How Long Does It Take to Read Japanese
Reading Japanese Isn't Impossible to Acquire
Japanese is an awesome language, but reading it is very scary. If you don't know what the characters mean and sound similar, it'southward very hard to navigate. Simply, as soon as yous intermission reading Japanese down to its basic components, it'due south actually quite simple. So, what's the all-time way to larn to read Japanese? Follow these steps to learn to read Japanese hands.
viii Steps for the All-time Way to Learn to Read Japanese
ane. Understand that Japanese Has Three Scripts
Learners who desire to jump into learning to read Japanese are often surprised that the Japanese doesn't take ane alphabet. The Japanese writing organisation comprises of 3 different scripts: kanji, hiragana, and katakana. You'll desire to master all three for the best mode to learn to read Japanese.
While for English, which merely has one alphabet, this is a foreign concept. Only, it works for Japanese people. When you're learning a foreign language, the kickoff lesson you need to acquire is to be flexible and adapt to the culture yous're learning nearly.
ii. Avoid Romaji
Before we even begin listing all the things y'all should exercise to larn how to read Japanese, let's take a step back to say what Not to do. Don't rely on Romaji when yous're reading Japanese. It's the worst matter you can exercise for your Japanese fluency.
Romaji is writing Japanese words phonetically with Latin messages. So, for English native speakers, it's piece of cake to read and sympathise Japanese. But, it messes with your Japanese noesis. You lot can become too reliant on Romaji, and you'll never really larn how to read in Japanese.
The authentic way to larn to read Japanese is by mastering its characters. Plus, if you can only read Romaji, your Japanese pronunciation will suffer besides. You won't pronounce Japanese like the locals, considering you'll rely likewise much on your English knowledge. Time to get out all that behind and beginning with a fresh slate.
3. Learn Hiragana
Although near Japanese reading guides will tell yous to showtime with kanji, hiragana is actually much easier to main. And so, if y'all can learn hiragana first, you tin already see and recognize Japanese characters.
Hiragana is equally close to a Japanese alphabet as we tin can get. It's fully phonetic, meaning that all 46 characters coincide with a single audio or syllable. Hiragana characters are mostly used to write words of Japanese origin.
And then, firstly, learn all 46 characters of hiragana. You lot don't have to learn all of them at the same time, you can easily dissever them up into separate lessons.
|
k |
due south |
t |
n |
h |
m |
y |
r |
w | |||
|
a | あ (a) | か (ka) | さ (sa) | た (ta) | な (na) | は (ha) | ま (ma) | や (ya) | ら (ra) | わ (wa) | ん (north) |
|
i | い (i) | き (ki) | し (shi) | ち (chi) | に (ni) | ひ (hullo) | み (mi) | り (ri) | |||
|
u | う (u) | く (ku) | す (su) | つ (tsu) | ぬ (nu) | ふ (fu) | む (mu) | ゆ (yu) | る (ru) | ||
|
due east | え (east) | け (ke) | せ (se) | て (te) | ね (ne) | へ (he) | め (me) | れ (re) | |||
|
o | お (o) | こ (ko) | そ (so) | と (to) | の (no) | ほ (ho) | も (mo) | よ (yo) | ろ (ro) | を (wo) |
four. Acquire Kanji
Kanji characters come from Chinese. In Kanji script, each character conveys one meaning. So, in kanji, the give-and-take for "noon" is 午. These iv strokes in this writing always mean "noon". And so, kanji writing in Japanese isn't phonetic.
The bad news is that there are over 2000 kanji characters in Japanese. That means, that you'll need to learn them all 1-by-one. Luckily, you don't really demand to learn them all at once. Just start with the hundred nearly common kanji characters, and go from there.
| 半 | Half, middle | han | naka(ba) |
| 毎 | Every, each | mai | — |
| 何 | What, which, how many | ka | nan, nani |
| 人 | Person | jin, nin | hito |
| 男 | Man, boy, male person | dan, nan | otoko |
| 女 | Woman, girl, female | jo, nyo | onna, me |
| 子 | Child | shi, su | ko |
| 母 | Mother | bo | haha |
| 父 | Father | fu | chichi |
| 友 | Friend | yuu | tomo |
This is probably the most advanced mode to larn how to read Japanese as it'due south the main fashion that Japanese people read and write. Because of that, it comes with a number of different benefits when you lot're studying. Chief among these is the disambiguation between words; this means that even if two words are pronounced the same, they tin be spelled differently. That can be a significant do good when it comes to speaking Japanese as there are fewer pronunciations to call back.
