4 Tips to Start Learning Japanese
The available resources and internet in general has changed a lot since I started learning Japanese. Still, there are 4 things that I personally did that I believe still are valid today. So, here are the 4 tips to start learning Japanese.
◆ Find the Material you like
◆ Don’t Jump around too much
◆ Don’t Obsess if you got it or not
◆ Pick a Short Term Focus
INDEX
Find the Material you like
The first step is to try out websites, apps, books or whatever to find what you like.
https://japaneseuniverse.com/2024/02/18/pac-man-in-japaneseconcepts-behind-development-to-global-icon/
In the beginning, this will probably be some introductory course, website, book, or even podcast which covers the basics. The basics being common words, basic word order and particles, Hiragana and Katakana, some Kanji and so on. Pretty much an overview of everything which goes into enough depth so you can get the building blocks to understand the language. These blocks will allow you to more easily understand other material later on.
楽しく学ぼう – The Method you are most Interested in is The best way to Learn Japanese on your own
The main thing is to make sure that you are using material that you are interested in.
Don’t Jump around too much
Next, after you find learning material you like, stick to it. This is not a 100%-must-follow rule as you will certainly get sick of the material you use after a while and need a break. That is OK and natural. When that happens just take a break, look at other material, then come back to the material you chose when you are ready.
So, it is ok to stray and look around a little bit. But, the issue with switching material around too much is that it hinders learning.
If you start learning Japanese with Duolingo for a month then you move to Busuu, you have to start over. The more courses, books, apps or whatever you flip through the more you will be just starting over and looking at the same introductory information.
There are so many sources you can use to study. Sure, after you choose your material there probably is something better out there somewhere. Be careful, it is easy to get caught up in the excitement of the search; Getting more excited about the idea of learning Japanese than actually learning it.
There are Youtube channels, apps, websites, blogs etc. that provide a wealth of information. At the same time all of these are fighting to get your attention. They do that by promising fluency, showing flashing images or by making proactive statements. It is easy, especially if you are caught up in wanting to be entertained more than wanting to learn Japanese to switch from one app or blog to another.
Don’t Obsess if you got it or not
When you start from zero, everything is new and does not make any sense. Learning is a process of putting puzzle pieces together. In the beginning the pieces you have before you don’t fit with anything and else. As you get more pieces though things start to fit together and make sense.
Said a different way, it feels harder to remember things in the beginning than it does later on. When you learn a word without enough Japanese to think of it in context, it just kind of floats around in your brain and is hard to retrieve. After you learn more Japanese thinking of one word will put out other connected words or even sentences automatically. So the point is, if you don’t understand move on and you will probably understand it later.
Pick a Short term Focus
Sometimes it helps to find one aspect of Japanese to dedicate a chunk of time to. What that does is it helps you get to a higher level in that area quicker than you would otherwise. This can help you also stay focused on your studying also since you don’t need to think too hard about what to study.
When I started learning Japanese I spend the first several months focused on learning Kanji. The reason I did that was because I saw the benefit in being able to read Japanese. Reading would allow me to be able to access native Japanese content and learn from that. Without that period where I focused on Kanji, It would have taken me much longer before I felt comfortable reading. That would mean I would only have been able to look at basic learner material and would have less choices.
Today, with more access to Japanese audio I may have decided to focus on learning a bunch of words first with audio to be able to listen to Japanese news, anime, dramas, YouTube or whatever. The choice is yours. Just make sure that you are enjoying it as much as you can, and that you move on to something else when you are done.
If you are interested in learning Japanese I have reviewed what I consider the best resource for Japanese Grammar below:
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