Japanese is an amazing language, but for most people it is very tough to learn. Most students never reach a fluent speaking level and thus miss out on the enjoyment of being able to converse with Japanese.

So, why learn Japanese?

Well, for many people learning Japanese is more about;

* Understanding Japanese culture

* Enjoying Manga and Anime

* Ordering food at Japanese restaurants

* Having a Japanese homestay

* Visiting Japan while on holiday

All great reasons to study the language a little and learn the basics.

Living in or just visiting Japan can be an incredibly rewarding and a life changing experience if you know how to speak Japanese! In fact, the opportunities are endless if you can speak functional and fluent Japanese. With my understanding of Japanese I have been able to do some amazing things

Thanks to my Japanese speaking skills I…

* Taught English at several universities in Japan

* Made several life long friends. I was the MC and “best man” at two weddings for my Japanese friends

* Established my own English Language conversation school

* Married the girl of my dreams

* Teach Japanese online

Unfortunately Japanese is difficult language to learn. The biggest problem isn’t grammar, kanji or keigo. The problem is Japanese is made overly complicated due to teaching and learning methods. The biggest flaw being that functional Japanese is not really taught in terms of how it is spoken in Japan. Also, deeply rooted cultural aspects and societal behavior is not explained. This is the reason most people never reach a proficient speaking level of Japanese.

Due to poor current teaching and learning methods it takes most students many months or several years just to learn the basics of the language. Unfortunately, most of what is studied is formalized text book language that is not really spoken everyday in Japan.

To speak real Japanese – to actually engage in a conversation with a native speaker – you need to understand the language at an intimate level. No text book can teach this. Normally, this would require you to live in Japan for some time.

In a nut shell; just learning Japanese isn’t enough. I’ve know many students, who study hours and hours, struggle to have simple conversations with native Japanese. The secret is to understand that learning doesn’t always lead to effective communication.

So here it is. If you have read this far then you are about to be rewarded. If you want to be a great speaker, learn social behavior and cultural aspects of Japanese then the solution is simple. Model the language. Model native speakers. Watch an hour of Japanese drama every day. Hit the pause button every so often and model the actors – what they say and how they say. Do this for a month and you will be amazed with your progress.

Silence is sometimes considered golden. In Japan, silence is communication. Speech is often considered unnecessary and sometimes even seems to obstruct harmonious interpersonal relationships. Accepting silence as an alternative to saying what you want to express can be a frustrating ordeal for non-Japanese living in Japan wanting to speak Japanese. As it is considered illogical not to express yourself with words it can takes years getting accustomed to the Japanese way of silent communication.

The Japanese are very cautious not to hurt the feelings of others, nor do they wish to cause trouble for others. They tend to surmise other people’s possible reactions before giving opinions or taking some sort of action. This can result in Japanese doing things they don’t want to do. For example, not leaving a job they are unhappy with because they don’t want to cause trouble for their co-workers. Japanese like to achieve mutual understanding by nonverbal cues rather than by blunt or outright questions or heated discussions. It is all about avoiding confrontation and conflict.

To the Japanese, silence in conversation ( if there is such a thing) can often convey a far more profound meaning than just…let’s say…eloquence. Western society would see this non-verbal communication as more of a social problem of the Japanese in general. Japanese traditionalists see this silent communication as a highly prized skill. The Japanese language has many proverbial expressions concerning the effectiveness and wisdom of nonverbal communication. “Ishin-denshin” can be taken to mean “Using cultural telepathy” or “mind to heart communication”. “Haragei” is other meaning “art of the belly”. By the unique technique of “haragei” a person makes the other party understand his real intentions without verbal interaction. This ability is regarded as indispensable to influential figures, particularly in political circles.

Unlike most other nations, Japan is a highly homogeneous society, where nonverbal forms of communication can be easily developed and conveniently used in various situations. As Japanese have traditionally depended on “ishin denshin” for much of their communication they are generally turned off by people who, by their standards, talk excessively. In contrast to the Japanese, Westerners, particularly Americans, are noted for being big talkers, with the result that these two widely differing modes of behavior often clash. And believe me they do clash.

In this internationalized world, more and more Japanese think it urgently necessary to change their tendency to implicitness and silence which can cause misunderstanding in inter-cultural communication. Likewise, it does pay for foreign businessmen and politicians to make a point of letting their Japanese counterparts know that they are aware of the “ishin deshin” method of communicating, and that they want to have a mind-to-heart understanding with them.

