How to learn Japanese from scratch?

Probably, many modern people now care about the question of how to learn the Japanese language on their own. The reason for this need, in principle, can be explained quite simply. Who will refuse to be the first to learn about new products in the world of the most advanced technologies? That's right, a few. But only they are issued most often in the Land of the Rising Sun, and therefore, the instructions and manuals for operation primarily do not come out in Russian or English, but on the local system of the most complicated hieroglyphs.

Why do many people want to learn Japanese on their own? Would not it be easier to enroll in any courses or find a professional tutor? At first glance, it's certainly easier, but it's only if you are lucky to live or study in a large city, for example, in Moscow, Kiev, St. Petersburg or Minsk. But in more modest localities, it is almost impossible to find such a specialist. Either he does not exist at all, or for his services he requests cosmic sums of money.

This article will tell you in detail how to quickly learn the Japanese language on your own. The reader will receive a step-by-step instruction, which will necessarily come to the rescue in the implementation of this difficult but quite feasible dream.

Is it possible to learn Japanese independently?

Konishua, or Japanese, is quite an interesting and very unusual adverb, which certainly should be learned at least in order to be able to read Japanese manga books without translation or to communicate with Japanese friends - carriers of a unique culture.

Many are interested in the question of how to learn Japanese independently at home or is it even possible? The answer is definitely positive. However, those who decided to succeed will have to show considerable perseverance in this difficult, albeit very fascinating occupation.

However, we will not hide, the study of the Japanese language can not go as smoothly as we would like. Why? The thing is that it has nothing to do with the Western languages of the world. The rules and the alphabet of this adverb are complex, but basic phrases, pronunciation and grammar are easily remembered even by a beginner, so mastering them is not a huge task.

For those who are interested in learning how to learn Japanese on their own, experts recommend starting the study with useful and widespread phrases, and then gradually move on to more complex assignments, such as studying the alphabet and Japanese sounds.

Local ABC

In this dialect, there are more than one alphabet, and as many as four, each of which has its own graphemes. This fact can already scare off those who wondered how to learn the Japanese language on their own.

And it is true that studying it is not an easy task. In consolation, we can note that in any Japanese alphabet there are basic sounds, which are only 46. By the way, each alphabet has its own sphere of application, so they probably will not be confused.

• Hiragana is used purely for writing. In syllabic writing, each symbol of a given alphabet denotes a whole syllable that includes both vowels and consonants.
• Katakana is also a syllabic letter, but it is used exclusively for recording onomatopoeic and foreign words.
• Kanji, the third alphabet, consists of hieroglyphs, which Japanese borrowed from China.

By the way, hiragana and katakana are a phonetic letter designating sounds. Kanzdi is considered an ideographic way of writing, and each of his symbols has its own meaning. It has several thousand hieroglyphs, of which only two thousand are widely used. In addition, it should be noted that in kanji, the sounds of katakana and hiragana are widely used.

The role of the Latin language in the formation of Japanese

The fourth Japanese alphabet is Latin, which in Japan is called "romaji". This fact can not but surprise those who asked themselves how to learn Japanese from scratch. It would seem, well, what relation can the Latin alphabet to the complex hieroglyphs of the Land of the Rising Sun have?

Nevertheless, in the modern eastern state it is widely used to record acronyms, names of various brands, brands, companies and so on.

Note that people who have started to learn the Japanese language in order to get used to reprimanding local symbols quickly, it is often Romaji, although local residents in Japan do not do that. Why? The fact is that, among other things, the Japanese language consists of many characters that are difficult to pronounce and can not be written in Latin, so it's best to go straight to learning hieroglyphs. This approach is considered more literate from a linguistic point of view.

How to learn Japanese by yourself. We work out the correct pronunciation

As we have already noted above, there are 46 basic sounds in the Japanese language, which are represented either by one of the five vowels or by a combination of a vowel and a consonant. An exception is a single sound, which consists only of a consonant.

From the phonetic point of view, even before learning Japanese independently, it is worth paying attention to the fact that vowel sounds here do not succumb to inflexion and are not pronounced in different ways.

Proceed to the pronunciation of sounds can be from reading and studying the symbols of katakana and hiragana. However, first you need to focus your attention on the intonations of the pronunciation of different sounds.

