Learning Japanese

Sun 14th Jun 2009

 7

 by 

 Chris Gaunt

 in Advice & Lessons

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Update Nov 29 2009: After about 5 busy months away from studying I am returning to this method again. I will update it as I go.

Like me, I’m sure you just want to get straight into learning Japanese and I recommend doing so. The only way to solve a puzzle is to pick up the pieces and try to fit them together. However, Japanese is bigger than your average puzzle, so before you go too far you need to know what the finished picture looks like and set yourself goals along the way, or you’ll quickly feel lost.

I’m just your average guy trying to learn Japanese in my spare time. Sorry, I have no miracle answers for how to learn Japanese. No amazing claims of “I did it in X months!”. If you have an abundance of free time then by all means use it all to learn Japanese, but be careful not to set yourself unrealistic goals. Unrealistic goals lead to the Dark Side, disappointment and burnout. Learning Japanese is all about commitment, patience and consistent study over time.

Whether you’re a student with unlimited free time or a full-time employee with a family, the information contained within this site should be of help to you in learning Japanese.

I first started learning whilst living in the UK, so I know how difficult it can be to learn a language without it being a part of your daily life. I’m now living in Japan, and although I am surrounded by the language it is still a challenge to learn. I know that most of you are in other countries so I do my best to keep my advice applicable to those of you inside and outside of Japan.

Making mistakes and learning from them is good when actually practicing the language, but not so good when they’re mistakes that set you back or delay your progress, or even worse, cause you to doubt your own ability. I’ve made many of these mistakes, and hit many barriers, and hope with this website I can help you avoid them. I believe that everyone can learn Japanese, no matter your age or background. There is no such thing as “naturally good” at a subject.

There are a few pieces of advice for everyone learning Japanese, whatever method you use, and I’d like to mention them before going further into detail:

• Prepare yourself for a long, but exciting journey. Becoming fluent in Japanese takes a lot of patience and several years of consistent study.
  
• You will need to commit to practicing every single day. Yes, even when you’re hungover or have a cold!
  
• Romaji (Japanese written using the English alphabet) should be avoided.
  
• You don’t have to go to university or pay for private lessons to learn Japanese. It can all be done in your spare time on a reasonably small budget.
  
• You have to be prepared to sacrifice your leisurely activities in your native language for those in Japanese. Such as watching TV shows or reading books.
  
• If this is your first night at Fight Club, you have to fight.

To get started learning Japanese there are two questions you should ask yourself: Why? and How?

It’s important to have solid reasons for learning Japanese or you will burnout often. A solid reason gives you the motivation to push through the tough times, and there will be tough times not matter how motivated you are.

There’s no limit to the number of reasons you can have, in fact it’s good to have a couple of reasons and they will probably evolve over time. For instance, my reasons evolved in the following order, and continue to be a driving motivation for me:

1. I have always been interested in Japanese culture and learning Japanese has been a goal of mine for a long time
   
2. To understand anime, manga and Japanese movies
   
3. To better speak with and be understood by friends and family in Japan
   
4. For work and life in Japan

When I first decided to learn Japanese I had no idea how to start. All the information, books and websites were overwhelming. The only way to get through this is to just keep reading and absorbing the information.

You need to know what it is you have to learn and in what way you plan to learn it. So be prepared to feel like you’re not getting anywhere for a while. It may feel that way but you’re actually drawing a picture of what’s required to learn Japanese. To help you on your way I’ve written a brief introduction to learning Japanese.

As with any language there are 4 parts. You want to aim to do each of these every day.

• Reading
  
• Writing
  
• Speaking
  
• Listening

There are many methods for learning Japanese, and each one works differently for different people. The method outlined below is the method I eventually found to work for me. I first started learning Japanese by listening to podcasts, memorizing kanji and reading about grammar. This can work for some people but I soon burnt out and felt like I wasn’t getting anywhere.

So after trying several different methods I’ve put together a 2-stage method that works best for me, which I’ll refer to as “Progressive Enhancement” (borrowed from the Web Development industry). Basically you build a solid foundation in a similar manner to how a child would learn a language. Once you have a solid foundation you can build upon it with fancy grammar and a larger vocabulary. The diagram above shows what’s involved in each stage.

The first stage is all about learning the sounds of the Japanese language whilst finding ways to surround yourself with the language as much as possible. You will want to get a set of tools together to help you learn and set out goals for your study, such as aiming to pass the beginner level of the JLPT.

Vocabulary is added in the first stage too, because that’s how children learn. They learn how to communicate in basic form, with such words as good, bad, hot, cold, hungry, full, happy and sad. So I recommend trying to learn some basic vocab at this stage too.

Once you have a good grasp of the Kana it’s time to move on to the second stage. However you must continue on with all parts of the foundation stage, since a shaky foundation is no good. Keep practicing the kana, find new ways to immerse yourself in Japanese, evaluate the tools you are using and keep learning new vocabulary.

The first thing you’re going to want to do is get the basic tools. Tools can include books, audio lessons, stationary, flashcards, posters, teddy bear mascots and anything else that helps you to learn. You shouldn’t have to spend a fortune to learn Japanese.

Immersion involves surrounding yourself in Japanese as much as possible. Even if you’re living in Japan you still need to do that little bit extra to fully immerse yourself. You want to be doing such things as:

• Labeling things around the house with their Japanese names in both kanji and kana.
  
• Create or buy a set of kana/kanji flash cards and stick them around the house.
  
• Archive your English music and find some new Japanese artists to listen to.
  
• Get yourself some Japanese dramas and movies, watch them instead of the english alternatives. Trust me, you can live without Eastenders or Heroes. If you’re truly committed to learning Japanese dropping these shows will be no problem. After all, other than briefly entertaining you, they do nothing for your future.
  
• Say common daily words to your friends and family in Japanese, such as goodnight, hello, goodbye, etc. If you’re not keen on doing that at least say it in your head in Japanese.
  
• Find a pen-pal to exchange languages. Write or chat both in English and Japanese, and point out each others mistakes. It will be slow, very slow at first, but you may just make a new best friend.

Kana can be considered the ABC’s of Japanese. Kana is made up of two sets of characters called Hiragana and Katakana. A basic explanation is that Hiragana is used for Japanese words and Katakana is used to represent foreign words. Learning how to pronounce and read the Kana will help improve your listening ability. Try to picture the Kana characters as you hear Japanese words.

Like a child, whilst learning your ABC’s you also want to learn words. “Hot”, “Cold” and “Hungry” are a good start. Grab some post-it notes, write out “Cold” in kanji/kana and stick it to the fridge. Why not add the kanji/kana for “Fridge” while you’re there. Now you’re immersing yourself even more in Japanese whilst building up your vocabulary.

The best way to get through this is to learn by example. Just reading about grammar is no good and will only lead to frustration. Get a book like “Japanese For Everyone” and work your way through it. By the end of it you should have a good grasp of how to construct sentences in Japanese. Another good resource for learning Japanese grammar is Tae Kim’s guide to Japanese grammar.

Kanji is the Mt. Fuji of learning Japanese. It’s a long steep climb, but very rewarding. You will be ready for the kanji once you are comfortable with Kana, have some vocabulary under your belt and have post-it notes all over the house! Make sure you stay immersed and keep learning the kana, grammar and vocab at this stage. It’s important not to take a break from any of these because, if you do, what you have learned will gradually fade away and you will have some relearning to do.

I wish you all the best with your studies!