日本語はほんとうにむずかしい、でも、がんばってよ！ 今、ひらがなとカタカナはわかってる。かんじは、むずかしすぎる。今、日本にすんでから、来年は日本にすんでいます。らいしゅは、学校に行きます。楽しみする！
So I’ve been studying Japanese for 2 years, which sounds impressive until you hear how little I can actually do. I have been studying it through the Distance education system in NSW, Australia. Basically they give us work to hand in every week, and we send it back, calling them every second week to keep on top of pronunciation. The system sounds ok, but it really doesn’t work for learning a language, I would only recommend it if you have no other choice. In fact, the work they gave us was so easy that I finished the entire years work in 2 months, seriously, you can learn much more just studying the language online.
So, here I will tell anyone that’s interested in Japanese the basics of how I learnt enough to survive in Japan, what’s essential, and what I am using to learn now!
Before I started my Japanese course, I learnt all Hiragana, which is one of the three writing styles in Japan, Hiragana, Katakana and Kanji. I did this by using the flashcards app, Tinycards, this app has flash cards for pretty much every subject in school. I would recommend this, or if you want to save battery power or can’t use a phone, traditional flashcards would work (Possibly even better than the app.) I would recommend learning Hiragana, then Katakana, then kanji, while Kanji isn’t necessary for life in Japan, it is incredibly useful as a learning tool, and if you plan on reading, watching shows or going to Japan here is a list of the kanji people learn in grade 1. And here is another one, that’s easier to read.
While you are nailing that Hiragana, I would recommend learning some of the vocabulary! Duolingo has a good course, but I’ve heard that they use a strange version of Japanese, so maybe you can study some Japanese online by researching specific phrases on your own. Also, studying Japanese through TV shows, Anime, video games and Manga is incredibly efficient, Fluentu has a tutorial on manga for learning here I would recommend learning Japanese with manga even if you weren’t interested in it in the first place, because manga also teaches culture and informal Japanese, which is important when you try to fit in in Japan.
Now, if your planning on studying Japanese, you’re probably wondering what you should start with, right?! First of all, I would recommend learning some basic expressions, here is a good place to start. After you learn some of these, you should probably study sentence structure, as it is very different to English. You can study that here and here. While you’re doing this, you will be learning about hiragana and katakana through flashcards. Study the Kanji in a notebook, it is important to know what they mean and, if you plan on writing them, the stroke order.
Once you get experienced in basic vocabulary, the writing and some kanji I would recommend trying to read some Japanese manga! These are available at some book stores, or online at places like Honto.jp. Try following the guide from Fluentu to use manga for a great learning experience! If you’re doing this you should get a notebook, especially to keep track of vocabulary and writing. If you’re living in Japan for learning, I could not recommend keeping a notebook on you more! It’s great for when you see things in public, you can write it down and translate it when you get home, or ask a Japanese person where you are!
がんばってよ！ Good luck, and try your best!