In order to speak like a Japanese native you have to learn, at times, not to speak at all. This requires a certain amount of patience and faith. “Ishin Denshin” is something you can really only experience by living with Japanese in Japan. When I lived with my wife’s family there was very little conversation between family members. I found it quite challenging to sit through meals and not talk. It took a long time to feel comfortable in a shared state of silence. So, if you want to speak like a Japanese keep in mind that less said will often resonate more than blurting out what you think or feel.

My pet hate Japanese word is juice, in katakana. In Japanese “juice” basically means soft drink. It can even mean canned coffee. How could they get this word so wrong. So if a Japanese offers you “juice” in Japan don’t be surprised if you are given a glass of coke.

Snack is an other word Japanese give new meaning to. Instead of relating to eating food the word is all about drinking. In Japanese “snack” means bar. But not just any bar. Snack bars are small drinking places usually for the older generation where Japanese can drown their sorrows with whisky or beer and belt out some enka. These places are very popular with men as they are sort of a hostess bar where you are charged quite a lot to drink with female company. Enka is traditional Japanese music – usually songs about lost love. These places are probably the most depressing places you could ever visit in Japan.

Viking is one of my favorite’s. It is pronounced “Bye -king”. Japanese most likely wouldn’t know who the Vikings were. Yet, at least one Japanese picked up on their eating habits and coined the phrase to mean buffet. Viking means “all-you-can- eat”. It can also mean “all-you-can-drink”.

Ice comes close. It means ice cream. This is an example of how Japanese will take English words and shorten them or abbreviate them. Japanese generally like to communicate with the least amount of words. They will take a foreign word shorten it, give it a new meaning, and eventually it slips into main stream vocabulary.

When you first learn or discover these words you will feel dumbfounded. You will either feel amused or annoyed. It is quite hard to believe that the words I just taught you are meaningful and common words in the Japanese language. It certainly took me a while to accept and use them. One of the most frustrating things is many Japanese believe that they are speaking English when using these loan words. Good reason enough not to even consider teaching English in Japan.

If you would like to learn real Japanese words then take a look at Japanese Japanese Fast

I have stumbled across a very effective vocabulary building method which I think can help you to learn lots of vocabulary.

Do you know what a Mnemonic device is?

It is a method for enhancing memory – a trick that one uses to help memorize something. Mnemonic devices can help with remembering peoples’ names and faces as well as with remembering words in a foreign language.

You could be memorizing Japanese in the slowest way possible, and not even know it.

Most Japanese courses teach you the slow way. They cram you with grammar, grammar, grammar… and treat vocabulary as a side dish.
Your biggest challenge isn’t the few hundred grammatical rules… It’s the thousands and thousands of words you have to remember.
” Speak Japanese Fast “ takes a fool-proof memory tool that’s been used for 30-years and launches your Japanese skills in no time at all.

So if you want a smart study system, that is fun to use and will give you results in days instead of weeks, then Speak Japanese Fast is something you need to get your hands on. i have tested the product myself.

Several months ago I was contacted by David McGimpsey. He is the creator of  “Speak Japanese Fast”, a Japanese Language learning ebook that uses Mnemonic devices to learn and retain vocabulary.

Anyway, David emailed me and asked me to promote his product  Speak Japanese Fast. At first, I was sceptical of his product and said no. So he gave me a copy and just asked me to read and try his learning tool.

So about a week later when I had some free time I had a look at his ebook. I was actually pleasantly surprised and found his learning  system fun. Yet, I already knew all of the Japanese words in his ebook. I couldn’t really review his product as a learner. However, I did believe his learning tool was effective. So, I had the product tested with some of my wife’s private students. We gave it to five of my wife’s private students who are beginners.

I actually had my wife test the students with the vocabulary from the ebook after a week. She gave them a little test for five minutes at the start of her next lesson. All five students had made incredible progress with the method. One student had pretty much remembered all the 300 pages of  the ebook.

So I highly recommend the book if you are struggling to learn and remember Japanese words. This ebook can definitely help you learn and retain vocabulary.

Do you have the ability to hold short conversations, but know if you were to go to Japan you wouldn’t be able to survive?

