We can distinguish two main functions of romaji, namely phonetic transliteration, and syntactic transliteration. The first tries to mimic what Japanese sounds like to the western ear. The second tries to mimic the order that is found in the kana tables. Romaji can,to a degree, accurately reflect the pronunciation of Japanese, thus making it easy to read as the reader’s brain can instantly turn the words into internally vocalized words. It can also,to a degree,  accurately reflect what the kana is supposed to look like. However, Japanese   with written romaji becomes hard to read because what is written and how it should be internally vocalized are two completely different things.

So why use romaji to teach Japanese, when one can use Japanese script instead? I guess the idea is that the phonetic scheme lets non-Japanese readers understand written “Japanese” easily without having to know how to read real Japanese to make sense of it.  However, why would you want to understand written Japanese without having to know how to read real Japanese?
Students of Japanese learn romaji because they don’t really want to learn Japanese or they have the false idea that romaji is Japanese. In the end it is either poor teaching on the part of the teacher or laziness on the part of the student. The idea that kana is difficult to learn is also false. Learning kana, Hiragana and Katakana, is not something that will take months, if one will be studying Japanese anyway. It takes about a week to memorize hiragana to a level that continued practice (which is what someone who’s studying will be doing anyway) and exposure to Japanese texts will perfect for you, even if you don’t really try.
Ideally, students should never be exposed to romaji at all in their educational material, save when the pronunciation for the kana is explained. However, when it is used, it should be remembered that students will understand that Japanese written in western letters does not accurately reflect the way it is written in Japanese.

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I recommend you study Japanese everyday with short focused studies sessions. When I say study I don’t mean spending an hour locked in your room learning from a text book. This is not an effective study method. Make your study fun and active. The more active you are with your studies the faster you will learn. Watch videos on you tube and repeat aloud when learning new words, write words you understand when you do listening practice, and speak the language as often as you can even if you are by yourself.

Here a my top seven methods for making fast progress with the Japanese language;

Japanese Dramas: Watch Japanese dramas. Generally, Japanese dramas are pretty boring. The story lines are are often bizarre and the acting somewhat amateur . However, with most Japanese dramas you can learn lots of conversational Japanese and also discover how much Japanese culture influences spoken language.

Japanese Radio: Listen to Japanese radio. There are now heaps of Japanese Internet radio programs you can listen to. Next time you are online do a search for a Japanese online radio station and hit the play button. Even if you don’t understand 99% of what is being said just listen. Eventually you will start to pick up words and phrases. As you listen write words and phrases you can understand or catch. This is a very effective study technique. It won’t be too long before you can understanding most of what is being said.

Learn Hiragana: If you want to make sure you are pronouncing words correctly you must learn the Hiragana syllabary. You can easily learn hiragana in less than a month with all the free stuff on the web. Hiragana is the first important stepping stone in learning how read Japanese.

Skip Romaji: Romaji is a big time waster and will slow your progress down. In fact, Romaji is not even Japanese. It was originally devised to help Japanese write the Japanese language in non-Japanese script for westerns. It was never intend as a means to help students learn Japanese. Romaji should never be taught to students at all save when the pronunciation for the kana is explained. Also keep in mind that Japanese written in romaji does not accurately reflect the way it is written in Japanese.

Learn Kanji: Once you have mastered hiragana you should start learning Kanji. Learning how to read and write Kanji is quite stimulating and enjoyable. It will help you to build vocabulary quickly and improve your understanding of Japanese grammar. Learn stroke order or how to read Kanji in context. Learning stroke order will help to read and understand new Kanji as you progress. Remember that reading Kanji in context should be your goal. Don’t waste hours and hours of study time memorizing all the readings of several hundred.

Make Japanese friends: If you want to learn real Japanese you have to hang out with Japanese people. There are hundreds of Japanese words and phrases that you can only learn from conversing with Japanese people. Go out and find some Japanese and become friends with learn. It is what I did when I first started learning Japanese. Only learn the common readings

Japanese Culture: Learn as much as you can about Japanese culture. This will help you with understanding the Japanese mindset and how Japanese communicate. This is an area so many students undervalue. The Japanese language is so unique due to Japanese culture.

Here are some more blogposts on how to study Japanese:

And I mean actually read Hiragana – words, phrases and paragraphs.  Don’t make the mistake thinking that if you can identify Hiragana on flash cards it means you are reading Japanese. So can you really read Hiragana?

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The romaji hiragana for these characters is:  A I U E O

Now test yourself with these questions

• What is ai in English?
• What color is ao?
• How do you say “house” in Japanese?
• What does ue mean?
• How do you say “many” in Japanese?
• What family member name is oi?

Katakana is the second Japanese alphabet used to express non-Japanese words in written Japanese. The other alphabet is called Hiragana. Then there is Kanji. Hiragana is the basic alphabet that children first learn in order to read Japanese. As students progress, Katakana and Kanji is then introduced as the student’s vocabulary expands. For foreign students it makes sense to approach reading Japanese in the same way. Please visit our sister site ReadHiragana.com to learn how to read Hiragana.

Katakana Words

Katakana is not just about English loan words.It also used for onowords, emphasizing words in manga and children’s books that would normally be written in Kanji or Hiragana, terminologies in the fields of study like science and medicine, and foreign names. If Kanji represents the traditional “language culture” of Japanese, then Katakana represents the modern and evolving “language culture”. In fact, Katakana is very much a part of the modern evolving culture of Japan as new words named after or tagged to new trends and cultural discoveries are usually always based on English words and written in Katakana.

Why is it import to learn Katakana?

Katakana, like Hiragana, is indeed worthwhile learning as it ensures you are speaking Japanese correctly. Often English native speaking students of Japanese make the mistake of half learning Katakana or skip learning it all together. Making the assumption that you can get by because most Katakana words are English loan words is a big mistake. If you can’t read atakana you can be sure that you’re not pronouncing words well. If your pronunciation is slightly off you will have trouble being understood. So please come and visit us often. You can also sign up for a sample of our video course that helps you master and read Katakana fast. Juts fill in the forum below and check your email.

Learning katakana is not only about “loan words”. If Kanji represents the traditional “language culture” of Japanese, then Katakana represents the modern and evolving “language culture”.

Katakana is used for:

1. Onomatopoeic words

2. Emphasizing words that would normally be written in Kanji or Hiragana

3. Foreign names

4. Terminologies?- words and phrases used in a particular subject or field.