Japanese Ease 1 - The Basics

When asked to name the most difficult languages to learn, most people would rank Japanese pretty high on that list. On the surface it seems to be an intimidating language, what with its strange kanji characters, quick mode of speech, and varying levels of “politeness.” What a lot of people don’t realize is that basic Japanese is actually relatively easy, and for at least three reasons...

First, Japanese pronunciation is actually very straightforward.

Second, Japanese has fewer synonyms than most languages – this means fewer core words to learn.

Third, politeness and how the language changes is really only an issue for someone who either wants to be entirely fluent, or must do business with the Japanese in their native language (a rare occurance).

Let’s start with the first point.

Many people struggle at first to pronounce Japanese words such as onegai shimasu, not realizing that some very firm rules govern how each letter is pronounced. Unlike English, the pronunciation of each sound does not vary word from word (one of the many reasons people struggle to speak English properly). You can even make a good parallel between the varying spellings of English words and Chinese characters. Both tend to be arbitrary, and require repeated memorization. Even Chinese characters follow a sort of regular alphabet, merging individual pictures to create a larger and more complicated character. Japanese borrows its entire kanji system from Chinese characters, though many of the meanings have changed. Some Japanese students told me, however, that Japanese and Chinese people can communicate on a basic level with each other by writing out kanji.

The limited vocabulary of Japanese may be surprising to some. Like clockwork, on a cold day you can count on the Japanese to moan "samui" and when they see something adorable to squeal "kawaii!" While there are different ways to express these ideas, the Japanese don’t fear repetition in their language or feel the need to constantly use new words to express the same ideas. Some situations and ideas will have a wide variation of language, but this is partly due of the gradual evolution of the language and local dialects. Don’t worry too much about dialects, though. Standard Japanese, the type spoken in Tokyo, is understood by all.

Now to politeness. Most travel books will have you speaking in extremely polite Japanese, erring on the side of caution to keep you from offending people. In reality, it is actually quite difficult to offend the Japanese simply through the level of language you use. More good news is that changing Japanese words from plain to polite is actually quite easy (most of the time), and being able to do so will help you be understood. One key point is that the Japanese are not accustomed to hearing their language butchered by foreigners, and therefore have a poor ability to decipher accents. Therefore, keeping it simple and sticking to the basics will help you immensely.

Don’t be intimidated by Japanese. Its basic concepts are very user-friendly and once you wrap your head around the word order, it’s a breeze. The pronunciation is very simple, and follows equally simple rules. This allows you to read a word and know its pronunciation exactly, without having to hear it yourself. This means that you can go quite far simply through written study, and transition well into speaking the language in real life.