So, You Want To Study Japanese
Anime is a great cultural item that has made learning Japanese particularly inviting to many English speakers. It is also a big reason that many people in all parts of the world want to learn Japanese.
However, there are other reasons, too, for wanting to learn Japanese. Some people are interested in Japanese because Japan is the second largest economy and it would help them greatly in their business efforts. Some people are impressed by Japan’s deep cultural traditions.
Japanese is a language like any other foreign language in its approach but we also must remember a few things if we want to be successful in learning it.
Japanese is more difficult to learn than a European language because Japanese uses kanji which are characters far different from the letters that make up our alphabet.
European languages, especially the romance languages, are a lot easier for English speakers to learn because they share many grammatical similarities and the vocabulary is often similar due to Latin influences. So, it is very easy to pick up vocabulary in these languages because the words are so similar to the English words already.
This does not mean that learning Japanese is impossible, but rather that it is a bit more difficult to learn.
You need to have a strong reason for wanting to learn Japanese if you are going to become proficient in it.
My best advice to you is to make sure that your reason for learning the foreign language, in this case, Japanese, is a strong one.
Whether you want to have a better glimpse of the Japanese culture and traditions or whether you want to have a better understanding of your favorite anime series, make sure that the desire is strong in your heart for learning Japanese.
Whatever the case may be, remember to keep this reason foremost in your mind and that will help bring the spark to keep you going in the long process which master a foreign language like Japanese entails. Good luck and I hope that you continue to make progress in learning Japanese.
Author Robertson Kunz has a language learning guide: learn a foreign language fast. Japanese learners: learn proficient Japanese.