Because most of the characters have only one pronunciation, Hiragana is quite easy to learn. No doubt, once you learn Hiragana, you'll create a firm foundation needed for a native-sounding accent.
This is pretty easy. Hiragana is, unquestionably, the place to start. It's the most “Japanese” form of writing, as it accounts for all of the unique sounds in Japanese, so all native Japanese words can be written in hiragana.
However, some may argue that hiragana is too difficult to write. Katakana is easier to “draw” because the structure of the katakana character is usually more simple. In addition, katakana words sound familiar to English speakers, so imitating the sound is easier.
Hiragana is the most commonly used, standard form of Japanese writing.
The three writing systems of Japanese are Hiragana, Katakana, and Kanji. You should learn hiragana first, followed by katakana and kanji. Hiragana looks more cursive than katakana or kanji. It is used to write native Japanese words, conjugation endings, and grammar particles.
It's common to see hiragana, katakana, and kanji (the three Japanese writing systems) in use even in shows set in futuristic spaceships and magical kingdoms. For example, Naruto often eats at a shop that says ラーメン on the awning, and if you've started learning your Japanese alphabets, you'll know that says ramen.
However, many experts believe it takes between 4 to 6 months of dedicated study to reach a beginner level. On the other hand, you can expect to spend at least 3 years studying to become fluent in Japanese with near-native level accuracy.
Depending how much you study, this could be do-able in a little over a year. Aiming to read native-level material or watch TV shows in Japanese? That's a more long-term goal, and you're probably looking at around three to five years of learning.
Approximately it will take 88 weeks, or 2200 hours of studying, to become fluent. But this article shows tips and tools to expedite and make the process easier. This article is a part of our extensive series of articles on Self-studying Japanese.
Like hiragana, Japan's third writing system, katakana, is a native alphabet based on sounds. But why did Japan have need for yet another writing system? The reason goes back, again, to the fact that reading kanji is difficult – and not just for non-Japanese people and women.
Hiragana, if you are willing to practice quite a bit, can be mastered in 1-2 days. The same is true for katakana. Since a lot of katakana is connected to English words that have been assimilated into Japanese language, you will be able to double pronunciation practice along with learning foundation words.
Katakana is significantly tougher to master compared to Hiragana because it is only used for certain words and you don't get nearly as much practice as you do with Hiragana. To learn the proper stroke order (and yes, you need to), here is a link to practice sheets for Katakana.
These three systems are called hiragana, katakana and kanji. If that sounds overwhelming, don't worry! Hiragana and katakana are easy enough to learn – and will be a big help if you're thinking about travelling to Japan, or learning basic Japanese. Learning kanji is a little trickier, but we'll come to that later.
Pro #4: They Teach Hiragana, Katakana, Kanji, and Romaji
Since avoiding the Japanese writing systems can limit comprehension later on, immersing yourself immediately is key. You can then get comfortable with reading various words with hiragana, katakana, kanji, and romaji.
Kanji provides a means of representing complex and abstract concepts in a concise and easily understandable way. Many Japanese words have multiple meanings depending on the context, meaning kanji is necessary to clarify and differentiate between these meanings in a way unseen in phonetic scripts.
You may have heard recently that it's now impossible to study in Japan if you are over 30 years old. Luckily for those who fall in that category, this isn't actually true and it's actually never too late to chase your Japanese language dreams.
Duolingo Is Great as a Supplement
It is great for learning vocabulary and seeing how words are used in context. However, it's generally not great for learning the “why”s or “how”s of language. This includes grammar and semantics–how words interact with each other to create different meanings.
3 months of good study habits will get you to very basic conversational level (JLPT N5, maybe N4 if you have a natural aptitude for language learning). I moved to Japan with almost zero Japanese and was thrown into a fully Japanese environment.
For starters, Japanese has three writing systems: hiragana, katakana, and kanji. Kanji includes over 50,000 different characters, however, you only need to know about 2,000 of them to be considered fluent. You also only need to know about 5,000 Japanese vocabulary words to be considered fluent as well.
To give you a better idea, the average Japanese adult knows between 25,000 and 30,000 words. Don't worry, if you just want to reach fluency, you will need to know around 3,000 – 5,000 words.
Across multiple sources, Mandarin Chinese is the number one language listed as the most challenging to learn. The Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center puts Mandarin in Category IV, which is the list of the most difficult languages to learn for English speakers.
1. あきらめないで: Never give up!
When you're on the verge of giving up, think, “I can't give up (あきらめないで)!” When your Japanese friend is struggling to learn English, encourage them by saying the popular anime phrase “あきらめないで.
Studies say that yes, you can. Listening to a language while asleep can help supercharge your vocabulary. Learn easily with the power of pleasant repetition. With the Learn Japanese While Sleeping audiobook, you'll absorb over 430 Japanese words and phrases effortlessly.