If you are learning Japanese, people you know surely asked you about it. Maybe they even stressed you, telling you it's too difficult. We know a lot of effort is necessary to learn a new language, especially with the Japanese one. So don't worry, because you're not alone in this journey! Here's the experience of one of our students with tips for you!
But first, are you approaching this language for the first time? If so, check our guide about basic things to know about the Japanese language!
Are You Getting Annoyed By People's Questions?
“You started learning Japanese? Why specifically Japanese? Isn’t it a very hard language?”
These are some of the many questions I get as soon as I tell someone I am currently learning Japanese. To be honest, I am not surprised to receive that reaction from people. It is true that learning the Japanese language isn’t very common, even less a priority. However, some don’t even consider starting to learn it mainly because, at first sight, it may seem impossible to learn. Or because it doesn't seem very handy. But let me tell you, from my point of view, it’s completely the opposite. I will explain to you why.
Why Did You Start Learning Japanese?
I’m not going to lie here but the main reason I got into learning Japanese isn’t that I knew how important it was or how it was going to help me. It's actually pretty simple. Probably the same reason as most of the people who started into Japanese. It's because of Anime. "Anime" is the contraction of アニメーション, the Japanese word to say "animation". As someone who was very interested in Japanese cinematography and entertainment such as anime, manga, games, and movies, I began to take a big liking to the language and how it sounded to my ears. Besides that, I started to get immersed into Japanese culture, tradition, nature, and then one day I just decided to give it a go.
How to Start Learning Japanese Language?
I started with the alphabet, hiragana, and katakana. It didn’t seem that hard at the beginning mainly because I was very enthusiastic. However, that is until I saw I was struggling a little bit with memorization. I became even less enthusiastic when I started studying kanji.
Finally, I discovered all these struggles were very common though. My suggestion here is: just practice them every day until you get them stuck in your head. There's no shortcut at the beginning!
What Did You Discover Throughout The Way?
During my Japanese lessons, I noticed a lot of things I didn’t know about.
For example, Japanese isn’t that hard once you learn how to write and read. A lot of rules and grammar are way easier. For example, there are no gendered nouns, no plurals (you just understand it from the context or in some cases just add the suffix -tachi to it). The verb conjugation is very easy no matter what the subject is. Even though, there are a few stuff that is a bit difficult to learn such as the many ways of counting things, the levels of politeness, and kanji (as I mentioned earlier).
Discovering More About Japan
In addition, while I was learning Japanese, I had to make research about Japan, Japanese business, Japanese international affairs, its culture and I came to the realization that it was a very BIG advantage to learn the language.
- Firstly because Japan is in the top three largest economies in the world, and knowing the language not only makes it easier to communicate, expand businesses but also builds better partnerships with Japanese entrepreneurs.
- Secondly, Japan is one of the places with the most innovative technology and is always looking for people all around the world to work there and make developments.
Of course, knowing the language will always put you first on the list. The same if you want to enroll in a Japanese university. Besides all of this, knowing Japanese will always make you more special. Therefore it will result in eliminating competition easier and bring more opportunities to your door. You can check real experiences about it here!
Learning Japanese With We
Looking back, I never regret starting to learn Japanese. Actually, I look forward to learning it better and better each day, all because of the many opportunities, advantages, and joy that it brings.
Anyone who is thinking about learning Japanese but is in doubt I would encourage them to start as fast as possible. But if you don’t know how to start, check out our new Free Online Counseling session!
Author: Erza, a high school student from Kosovo
