Don't be intimidated, it's very possible for you to learn Japanese now. With focus, commitment, and especially enthusiasm, you're setting yourself up for a good beginning. While these traits are valuable, it's necessary to know some basics. The Japanese language uses three writing systems, or “alphabets”:
* Kanji
* Hiragana
* Katakana
Kanji is a pictograph alphabet using characters taken from Chinese.
Hiragana and Katakana are syllabic scripts, more like the Roman and Cyrillic alphabets, and they are based on Chinese characters. Kanji and Hiragana, in combination, are the most used writing systems in modern Japanese. Used chiefly to depict the sounds of foreign words borrowed from other languages, Katakana is also used to depict other sounds like the meowing of a cat.
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.
Folks from Western egalitarian cultures may find it odd that the Japanese language takes on different subtleties when it comes to the class of the person speaking or spoken to, and there are levels of politeness as well. Beyond social class, the use of vocabulary, grammar, and tone of voice, it is possible to determine the gender of the person speaking as well as the gender of the listener.
As always, commercial language institutes promote the facility of their language lessons as being the best and quickest way to learn. To select a school or method of learning, keep the financial costs in mind, as well as the amount to time you're willing to spend, and even your level of interest. Every school or method involves a different approach to learning or a different curriculum to learn Japanese fast. What do you want or need to do? Do you want good reading and writing skills? Will you need it facilitate your ease of travel and communication with native speakers? 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. (Your focus may be on reading and writing, but if you shop around you'll find that books to help you with those skills also have CD-ROMs to assist you in learning to listen and to speak.) Japanese employs many subtleties of tone, it's important to listen carefully and imitate them.
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. Learn the bare necessities of grammar, enough to help you construct easy sentences with facility.
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. Which classroom is always open? Which classroom can you find almost anywhere you go? Which classroom always has a curriculum suited to your needs? The one you carry with you!
Check out this article if you want to learn Japanese now.
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