I lived in Japan for 10 years and know what is like to be stuck at a medioca level.  It took me a few years but I made progress and broke through the “basic speaker” barrier. Unfortunately most students don’t, never reaching a proficient speaking level of Japanese.

And I can understand way. It takes most students many months or several years just to learn the basics. For most people, progressing to an intermediate level seems either to time consuming or near impossible. Maybe, this is where you are at the moment. And you know what more study isn’t always the best answer. What I have discovered is that to actually engage in a conversation with a native speaker you need to experience the language. Normally, this would require you to live in Japan for some time.

However, I realize that most of you are not in the position to jump on a plane and spend the next year living in Japan. Maybe you are living in Japan, but suffer from the Eikaiwa syndrome, where you are teaching English, living with English native speakers and have little money or time to afford lessons. My wife and I have come up with a solution. An Intermediate Japanese language learning program founded on real life experience. A course that would let you learn the Japanese language as if you were actually in Japan.

Most of my feedback has shown me that students didn’t want to focus on grammar or text books and just the basics of the language. Students wanted to be taught real Japanese that would help them with life in Japan. You won’t have to go through the basics again with our course. We dive straight into real Japanese and explain the culture of the Japanese language.

In short our program Speak Japanese Fluently:

• Teaches functional Japanese that is real and alive in Japan
• Gives You the confidence to speak Japanese to native speakers
• Saves money and time, and limits frustration and confusion
• Explains confusing and greatly misunderstood cultural aspects of the language
• Helps students to actually practice effectively
• And cuts out and avoids all the unnecessary text book study garbage

If you are serious about moving ahead with your Japanese – and really want to hold conversation with native speakers then Speak Japanese Fluently is what you need.

Try our program and if honestly believe the program isn’t for you just send me an email and your money will be returned.

Learning to read Japanese is probably the most challenging aspect of learning Japanese. Most students find it far too confusing and time consuming, and as a result give up. After spending a few months learning Hiragana and Katakana the prospect of learning a few thousand Kanji becomes too overwhelming.

However, learning to read Japanese doesn’t have to be a painful and confusing experience. Most students make the mistake of learning to read Japanese in parts. First, students learn Hiragana, then Katanana. After this they learn a large number of grammar rules. Then comes learning hundreds of Kanji.  Doing all of this would take several months of considerable study time, but unfortunately amount to little progress. The problem is actual “reading practice” is not being done.

You have to start reading Japanese in order to read Japanese. As strange as this might sound it is the only way to learn how to read Japanese. Rather than learn Hiragana, Katakana, grammar and Kanji in parts, it is far more effective to practice reading Hiragana, Katakana and Kanji in a context.

Instead of spending money and time on Kanji and grammar books, what you really need is to be shown how to read Japanese. You need someone to guide you as you attempt to read. Think of it as like having a reading coach – who can explain cultural elements, confusing grammar and ambiguous wording.

If you can afford it, find yourself a Japanese tutor and have them read to you, explaining Kanji, grammar and cultural elements along the way. Then, you read to them and have them correct and guide you. It is the most effective way to progress with your reading. Make sure you find a tutor who understands your needs.

If you can’t afford a tutor then you could try our product “Read Japanese Fast”. We take you through twenty pieces of writing word-byword, phrase-by-phrase with video tutorials. We teach you how to read Kanji in context. No other product does this. We also teach you to read Hiragana and Katakana in just a few short weeks. You can now try “Read Japanese Fast” for 21 days for the cost of a coffee – just $4.95.

Visit ReadJapaneseFast.com to learn more

Passing the JLPT is all about preparation – the right preparation. Whether you are months, weeks or even days away, the way you prepare for the test will determine how well you pass it, or how badly you fail it.

The best preparation you can do is to take the test . You need some combat experience.

Japanese Proficieny Power will take You by the Hand and Show You How To Pass the JLPT with Over 6 Hours of Screen Capture Video Lessons and 3 practice tests.

Is the only product that shows you how to answer the test questions with screen capture videos – this is not just an e-book. We show how to answer each question.

Is written and recorded by someone who has passed the test and by a Japanese native who tutors Japanese for a living. If you are serious about passing the JLPT this year then take a look at Japanese Proficiency Power.

