japanese language.?

Question

i read in a paragraph on the net that japanese is near impossible for a non native person to learn..is this true?
can you learn the language better if you learn hiragana?
i love all the japanese culture and language but iam confused on how to start on the right way to learn the language.

any tips?


thanks x

iam learinng by myself..with no teacher...


(forgot to put that in)

Answer 1

No no, whatever you read on the net is not true at all. I am from Japan, and I've met many people over there who spoke fluent Japanese, but were not native speakers, like one of my English teachers who was from Kuwait, and he learnt the language since he moved to Japan with his wife, who's Japanese. I also met many people from America, Canada, Australia and UK etc, who were teaching English in Japan, and spoke fluent Japanes, as well as people from other countries like China, Korea, Philippine, Algeria, Gaea, Iran, Iraq and etc, who also spoke Japanese really well. So whoever says it's near impossible to learn for a non native speaker is just making up an excuse, because he/she found it difficult. But it's up to you if you make it or not, after all, like everything else you try.
As for learning hiragana, I believe that helps a lot for you to learn Japanese. After all, hiragana, katakana and kanji are Japanese letters, and it is important to learn the letters of the language you are learning if you want to improve. And I think it would be much easier if you can take a class rather than learning alone, otherwise you can try to learn by correspondence.
Anyway, don't think it's impossible to learn, because it's not. Good luck.

Answer 2

Then you would be your own teacher? And, you don't speak Japanese. That does make it hard. I have a group site that has information on how to learn hiragana. The stroke order is important to writing the syllable correctly. Here is that http://uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/hanenmae/
Then there are a whole bunch of different things that fit together. Maybe outside of pronounciation. Japanese grammar seems to be very different than English and yet it is usually explained in terms of English grammar.
Verbs and adjectives are ordered on a matrix of syllables corresponding to hiragana (One big reason to learn it.) There are sound changes and 'spellings' that are more understand able when you know what you are working with. It is just a basic of the language. Kanji as well, which you should start picking it up as you go.
Then the verbs are the next thing to tackle... You should be able to make simiple sentences very soon using the verbs. Simple construction like A ha B desu. and A ha B ga arimasu. You should know what is a dictionary from of the verb.
the pronouns follow a pattern and are easy to learn. I was in Japan when I started. I would talk to myself in Japanese to get the idea down. Check out my site, become a member and leave ta tips for someone else. You can also contact me if you need specific advice. I forgot to say "just start!"
Chinese is the base language for many eastern languages. The Japanese and the Koreans both borrowed their writing from the Chinese and then modified them to suit their own languages. So Chinese ideographic characters exist now in both. There have been reforms and simplifications in Japan and now they only use a small part of the Chinese characters. You can read them in their Chinese or Japanese readings.
You can influences of Chinese on the neighbors to the south such Vietnamese. At one time it too was written in Chinese characters.

Answer 3

I am in the same boat. It is not impossible to learn, just a little difficult. As long as you are motivated you stand an excellet chance. If you just want to speak Japanese and not write it, there is no need to learn hiragana. For speaking alone I would suggest 'Japanese: The Spoken Language' by eleanor harz jorden with mari noda. isbn:0-300-03834-8. The audio is essential and should both should be easy enough to find on Amazon. If you are also interested in learning to write there are many websites that have good resources to learn the Japanese Syllabary. Mastering Hiragana and Katakana first and then moving on to Kanji has worked for me. The key to learning this language I have found is practice, even though you study by yourself see if you can find someone (preferebly a native speaker) to practice with.

Good websites:

www.japanese-online.com, www.nhk.or.jp/lesson/english/index.html,
www.freejapaneselessons.com,
http://languagelab.it.ohio-state.edu/ (you can find the audio for the Japanese the spoken language book here).

がんばってください　（gambatte kudasai) Good Luck!!!!

(correct response to this: がんばります（ganbarimasu, I will do my best)

Answer 4

Hi

This is rubbish - you can learn any language you like if you apply yourself to it! Check out www.jlist.com - it's a site which sells stuff from Japan but the guy who runs it publishes a really interesting newsletter which includes a lot of stuff about how he learned the japanese language and how learning japanese made him think about English.

In general Japanese is a comparitively easy language to learn to *speak* (that's to say, probably harder for a native English speaker than say Spanish or German, but considerably easier than Czech or Arabic) however the bigger challenge is in learning the written language.

Depending on your learning style you may find the rather academic "Japanese in Three Months" from Hugo to be very useful - or your local college may run courses. The best way to learn in my opinion is to move to Japan - get a job teaching english - and MAKE THE EFFORT TO LEARN!

Good luck

Answer 5

Try the Japanese for Busy People book series. It's designed for westerners living in Japan, so teaches the language in a way that westerners more easily understand.

I think it makes more sense to you how the language is constructed if you learn hiragana as you're learning the language.

Really, though, you wanna be literate as fast as possible in country, learn katakana, which is the alphabet they use for adopted foreign words. You'd be AMAZED how many daily use Japanese words are adopted foreign words...it's pretty funny, too...

terebi = television

eikon = air conditioner
(and my favorite)
Makadoradu = McDonald's

Once you get good with the kanas, though, you gotta learn the kanji to be fully literate. Look up the book How to Read Japanese Today--tells a lot about the pictographs that kanji is based on, and made it much easier to make sense of for me.

Answer 6

There was a Gonenkai club at my school (10+ years ago!) where we leaned Japanese language and culture. Some clever folks even did GCSE and A Level Japanese so yes, it is possibly but probably easier if you are already in a learning environment.

Answer 7

I have been studying and teaching Japanese and Korean martial arts for 39 years...I have learned and used many terms and phrases in both languages..It is very hard to use the same expressions and dialects that a native can, but your use is very easy to be comprehend to the native...

Answer 8

It's not a problem just takes time and a good teacher, learning conversationally is easiest, but the grammar and written word are more difficult. Just as important are the protocols of culture.

Answer 9

in case you opt to ascertain chinese language then you definitely ought to understand that chinese language is indisputably between the toughest languages for westerners to discover, and up earlier interpreting to communicate chinese language to a pair extent of skillability outdoors of the college room atmosphere has been practically impossible yet no longer in case you ascertain on a software

Answer 10

I got a learners book from W.H.SMITH.

It teaches you to speak Basic Japan in 6weeks.

Although i cant really comment, as i opened it up and couldnt get the hang ov it.

with time and effort im sure you will pick it up!