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Why is Japanese so hard to learn?
What makes Japanese a difficult language?
What makes Japanese easy to learn?
Why is Japanese grammar so difficult?
It’s almost like there’s a pre-existing assumption that “Japanese is so hard”, which, like a self-perpetuating bias, makes people go looking for difficult stuff to mull over and complain about to “prove it”.
- Contents
- Pronunciation
- Grammar
- Sentence Structure
- Why Most People Think Japanese Is Hard to Learn
1. All vowels have one pronunciation each
Japanese only has five vowels: あ , い , う , え and お . Each syllable is pronounced with the same rhythm without any stress, and the pronunciation of Japanese words is generally predictable. The same can’t be said of English, where the spelling doesn’t always match up with the pronunciation. You have to learn each word individually to pronounce them properly. When you’re learning Japanese, this won’t be an issue. None of this eau, samhain or tschüssof the European languages, either.
2. You don’t need to deal with tones
Japanese isn’t a tonal language. This might be surprising to hear, since so many Asian languages are spoken with tones, including Mandarin Chinese, Thai and Vietnamese. But it should also come as a relief, since it saves you the time and effort of learning the tones of every word—and risking that you convey a different meaning from what you intended!
3. You’re already familiar with the parts of speech
Japanese parts of speech are similar to their English counterparts: One difference is that Japanese has particlesthat act like prepositions, except they come after the word to which they refer: Here’s an example sentence: オストラーリアで魚にキスされて、びっくりした。 (おーすとらりあで さかなに きすされて、びっくりした。) In Australia, I was kissed by a fishand I was surprised. In this example, the particles で and に come after Australia and a fish.
4. You don’t conjugate based on gender
Aside from a few nouns, Japanese doesn’t really change its word forms based on gender. Pronouns are only gender-specificin two cases: third person (she, he and they) and first person (I). Here are gender-specific options for referring to oneself: Men: 俺 (おれ) 僕 (ぼく) Women: あたし That being said, the gender-neutral option, 私 (わたし/ わたくし), is not only more polite, it’s also far more common. There are the basic words for boy, girl, son, daughterand so on. Otherwise, gender is omitted from nouns and...
5. You don’t have to change word forms
Japanese doesn’t have noun declension (i.e., it doesn’t change the form of nouns based on their purpose or location in a sentence). Instead, Japanese uses particles such as を and の to indicate purpose: Similarly, Japanese adjectivesand adverbs each have only two forms. Even verbs have three—one of which is a small family of irregulars (to have, to do, to be and to come). Each category has its own set of rules. But once you master one form of a word, then you’ve learned the same form of hundre...
10. You only need to remember two word order rules
There are only two rules about word order in Japanese: 1. Verbs come last. 2. In compound sentences, each clause must keep its kids in the assigned seating area. Japanese uses particles to designate each piece of a statement. The particle follows the noun wherever it goes: 庭で、犬が遊んでいる。 (にわで、いぬが あそんでいる。) In the garden, the dog is playing. 犬は、庭で遊んでる。 (いぬは、にわで あそんでいる。) The dog is playing in the garden.
11. Many Japanese words will be familiar to you
There are many common Japanese wordswe use in English all the time. A few you’re sure to recognize include: The opposite is true, as well. Japanese uses many English words, like: Notice how the English words incorporated into Japanese use the katakana writing system. If you see a word written in katakana, there’s a good chance (though not always) that it’s a loanword. If you want Japanese writing to come more naturally to you—and improve your listening skills, vocabulary and grammar at the sa...
You’ve just seen 11 aspects of the language that make Japanese easy to learn. Now, let’s compare them with reasons it seems difficult: 1. The kanji look scary and intimidating. I think kanjitakes the cake when it comes to the most intimidating part of Japanese. Since there’s nothing like it in almost any other language (apart from Chinese character...
May 6, 2022 · Japanese is known as one of the most difficult languages for native-English speakers to master. We take a look at each of the common reasons why.
Feb 16, 2022 · Here’s why. 1. Kanji (漢字) Most beginners think the problem with kanji is that there’s so many of them. Nope. You can go far with just 1000 kanji, read a newspaper with 1500, and complete ...
- DC Palter
Jun 10, 2024 · Some of the most common challenges when starting out are: multiple writing systems: hiragana, katakana, and kanji. unique grammar because the Japanese language is a language isolate. vocabulary intrinsically tied to Japanese etiquette, which has complex layers. But here’s what makes Japanese easy to learn: There is no plural “s.”
In essence, there are three main aspects of Japanese that make learners nervous and give the language its difficult reputation: Kanji. The Politeness System (Keigo) Word Order. Let’s consider each one in turn… 1. Kanji.
Feb 22, 2012 · Japanese has a reputation for being hard to learn. I can kind of understand why – Japanese can be scary to people. You have to learn all these brand new characters, grammatical structures and – oh God – there's kanji.