My wife and I are in the process of making a product for learning to speak Japanese. We have thought about what is most important for the student. We have come up with several factors that we believe are most important in order to learn how to speak Japanese fluently. One is that we teach real colloquial Japanese that is spoken by Japanese in Japan. So we won’t be going with formal text book Japanese. Another factor is recognizing the importance of situation and culture, and the influence they have on the Japanese language.

Competitive research is becoming an important factor in the development of our product. Without getting too detailed we want to differentiate ourselves from our competitors and obviously make a better product. This has meant we have looked at several competitors and purchased products.

We looked at Pimsleur, Rosetta Stone and Rocket Japanese. Which is the best one?

Well before we get into that let me tell you what we looked for in each product.

• Value for Money
• Ease of Use
• Realistic conversation examples
• Japanese cultural references
• Enjoyment Factor

Rocket Japanese

At this stage we are only recommending Rocket Japanese. I believe it to be the best product online to learn Japanese  In fact, at one stage we were considering promoting the product aggressively instead of making our own. The core of the product is the 14 and a half hours of audio lessons. The lessons cover all the fundamentals of basic Japanese – from introducing yourself to getting around on public transportation, and ordering food in a restaurants. They take a friendly radio style approach with their teaching method. At times I do feel the lessons go on a bit and sometimes the dialogue seems too scripted. However, over all the audio lesson are very good and teach Japanese you would actually use.

Each audio lesson comes with grammar and cultural notes in a down-loadable PDF format. The reference material also contains instructions and explanations on written Japanese. Even if you don’t want to buy any products I recommend you at least subscribe to their Email course. It is great value – you get lots of sample lessons. Sign up ASAP.

Pimsleur

Pimsleur claims that you can learn a language in 10 days. I know that a lot can be learned in ten days with multimedia products and cutting edge learning methods, but learning Japanese in 10 days with the Pimsleur method doesn’t seem possible.  I think Pimsleur is somewhat dated and is in need of  upgrade and update. In order to speak Japanese I believe you need a certain amount of cultural understanding of Japan. This is something missing with Pimsleur.  Pimsleur claims that their CDs have been scientifically sequenced to rapidly lock language material into your brain after just one listening and that you can absorb Japanese effortlessly without any reading, writing or computer use. Sounds too good to be true. Learning Japanese requires effort – it takes more than ten days.

Rosetta Stone

Rosetta Stone is the most expensive language program out there. I would probably make some good money promoting their products. They have 3 levels they individually sell  starting from around $260. Buying all three levels at once is the best option, but you will have to fork out $550 dollars. The product comes in a CD-ROM format, with audio CDs. This means it is software heavy. This can be good for some things such as learning vocabulary and Hiragana and Katakana. However, in general I don’t believe learning a language through software is the way to go. You end up stuck in front of a computer learning just the basics.  Rosetta Stone don’t provide any samples of their audio lessons on their site. You have to sign up to get a demo. There are promotion movies at their site. However, as I watched them they gave me the impression that I would get sick of using the software after about half an hour.

So if you are looking for a product to help you speak Japanese in a short amount  of time we recommend Rocket Japanese.

While these acts or obligations are common to Western relationships, the act or practice of giri is very different. When practicing giri one will not take into account one’s own suffering when serving or helping another. To use the workplace as an example, Japanese will serve their superiors with a self sacrificing devotion. Employees will even tolerate abuse and humiliation to fulfill their giri to their superiors or employers. The purpose of this devotion being support and respect for human relationships.

Possible meanings:

• Obligation, moral obligation
• Duty
• Self-sacrificing devotion

Special note:

Giri has a far more pervasive influence on the Japanese world view and culture than its English equivalent. Many foreigners dealing with the Japanese are first impressed by exquisite manners and sense of duty or commitment. However, over time most foreigners come to find these acts of giri to be hypocritical and superficial.

In the Western mindset Giri would be something similar to doing the right thing or repaying kindness. One custom or practice Japanese often find frustrating is gift giving. When Japanese receive gifts Japanese they know they must pay back the kindness and give something in return. This means that for many Japanese receiving gifts is something they wish they could avoid as they know will have to go to the trouble of buying something in return to do giri.

Should You Practice Giri?

You should be definitely aware of and practice giri if you are living in Japan. Practicing giri will help you build strong relationships and help you in the long run. You can actually build up giri with friends and associates by doing unsolicited favors. A sort of an unspoken, but very structured “I’ll scratch your back if you’ll scratch mine.”