How to Learn Japanese

Your way to Japanese: How to Learn Japanese

10 months ago I started to learn Japanese. Since I couldn't afford a school, I started looking in the web for good places that teach you Japanese for free. I found some interesting videos on youtube and some web sites that try to teach you some easy things about Japanese.

Most of the websites I visited did not have a lot of information that could possibly help me. After spending a lot of time learning some concepts and trying to forget some concepts because they were misleading, I found some pages that actually help you learn Japanese.

First of all, you have to know that when you learn Japanese you have to focus on 3 things :

• vocabulary
• grammar
• hiragana/katakana/kanji

I first started with some basic vocabulary and grammar. This helps you understand how the language works. Japanese is quite different from other languages in the way that it is simpler grammatically than you might think but the grammar is completely different from what you have seen in other languages like spanish, german, french, italian etc.

Here you can learn the basics of Japanese : 

•  http://www.guidetojapanese.org/learn/grammar

Once you have a basic understanding of how Japanese works you should move on to learn hiragana (ひらがな) and katakana (カタカナ). Both of these syllabaries are the basics of the Japanese writing system. They are also known as kana. You should avoid romaji except for the beginning of your Japanese classes. 

for hiragana (ひらがな) :

• http://www.guidetojapanese.org/learn/grammar/hiragana
• http://learnjapanesepod.com/kana-invaders/

for katakana (カタカナ) :

• http://www.guidetojapanese.org/learn/grammar/katakana
• http://learnjapanesepod.com/kana-invaders/

Learning hiragana (ひらがな) and katakana (カタカナ) will take you between 1 week to 1 month.

Once you know how to read and write hiragana (ひらがな) and katakana (カタカナ) you can start reading children book. 

If you search the web, you will find sites that offer a pdf version of hiragana books. 

With this you will have a basic understanding of Japanese grammar and the writing system. You also will be able to read some simple books. 

Reasonably, you can finish all these lessons in less than 2 months.

※ Important to note : You have to understand the concepts and writing systems not just memorize them. 

For those of you looking for an inexpensive program that teaches you japanese like rosetta stone or pimsleur I can recommend Human Japanese for $20.

• Human Japanese Beginner
• Human Japanese Intermediate
• Human Japanese Combo Pack (best option)
• Human Japanese for Mac

Human Japanese teaches you from beginner to intermediate. They have another program for intermediates to more advanced Japanese. The teaching method is very good.