Thread: How hard is it to learn Japanese

Originally Posted by sasukesgirl

ok well i gotta say.... for me japanese isnt that tough......idk why though?

I'm guessing it's because you don't actually speak it :P

Seriously people. Taking one year of Japanese in high school is not a terribly good indicator of how easy it is to master an entire language. Like ANYTHING, it gets much harder as you progress. You begin learning math with basic addition. Basic addition is pretty easy. It doesn't necesarily follow that calculus is a snap... or that your ability to read "The Very Hungry Catterpillar" qualifies you to be writing a college-level thesis.

Your first year of Japanese will likely entail learning 50 kanji.

You need to learn 2,000 to be considered functional in daily life.

At that rate, you will either need to devote 40 years to studying at the same rate as your first year... or you'll need to start memorizing things a heck of a lot quicker.

50 kanji a year? Isn't that extremely low?
Here you do 300 the first year alone. Not including passive kanji knowledge. (Only knowing the meaning/being able to read them.)

I don't recommend moving along at that pace to anyone.

Originally Posted by Hassun

50 kanji a year? Isn't that extremely low?
Here you do 300 the first year alone. Not including passive kanji knowledge. (Only knowing the meaning/being able to read them.)

I don't recommend moving along at that pace to anyone.

Level 4 of the JLPT requires 50 kanji (what you would get from completing a basic course in Japanese).
Japanese 101 on the college level (half a year) tends to include katakana, hiragana and 50 kanji. (102 usually has from 100 - 150)
On the high school level, students tend to learn 50 kanji in their first year (moving half as quickly as the usual college level)

I'm not recommending that pace either... I'm just pointing out that 50 kanji and a few basic grammatical forms doesn't make you anywhere near fluent... and since most beginners spend an entire 6months-a year learning them, you may get a false sense of security from a beginning Japanese class.

The pace doubles nearly every year you study formally (every semester if you're in university)... and when you run out of formal "classes", you find that "pace" is no longer even an issue. Japanese needs to become a constant active presence in your life.

Originally Posted by tsurara

Level 4 of the JLPT requires 50 kanji (what you would get from completing a basic course in Japanese).
Japanese 101 on the college level (half a year) tends to include katakana, hiragana and 50 kanji. (102 usually has from 100 - 150)
On the high school level, students tend to learn 50 kanji in their first year (moving half as quickly as the usual college level)

I'm not recommending that pace either... I'm just pointing out that 50 kanji and a few basic grammatical forms doesn't make you anywhere near fluent... and since most beginners spend an entire 6 months-a year learning them, you may get a false sense of security from a beginning Japanese class.

The pace doubles nearly every year you study formally (every semester if you're in university)... and when you run out of formal "classes", you find that "pace" is no longer even an issue. Japanese needs to become a constant active presence in your life.

Ah, interesting.
So how do regular Japanese students learn their language? E.g. The students you teach.

Originally Posted by Hassun

Ah, interesting.
So how do regular Japanese students learn their language? E.g. The students you teach.

preschool: some hiragana, katakana
1st grade: hiragana/katakana, 80 kanji, handwriting, vocabulary, basic reading
2nd grade: 160 kanji, reading, recitation, handwriting
3rd grade: 200 kanji, reading, recitation, handwriting, simple poetry composition
4rth grade: 200 kanji, reading, recitation, handwriting, composition
5th grade: 185 kanji, reading, recitation, handwriting, composition
6th grade: 181 kanji, reading, recitation, handwriting, composition

7th-12th grade (junior high): about 200 each year, composition, recitation, literature

After 7 years of university, self-study, studying and living abroad: I have a 5th or 6th grade reading level unaided (ie. without a dictionary). That's kind of lame... but seeing as I wasn't raised in the culture, it's probably a more significant accomplishment than it sounds.

Originally Posted by tsurara

Chinese pronunciation, on the other hand, is impossible. I gave up Chinese after four weeks because I couldn't wrap my tongue around it. Never could hear the difference in pitch either ~_~;

if u think chinese is bad, try listening/learning Thai!

anyway all i got to say about learning japanese or any other language, and has been repeatedly said in this thread is; if ur not goin to be using it a lot in the area u live in and use it regularly, then don't bother.

true it's great to learn a new language but if ur not goin to be using it after u learn it, it's just pointless cause u will forget nearly all of it in no time at all.

i know, even though i learned some of the basics of the basics of japanese (and learned it well i did) for 3 years in primary and high school (when i was 11-14yrs old) because it was compulsory cause of some sister school in japan. about 1 or 2 yrs after, of learning just the basics, i forgot most of it, which is the same for anything u learn and don't use. also don't be fooled that watching anime will help u remember what u learned or help u learn it, cause it wont. well it hasn't jolted my memory at all.

Originally Posted by dude101

anyway all i got to say about learning japanese or any other language, and has been repeatedly said in this thread is; if ur not goin to be using it a lot in the area u live in and use it regularly, then don't bother.

So I shouldn't learn Japanese because I'm not sure if I'll be living in Japan later on or getting a job which needs knowledge of Japanese?

I disagree.