How To Learn Japanese Efficiently And Effectively

Stock image of the Tokyo Tower

I first began this blog by introducing you to the various writing systems used in the Japanese language. I personally feel that now is the time where I share some insight on how one can learn japanese efficiently and effectively.

In order to properly learn any language, you will need to incorporate the things you learn through listening, speaking, reading and writing. Even if you aren't interested in actually reading any Japanese characters, by picking up some basic reading skills, you can actually help yourself learn that much faster! Below are some of the steps I recommend (in no particular order), towards learning Japanese in the least amount of time.

 Step 1 : Learn To Read Japanese

Japanese students bowing to the teacher before a class begins or after it ends

Like the saying goes,'practice makes perfect', but it is also how you study that determines how slow or fast you actually master Japanese.

Always start from the beginning;

• Learn all you can about the various writing systems even if you aren't interested in learning how to write, as it will help you immensely in your studies even if you only recognize Katakana and Hiragana

Step 2 : Practice Your Pronunciation

The Japanese language has approximately 46 sounds which are composed of one of five vowel sounds,(a,i,u,e,o) or a combination of a vowel and a consonant (kya,kyu,kyo) with an exception of one sound composed of only a consonant (n or ン). 

• It is always better to be able to understand others than it is to be understood by others. Imagine if you were lost somewhere in Japan (which happens very often due to lack of signs in english), and you can fluently say that you are lost (watashi ha maigo desu / 私は迷子です) but you aren't able to fully comprehend the helpful reply that would get you out of your predicament. A fat lot of good that would do (sarcasm).

• The tones in Japanese are not inflected much like how in English, the "a" in apple and ace are pronounced differently. Hence you can practice your pronunciations by voicing out each character in the katakana and hiragana series.

• Take your time to learn the basics properly
• Practice precise intonations and pronunciations 
• Be aware of the duration when voicing your words as they may have different meanings.

Step 3 : Know Your Grammar

• Subject in mention is optional and can be omitted 
• (Example : konnichiwa, ogenki desu ka or konnichiwa, anata ha ogenki desu ka (Hello! How are you today?) In this sentence, the subject is the "anata ha" which means "you" or "you are" and it can be omitted completely out of the sentence. 

• The predicate is always at the end of the sentence.  
• Much like in English, the predicate comes at the end. Example : Mike is a basketball player. 
• Howeverm in Japanese, the subject can be omitted as well. Example : What sport does Mike play? Response: Basketball player.   This is completely acceptable in Japanese

• Nouns do not have gender and most of them do not have separate plural forms.
• Verbs do not change with gender or according to number (singular/plural)
• Personal pronouns such as (I, me, you, etc) are used according to the level of politeness and formality required in each separate situation. 

Step 4 : Immerse yourself In The Japanese Culture

One of the most effective ways of picking up Japanese as a second language is to simply dive into the deep end of the pool and pray that your legs start kicking immediately. By forcing yourself to move out of your comfort zone into an environment that requires you to speak more Japanese than usual, you will be seriously challenged to learn the language at every passing second.

• Make Japanese Friends (whom you can have regular practice sessions with)
• It may sound strange to you but there are many Japanese people who would love the opportunity to pick up English or any other language. This way, you both have something to offer in the relationship and you stand to gain a lot more understanding about the Japanese way of life as opposed to reading from a book. Remember, the more practice you get, the faster you will improve. 

• Start To Breathe Japanese Culture
• It is no secret that many people first picked up their lessons on Japanese culture through Anime and Manga. It is also possible to learn the Japanese language efficiently and effectively by reading Japanese newspapers, listening to Japanese songs, watching the news on Japan (in Japanese). This conditions your mind to start accepting and interpreting Japanese words faster. 

• Embark On A Study Exchange Program In Japan
• There are many high schools and universities in Japan that offer foreign exchange study programs for students from all over the world. Where better to learn Japanese than to be in Japan itself?

(Optional) Step 5 : Getting Yourself A Tutor

I have left this step out for the last as I personally feel that if you are keen on learning a language, your passion and interest alone should be enough to drive you forward in your studies. Granted that it feels 'safer' to learn from an expert or a native Japanese speaker, there is always the risk of being comfortable and losing the motivation to learn on your own. Then you are just paying someone to tell you to study which is not efficient nor is it effective. 

In fact, there are many free resources online (which I will share in a future post) that contains very engaging articles that also contains a bountiful load of helpful information for beginners. When all is said and done, it boils down to how much you want to put in the work and time to learn Japanese. 

Ganbatte! 

Starting off with Katakana and Hiragana

When picking up Japanese as a second (or third language), it is always recommended that one should start off by learning all of the characters of Katakana and Hiragana which you will find below.

Before you begin, you should thoroughly understand the difference between Katakana and Hiragana.

To put it simply;

Katakana

• Used for foreign words and names such as "television" or "terebi"(テレビ)
• Are normally more angular and has more straight lines than hiragana

Hiragana

• Used for words of Japanese origin such as "watashi"(私) which stands for "Me" or "I"
• Sometimes used to simplify kanji

Special Case: Romaji

• During your studies, you are bound to come across this form of writing. 
• Romaji is using Roman alphabets (A - Z) to transliterate Japanese. 
• For example : Nice to meet you, I am Ryan / Hajimemashite, Ryan desu. 
• Literally: writing out japanese text using Roman alphabets.

Below are two charts; one for Katakana and the other for Hiragana. If you aren't interested to learn writing or reading Japanese, then you will want to focus on the pronunciation of these words to ensure that you are able to understand or be understood by others when you do speak the language at some point. 

A case in point, the Japanese have characters for "Ra" in both Katakana and Hiragana as you can see from the charts below. However, the Japanese do not pronounce them as "ra" but instead as "la".

The basic list of both katakana and hiragana are listed above. However, there exists alternate versions of the characters above which is displayed below. If you have been listening to Japanese conversation, watching anime, or listening to Japanese music, then you may have picked up on them (but did not recognize them).

At first glance, you may feel that there are just too many characters to learn. If this is where you start doubting yourself, then you won't get anywhere with this language. You don't have to learn all of the characters in one go, instead you can decide how many characters you'd like to learn in a day. Start off with 10, then slowly increase that as you get more comfortable.