5. Learn Katakana
Katakana is but like hiragana. There are 46 katakana characters in Japanese, and they all show the phonetic value of the syllable. Really, all katakana characters have a hiragana equivalent, and they often look the same too. Merely, there'south one big difference betwixt katakana and hiragana.
Katakana is exclusively used to write words of strange origin. So, you won't actually run across katakana as often equally hiragana and kanji in Japanese. But, you do need to learn how to read it.
|
g |
s |
t |
n |
h |
thousand |
y |
r |
w | |||
|
a | ア (a) | カ (ka) | サ (sa) | タ (ta) | ナ (na) | ハ (ha) | マ (ma) | ヤ (ya) | ラ (ra) | ワ (wa) | ン (n) |
|
i | イ (i) | キ (ki) | シ (shi) | チ (chi) | ニ (ni) | ヒ (hi) | ミ (mi) | リ (ri) | |||
|
u | ウ (u) | ク (ku) | ス (su) | ツ (tsu) | ヌ (nu) | フ (fu) | ム (mu) | ユ (yu) | ル (ru) | ||
|
due east | エ (e) | ケ (ke) | セ (se) | テ (te) | ネ (ne) | ヘ (he) | メ (me) | レ (re) | |||
|
o | オ (o) | コ (ko) | ソ (so) | ト (to) | ノ (no) | ホ (ho) | モ (mo) | ヨ (yo) | ロ (ro) | ヲ (wo) |
vi. Put All Japanese Characters Together
Learning to read Japanese is quite simple. One time you mastered the three scripts of the Japanese writing arrangement, you're good to go. Yous know each character, and since Japanese is written left to right, yous can just put it together like Latin letters. No demand to analyze each grapheme'due south strokes, just accept them by their face up value based on pronunciation.
Ultimately how you read Japanese is the same way how you read English. You look at the letters and create words from those. Of class, yous spent a lot of time learning to read English. Yous spent years of your life mastering how to read and write. So, when you're learning to read Japanese, requite yourself time.
seven. Read Japanese Out Loud
Reading is only one part of learning Japanese. Make certain you exercise other skills as well like writing and listening. Only, possibly the easiest fashion to combine another skill with learning to read Japanese is to say the words yous're reading out loud.
This fashion, yous exercise your pronunciation, learn vocabulary words, and get meliorate at reading Japanese faster. Yous'll associate the sounds with the characters, and soon, you'll read Japanese completely effortlessly. So, don't be shy. This is how you learned to read English language in kindergarten too. Then, it's too the all-time way to learn to read Japanese now.
viii. Practice Reading Frequently
The best way to learn to read Japanese is with plenty of practice. We can't stress this plenty. Make use of every written Japanese word, and attempt to read them. Seek out Japanese reading exercises. Hither are some useful activities that are fun, but they also help you chief reading in Japanese:
- Read the news: If yous want a reliable reading exercise, get some Japanese newspapers. Or, yous can likewise read Japanese news online. You lot can practice reading Japanese and keep up-to-engagement on electric current events at the same time.
- Explore Japanese manga: Manga is Japanese comics. They're fun stories to get lost in, and reading them besides gives you a cracking glimpse into modern Japanese culture.
- Put on some Japanese subtitles: When you're watching movies (especially Japanese movies), put on Japanese subtitles instead of English language. You lot'll take to read very quickly, simply information technology's a great exercise for rapid reading.
BONUS: Read the Nearly Common Japanese Words
Bonus step for the best way to learn to read Japanese! Do you want to acquire useful Japanese vocabulary while also practicing your reading skills? Download OptiLingo!
OptiLingo is an app that shows you the most common Japanese words and phrases. Written out in the way Japanese people write them, information technology'southward a great way to see the most useful vocabulary in 1 place. Plus, OptiLingo also says these words and phrases out loud. And past repeating them, you lot truly do all skills of linguistic communication learning at the same time. Larn to read Japanese in a fun way when yous download OptiLingo!
Source: https://www.optilingo.com/blog/japanese/what-is-the-best-way-to-learn-to-read-japanese/
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