How fast can I learn Japanese?

Question

Im american. I know english well, im semi fluent in german, and know a little french. Im going to Japan in two years. I want to become fleuent in Japanese before then. Perferably in one year. How can I do this the fast and fun way. Im pretty buisy in my life so I dont have a lot of time. I can dedicate about an hour a day (maybe). What programs, books, teachers, etc. should I go to to learn fast?

Answer 1

I just started learning 3 days ago and already know 5 words so good luck!

Answer 2

I took about a year to really get up to speed with Japanese, but I was already living there. You should have enough time if you have enough commitment...

Practice at home with texts etc (I found the Living Language text the best text...and i carried it everywhere and read from it all the time.), take a class if that blows your hair back, but for mine speaking to real people is always the best... Make native Japanese speaking friends - preferably of a simliar age, sex, and status. (This is really important in Japanese!)

When I had the basics down i adopted a thematic system where everyday I would pick a topic - anything I was thinking about, say a movie or whatever. In a pocket notebook I would write out a short paragraph explaining that topic in English. Then I would go through the paragraph and pick out the words I didn't know in Japanese... I'd jot them down and look each of them up in a dictionary. Next I would translate the text into Japanese. I knew even then that it was all crap, but I was using the language for something I had an interest in and it really stuck.

For the rest of the day I would try repeating that little paragraph in Japanese, asking myself and answering questions about the topic, conjugating the new verbs etc. I made more mistakes than I got right... but I eventually improved. And because it was a topic relevant to my life / interests I wanted to communicate about that thing.

I don't class myself as fluent but I get by...and I never 'studied' Japanese. In the end, it's all about communication...and the best way to practice any form of communication is with other people...

Answer 3

Noam Chomsky says that language is just a kind of linguistical math. If you've proven you already have the aptitude for learning other languages then your ability to do that linguistical math has already been proven. I'm doing the pimsleur lessons and they are bomb. The comprehensive set can be illegally downloaded just about anywhere on the internet they're called pimselur complete japanese 1,2,3 is the entire set. I also taught Enlgish in China, and I have to say that direct application is the best and easiest way to learn, so go find some japanese friends and start hanging out.

Answer 4

If you only have an hour to learn I'd suggest going to different sites.
http://japanese.about.com/blbasic.htm
If you are into anime a good way to pick up basic conversational japanese would be to watch it and read the mangas.
Watch Japanese dramas whenever you can get a chance. You can even try watching some japanese children shows. It may sound silly but it will quickly help you with pronounciation.
You can also try any of the Learn Japanese A day books.

Answer 5

Become a sumo wrestler and join in a sumo beya(house). There are quite a lot of foreigners in there, and all of them speak Japanese fluently. It's amazing. Or find someone speaks Japanese, and talk with him or her on daily basis. Read and listen a lot of Japanese, concerning what you want to talk about and use it in the conversation. Write your thought in Japanese, and have them reviewed by Native speakers. Keep studying. Then you'll soon get the hang of it.

Answer 6

If you are serious and study every day for the next two years, I think you can do that fairly well. I speak fluent Japanese, but I grew up there. I would recommend a Kodansha's dictionary of furigana. It has been pretty helpful to me as a translator. Also, emmerse yourself in movies, and try to make a few penpals who know a little english. Good luck!!!

Answer 7

I also took Japanese in college, and we used the Nakama textbooks. They're great b/c they also have cultural tidbits in there, but I can't remember if it comes with an audio CD, and if you're doing this alone you don't really have a way to "check" your homework answers (if you decide to do the exercises).

So if you really want to learn how to speak AND understand Japanese and have the money, I recommend the Rosetta Stone software for languages. This software is great because it uses native speakers to teach you, but is also tests your pronunciation. It uses pictures instead of words or boring memorization exercises, so you will learn very quickly.

US government agencies (like the FBI, CIA, etc) and Fortune 500 companies use this software. I bought this software to learn Polish, and I like it alot. But it is VERY expensive.

Answer 8

It all depends. If you want to learn just to speak it goes fast, as the pronunciation is similar to Latin. But it gets VERY trick will comes to reading and specially writing. I was learning from the Internet with a friend, and it took me two months to be able to communicate while traveling in Japan. Read just some few words, write impossible. I recommend thatat you study something about the culture they are pretty hard on their costumes. Starting from removing your shoes and jacket before entering the house. . . sit, eat, talk, even using the female or male hand towel while visiting a family house is a case to learn. I love Japan and th culture amuses me.

Answer 9

I learned Japanese in courses in college. We used the text Nakama. I think this book it great. But I think if you really want to become fluent, you need to find someone who is a native speaker of Japanese to help teach it to you. I learned the most about Japan and Japanese language from my teachers. Buy this book and pay them to teach you from it two hours every week. Then the other 5 hours of the week study yourself.

It would also help to surround yourself in as much spoken Japanese as possible. Meet your teachers friends/family and speak to them in Japanese as a group.

Good luck! Ganbatte

Answer 10

I found a website that sells a book that will teach you how to remember all the different Japanese words and what they mean. It is www.learn-japanese-fast.com. Good luck. I took a Japanese class last year in high school and I didn't really learn much.

Answer 11

This American guy came to Japan after he graduated university.

He was English teacher first. However, he was also learning Japanese from Japanese students.
He was voicing some Japanese sentences and words everyday.
Now his Japanese almost fluent, and we see him on TV everyday in Japan.

Find some short sentences and repeat.

I welcome you to come to Japan. \(^o^)/