How to learn Japanese

How to learn Japanese

The Twenty first century is a very globalized. More and more people are interested in speak more than one languages. Especially live in America, it is very important to have the skill. I believe everyone in CGS has aware of that. I am a Chinese speaker; English is my second language, and I am learning Japanese. I think learning language is very interesting. Speaking other languages and be able to understand them is such a magic for me. I would love to share my learning experiences with you how to learn Japanese.

First, Japanese is based on Chinese, and then developed to its own language. Its writing system has divided to three parts Hiragana, Katakana, and Kanji. Hiragana and Katakana are both Japanese syllable. Hiragana is used to write native words for which there are no kanji. In contrast to Hiragana, Katakana is primarily used for transcription of foreign language words into Japanese.  Kanji are adopted form Chinese characters, and is written using the same characters.

As a beginner, get to know Hiragana is the most basic and important material you have to learn. Hiragana is like English alphabet. If you know them by heart I guarantee you can read all Japanese articles that are write as Hiragana. You might not understand what does the article means, but its Okay that’s why we have to build up our vocabularies.

Talk about globalization, it show in Japanese as well. So if you hear our exchanges student very carefully you would realize that they pronunciation of “ice cream” just like how we pronounce it. It is very interesting right? There are so many English are written as Katakana. For example, coffee, computer, and sunglasses ect. Do you feel more encouraged to learn Japanese? See if you know how to speak English; you are automatically can speak 30 percent of Japanese vocabulary. How exciting is that! However, I have an advice for people who are taking Japanese right now. Please memorize your Katakana Chart! I know they are tricky to remember, but its important to know how to write them as well. I didn’t know all the Katakana, so every time I get points off at it. It’s such a shame!

Most people do not like writing Kanji, because they are hard to write and they can be pronounced to different ways. Personally I agree some Kanji are hard write, but I also think they are very beautiful and meaningful. For example, person is write as 人. Does this character looks like a person is walking? A tip to learn Kanji, think about the character as a picture or keep practice writing it on a piece of paper until you memorize it. Good luck!

There are also other enjoyable ways to learn Japanese. For example, listening Japanese songs, watching anime, and some TV shows; they will help you relate what you learned to real situations.

After all wish everyone have fun learning Japanese, and for people who are interested to learn Japanese hope you start learning soon. Japanese is a very fun and interesting language to know.