Basic Japanese……………there is no such thing. Basic Japanese is what deters most people from learning Japanese. While living in Japan I saw hundreds of foreigners, usually English teachers, start learning Japanese and then give up within the space of a month. What happens is these newly arrived teachers get all excited up about learning Japanese and rush off to their local ward office where they can get free Japanese lessons. After a month or so they give up and move on to more exciting cultural adventures like drinking Japanese beer.
The problem is learning Basic Japanese isn’t basic at all. Learning the basics of Japanese is very difficult because the language is completely different to English. There is no common ground – no concrete language aspects to relate what you learn about the Japanese language to English. With complex grammar, two different alphabets, Kanji, hundreds of idioms and the very confusing cultural aspect of the language it isn’t surprising most would be Japanese speakers give up only after a few lessons.
Japanese Phrases
Some basic Japanese phrases and expressions are untranslatable. You are end up memorizing lots of set expressions that in essence hold no meaning to you. Unfortunately, too many formal set expressions are generally considered basic, when they aren’t. However they are fundamental to social interaction in Japan. So you are trapped into learning lots of formal expressions you don’t really understand.
The teaching method is also to blame. It blows my mind how poorly Japanese is taught at private colleges in and outside of Japan. Formal grammar focused conversations are usually the meat and potatoes of most learning courses. These are conversations, to my knowledge to exist in Japan. It all focuses on the “masu” form and speaking politely.
In Japan I have found the best foreigner Japanese speakers are non English speakers. The are forced to speak Japanese in their job and are usually immersed in the language constantly while living in Japan. So there is hope. You just need to get over learning the difficult basics – the fundamentals. If you learn the basics hopefully you’ll get to meet a few Japanese and develop friendships and get some exposure to real spoken Japanese. I felt somewhat freed when I came to Japan and discovered colloquial Japanese. Hopefully you’ll experience the same freedom.
Learning and memorizing a few Japanese phrases is an achievement in itself for most people. Say a few greetings and know a little bit about Japanese food and Japanese will be complimenting your Japanese. Which can be quite embarrassing. The first time a Japanese compliments your Japanese in Japanese you will of course have no idea about what is being said. Once you realize what is being said you will feel like an idiot and probably give up learning basic Japanese.
To learn more about understanding Japanese start with these lessons:
In order to speak Japanese you obviously need to learn a lot of Japanese words words. Naturally you begin with learning basic Japanese words and then get into words or phrases. Most Japanese greetings and set expressions are quite complex and not basic at all. This is often a problem for students as they feel so overwhelmed with only a few Japanese expressions that they develop a mindset that Japanese is extremely difficult. The problem is students don’t often learn words. I mean they don’t spend time to consider the deep meaning and cultural aspects of Japanese words. There a lot of ways to learn words such as using Japanese language software, books or audio programs. The best way to learn new words is to spend time speaking to Japanese.
Japanese Words Meanings
When living in Japan for a long time as I have there are moments when you discover the real meanings of certain words. They are usually moments of serendipity where you experience Japan - the culture of Japan and what you happen to be doing at that time seem to meet at the perfect moment and then you realize you have made a discovery. This when I feel I am really learning Japanese. One word that I had always found odd and confusing was “Okagesama-de”. You may know this word to mean “Thanks to you”.
It is one of the most common expressions in the vocabulary of the Japanese way, but it is almost always misunderstood by Japanese-speaking foreigners who hear and use it. Japanese routinely use the expression when someone asks them how they are, asks about the health and welfare of a family member; or ask how their business is going, and so on.. Not understanding the true meaning of Okagaesama-de, many foreigners take it personally, presuming that the Japanese, out of politeness and their automatic response to formailites, are actually thanking them. I once often thought this. In fact, I thought it was yet another stupid and meaningless Japanese expression from a socially challenged people.
As with many Japanese words, the misunderstanding arises in the translation of the word. Instead of meaning “thanks to you” in a personal sense, the expression actually means “as luck would have it” or “thank heavens” (in a Buddhist sort of a way). The word is a vestige of the Buddhist concept of fate in the lives of people. It is way of implying that the relationships and life have been properly nurtured and are thriving, and that all is right in the word.
You , as a student or Japanese-speaking foreigner can gain valuable points by using okagasama-de appropriately when to responding to Japanese friends and business contacts. Use this word correctly at the right and people will be impressed. It subtly notes that you are speaking on their cultural wavelength, and gives a warm, positive feeling to your response.
As Japanese don’t do small talk you can impress Japanese and start speaking Japanese with just a small number of Japanese words, phrases and set expressions under your belt. However, understanding the deeper meanings of certain Japanese words may take several months or even years. Culture plays a very important part in the Japanese language right down to simple phrases and words. Learning about Japanese culture is as important as builing your vocabulary or learning the stroke order of Kanji. The more Japanese culture you know the more important Japanese words you will discover.
Japanese study can be fun and an effective if you use a variety of learning methods. Japanese isn’t easy, but it isn’t that difficult to learn if you use different study methods and approach study with a positive attitude. There many great ways to study Japanese and make the learning process fun and effective.
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:
You know what adverbs are, right? Adverbs modify verbs. In English, adverbs are words like “slowly” in “John slowly walked down the street.” or “creatively” in “My wife creatively folded the paper into a crane.” Students of Japanese tend to learn one adjective, the adjective totemo and then move on Kanji or keigo or something else. I guess the reason for this Japanese adverbs are a little confusing. So let’s learn Japanese with a few new adjectives to put a little wasabi in your Japanese
There are two kinds of Japanese adverbs. There are adverbs and then modified adjectives that play the role of adverbs.The first kind are words that have always been adverbs, and the second are adjectives that are placed in a particular inflection so as to act adverbially. You will understand. In fact you are probably already using these adjectival adverbs.
Japanese Adverbs
The first type of adverbials are mostly quantifiers. Words such as sukoshi, meaning “a little bit”, zutto, meaning “very much”/”throughout” or tokidoki, meaning “sometimes”.
Here is a list of a few more;
Daibu – greatly
Totemo – very
Taihen - very, awfully
Adjectival adverbs
The second type can be constructed out of either verbal adjectives, or noun adjectives. However, the way they are inflected to become adverbs is different for the two.
Verbal Adjectives
Change verbal adjectives to the ku form and then it can be used as an adverb. For instance, the verbal adjective hayai, meaning “early” can be made an adverb by dropping the i and adding ku, resulting in hayaku. This can then be used with for instance the verb for “waking up”, okiru: hayaku okiru – to wake up early.
Here are a few more;
hidoku – appallingly
sugoku - terribly, amazingly
yoku – well
tsuyoku – strongly
Noun adjectives
Noun adjectives can be turned into adjectives by instead of adding na as suffix, adding ni as suffix. For instance, kirei is a noun adjective meaning “pretty”, kireini is an adverb meaning pretty. If we pair this with the verb for “to split”, wakeru we get niwakeru meaning “to cleanly split” (such as a piece of cake spilt among children)
nazen ni – completely
amari ni excessively
migoto ni – astonishingly
hijyou ni – extraordinarily
yakeni – horribly
I hope this helps. Now you should know a few more adjectives than just tetomo.
Can you read Hiragana?
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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