What is the best way to learn Japanese? I had a colleague who was learning Japanese and she had told me that it is one of toughest languages to learn. While it is hard too identify the exact reason why she said this was the case, one reason could be because the structure of most sentences in Japanese is backwards compared to those in English. This is a result from its three alphabet systems.
But if the sole reason you are wondering the best way to learn Japanese is so that you can communicate with the locals and natives of Japan, than as a spoken language it is the easiest. The actual grammar used in the spoken form is easy to learn. One of the most effective ways to learn the language is to meet the locals, understand and absorb the culture while speaking the language as much as possible.
Making mistakes is a part of the learning process—the more mistakes you make the better and faster you learn the language. One of the biggest hurdles faced by people is that they are hesitant. They feel embarrassed to make mistakes in front of the native speakers. In fact the ground rule is do not be shy talk to them and if you make mistakes they will correct you.
The best way to learn Japanese is to begin by learning some basic rules of grammar. Once you have learned the grammar you can apply the rules to almost any situation. The knowledge of basic grammar proves to be an invaluable tool in gaining better comprehension.
Once you have mastered the basic rules of grammar start working on vocabulary. Enhancing your vocabulary improves your expression. Once you have mastered the basics go and speak to the beautiful Japanese people and enjoy a culture that is totally distinct from yours.
Do you want to learn conversational Japanese? An important aspect of learning any language is conversational practice. This is true about Japanese too. In fact all your skills that you developed during your study of the language like vocabulary, grammar, syntax are put to test in situations when you have to converse in the language. In facts this is the situation when your mind learns to conjugate what you have learnt. In fact conversational Japanese should ideally be your goal of learning the language.
In fact if you are in a class room situation you could easily divide yourself into groups and have practice conversational Japanese sessions. Each student could also come forward and address the rest of his or her group—this would not only build camaraderie but also develop confidence. Try using a book that gives you set phrase that you can use to practice simple conversation. Opt for a good book or audio CDs.
Knowledge of set dialogues will help you make your conversation smooth. You can begin by reading but later can start using those phrases by memory. If you do this with a friend who speaks Japanese it may feel a little awkward in the beginning but later it will become second nature.
Once you feel at ease with the set phrases start working on free conversational Japanese. Stick to topics that you know and where you can use the expressions you know and then enhance your skills by learning more. Have a dictionary handy but avoid using it too much. Try focusing on the total idea of the conversation rather than on individual words.
One of the best ways of enhancing your conversational skills is to speak to a native speaker who doesn’t know the English language, that way you’ll be forced to converse in Japanese and rather than trying to make him understand your language you will start learning more so that you can understand him better.
