Learning a second language is something that many people want to do. For some people language learning comes naturally and they see progress quickly, for others, the progress is slow despite their effort. Having learned Japanese as an adult I am here to share with you a little of what worked for me and a little of what did not, along with a few of the things that I noticed along the way to fluency.
Having a why
Whether you want to watch movies without subtitles, read your favorite authors or publications in your target language, or just want to prepare for an upcoming trip, having a clear why will keep you motivated when times get tough or you hit a plateau. In my experience I have found that each stage of the language learning process seemed to take twice as long as the last.
Language Difficulty
Japanese has a reputation for being difficult. I think the main reasons for this reputation, especially among native English speakers, are the grammar and the writing system.
Writing
The English alphabet has one writing system with twenty-six letters. Japanese on the other hand has three writing systems. The Japanese writing system for native Japanese words is called Hiragana and it contains over forty characters. There is another writing system for words that are borrowed from other languages called Katakana. Katakana also contains over forty characters. Lastly, there is Kanji which is a collection of Chinese characters that were adopted into the Japanese language through the Imperial court mostly during the Nara period and contains thousands of characters.
Grammar
English follows a subject verb object order. However, Japanese has a subject object verb order, and often the subject is omitted when it is clear by context!
What To Do
Find a good textbook. It is important to find a book that you like. Many online stores will let you preview books before you purchase them. Have a look, and make sure the layout and presentation are easy for you to understand, and that you like the feel of the book since you will be using it a lot.
Make practice a habit. Try setting a schedule and sticking to it. Choose a time of the day when you can dedicate at least thirty minutes to an hour to your goal. Fluency will come but not overnight. According to the U.S. Military, it takes over one thousand hours on average for the average English speaker to become fluent in Japanese.
Take advantage of social media. While it would be ideal to only have conversations about things that you are interested in, that is not always the case. In fact, often, the latter is true so it is important to find Japanese content on social media that you like since it will be easier, and more enjoyable, to absorb while helping you clock in those hours.
If you are interested in fishing, try Haisai.
If you are into gardening, why not try Hiro-Chan Farm?
If you want to learn Japanese, try Akane Japanese？
Or Meshclass Japanese?
If you like anime about food, try Oishinbo.
Join local events. Many states have local chapters of an American Japan Society which often has events that work toward building cross cultural ties. This can be a wonderful place to network which may come in useful when you find yourself ready to finally make that trip.
Plan a trip. So, you have finished a textbook or two, and you think you have a good grasp on the basics. It is time to plan that trip! Make a list. Where do you want to go first? What do you want to see? After jotting down a few ideas rank them from 1 (absolutely must see) to 5 (I will catch it next trip) this will help give you an idea of how much time you will need in each location. Japan is the journey of a lifetime. The country has a long rich history and culture, and you are bound to be intrigued by the beauty of the tradition and charmed by the kindness of the people. Travelling not only gives us an opportunity to experience other ways of thinking and believing, it also allows us the chance to reflect upon our own culture and what is means for us to be who we are. Just be sure to bring an open mind, and to always respect the local laws.
My journey
I first tried a book that I picked up at the B Dalton near my house. I do not remember the title but I it came with a cassette that my player ate shortly thereafter. So, I did the next sensible thing and took a course at the community college.
The textbook the class used was Japanese for Busy People, and this time the book came with a CD. I remember picking up the book at the campus bookstore and rushing home to get started. What I really loved about this series were the characters and the fonts. I recall the situations and explanations also being good as well.
There must have been about thirty of us in the class. All of us from diverse backgrounds. The classes were fun and studying a pleasure. If the community college had offered an intermediate course, I would have been interested. I knew then that I preferred the structure of a class, so I began looking for universities that offered language courses in Japanese.
My university offered four years of Japanese education including an option for studying abroad. The first book we used was Japanese: The Spoken Language by Mari Noda and Eleanor Harz Jorden. Despite the use of romanization, the grammar explanations were excellent, and the romanization had the benefit of letting you start speaking right away while learning how to read and write Japanese. I highly recommend this book or series rather.
We had separate books for learning Hiragana, Katakana and Kanji that were compiled and created by the department of languages. The Kanji was listed in the order that Japanese children learned them in public school. Over the course of four years, we learned six or seven characters a week with their various readings by rote memorization.
In my third year of undergraduate, I was accepted into the exchange program and went to Japan for a year. My Japanese really started to improve, and having the freedom to focus solely on studying without working was nice. Two years would have been ideal, but I was grateful for the one.
After receiving my undergraduate degree, I began looking for teaching opportunities in Japan and within three months, I was able to find a full-time position at an English conversation school with a bonus, an apartment, company car AND weekends off! Yatta! I accepted the position and started preparing for the move. At the time, I suspected I would renew my contract a year once or twice. Little did I know that I would end up staying in Japan much longer than I had anticipated.
Fluency
Honestly, it took me about six years of Japanese study to start to feel confident in my Japanese abilities. I could hold a conversation by my second year and speak well enough to be able to get around in Japan. It would take another two years of university and two more years of living in Japan before I could sit and watch a movie in Japanese without getting sleepy or read for a few hours without getting tired. Having now studied Japanese for over ten years, I wish I could say that my Japanese is perfect. It is not. It is much better. I encounter unfamiliar words all the time, and there are still things I do not understand from time to time, but I understand most of what I encounter on a day-to-day basis. Yes, I think in Japanese and on occasion dreams in it as well. Is Japanese hard to learn? Yes. I think it is, but the road to fluency is different for each of us. Some of you may be able to obtain the same level of fluency as I have in far less time, for others it may take longer, but it will happen if you are dedicated. Thanks for reading till the end and if you’re interested, please find me on Instagram where I post in both English and Japanese.
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