learning a new language then there English sounds that get compared to words. Similar sounds can be checked with this. Learn which sounds are tough to speak

Work out which words you find hard to say. Pay more attention to these than others. Your mouth is all important in physically producing the sound. Anything written in the English alphabet is not necessarily spoken that way.

Reading out loud will help A course book or other books will assist you. This will help you in two ways. Letters and words can be spoken first and foremost. The second thing is that you can learn how to teach yourself sounds that you will hear and become accustomed to other sounds.

Do I need to be pretty good? There is plenty of discussion on this matter. Some of us just get by in a language and that’s enough. As long as we can speak clearly and simply and people understand what we are saying then we have done well. After that we have a decision to make. For some of us, however, we attain good levels of pronunciation. There are not too many of us that are that good, but we can still try and get by with some simple words and phrases.

If you liked this article and you’re ready to truly master the Japanese language, check out: learn to speak Japanese fluently and Japanese Pod 101.

Tags: japanese, Language, languages, learn fluent Japanese, Learn Japanese, Learn To Speak Japanese, learn to speak Japanese fluently, reference, Speak Japanese

Learning Japanese With Some Great Tips Online

You will find many people who would like to start speaking Japanese. The biggest issues is where to begin. It might not be necessary to have lessons, as you may want to teach yourself.

One of the biggest obstacles to this might be anxiety. Many potential Japanese speakers are hindered by anxiety. If you can be dedicated and overcome this problem, then you could be well on your way to becoming a fluent Japanese speaker.

There is a feeling that if you are getting older then your chances of learning a new language will be much tougher. Learning a new language might not be as hard as you think though even if you are older.

It is thought that children are better than adults at learning a language as they are still open to learning without falling into bad techniques. They are more versatile as their minds are open. You can still succeed as an adult though and make sure you break these habits.

Many people have to imagine themselves speaking a new language in a situation to believe they really can.

The majority of people don’t think they are good enough or mentally able to learn a second language. In order to learn how to speak Japanese fluently you have to believe in yourself.

It is possible to learn Japanese by watching TV and listening to radio programmes in Japanese for example. You are giving yourself every chance to learn a new language if you immerse yourself in it. Sayings and phrases can be learnt and the speed and how to say them too. You will start to be aware of different trends etc.

When you listen to the language you will probably want a dictionary and attempt to work out what words you can hear. Finding out what words mean that are said a lot will help you learn certain words or phrases. The more you practice the quicker you will be able to compile sentences and paragraphs. If you want you should also use a Japanese class or online learning package to aid your studies.

Self Image is a bit of a hindrance when it comes to learn Japanese. The normal person has many tasks to do every day and being dedicated is all important. It is probably best to use your free-time to build up your self image.

If this was helpful for you and you’re ready to take the plunge and learn Japanese, check out how to learn Japanese characters as a good starting point, or check out Japanese Rocket Languages.

Tags: Culture, Education, Language, language learning, Learn Japanese, learn Japanese online, reference, Society

Learning Japanese – Is This Going To Take Forever Or What?

Will it take years and years to learn Japanese fluently? Many people seem to be in a hurry to get good at Japanese seemingly in a single day. To answer the question, it really depends on how serious you are about learning Japanese.

People really do not worry about how long it will take to learn Japanese. Typically, they really want to know how hard they will have to work. There is no set time or timetable on learning a language. The most important factor though, is how badly you really want to learn Japanese.

Being able to speak Japanese is actually rather easy if you are willing to learn and don’t let yourself get weighed down. You’ll find that there is a pretty wide spread of people out there. Some of them are so determined that they can learn Japanese in a few short months, while other people actually live in Japan for several years and still depend on the point-and-grunt way of communicating.

Language classes are almost certainly the most effective way to learn to speak Japanese, but these often tend to be pretty costly. If, like me, you can’t really afford to spend thousands of dollars on language classes you can still learn Japanese with books or language software programs. These are all great ways to get a good grasp of the Japanese language and kick-start your studying.

The best way to become conversationally proficient extremely fast is to apply what you learn at every opportunity. Take some time to speak to people that already speak Japanese well or some of your classmates. When you start putting the Japanese you learn in the classroom into action, you will be amazed at how quickly you can take your Japanese to a higher level. Talking to people that already speak fluent Japanese is great too for learning the more fun words and terms that you probably won’t learn from a textbook (if you know what I mean).