By the way, we note that in the Japanese language the meaning of the word can change completely if the stress is incorrectly delivered. And the same word with only a long vowel often has a very different meaning than with a short vowel.

Learn the simplest variations of Japanese sounds

Sometimes when writing to Japanese characters, they draw small icons that indicate another pronunciation of the given sound and completely change the meaning of the word.

It is worth noting that there are some rules for pronunciation of Japanese sounds: voiced consonants must be pronounced in an intervocal position with a firm attack, and long vowel sounds that are pronounced with a long stretch of sound indicate a difference in words.

Grammar: difficult, but possible

Many are interested in how quickly to learn the Japanese language without studying grammar. We answer: no way! The whole point is that we want it or not, but the main rules still have to pay attention, since only the knowledge of the structure of a particular adverb will help to learn how to formulate proposals correctly.

You do not want to talk like a robot, uttering separate phrases taken out of context, right? In general, the Japanese language is very flexible and simple, despite all its complexities, and to add words from the words whole sentences will not be difficult even for the beginner.

By the way, not everyone knows that in the Japanese sentence there may well not be a subject, since it is not necessary at all. But at the very end of the sentence there must always be a verb that fulfills the role of the predicate.

Nouns have no gender, and for most of them there is no category of plural. As a consequence, Japanese verbs also have neither gender nor number.

An important feature is the fact that the word in the sentence should always be put particles that belong to this lexical unit and point to the object, subject and so on.

Personal pronouns, unlike the Russian language, are applied only when it requires courtesy or compliance with a certain formality.

Mentor or language school. Advantages and disadvantages

How to learn Japanese from scratch? With what, in fact, start? According to experts, first of all you need to find records of Japanese audio lessons. They are really huge, so every student will be able to pick something up for their own taste.

After the basics of the Japanese language are learned, you can move on to more complex exercises. If the need for learning the Japanese language has arisen only for the sake of pleasure, language learning can be limited to the study of a specialized CD-ROM. He will give an opportunity to learn the most common sounds, phrases.

The second way of mastering the Japanese language - writing for courses in a language school or online lessons. It will suit those people who are going to live or work in Japan, since it will provide a unique opportunity to learn how to read and write. Under the guidance of a mentor, mastering even such a complex language will be faster and more correct.

The most important aspect in the study of any language is the knowledge of the alphabet, so you should learn it as quickly as possible. Katakana and hiragana, if desired, can be easily mastered in a couple of weeks. For writing this is enough, with their help you can write down almost everything.

The kanji characters can be studied for several years, but those who want to learn the language perfectly will not regret the time spent. It is better to learn the words and phrases will help didactic cards. To study kanji, there are special cards on which the order of writing a hieroglyph and examples of compound words are indicated.

How to immerse yourself in the language at home

In order to recreate a small Japanese world at home, it is necessary to find a group of like-minded people who are also studying the Japanese language. Participation in certain communities will help you get used to the speech, after a certain time you will be able to distinguish individual Japanese words without any special difficulties, and this will generally improve the understanding of the Japanese language.

It is also necessary to get acquaintances from Japan, with whom one could regularly engage in language, call up and talk at least half an hour a day only in Japanese.

Professional linguists recommend daily reading Japanese newspapers, magazines, novels, watching movies and programs. In the publicly available sources of this material, as a rule, abound. Thanks to the newspapers, grammar, construction and actual words will improve, and novels will be introduced to the artistic style.

Tips for beginners

Any language, if you do not constantly engage in it, is very quickly forgotten, so study must be given at least half an hour daily. This is a complex language, so even the Japanese themselves, living some time outside of Japan, begin to forget kanji.

By the way, it is also not worthwhile, having arrived in Japan, to harass conversations in an informal atmosphere of others, as a poorly speaking foreigner may not be able to answer there. These are the peculiarities of local culture.

It is best to learn to speak with living people, because words from anime and manga in everyday life will not be useful.

When learning a language, it would be nice to observe how the Japanese behave in this or that situation and the same age category and gender as the student. It is necessary to learn to take into account the context and local color.

While studying the question of how fast it is to learn the Japanese language on its own, one should also not place high hopes on gadgets and electronic dictionaries, since there is no point in buying them for someone who does not know even 300-500 characters.