EP 1: Learning Japanese: Where do I Begin?

JapaneseDiary.com - Getting my feet wet

That’s the million dollar question. Where to start?

I probably wasted a lot of time trying to figure this out. So do I have the answer now? Frankly I don’t. I think where you start really depends on what your goals are and your surrounding environment.

I remember i picked up some Japanese words like the following very early on:

がんばって  (gan-ba-tte) : Good Luck / Best of Luck

ありがとう (ari-ga-tou) : Thanks / Thank you

おはよう (oha-yo-u) : Good Morning 

おやすみ (oya-su-mi): Good Night

こんにちわ (Kon-ni-chi-wa): Hello / Good Day

おつかれさまです (Otsu-kare-sama-desu): Good work!

Because i have been working at a Japanese company for a while now, i often heard the above words and phrases being used around me. Many folks also pick up Japanese from Japanese Manga(マンガ) / Comic book. Personally I never really got into that.

Here are my top 4 recommendations of starting your Japanese language learning journey:

1. Get a Japanese Textbook: There are many Japanese textbooks available on the market. I personally really enjoyed following the Japanese From Zero series. The most popular textbooks of Japanese are: Genki, Mina no Nihongo, Japanese for Busy People.

2. Get a Japanese Teacher: This step is important. For a long time i just tired to self study without a Japanese language teacher. But i think i would have made more progress sooner if I had a dedicated tutor early on. Its important to let your tutor know about your study goal so that your teacher (sensei - せんせい）can tailor the lessons that are right for you. Its important to get a teacher who you like so that you wouldn’t feel lazy (mendo-kusai - めんどくさい）when your class time comes.

   I use a website called preply.com where I have found my teacher. The website has many search filters which can be useful to figure out who is the best teacher for you.

   What did I look for in my Japanese teacher?

   • Someone who spoke english well. Since i am an absolute beginner, i wanted to make sure that the classes initially could be conducted in English.

   • Someone who stated in their profile that they are willing to teach beginner students/kids. This was important because teaching a beginner can be very challenging and requires a lot of patience. I wanted to make sure that my teacher won’t abandon me in the middle if I wasn’t making progress.

   • Someone who has a pleasant personality and has a genuine interest in teaching Japanese: Since I probably need to spend a lot of time with my Sensei, I always looked for someone who seemed friendly and was genuinely interested to help me achieve my goals.

     Pro Tip: After i shortlisted some of the teachers on Preply i watched their introduction video to guess who would be a good fit for me. You are likely to be overwhelmed by options - so I recommend you booking trial lesson with a few and then pick someone who fits best for you.

3. Learn Hiragana & Katakana (Don’t use Romaji): I have been guilty of this. I went against the popular advice of learning the Kana (Japanese alphabets) and instead just wanted to master Japanese by using Romaji (Japanese sounds written in english i.e. ha-ji-me-ma-shite). I believe learning Japanese with romaji is going to hold you back significantly and you won’t be able to make much progress beyond a certain point. So I have started to learn to read and write kana (Hiragana and Katakana) and this has been the best decision ever!

   So far i have only learned the hiragana (Katakana in progress). Here is a handy chart for you:

   

4. Have some patience: I still can’t speak Japanese. Sometimes when my sensei asks me a question, I take 2-3 minutes to answer her. Frankly its not a good feeling and can be very frustrating. But I really believe that if I keep at it and go through this struggle (and little embarrassment) there will eventually be a light at the end of the tunnel.

That’s all for today, See you tomorrow! (mata-ashta / またあした)