Question 1

What Is the History of the Japanese Language?

Accepted Answer

Japanese is part of the Altaic languages (including Turkish, Tungusic, Mongolian, and Korean) spoken in the early Transcaspian steppe country over four to five thousand years ago.

Early Japanese continued to evolve into its current form until over a thousand years ago, when the Japanese people started recording their language through poetry and other writings.

Therefore, Japanese’s importance is beneficial regardless of whether you do it for fun, your career, or even just for personal travel.

Several reasons exist for how the importance of the Japanese language is in the grand scheme of things.

One reason is that knowing Japanese brings various business opportunities worldwide and is a gateway to learning and understanding other Asian languages and cultures.

Japanese presence and culture are growing all over the world as well online. Japanese is also one of the most extensive in its use of politeness and honour as well as any other form of expression.

Question 2

What Should You Know About the Japanese Language?

Accepted Answer

One, it’s not as hard as you think! Two, being an able communicator in Japanese means that you can read a host of non-verbal cues, and you will quickly understand how language is not always spoken or written.

Awareness of self and others is a vital part of communication in Japan. Competency in a language such as Japanese means you have the skills to travel the globe. Speaking and understanding the oral components are just one small part of a dialogue.

Question 3

What Are the Japanese Alphabet?

Accepted Answer

The best way to learn Japanese is to start with the basics: learning the alphabet. There are three basic writing systems you need to learn to be able to read Japanese: Hiragana, Katakana, and Kanji.

Hiragana

The ability to read Hiragana is crucial for all beginners. Hiragana is primarily used for native Japanese words and consists of 46 characters or 51 phonetic characters.

It’s the key to understanding how and why Japanese words sound the way they do. Because most of the characters have only one pronunciation, Hiragana is quite easy to learn. No doubt, once you learn Hiragana, you’ll create a firm foundation needed for a native-sounding accent.

Katakana

Сompared to Hiragana, Katakana is used for non-Japanese or loanwords: a word adopted from a foreign language. These include technical and scientific terms, as well as the names of some plants and animals. Katakana can give you more trouble than Hiragana as it won’t be used frequently, especially at the beginning of your language learning journey. As your level increases, Katakana will appear more regularly. However, just being able to read Katakana is enough for a beginner.

Kanji

Many learners believe that learning Kanji is the most challenging part of the process. On the other hand, it’s one of the most critical aspects of learning Japanese. Knowing very basic Kanji will enable you to understand, speak and write simple Japanese. Kanji consists of thousands of Chinese symbols that represent entire words, ideas or phrases.

Kanji comes with many complexities, as English meanings can’t always be directly translated from Japanese words. That’s why there can be many correct English meanings for a single Kanji word. We never said learning Japanese would be easy, but learning Kanji will give you a huge amount of ways to express yourself.

Question 4

How Do You Learn Japanese Grammar?

Accepted Answer

If you want to master it perfectly, you have to forget everything you know about English grammar as they differ dramatically.

For example, unlike many romance languages, Japanese has only two tenses: past and non-past (present and future). However, there are two forms: polite and plain. The last one is used for casual speech.

We recommend that you start to learn Japanese grammar with the help of textbooks.

It’s also important to mention that the Japanese have an entirely different writing system: from right to left, from top to bottom. In these textbooks, you’ll find a lot of practical lessons that will help you get a sense of Japanese writing.

Question 5

Do You Need a Tutor to Learn Japanese?

Accepted Answer

Whatever steps you take to enhance your Japanese skills, one thing is certain: nothing beats speaking the language from day one if you want to see rapid improvement!

Your tutor will be your language learning sensei—guiding you through the process, pointing out your mistakes, and developing a customized plan based on your level.

There are so many tutors to choose from. All you need to do is use our search filters to find the perfect tutor for your goals, schedule and budget.

Just a few sessions will make a huge difference to your confidence and will help you reach your Japanese learning goals faster than a typical learning app ever could!

Japanese Tutors Melbourne