Imagine yourself touring Tokyo and Hokkaido, slipping down to Okinawa, with a detour to sample that fabled Kobe beef. Before you exchange your dollars for yen, you should study the language and learn kana - Japan's writing system.
You don't need to be fluent in Japanese when you touch down in Tokyo. However, having some knowledge of basic Japanese would be helpful when you interact with native Japanese speakers.
Learning how to speak Japanese has never been easier or more convenient. Every Japanese beginner has options for learning Japanese, tailored to every learning style and budget. They range from finding Japanese lessons online to a host of self-study resources. Superprof now explores those resources and tools.
How to Learn Japanese Online
If you are dedicated and studious, you can learn Japanese online. In fact, one of the top online resources for Japanese language study is called Japanese-Online. This website offers free Japanese language lessons as well as cultural exploration. This site offers tutorials broken into categories; everything from the Japanese numbering system to kanji (Chinese characters), romaji, hiragana and katakana.
The website Japanese-Lesson makes no bones about its offerings. You'll find lesson plans for everything from writing to oral practice. You'll also discover pages to learn about Japanese culture and history, as well as the country's customs and traditions.
The Tofugu website offers online Japanese textbooks to help you learn hiragana and katakana. It drills into specific language skills such as verb conjugation and how to build proper sentences in Japanese. You'll also find help with the cultural perspective. For example, did you know that being a geisha is being a lady of company and part of a large ancestral art?
In our search for online resources to learn Japanese, we uncovered several for-a-fee sites. Among them, Nihongo-Pro and Japonin stood out because they base their course materials on popular Japanese exports. Nihongo draws on manga while Japonin relies on anime to liven up their lessons.
If you're looking for Japanese lessons via webcam, you can count on Superprof.au. You'll find nearly 1600 native Japanese-speaking Superprofs scattered around Australia, each ready to deliver courses online or in person. As you study Japanese tutoring profiles, you'll note that the per-hour rate differs from one tutor to the next; you can choose the tutor that best suits your needs and budget. However, nearly all Superprof Japanese tutors offer their first hour of tutoring for free.
Learn Japanese With Videos Online
Immersing yourself in the Japanese language and culture is a smart move, especially before you go to Japan to discover its civilization and ancestral traditions. Immersion means surrounding yourself with Japanese language and culture - music, sights and speech. You should also address all four of the language learning aspects: reading and writing, listening and speaking.
This strategy will allow you to express yourself correctly in the Miyazaki language. Watching videos online is one of the most accessible ways to immerse yourself in the sights and sounds of Japan. The internet abounds with platforms for you to study Japanese through videos as you enjoy your bowl of Udon.
NHK World abounds with downloadable courses with PDF files, along with video podcasts. The hosts discuss everyday situations in language simple enough for beginner Japanese learners to understand. If you're an absolute beginner, you should first turn to Japanespod101. This site offers a collection of more than 2500 videos and audio files, ranging from your first 'konnichiwa' to your last 'arigato'.
You might already know that JapanesePod has a YouTube channel; it features the videos posted on its site. They're well organised by language skill and level; this channel is easy to navigate. By contrast, Japan Online offers a grab-bag of topics for discussion. Despite the broad themes it discusses, the amount of information available is limited.
The Best Way to Learn Japanese on your Smartphone or Tablet
Often, people who want to travel to Japan and learn Japanese but they have little time to learn the language. That's the reason so many language students learn Japanese on an app. The trick is choosing an application that corresponds to your level, from beginner to intermediate or advanced.
Each app has a slightly different focus. Some drill on the Japanese alphabet while others focus on Conversational Japanese. In all cases, you'll learn words and phrases, build listening skills and practise reading. Beware that apps offer limited choices for developing Japanese writing skills.
Still, you can get a lot from Japanese learning apps. For instance, JA Sensei offers 34 Japanese classes, 2500 Japanese words, and audio quizzes on its platform. You get to choose the quiz levels and see your progress; you also gain access to its website, which is loaded with free content.
This app is only available on Android, as is Kanji Recognizer. This app also offers quizzes to test your knowledge but its scope is limited to writing and recognising Japanese kanji. If you're an iPhone user, you can find a similar app called JEDict Lite.
Contrasted with these apps, Obenkyo offers Japanese language learners far more. Besides its vast vocabulary stores and tools for learning numbers and digits, you'll find a kanji recognition system and nifty kanji animations. Also, this app boasts exercises to help you speak Japanese correctly.
No matter which app you choose, you should download a Japanese Dictionary. JED is as useful with quick translations as when you want to understand native speakers. It comes with a learning system for kanji, too. You'll find it for Android devices and if you're an iPhone user, search your app store for Imiwa.
How to Learn Japanese Through Reading
Travelers to Japan are not only there to learn the language but also to soak up the culture. You might enjoy the matsuri (traditional festivals) and hanami (sakura flowering festival, cherry tree in Japanese). My mate, who is taking Japanese classes Melbourne, plans on discovering Mount Fuji, touring Tokyo and hopping over to Kyoto.
If you long to walk in the footsteps of the ancient Samurai, you can start with books in Japanese. As an absolute beginner, Japanese for Dummies should be your first volume. Like others in this series, it presents an efficient and quick method for learning. It comes packed with the brand's typical humour and relies on role-playing games to engage learners.
Should you have already grasped Japanese basics, Japanese in 40 Lessons is the book for you. It explores Japanese civilization to learn more about the Second World War from the point of view of the Japanese or the Emperor of Japan. This manual breaks down into four sections - 10 lessons apiece, that include themed exercises and helpful learning tips.
Beginner Japanese learners who are pressed for time will appreciate Japanese for Busy People. It covers all the basics, focusing on kana. A more advanced Japanese learner should look for 1001 Japanese Expressions You Need to Know Now. It's targeted at intermediate learners who want to build their vocabulary and improve their syntax.
The Japanese Manual is for Japanese learners who want to go all out. It's a two-volume set with an option companion workbook that covers grammar and vocabulary in depth. Cost is its only downside. Of all the books to learn Japanese, it ranks among the most expensive.
Learn Japanese with Translation Tools
To study the language of Mishima, you must apply yourself to your studies. But you'll need to do more to master the Japanese tongue. Whenever possible, speak the language aloud rather than reciting it silently to yourself. Say vocabulary words out loud, read passages in the text aloud, do pronunciation activities orally and not just mentally.
Write the answers to questions in textbooks rather than gliding through them in your mind. Read aloud entire sentences in an activity rather than just reading the fill-in response. Transferring language from your mind to your mouth is a skill that requires a great deal of practice.
You can verify your Japanese pronunciation is spot-on with Japanese translation tools. Many such resources have a talk-to-text feature. You press on the microphone icon and speak; the words appear on your screen.
Google Translate is the butt of many jokes for its misunderstandings and approximation but it gives you an idea of the concept. PhrasePack Japanese is a superior option. Its creators designed it to help non-Japanese visitors communicate with the locals. To use it, open the app, speak a phrase in English and get the Japanese translation.
You can use it even before you engage with any native Japanese speaker. Instead of speaking English, request a translation from Japanese. When your pronunciation is spot-on, the app will show you in English the Japanese phrase you said. When it returns gibberish, you know you must step up your Japanese-speaking practice.
Other apps like Memrise, zkanji and JA sensei apply the spaced repetition system to help you master Japanese vocabulary and pronunciation. You'll find many such apps to help you master Japanese, whether it's Obenkyo - for learning Japanese katakana, hiragana, kanji and romaji or any other resource this article mentions.
You can find an online Japanese course here on Superprof to help you learn this amazing language!
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