Learn Japanese Online - 5 Tips
By Jed Jones
With its four alphabets, thousands of characters, and uncommon verb conjugations like "passive causative," it is no wonder that the CIA classifies the Japanese language among the most difficult languages in the world. And yet, the value of learning to speak Japanese remains very high. Despite the recent rise in the economic power of China, Japan remains the world's second largest economy and will remain among the top 5 to 10 globally (and number 1 or 2 in Asia) during the remainder of the 21st century.
When I studied for and passed Level 1 (most difficult) of the Japanese Language Proficiency Exam in 1995, Internet usage among the general population was still very low. At that time, my fellow students and I who were studying Japanese had to rely on more traditional study techniques. For those studying Japanese today, the Internet represents a great additional tool for mastering Japanese. Here are 5 tips for learning Japanese online.
Tip #1: Get a good online flashcard system: Flashcards are an indispensable tool for learning Japanese. You can find great software programs or online applications that allow you to easily store and then test yourself on key words. Some even use pictures to really help you remember words faster.
Tip #2: Read at least one online newspaper article daily: Reading an online newspaper article every day - even as a beginner who has to look up each and every word in a dictionary - is a great way to study Japanese. Trick: try leaving an online dictionary open in a separate browser window (see Tip #4) while reading so that it is easy to copy-and-paste unknown kanji into that online dictionary. Toggling back and forth between the two is quick and this makes for faster reading.
Tip #3: Watch Japanese videos on YouTube: One of the most important parts of learning a foreign language is developing your listening skills. Do a search on YouTube or Google Videos daily for Japanese videos. To find videos this way, here is a trick: do a search for the word for video (bideo) using katakana in either of these sites and tons of Japanese language videos will pop up. If your computer does not type in Japanese, just go to an online dictionary that allows you to type in a romaji word and returns the katakana equivalent. Then, cut-and-paste the katakana word for video into your YouTube search box. Be sure to watch videos showing people of both sexes and all ages: everyone speaks a little bit differently and this is a great way to get exposed to different styles.
Tip #4: Use a good online kanji dictionary: Once you actually graduate from romaji and start using kana and kanji, I highly suggest switching to an online kanji dictionary as soon as possible. A great, no-frills and FREE one that I have been using for years is maintained by a gentleman called Jim Breen. You can find his current site by searching for "Jim Breen WWWJDIC" in Google.
Tip #5: Use Google to check your writing: Once you are at the stage where you are writing in Japanese on your computer, a great way to check your phrase usage for correctness is to search for it in Google. Be sure to use quotations so that you get an exact match. Tens or hundreds of thousands of search results returned for your phrase usually indicates that it is correct. Caution: Japanese people make mistakes, too, so do not just assume that if you get a handful of search results your phrase is correct; try an alternate phrase for comparison. This method is not foolproof, but I have found that it is ten times faster than trying to look it up in a book or asking someone. I use this method almost daily to check my Japanese grammar and syntax.
Harness the power of the Internet and you will master one of the world's most important languages faster and with better retention. Good luck on your journey!
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