Japan Journal

People want to learn Japanese for a lot of reasons.  You could be moving to Japan or taking a holiday there.  You quite possibly don’t even have to speak Japanese but want to just for something to do.  One thing is for certain though, and that is that being able to speak another language is worthwhile.

I was planning to take a long trip over to Tokyo, and for that reason I felt that I wanted to teach myself how to speak Japanese.  Being able to converse properly would be beneficial I felt rather than pointing at things for 3 months.  I am often asked whether I can speak Japanese fluently and am not sure what to tell them.

I speak with confidence now I feel when talking Japanese, but there is always more that you can achieve.  I doubt whether I will ever know it all to be honest.  New words and phrases will always crop up that you don’t know.  I am actually able to watch and fully know what’s happening in Japanese cartoons and movie now without subtitles.  If I can sit and watch a movie in English and know what’s going on, then there’s no reason with a little work I shouldn’t be able to do the same in Japanese.

I must admit I am getting closer to knowing almost everything but not yet.  Going from nothing to something in regards to learning Japanese has not been easy and you will be asking how I have managed to succeed.  If you want the honest answer, it took many hours of learning and perseverance.  The trip from where I was and to where I got to was definitely not simple.  In essence, learning any new language takes a huge amount of time and effort.  But the important thing is that anyone can actually do it they want to.

It can be difficult to find time to study in between your work commitments and anything else that’s on.  If, for example you use your time wisely you can fit in study.

Japanese is a language that a lot of people want to learn.  The biggest issues is where to begin.  You may planning to start lessons, but you might want educate yourself without the need for lessons.

One of the biggest obstacles to this might be anxiety.  It is an emotional difficultly that blights a lot of people who are trying to learn the language.  It’s going be a lot easier to learn Japanese once you get over the anxiety.

There is a feeling that if you are getting older then your chances of learning a new language will be much tougher.  Learning a new language might not be as hard as you think though even if you are older.

It is thought that children are better than adults at learning a language as they are still open to learning without falling into bad techniques.  They are more versatile as their minds are open.  But it doesn’t mean that you can’t break these habits as an adult.

In order to believe in their own ability, most people have to pretend they are speaking Japanese in a real life situation.

The majority of people don’t think they are good enough or mentally able to learn a second language.  In order to learn how to speak Japanese fluently you have to believe in yourself.

It is possible to learn Japanese by watching TV and listening to radio programs in Japanese for example.  You are giving yourself every chance to learn a new language if you immerse yourself in it.  Sayings and phrases can be learned and the speed and how to say them too.  Trends and other things can be learned.

When you listen to the language you will probably want a dictionary and attempt to work out what words you can hear.  Finding out what words mean that are said a lot will help you learn certain words or phrases.  The more you practice the quicker you will be able to compile sentences and paragraphs.  By combining this method with a Japanese class or online package will mean greater success.

Self Image is a bit of a hindrance when it comes to learn Japanese.  The normal person has many tasks to do every day and being dedicated is all important.  It is imperative to attempt to build up your self image as soon as you can.

Communication in any language relies on pronunciation of words. As hard as you try to construct a well thought out sentence in Japanese or another language you normally can’t put yourself across as you hoped. What is the reason for this?  Sounds are what languages are built on. Others should speak sounds in the correct way when speaking English for example in an English speaking country.  Depending on where you are, sounds are spoken in varying ways.  Without understanding a sound in a different language we will have little hope of deciphering what has been spoken.

The Blocks of Pronunciation - When looking at how words are spoken there are two factors to consider  The first thing is to make the sound and then you must see how the sound is heard  Our abilities to hear and speak a sound diminish as time goes on and becomes tougher.  When learning languages such as Japanese we need a bit more help as it’s not easy.  Here are some tips on how to learn Japanese.  Am I saying it right?  Ensure that you speak the letters.  How your mouth is working is important. It’s harder to speak any word that you don’t know how it sounds physically.

Some sounds are the same.  English does have a vast amount more sounds than Japanese  If  you are learning a new language then there English sounds that get compared to words.  This is useful for seeing if sounds are the same.  Learn which sounds are tough to speak

Mark down which words are more difficult for you to master.  Concentrate on these words more than any others.  Try and physically make the sound and see how your mouth works.  It’s easy to think that a word written with English alphabet will be pronounced that way, but that’s not the case.

Ensure that you read this out loud  Research this using your course book.  There are two main things that will be to your advantage here.  The first thing is that you get to speak letters and words.  Sounds that you hear and speak will become easier.

How intelligent do I have to be?  Discussions are plentiful on this.  Some of us just get by in a language and that’s enough.  As long as we can speak clearly and simply and people understand what we are saying then we have done well.  After that we have a decision to make.  For some of us, however, we attain good levels of pronunciation.  Most of us will never reach such levels, but will get by with people understanding what we say whether we learn to speak Japanese fluently or not.