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Japanese Study Tips: 6 Tips To Japanese Language SuccessStudying Japanese is hard. There's no denying it, no way around the fact, no rosy-cheeked, run-around way of saying it. Fortunately, with hard work and consistent effort, and a few Japanese study tips, I have no doubt that anyone can succeed. As a current student of the Japanese Language I find that I often have to revise and improve my study methods in order to keep up with the intense and often overwhelming pace of my classes. I realize that not everyone has five hours of intensive Japanese class a day, but everyone should strive to learn the most efficient and effective way possible. And so, to spread the wealth (of ideas), and hopefully receive some tips as well, I'm sharing some of the things I think are important/useful in the study of the Japanese language.(and if you'd like to let me in on some secrets I'd appreciate it!) 1. Don't Buy Pre-made FlashcardsWhen I first started studying Japanese I invested in a 20 dollar set of Japanese Kanji cards from Tuttle. While the design and quality of the cards is excellent, I don't really think they've served any value for me other than to look back and go "wow, I've already learned all of this Kanji." Instead, I recommend buying a huge set of blank flash cards (or cutting index cards in half) and writing every word or Kanji yourself. 2. Imagining KanjiIf you ask most Japan natives how they learned Kanji, they'll most likely tell you they wrote it hundreds of times in school until it stuck in their head. I don't know about you, but that seems extremely inefficient to me. A better way is using the mnemonic device system to remember Kanji. That is, associating the Kanji with an some image you conjure up in your head. If you're in need of ideas, he book Kanji Pict-O-Graphix by Michael Rowley has over 1000 kanji and pictures (some really bizarre) dedicated to just this concept. Same concept can apply to hiragana and katakana. 3. Imagining WordsThis is a technique that I've been starting to use more often recently as the vocabulary gets harder. Basically, you take the foreign word, find a word (or group of words) in your native language that sounds somewhat like it, and imagine a crazy picture in your head relating the two. If you do it right you'll not only get the meaning, but also the pronunciation. An example of this technique's application is the Japanese word "tougekou" which means "traveling to and from school". For this word I break it down into the syllables "tou" and "gekou". From there I find some English word the syllables sound like. I thought of "Toe" and "Gecko". Now, I create a crazy image of Gecko's dressed in school uniforms and have huge toes walking back and forth from school. As soon as I hear the Japanese word I instantly get the image and meaning. I'll never forget the word again. 4. Be A ParrotThis is probably one of the more obvious tips for learning languages, but I'd like to say it anyway. Be A Parrot. Feel free to imitate people that are native speakers of the language. Even if you have to do it in a whisper while sitting in the back of the class, it's a great way to improve your pronunciation and feel for the language. If you want to take it a step further you can even try and create mental pictures with the previous tip from any phrases you learn. One word of caution is to make sure you copy someone with a similar background as you, especially in colloquial situations. It's a little strange for a man to go around saying "ne, ne, atashi wa..." (although I've definitely heard it before). Of course, some people purposely use those kind of things. But if you don't know better, try and stick to people similar to yourself. 5.Immerse YourselfFor any foreign language immersion is a key step towards real fluency. Some phrase like "In Japan, speak like the Japanese do" (I think I got it wrong but heck, it makes sense) Although a trip to the country may not always be reasonable there are other, smaller things like making native speaking friends and visiting their families or watching Japanese Drama in the native language (hate to break it but anime just doesn't really cut it for language practice). by immersing yourself in the language you're making it a second nature, and one step closer to fluency.Thanks to reader Lindsey for the idea! 6. Just Keep Practicing!More of a bit of encouragement than a tip, but this is definitely the most important part of learning a language. A lot of people start out very enthusiastic, and maybe study for a week, even a month and have a great time. Unfortunately, as the material gets harder, they lose their enthusiasm for the language altogether and it slips into the group with the rest of the uncompleted things. I can't stress enough how important it is to do things that will keep yourself practicing. Heck, if you need to, take a trip to Japan! Return From Japanese Study Tips to Japanese Language
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