Q&A for How to Read and Write Japanese Fast

The Google Translate app allows you to take photos of an item, and will translate it to your desired language.

You need to know general stroke order in order to get a head start on learning kanji. Once you have that down, you can look up online guides, or you can search for ''"kyoiku kanji"'', which is the order of kanji taught to Japanese children and language-learners.

Hiragana is used most often, and is often used in combination with kanji. Katakana is used only for imported words, such as names or things that don't really have an official Japanese term (e.g., the word "cake", which is written as ケーキ).

Typically, right-to-left writing is used for when you're writing vertically instead of horizontally. If you're writing horizontally, stick with left-to-right, as otherwise your words will most likely be read backwards.

There is no universal trick for all characters; however, if you can attach a picture or meaning to the characters then they become easier to remember. Use simple words with one or two characters at most.

No, it is actually one of the hardest languages to learn. Don't let that stop you from learning the language, though!

Learning any language in any form will be time consuming, but it can be much easier if you take a class. Having an instructor to help you can be very beneficial, so yes, I would recommend enrolling in a local Japanese course.

All you have to do is to be dedicated, focus, and remember that practice makes perfect.

For numbers, make a long set of digits such as pi into your iPhone password. Then whenever you feel you have the relevant number down, add a few new ones and learn those ones. If more than one number, make it computer password too, or other passwords. For sounds, you can relate the sound to a picture, as pictures are easy to remember.

Memorize and practice them, read and write them often. A good way to memorize them easily is to associate each character with a word or picture that will help you memorize the sound of that character.

Before World War II, Japanese was written the traditional way, the same as Chinese. This is writing top to bottom, then starting the new sentence to left of that. This traditional way is still used sometimes in manga, newspapers, etc. Calligraphy is a fine or traditional art, so it is written in this "traditional" way.

You can use hiragana and katakana in the same sentence, but you can't switch between the two mid-word (for example, you can't write "aru" as あル). Additionally, since hiragana is typically for Japanese words and katakana is usually for imported words, you may end up confusing someone if you write the word in the wrong alphabet.

Duolingo is free and easy to use. You can learn other languages on it, too.

Both have about the same amount of difficulty to learn. However, Katakana is simpler than Hiragana to draw by hand. If you are trying to become fluent, try learning both.

Doing Japanese for about 2-4 hours will probably do. The more you practice, the more your memory will stick. But it depends on your learning style, you can probably do half an hour or so and still advance.

They're called the dakuten, and they make a sound voiced. For example, "Ka" (か) turns into "Ga" (が). There are some exceptions though, like "Shi" (シ) turns into "Ji" (ジ), "Chi" (チ) also turns into "Ji" (ヂ), "Tsu" (ツ) turns into "Zu" (ヅ), and "U" (ウ) turns into "Vu" (ヴ).

Duolingo. You can learn the letters, kanji and words. It is an easy app to use!