Learning Japanese Language

Learning Japanese Doesn't Have to Be Difficult

English speaking students have excellent options to ease the challenge of learning Japanese.

The Challenges of Learning Japanese

For any American studying foreign languages, Japanese and other Asian dialects can present a real challenge. Now as a student of languages, I think Pimsleur Japanese courses present a very good option for the student wanting to learn practical Japanese communication skills. But first, let's look at a few facts about the Japanese language and why its very appealing to learn.

Japanese is spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese expatriate communities around the world. As the second largest economy in the world, the business advantages to learning Japanese should be quite obvious. In addition, the rich cultural and historical background of Japanese is truly impressive.

The Structure of the Japanese Language

One of the difficulties experienced by American students of Japanese lies in the fact that it is an agglutinative language and also reflects the hierarchical nature of Japanese society, with verb forms and vocabulary indicating the relative status of speaker, listener and the person mentioned in conversation. On the written side, Japanese is written with via three different script types: kanji which consists of Chinese characters, and two syllabic forms, known as hiragana and katakana. Another form, Romani which uses the Latin alphabet, is also used in modern Japanese, especially in business circles and advertising.

Now the difficulties of Japanese writing system are not addressed in the Pimsleur Japanese courses offered. For most students of Japanese, this will not present a problem since the goal is practical everyday conversation and this is where Pimsleur excels. The Pimsleur language learning system is a language acquisition method designed by Dr. Paul Pimsleur. In short the method works almost entirely through listening. The lessons are 30 minutes long so they are very digestible for even the busiest person.

A Little Look at Japan

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Pimsleur: An Excellent Tool for Japanese Learners

As someone who has used Pimsleur for several languages, as a rule of thumb you should attain a minimum of 70 percent comprehension, at which point you can move on to the next lesson. As the lessons repeat themselves and add new material, it is not necessary for you to master each lesson perfectly before moving on. So if your thinking about studying Japanese try Pimsleur Japanese.

Tokyo

Forest

a cloudy day

Containers

May 10, 2009 #2

May 4, 2009 #2

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Additional Resources for Learning Japanese

Talk Now Japanese: Simple and Easy Software for Learning Japanese for only $29.99
Japanese in Ten Minutes a Day: The purpose of these books is to give you an immediate speaking ability in Japanese, together with some practical and cultural tips.
ECTACO English <-> Japanese Partner EJ400T: Offering advanced English and Japanese TTS speech capabilities, this bi-directional electronic dictionary is one-of-a-kind.
Learning Japanese: This just released website will provide the ultimate collection of articles, free resources, product reviews for Japanese and 100 other languages.
Pimsleur Japanese Level 1 Course: Learn to speak Japanese at an intermediate level in just thirty easy lessons with this course. Pimsleur audio courses teach you to understand & speak the essential elements of a new language.
Pimsleur Japanese Level 2 Course: Don't worry about memorizing vocabulary lists, grammar rules, or even written homework. In each lesson, you will be hearing two native Japanese speakers--plus have an expert teacher guiding you along in English.
Pimsleur Japanese Level 3 Course: This part of the Pimsleur Japanese program will thrust you forward to the "High Intermediate" (the level before "Advanced") on the ACTFL scale. The emphasis turns to more complex self-expression and focuses on expanding conversation skills and more complex language structures.
Japanese Vocabulary Builder: The Japanese Vocabulary Builder is designed to meet the requirements of children aged 5-12 years old. It combines pictures, text and sound to make an interactive vocabulary building system which parents and teachers can use to help on basic language teaching.
Foreign Service Institute Japanese Course: This is an excellent Japanese course for learning to speak Japanese quickly. Conversation, dialogues and practical vocabulary are the focus of this course. The illustrated book includes course materials and a cultural guide. Each unit has different activities, including conversation and notes, exercises, and a self-evaluation quiz.