Contrary to popular belief, speaking Japanese is actually pretty painless. If you take the time and effort to learn it correctly you will realize that speaking is not so hard. However, I must admit, that learning to read and write Japanese, is probably going to be more of a task.

Learning all those new characters is going to be difficult at first if you’ve only ever used the English alphabet. Hiragana and Katakana probably won’t take you more than a few weeks to learn, but things begin getting hairy when you dive into the Kanji. Are you ready to confront your fears and memorize nearly 2000 characters?

Don’t quit and throw in the towel though, this isn’t any different that learning to speak Japanese. All you need to do is practice, practice, practice. Stay away from relying on Romaji when you’re learning to make things even faster. It helps to start to associate each character to certain mental picture you have in your mind. For example, the Kanji character for “me” (meaning “eye”) looks like an eye with two eyelids. Let the creativity flow and you’ll find that it is pretty simple to come up with ways to memorize the Kanji.

So how long will it take you to learn Japanese? It is going to take you just as long as you need. We each learn at a different pace, but the most important aspect is that you put focus and attention into all your efforts. Don’t give up and take things one day at a time.

If this information helped you and you’re ready to learn Japanese, check out useful Japanese phrases and difficulty in learning Japanese.

Tags: educaton, how long does it take to learn Japanese, is it difficult to learn Japanese, Language, language learning, Learn Japanese, reference

Learn Japanese Now With These Secrets

Though it may seem challenging, to learn Japanese now is far from impossible. Just bring along some enthusiasm, commitment, and focus and you’re off to a good start. Aside from those traits, it is, of course, important to know the basics. Japanese is written using three different writing systems:

* Kanji * Hiragana * Katakana

Kanji is a pictograph alphabet using characters taken from Chinese.

Katakana and Hiragana, both based on Chinese characters, are scripts that represent sounds like Western alphabets. Sometimes used in the same sentence, Kanji and Hiragana are the most used “alphabets” in Japanese writing nowadays. Because of today’s broad culture, Katakana is necessary to form the sounds of borrowed words, and to refer to other sounds, like the ticking of a clock.

A running joke is that Asians do things backwards; well, Japanese scripts is written vertically, as opposed to the Western horizontal, and from right to left, as opposed to the Western left to right. This method is standard in almost every sort of publication, but the Japanese have adopted the Western style for scientific journals as well as computer displays.

Japanese is a subtle language, there are differences in tone and vocabulary indicative of the class of the person speaking or spoken to, and degrees of politeness are also indicated by vocabulary and tone. Even more subtle, the use of vocabulary, grammar, and even tone of voice, can indicate the gender of the person speaking and the gender of the person spoken to.

Every language school, of course, always pushes their method of teaching as being the best and fastest way to learn a second language. When you start to consider a school or method of learning, keep a few things in mind to help you choose wisely: Budget. Level of interest. Amount of time you want to spend. The curriculum or method of teaching must be compatible with your needs to learn Japanese now. Learning to read and write well is one thing. Getting around the country and engaging the natives is quite another. Which do you need to do? Reading and writing is one thing, mastering conversational language is quite another.

Anyway, if you want to learn Japanese now, your first goal should be to engage the spoken language, it’s much easier than the reading or writing. Audio files will help you pick up proper pronunciation and wording so find some produced just for that and, of course, employing native speakers. (Even if your focus will be on reading and writing, most books teaching those skills also contain CD-ROMs.) Every language depends somewhat on tonal variation, this is especially true of Japanese. Listing carefully and imitating them as closely as possible is crucial.

Consider the amount of grammar and vocabulary you need to study and ingest. You’re going to be using a lot of elemental words and phrases as you go about day-to-day life, focus on those so they are easily at hand when you need them. As far as grammar goes, learn some basic functions and sentence forms so you can easily construct necessary sentences for your conversation.

Of course, as with any language, make sure patience and perseverance are both in your learning toolbox. Your personal qualities, your hopes are at least as important as textbooks, teachers, and drill exercises. Studying by yourself has its benefits. Your classroom is always open, it can be anywhere, and the curriculum set to your own style.

Are you ready to get serious about learning Japanese? If so, check out these free lessons on how to learn Japanese fast and learning Japanese now.

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