Hiragana is a Japanese syllabary, phonetic characters that make up one Japanese writing system. Unlike the English alphabet, each character stands for one syllable, which may include a vowel and a consonant sound. Katakana is also a syllabary, most often used for foreign words or onomatopoeic sounds (like bang or squeak). Together, hiragana and katakana account for the entire range of sounds in the Japanese language. Kanji are Chinese characters that were adopted as a Japanese writing system. Whereas hiragana and katakana are simply phonetic letters, kanji are ideograms, characters which have meaning. There are thousands of kanji characters, with about 2000 in common use. Hiragana and katakana were derived from these characters. The same 46 sounds that are used to pronounce hiragana and katakana are also used to pronounce kanji. The Latin alphabet is used in Japanese to write acronyms, company names, and other words for aesthetic reasons. Called Romaji (“Roman letters”), Japanese can also be written in Latin letters. This is not done in Japan, but it is used by beginning Japanese speakers to “spell out” Japanese characters. However, there are many sounds in Japanese which are difficult to express in Latin letters, and many homonyms (many more than English) which become confusing. Therefore, students of Japanese are encouraged to begin learning Japanese characters as soon as possible, and avoid using Latin letters as a crutch.
Focus on the intonation of the different sounds. Variations on the sounds change the meaning of the words you speak. A long syllable may have a completely different meaning from the same sound made shorter (“o” vs. “oo”).
Hard consonant sounds are pronounced with a hard stop in between two sounds. Long vowel sounds, pronounced by holding the vowel sound for an extra beat, are distinguished from short sounds, indicating a different word.
The subject is optional and is rarely included. The predicate is always at the end of the sentence. Nouns do not have gender. Most also don’t have separate plural forms. Verbs do not change according to the subject (he/she/it). They also don’t change according to number (singular/plural, like I/we or he/they). [3] X Research source Particles, which mark words as subject, object, etc. , always follow the word to which they relate. Personal pronouns (I, you, etc. ) differ according to the level of politeness and formality that is needed in each situation.
Listen to the software during your commute to work or have it ready on your portable music player for lunch and breaks or walks in the park. It isn’t necessary to learn the reading and writing to enjoy the language and culture, so if you plan on taking a short trip to Japan, knowing a few useful phrases will be more practical than cramming obscure characters into your brain.
Study the writing systems. Begin studying all four writing styles early on if literacy is important for your purpose of learning the language. Hiragana and katakana can be learned in a few weeks, and you can use them to write anything you want in Japanese. Around 2,000 kanji are currently in common use in Japanese, so it typically takes several years to learn, but it’s worth it if you want to actually be able to understand and speak Japanese. Use flashcards to learn vocabulary and simple phrases. They can be used while waiting for a meeting, on a train, and so on. Some free cards can be found on the web to get you started, or you can buy higher quality cards at most college bookstores or online. To practice kanji, look for cards that show stroke order (how to write the character) represented in calligraphy on one side and have example compound words on the other side. You can pick up a pack of blank 3x5 cards to make your own flash cards with exactly what you want to learn. Participate in class discussions and activities. Do all of your homework, raise your hand a lot, and be as involved as you can to make the most of language classes. If you don’t, your skills will not improve.
Do things with your friends that involve language but aren’t “study time. " If your Japanese friends haven’t lived in your country very long, show them around town. Go sightseeing. Remember, you have to blow off steam regularly or you’ll get stressed out about all those Kanji you have to memorize. Having fun is the best way to accomplish two goals at the same time. On the days when you don’t have outings, call up a friend every day and have a half-hour conversation during which you speak only Japanese. The more practice you get, the faster you will improve.
Comic books (Manga) can make good reading material, but be aware that the level of sophistication varies greatly. A more mature, literary comic might be good practice (especially since the illustrations help you understand what you are reading), something intended for smaller children is likely to be full of sound effects and slang. Be careful about repeating what you’ve read in a comic book.
If you’re enrolled in a college or university, ask about programs to study in Japan. This is one of the best ways to gain long-term exposure to Japanese language, and you may be eligible for financial aid. Don’t be discouraged if you do not understand everything that is said to you or you can’t read or write as well as you expected. It takes many years to become fluent in another language. The intricacies and nuances of the Japanese language make it difficult to master, but they are also part of its beauty.
