Learning any new language comes with a lot of boundaries and difficulty, but it can also be an incredible experience that will stretch your mind and understanding of other cultures to a new level.
Japanese is one of those languages that a lot of people want to learn for one reason or another.
Whether you’ve been watching a lot of anime and feel inspired to learn, or maybe you need to learn out of necessity because you’re moving to Japan, there are a lot of reasons why you might want to tackle this dynamic, complex language.
Whatever the reason, before starting your journey into learning Japanese, you may be wondering if it’s worth it!
Answering this question can be difficult because it depends on why you want to learn and how much time and effort you’re willing to put in.
In this article, we’re going to be breaking down everything to do with learning Japanese, including the main reasons why you’d want to learn it, and some of the common difficulties Japanese learners face.
Positives Of Learning Japanese
In this section, we’re going to be breaking down some of the positives of learning Japanese, including some details that make it great to learn.
Complexity
Japan is a complex language. With 4 different alphabets (if you include Romanji), there is always something you can be working on to improve your writing and speaking skills.
Beauty
Many people find Japanese a strikingly beautiful language both in written form and when spoken.
Living In Japan
Japan is a mostly homogeneous society and although English fluency is rising, there is still a majority of the population that does not speak it.
If you’re looking to move to Japan to work or live, you’re going to need to have at least a basic understanding of Japanese to get by. You may also want to learn Japanese so that you can properly assimilate into the culture.
Art And Pop Culture
Japan has a rich history of art and an impressive modern pop culture.
Whilst you’ll find English translations of much of the popular literature and manga, reading in their original language is always going to be better.
Or let’s take music for example – whilst a lot of modern Japanese music features some English lyrics, 90% of it is going to be in Japanese.
If you have a love for Japanese culture and want to into it more, the only way to do this is to learn the language.
Difficulties Of Learning Japanese
Now we’re going to move on to some specifics of learning Japanese and why a lot of learners find it difficult.
We’re going to break down some of the most common features of the language so that you can understand the difficulties you may face when learning.
Alphabets
Unlike many western languages, Japanese features three main alphabets and an additional ‘romanized’ alphabet that doesn’t need to be learned but can be helpful for learners.
Modern Japanese is a mixture of three different scripts of the alphabet, all of which can be used to signify words and concepts. Let’s take a look at these alphabets below.
Hiragana: Hiragana is the main form of writing that is probably the first important step to take. It consists of 46 characters, representing the most common sounds used in Japanese.
Katakana: Katakana covers the same sounds as the alphabet above and although there are some similarities, there are also lots of differences. Discerning between these two alphabets is one of the difficulties new learners face.
Kanji: Kanji is probably the most problematic script used within Japanese and is an assimilation of Chinese Symbols.
Everything About Kanji
We don’t want to put you off here, but there are over 6000 Kanji characters. These symbols are without a doubt one of the most difficult parts of learning the language.
Kanji characters are used everywhere within Japanese culture and often one symbol means one word.
Whilst you can get by well enough learning 1000 characters, that’s still a lot of studying and will likely take you a long time.
Kanji is often used for street signs and names, so it can be difficult for your to get around Japan if you are missing a lot of these characters from your knowledge bank.
There are lots of different ways people try to learn Kanji, and thankfully in the modern age there are a lot of resources online for you to use.
Speaking
Speaking is a part of language learning that seems almost impossible at first. You might be able to learn simple words and phrases, but stringing these together to engage in an actual conversation can be very difficult.
Another thing that can be difficult when it comes to speaking Japanese is finding language partners.
As mentioned before, Japan is a very homogenous country and although there are lots of Japanese people living elsewhere in the world, you’re less likely to come across native speakers in the west.
Finding language partners to get your speech up to scratch can be difficult. If you’re living in Japan this is much easier, and often people are happy enough to exchange languages, especially if you speak English well!
Final Thoughts
So is learning Japanese worth it? That’s not something we can answer for you. For a westerner, it’s probably one of the more difficult languages to approach, especially if you only speak English.
The sheer variety of Kanji characters can be difficult to approach or grasp, and the general timeline for learning Japanese can vary greatly depending on your circumstances and work ethic.
To find an answer to this question, you’ll need to ask yourself what your desired outcome is, and whether or not the work you’ll need to put in will be worth it for you!
We hope that this article has given you some basic understanding of Japanese and how hard it is to learn as a language.
Ultimately, it’s a beautiful language that can be an absolute joy to learn – especially if you like to learn languages in your spare time!
Hi, I’m Jason Patrick, and for as long as I have been alive, I have been obsessed with Japanese culture. From the sights and sounds of Japan’s many cities to its culinary delights that have become famous worldwide, I simply cannot get enough of this wonderful nation!
I hope that, by exploring this website, you all will develop a much deeper appreciation for Japan, and that it may even influence you to pay it a visit yourself eventually! It is definitely a trip of a lifetime, and whether you experience it firsthand, or through my own website, I’m sure you will become just as passionate as I always have been!
