Is Japanese a difficult language?

sawadasmile wrote:
ooh ill hafta check out that site, triky XD thaaaankees.

seriously...check out the site, girl...if you drill yourself with their online quizzes and flashcards...you will improve your memory of the various kana, both hiragana and katakana....i find that it really helps...and it's sooo easy to use as a study tool :victory:

I grew up speaking some Japanese and I was also sent to Japanese school when I was young so I guess I can't really say that the Japanese language, as a whole, was difficult.

However, what was difficult for me was learning the differences in speaking and acting properly in different situations...for instance how to speak to an elder or higher up and how to speak when you're in a business (office grammar, etc.), how to properly bow to an elder or higher up, important things like that...things you need to know so that you don't get your head slapped... :beatyou: Kidding, of course.

ganmo wrote:I grew up speaking some Japanese and I was also sent to Japanese school when I was young so I guess I can't really say that the Japanese language, as a whole, was difficult.

However, what was difficult for me was learning the differences in speaking and acting properly in different situations...for instance how to speak to an elder or higher up and how to speak when you're in a business (office grammar, etc.), how to properly bow to an elder or higher up, important things like that...things you need to know so that you don't get your head slapped... :beatyou: Kidding, of course.

honorifics or keigo is especially difficult for the non-native speaker.....as a beginner i doubt that most classes even get into such nuances early on.....i forgot most of my japanese, but i agree with your opinion.

honorifics or keigo is especially difficult for the non-native speaker.....as a beginner i doubt that most classes even get into such nuances early on.....i forgot most of my japanese, but i agree with your opinion.

Thanks! I couldn't think of word...yes, keigo. I didn't start learning keigo in Japanese school until I was about 10 or 11, I think. I remember it was very difficult but necessary because we were required to write out our own speech when it came time to graduate. The speech was also to include our thanks and gratitude to the teachers and adults who had helped us throughout the years.

ganmo wrote:

honorifics or keigo is especially difficult for the non-native speaker.....as a beginner i doubt that most classes even get into such nuances early on.....i forgot most of my japanese, but i agree with your opinion.

Thanks! I couldn't think of word...yes, keigo. I didn't start learning keigo in Japanese school until I was about 10 or 11, I think. I remember it was very difficult but necessary because we were required to write out our own speech when it came time to graduate. The speech was also to include our thanks and gratitude to the teachers and adults who had helped us throughout the years.

Keigo is hell....:P The nuanced conjugation of the words to express the proper formality to some one at a higher station than you is very difficult....Romance languages such as English, Spanish, or French...do not have such notions built into the grammar of the language.

Keigo is hell.... The nuanced conjugation of the words to express the proper formality to some one at a higher station than you is very difficult....Romance languages such as English, Spanish, or French...do not have such notions built into the grammar of the language.

I'm not familiar with French or Spanish so I wouldn't know...but I agree with you...keigo was hell. I remember how difficult it was to write and memorise my graduation speech. I had lots of help from the Sensei but still nearly drove me to tears. But in the end...my grandparents and great-grandparents were so proud of me...so it was worth it.

However, first time learners of Japanese...don't let this put you off. Unless you plan on continuing to study Japanese for many years, I don't thnk you'll need to worry too much about keigo. :mrgreen:

ganmo wrote:

However, first time learners of Japanese...don't let this put you off. Unless you plan on continuing to study Japanese for many years, I don't thnk you'll need to worry too much about keigo. :mrgreen:

very true....

windrider wrote:taking up a foreign language is nv easy... no matter what language (IMO)

that's true, but it depends.
like for me, i'm spanish, it's easier to learn french than it was for someone who is like 17 to learn english. it is also easier for a chinese person to learn japanese, and vise versa.

also, it is said (my japanese teacher told me this actually) that it is easier for a spanish person to learn japanese (idk why, but oh well, yay me)

it is a difficult language to learn, just like any. in order to conquer a language you need dedication, thats part of the problem with doing say french at school, you hate it and therefor leave school knowning next to nothing.
the other important thing i believe is doing it in size able chunks. if you go too fast you learn sod all, but then if you go too slow you just get pissed off with the lack of progress.
its always best to go at a steady pace, keep going back over what you've learnt and then you should be ok.
i've been doing it for 6 months so i have many years to go, but hopefully going to japan and spending time there will help too, thats what i wanna do anyway.
oh if anyone wants to learn to read japanese script i recommend kanji cards and kana cards too.
they will so help you learn and help keep jogging yer memory and many kanji cards are avaliable in quality card that you can carry with you so whilst you're on the bus you can help work yer kanji mojo, plus impress any chavs who look over your shoulder
of course everything i'm saying could be bollocks as i'm not really good enough yet to give advice so just ignore me haha

Well, even though I am half Japanese, at first it was slightly confusing. But once you get down the particles, and know some vocab., it get's pretty easy! It's just the kanji that you gotta work hard on :sweat:

one of the easier aspects is the fact that you don't have the trouble of masculine/feminine words like say french. i also think the questions are much easier as you just add Ka at the end of the sentence without having to change or alter it to any great extent.
with english questions you change the wording around quite a bit.

my problem in Japanese is ..
writing the kanji ..
:sweat:

yeah kanjis are a bitch cuz there's so many of em, and so many sound the same but have different meanings ya gotta be careful sometimes, but it's just a matter of being diligent enough to learn them all, as for spoken language same thing it's just being diligent and wiling to take the time necessary, which is basically all that's required for anything you wanna do, just willingly giving the time it takes

It's really easy. Like everyone said, the kanji is the hardest part. I haven't gotten that far yet but so far its quite easy with the Hiragana.

Here is a site I've been using to learn Hiragana and Katakana.

You can just start with one column by taking off the checkmarks at the top of the columns for the ones you don't want. You'll be amazed how quickly you'll learn Hiragana and Katakana with this method:

http://www.chipchat.com/NihonGo/protect/HiraganaDrill.html

http://www.chipchat.com/NihonGo/protect/KatakanaDrill.html

ralphm1999 wrote:Here is a site I've been using to learn Hiragana and Katakana.

You can just start with one column by taking off the checkmarks at the top of the columns for the ones you don't want. You'll be amazed how quickly you'll learn Hiragana and Katakana with this method:

http://www.chipchat.com/NihonGo/protect/HiraganaDrill.html

http://www.chipchat.com/NihonGo/protect/KatakanaDrill.html

Those links are great - I've just saved them to my favourites.

Thanks Ralph! :)

Mikari wrote:It's really easy. I havent gotten that far yet but so far its quite easy with the Hiragana.

:shakehead: peeps quit when relative clause is introduced...you will see MAAAHAHAHAHAHAAA :twisted: :twisted:

kanji will probably be easy for me because i went to chinese school a few years ago, during the summer. i think the particles and stuff will completely lose me.

I'm studying kanji by myself..Its very hard compared to hiragana and katakana..IMO the secret is dont ever give up..I try to make learning enjoyable..since i wont sit down for an exam, learning japanese is not a stress..ganbatte!
minna, nihongo o benkyoushimashou! :victory:

chiba wrote:IMO the secret is dont ever give up..I try to make learning enjoyable..since i wont sit down for an exam, learning japanese is not a stress..ganbatte!
minna, nihongo o benkyoushimashou! :victory:

So desu yo ne!!! I could not have said it better chiba! :applaud: The thing to remember is not to get discouraged, if you only learn one thing today, that's still one more thing than you knew yesterday! :woot: [/list:u]