Q&A for How to Learn Japanese

It's best to learn hiragana and katakana around the same time, before learning kanji. The decision on whether to focus on speaking or writing depends on how you'll be using Japanese, but practice both at the same time if you're trying to become fluent.

A lot of English words can't be easily translated into Japanese. If you start learning Japanese you will understand this. I don't recommend using Google Translate.

The best order is Hiragana, Katakana, and Kanji. Hiragana and Katakana are essential because when you're learning Kanji, you may encounter great sources that only have readings in Hiragana and Katakana (certain media have furigana, which is subtitled Kanji reading in Hiragana, over Kanji). Hiragana and Katakana can take as short as a day or two each while the 2000 Kanji required can take three months if done correctly.

Katakana is only used for a small percentage of words, so you would not be able to write most Japanese words if you only learned katakana.

Japanese is one of the hardest languages to tackle for native English speakers. It will take years to learn, and more to master, but if you are committed, you can do anything.

Write in it frequently, and read it frequently. It's even fun to try to write English words in another alphabet, so consider trying that. Associate their shapes or sounds to something, review often, and you'll never have time to forget!

Try speaking to yourself, and you can hear how your Japanese sounds. You could actually go to Japan, and try to survive!

Try HelloTalk, or you can listen to music or watch anime to get the pronunciation right. Or, search on online learning websites for a pen-pal, a language buddy or someone to talk with on Skype.

This means, "You're welcome."

Unfortunately, there is no "breakthrough method" of learning kanji. You just have to do it. Try websites like "memrise" or software like "anki" those are great websites for learning only if you put in around 30-60 minutes a day.

Learn the grammar, because even if your writing is filled with hiragana, it's still fine. People can still read. But for example, in English, you say I love you, but in Japanese you say, ANATA WO AI SHITEMASU [A-na-ta-wo ai shi-te-ma-soo] Which is basically saying, You I love, so it's really different. Thus, having a good grounding in grammar makes a big difference.

There are over 2000 existing kanji letters, so it's kind of impossible to learn them in 3 months. Students learn about 200 kanji every year, so it's unrealistic to expect it to happen in 3 months unless you do nothing else and have an amazing ability.

That's not true. If you know enough kanji, and get meanings of basic words, then anyone can read them. I'm 12 and I can read newspapers.

Historically, は had been pronounced as "pa" in Old Japanese. It became glottal fricative "ha" in modern Japanese: "pa" > "wha" > "ha." However, only this word, the topic particle, is an exception of its phonological evolution: from "pa" > "wha" > "wa."

School should always come first of course, but that doesn't mean you have to give up Japanese! Simply use good time management skills, and stay on top of your school work. In your free time, you can study Japanese to your heart's content.

Check your local community colleges, universities, or language schools. You can also hire a tutor, but that would be expensive.

Try watching J-dramas or anime with Japanese subtitles, so you can associate the spoken language with the appropriate hiragana/kanji.

It's hard for any native English speaker to learn Japanese, but you can do it with hard work and persistence.

Yes, if you write horizontally. If you write vertically, start from right to left, top to bottom. The exception is when you write a sign using Kanji or Chinese characters; for example, the name sign of a place, at the gate, you can write from right to left or left to right. Right-to-left is more common than in ancient times.

Yes! I have found Vocaloid videos to be very helpful since they include the Japanese written lyrics and English subtitles. A fun way to add to its benefits is to try translating one of your favorite Miku songs into English yourself. If you get stuck, you can always look up the meaning of the word you don't know!

Any way that you can immerse yourself in the language helps! Another idea is to buy some Japanese manga to help you learn to read Japanese and expand your vocabulary.

Research on Google. You don't have to fly to a country to learn the language.

No, because Japanese pronounce Kanji in different way from Chinese. Each Kanji has its alternative, multiple pronunciations depending on the context.

Only if you learn Japanese because you wish you were Japanese, and/or because of anime/manga.

Yes. は is the character used for particle markers. But it is pronounced as 'wa' instead of the usual 'ha'. So, for example, in the sentence 'watashi wa gaijin desu', the 'ha' character is used for 'wa':私は 外人です。

Memrise and Nihongo master are good places and are free unless you get the premium membership.

Busuu.com is a good resource. It's an online site where you can learn multiple languages.

Yes. There are many. Search online or in your app store for Japanese language apps, and you should find several.

You can pick up a few words through anime and other forms of Japanese media, but it's much better to study and learn new vocabulary from classes and other means. In any form of Japanese media, characters may use slang, regional dialects, or just speak too casually (since Japanese words change depending on how polite you're being). You also don't learn any of the writing systems through anime, which may or may not be important to you. You can definitely use anime while learning Japanese, but it's better to use it as supplementary material, and not your main source of information.

When writing characters you have to observe certain rules, like from top to bottom and left to right.