7 Tips for Effective Japanese Learning for Beginners

Providing foreign language skills is valuable capital for obtaining a bright career in the future. Moreover, if you master a popular language like Japanese. The good news is, there is a method for learning Japanese for beginners that you can practice yourself at home.

Mastering Japanese by self-taught is not impossible. Moreover, currently there are many supporting facilities that you can use. Through this way of learning, you don't need to spend a lot of money to upgrade your abilities 7 Tips for Effective Japanese Learning for Beginners . 

7 Tips for Learning Japanese for Beginners

So, are you curious about methods for learning Japanese that you can practice at home? The following are 7 tips that you need to pay attention to: 

1. Understand the Japanese letter system

Different from Indonesian, Japanese has 3 letter systems. You also need to understand all three. The main reason is because the use of the three script systems is interrelated. In fact, it is possible that Japanese people use different letter systems at the same time.  

• Kanji . Kanji letters are the oldest type of script in the Japanese letter system. Kanji is a script system that is the result of the adoption of the Hanzi script from China. It's just that kanji letters have a simpler form than Hanzi. 
• Hiragana. Different from kanji, hiragana is the original Japanese letter system. Initially, hiragana was only used by women. However, over time, its use has expanded and since the early 10th century, hiragana has been used by people from various circles. 

The emergence of hiragana letters occurred because of the difficulty of Japanese people in reading kanji letters. Hiragana has a dynamic form and is commonly used to write native Japanese words. In the Japanese letter system, there are 46 hiragana letters. 

• Katakana. The katakana letter system is a system that functions as a complement. Its existence again occurs because many Japanese people have difficulty understanding kanji. In its development, katakana was used by Japanese people to write loan words. 

The existence of these 3 letter systems makes Japanese language have a high level of difficulty. However, you will have your own pride when you succeed in mastering it.  

2. Build your Japanese vocabulary little by little

Once you know the letter system in Japanese, you need to build your vocabulary little by little. As a first step, you can learn vocabulary that is often spoken in everyday life, including: 

• School: nope
• Elementary school: shougakkou 
• Middle School: Chuugakkou
• University: daigaku
• President : daitouryou
• Family: kazoku
• Siblings: kyoudai
• Beef: gyuuniku
• Chicken: Toriniku
• Eggs: tamago

3. Understand Japanese Pronunciation

Not only vocabulary, you need to know that the pronunciation of words in Japanese is different from other languages. Some pointers that you can pay attention to regarding Japanese pronunciation rules include: 

• Long and short sounds. There are vowel sounds that are read long and short. The two ways of pronunciation give rise to different meanings of the word. For example, obasan (aunt) and obaasan (grandmother). 
• The consonant sound N. The letter N in Japanese can be read as [m], [ng], or still read as [n] by paying attention to the consonant that follows it. For example, sanpo is pronounced shampoo, sanmai is pronounced sammai, and so on. 
• How to pronounce sounds with similar consonants
• And so forth

To help you understand how to pronounce it, there is a smartphone application that you can use. The application is Learn Japanese Phrases which is available for the Android and iOS platforms.

4. Watching Anime is a fun way to learn Japanese, you know!

To help you master Japanese vocabulary and pronunciation, there is a fun, interesting and enjoyable learning method. You can use your free time to learn Japanese for beginners by watching anime. 

There are many choices of anime that you can watch. Some anime recommendations include: 

• One Piece
• Kimi No Na Wa
• Pokémon
• Azumanga Daioh
• Naruto

When watching anime, try not to read subtitles . That way, you have the opportunity to understand the pronunciation and vocabulary spoken by the characters in the anime.

Also Read: 7 Ways to Learn English Effectively for Beginners

5. Learn Basic Japanese Particles

The next method that you need to follow in the process of learning Japanese for beginners is basic particles. Japanese has rules called particles. Its use is to connect words so that they become one unit in a sentence. Its function is similar to prepositions in Indonesian. 

You need to use particles when you want to indicate place, time, direction, and such. There are a total of 188 particles in Japanese. To be able to master Japanese, you need to know all these particles. However, if you are still at the beginner stage, you need to prioritize mastering basic particles such as: 

• は (wa) . This particle functions as an indicator of the subject or topic in a sentence. Apart from that, you can also use it when comparing two things that are opposite to each other. 
• も (mo). The function of the mo particle is similar to the word also in Indonesian. 
• か (ka) . You need to add the ka particle when saying the question sentence. Its function is similar to the word 'what?' or 'huh?' in Indonesian.
• が (ga) . Particles are useful for emphasizing the subject word in a sentence. Apart from that, you can also use the particle not like the word but. 
• を (o) . There is also the o particle whose function is to connect objects with verbs. 

6. Japanese Language Structure

Sentences in Japanese have various different structures. You need to understand it to be fluent in pronouncing Japanese words. Examples of these structures include: 

• Verb sentence . You can say this sentence with the following structure: 

Element + Particle + Predicate (Verb) + masu. Elements can be subjects, objects, information, or topics. Meanwhile, masu is an additional word. An example of its use is 私は本を読みます。 (Watashi wa hon o yomimasu) which means, I read a book. 

• Adjective sentences . The use of this sentence structure is to show the condition of the subject. The writing structure is as follows: element (noun) + wa + predicate (adjective) + desu. Example of usage, これ は おいしーい です (kore wa oishi ̄ idesu) which means it's delicious. 

7. Learn about the Basics of Expressions and Greetings

Lastly, you need to understand sentences that are often used every day and their pronunciation. These sentences include: 

• Haijimemashite: Nice to meet you
• Watashi no namae wa Joko desu : My name is Joko
• Douzo yoroshiku onegaishimasu : I'm glad to meet you
• Konnichiwa : Good afternoon
• Konbanwa : Good afternoon
• Oyasumi or Oyasumi nasai: Good night
• Sayonara : Goodbye
• Atodene : See you later
• Arigato gozaimasu : Thank you very much

These are tips that you can practice to learn Japanese. As a complement, you can also take advantage of the opportunity to learn Japanese yourself by taking advantage of online courses at 4dlotto. Through this course, you can learn Japanese for beginners fluently and understand it properly.