6 Simple Ways to Start Your Japanese Learning Journey

6 Simple Ways to Start Your Japanese Learning Journey

Japanese is one of the most prominent East Asian languages spoken by more than 128 million people across the globe. Although it is the national language of Japan, it is spoken in many countries including the United States, Brazil, and Korea because of the huge population of immigrants in these countries. Over the past few years, people's craze for learning the Japanese language has grown tremendously because of so many socioeconomic reasons. And, full capacity batches of JLPT Training in Delhi NCR are a clear testimony to this fact. 

Renowned Japanese conglomerates are expanding their businesses in different parts of the world with new manufacturing units and corporate offices. Apart from it, there is no dearth of people around the globe who want to either work in Japan or to live permanently in this most progressive and beautiful country in the world. All these factors together are triggering the need for learning the Japanese language among people of all age groups.

But, now the question arises of how difficult is it to learn the Japanese language. A large number of language learners are of the view that learning the Japanese language is tougher than learning other languages in the world. It is because every language including Japanese calls for all-out efforts, time, and dedication if someone wants to get command over it. But it is also true that nothing is impossible for those who are determined to learn this language. This blog is going to provide you with easy and pragmatic tips to learn the Japanese language to serve different purposes:

1. Practice grammar as much as you can

If you want to master the Japanese language perfectly, then you need to practice grammar as much as you can. Don’t get terrified by the term ‘grammar’ here because there is a huge difference between English and Japanese grammar. It is important to utter this here because more than 90% of students during their schooling learn English grammar as part of their foreign language syllabus. Just contrary to many other languages, the Japanese language has only 2 tenses, namely past and non-past. Notwithstanding, there are two forms – polite and plain. The latter one among them is used for casual speech.

Language experts conducting professional JLPT Training programs suggest that you should begin learning Japanese by going through textbooks. Some of the well-known textbooks to begin learning the Japanese language include:

● Practice Makes Perfect: Basic Japanese;
● A Guide to Japanese Grammar by Tae Kim;
● Japanese Hiragana & Katakana for Beginners.

It would also be good to mention here that the Japanese language has a drastically different writing mechanism. It follows right to left and top to the bottom writing system. If you go through the above-mentioned textbooks, you will get a complete overview of the Japanese writing style. 

2. Learn some key phrases

For faster learning of the Japanese language, you need to go through and learn some most common expressions and words. Some of the most basic phrases include:

● Hello!
● How do you do?
● Nice to meet you!
● Where do you live, etc.?

These expressions will help you start speaking Japanese in the fastest way possible while enabling you to join the conversation with native speakers. Make a list of around 100 most common Japanese words and learn them like your own native language.

3. Set up a schedule

As far as the time or duration to learn the Japanese language is concerned, there is no set formula for the same. It depends upon person to person and the level of efforts put in. All learners have their own pace of knowing and learning newer things. Therefore, there can be no standard answer to it. The only unquestionable truth about it is that you need to get involved in the learning process rigorously just like you need to pass a Japanese Language Proficient Test (JLPT). You need to chart out a fixed daily schedule according to which you can systematically put efforts. There are a large number of applications and online destinations that can help you learn and explore the Japanese language with ease.

4. Chat online with fellow learners or even native speakers

Practice makes a man perfect, and this proverb applies to the learning process of Japanese as well. The best possible way to learn a new language or to apply the knowledge that you have already obtained is to practice it every day. The more you practice, the faster results you get. In today’s digitally connected world, language experts suggest trying chatting to improve your skills in any language including Japanese. You can start chatting with your fellow learners or even a distant Japanese friend by expressing yourself in the Japanese language.

5. Develop a habit of listening to podcasts

Websites are ruling over the world these days and the materials that are made available for listening on websites are called podcasts. These days, almost all news and cultural websites offer podcasts in different languages including Japanese. You can try them as much as you can. Apart from this, you should develop a habit of watching Japanese channels with subtitles. It will help you expand your sense of Japanese. 

6. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes

Last but not least important factor is that you should never afraid of making mistakes during your regimen of Japanese language learning. In your efforts at the initial level, you will be making a large number of mistakes just like you used to make while you were learning your native language. Don’t get disheartened in case of mistakes occur. Making mistakes is a part of life in everything that we do. However, always remember that native Japanese speakers might not correct you out of friendship, sympathy, or just a goodwill gesture.

Concluding Remarks

Learning the Japanese language might not be a DIY job for you or anybody who wants to master it. You need a proper and systematic approach to serve your purpose. You need to join NEC Japanese Language Academy (NJLA) - a first-of-its-kind top Japanese language institute in Delhi. It brings together the best of Industry Experience and Academic Excellence under one roof. For more details, you can get in touch with NEC Japanese Language Academy (NJLA).