How to Learn Japanese from Scratch
Japanese is an interesting and practical language, and one of the most popular foreign languages in the world. Learning Japanese can help you access Japanese culture, history and society, and also create new opportunities for your career and personal development. But how to learn Japanese from scratch? This article will provide you with some professional guidance, help you establish an effective learning plan, and master the basic knowledge and skills of Japanese.
Learn the Japanese writing system
Japanese has three different types of characters: hiragana, katakana and kanji. Hiragana and katakana are phonetic characters, each symbol represents a syllable. Hiragana and katakana have the same pronunciation, but different shapes. Hiragana is mainly used to express Japanese words and grammatical elements, katakana is mainly used to express foreign words and onomatopoeia. Kanji are ideographic characters introduced from China, each symbol represents a meaning and one or more readings. Kanji is mainly used to express the stems of nouns, verbs and adjectives. Japanese is written from left to right, from top to bottom, and without spaces. Here is an example of a Japanese sentence that contains three types of characters:
私は日本語を勉強しています。
This sentence means "I am learning Japanese”. Among them, "私” is a kanji, meaning "I”, and can also be read as "わたし”. "は” is a hiragana, indicating the topic marker, and can also be read as "は”. "日本語” is a word composed of three kanji, meaning "Japanese”, and can also be read as "にほんご”. "を” is a hiragana, indicating the object marker, and can also be read as "を”. "勉強” is a word composed of two kanji, meaning "study”, and can also be read as "べんきょう”. "しています” is a word composed of four hiragana, meaning "in progress”, and can also be read as "しています”.
Learning the Japanese writing system is an important first step, because it can help you read and write Japanese, and also help you memorize and understand Japanese words and grammar. You can use the following methods to learn the Japanese writing system:
Learn the pronunciation and shape of "hiragana" and "katakana"
You can use some online tools and applications to practice dictation and writing, such as [Hiragana Learning] and [Katakana Learning]. You can also use some flashcards and games to enhance memory, such as [Hiragana Flashcards] and [Katakana Flashcards]. Your goal is to be able to quickly and accurately identify and write hiragana and katakana, and be able to combine them into syllables and words.
Learn the meaning and reading of kanji. You can use some online tools and applications to learn and test kanji, such as [Kanji Learning] and [Kanji Quiz]. You can also use some flashcards and games to enhance memory, such as [Kanji Flashcards] and [Kanji Games]. Your goal is to be able to identify and write common kanji, and be able to judge their readings according to the context and syllables.
Learn the Japanese phonetic system
The Japanese phonetic system is relatively simple, because it only has five vowels and fifteen consonants, and the pronunciation of each syllable is fixed. Japanese syllables can be divided into single syllables and double syllables. Single syllables are composed of a vowel or a consonant plus a vowel, such as "あ”, "か”, "さ” and so on. Double syllables are composed of a consonant plus a vowel plus a consonant, such as "きゃ”, "しゃ”, "ちゃ” and so on. Japanese syllables can have four different tones, namely high tone, low tone, flat tone and falling tone. Tone refers to the pitch change of the syllable, which can affect the meaning and tone of the word. Here are some examples of tones:
High tone: The pitch of the syllable rises from low to high, such as "はし” (chopsticks).
Low tone: The pitch of the syllable drops from high to low, such as "はし” (bridge).
Flat tone: The pitch of the syllable remains unchanged, such as "はし” (run).
Falling tone: The pitch of the syllable rises and then drops, such as "はし” (edge).
Learning the Japanese phonetic system is an important second step, because it can help you understand and pronounce Japanese, and also help you distinguish and express the meaning and tone of Japanese. You can use the following methods to learn the Japanese phonetic system:
Learn the Japanese syllable table
You can use some online tools and applications to learn and practice the Japanese syllable table, such as [Syllable Table Learning] and [Syllable Table Practice]. Your goal is to be familiar with and remember the Japanese syllable table, and be able to spell and write Japanese words according to the syllable table.
Learn the Japanese tone rules
You can use some online tools and applications to learn and practice the Japanese tone rules, such as [Tone Rules Learning] and [Tone Rules Practice]. Your goal is to understand and apply the Japanese tone rules, and be able to identify and produce the correct tone for each syllable and word.
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