Are you interested in learning Japanese?
Notably, the Japanese language is wonderful to learn. Gaining fluency gives you access to one of the safest places in the world to live in, numerous career advancement opportunities, a new perspective, and a wealth of history and customs. However, as a universal truth, there will always be challenges when studying a foreign language on your own.

Most people find Japanese grammar and syntax to be difficult to learn as a beginner, but thanks to various apps, you can now learn the fundamentals of your study with ease. The more effort and commitment you put into the study process, the better your chances of advancing greatly as a language learner in no time!

A Beginner’s Guide on How to Learn Japanese

Contrary to what most people believe, learning Japanese on your own is now easier with a simple and focused approach to studying. The Japanese language may seem vastly different from your native language initially, but as you progress in your study, you will soon realize there is no need for you to be overwhelmed.

Nihongo (Japanese) is a logically laid-out language. Learning basic greetings and scripts such as Hiragana and Katakana gives you a solid foundation for learning basic sentence structure and common vocabulary. As a result, you can create opportunities to effectively read, write, listen, and speak the language on your own or when socializing with other people.

Japanese Language – A Brief Introduction

Globally, there are 128.3 million speakers of the Japanese language. The rising figures of Japanese language users make it the 9th most spoken language in the world.

Most native speakers live in Japan, but the language has grown even more popular across the globe — thanks to the widespread influence and popularity of Japanese pop culture, cuisine, traditions, and customs.

Accordingly, you may also find major Japanese-speaking communities in Brazil, the United States, Philippines, China, the United Kingdom, Peru, and Canada.

Japanese language speakers also comprise the third largest language community on the internet, with an estimated 88 million online speakers or 9.6% of the world’s online population. Knowing the language can easily connect you to these people in an instant.

Start with Basic Greetings

Learning basic greetings is a great starting point for beginners. This helps you familiarize common phrases used in everyday conversational Japanese.

Begin with pleasantries such as “Konnichiwa” or “Hello”. This greeting may come in handy the next time you start a conversation with a Japanese language speaker. Next, you may also move to situational greetings such as “Ohayou gozaimasu” for “Good morning” or “Konbanwa” for “Good evening.

Basic greetings are generally short and easy to memorize. Anyone who is just beginning to learn a foreign language can greatly benefit from this since basic greetings are used frequently, thus making them hard to forget.

Learn Hiragana and Katakana

Studying Hiragana and Katakana is also important if you want to be able to read and write Japanese and possibly even live in Japan one day.Hiragana is a basic Japanese script that represents Japanese sounds like an alphabet. While Katakana is the same, it is mostly used for foreign names and loan words.

The good news is both Hiragana and Katakana only have around 46 characters each, making it friendly for beginners to learn and familiarize with.

Japanese children’s books mostly use Hiragana and Katakana. As you progress further in your language textbook or Japanese course, you may notice that roman characters are used sparsely — if not at all. This is where learning Hiragana and Katakana comes in handy; it helps you efficiently build a foundation in the Japanese language and prepares you to reach more advanced levels.

Learn Basic Japanese Sentence Structure and Vocabulary

Another good step to start with is by learning to construct simple sentences with common and regularly used vocabulary. With this, you can get off to the right path learning the language better as you advance further into complex levels.

Simple sentences are generally easy to construct, and it will be a great help towards communicating your basic needs and wants. This will also allow you to build fluency and confidence as you move on to learn more complex parts of the language.

Create Opportunities to Read, Write, Listen, and Speak

Regular use of the language is encouraged for you to continue learning at an advanced level. Even if you currently reside outside the country, there are still ways where you can create opportunities to read, write, listen, and speak the Japanese language.

Here are some activities you can do to enhance your language learning experience: read Japanese children’s books to be acquainted with basic Hiragana and Katakana, regularly write Japanese characters on a practice sheet, listen to Japanese music, or watch Japanese television shows and movies.One thing is for sure, you will never run out of interesting and fun ways to improve, practice, and maintain your language skills.

Conclusion

The idea of learning the Japanese language continues to intimidate many people; however, the difficult aspects they often worry about are not part of the learning process beginners need to deal with during the early stages.

It is still best to start simple in your language-learning journey and slowly work your way up. Begin with the basics before moving on to the advanced concepts. There is no need to pressure yourself, so go at your own pace.

Learning the Japanese language is a great way to know the culture better and discover a side of Japan which you would never fully understand without its rich language. If you decide to try a Japanese language program in Japan after studying the language on your own, MOTTO JAPAN can help you find the perfect program fit for your needs:

Motto Japan Group

Motto Japan, the community platform to support foreigners with the foundation for life in Japan, including Japanese study, job opportunities, and housing service. Motto Japan Media will provide a wide variety of information for Japanese fans all over the world, to create a cross-cultural environment and enrich the life of foreign residents in Japan!