1st JAPANESE LESSON

FEATURES OF THE JAPANESE LANGUAGE: SIMPLE AND COMPLEX

For a beginner, the Japanese language may seem rather difficult, because here even memorizing new words is a considerable problem, if only because the Japanese language arose and developed away from the European languages ​​\u200b\u200bfamiliar to us and does not have with them common ground, unlike, say, the languages ​​of the Romano-Germanic group, which have in their vocabulary a lot of identical-sounding words, united by a common Latin-Greek origin.

Residence Japan up to XlX century in condition feudalism imposed imprint and on the tongue developing and keeping in it refined system courtesy, as a result what is your speech account for strongly adjust depending from that who is your companion (his gender, age and especially, position).	E T O Z A N I T N O!	Unusual for a European and therefore complicated Japanese writing, primarily under construction in Chinese hieroglyphs and two syllabic alphabets. To unhindered- essentially study Japanese language, necessary remember, at least, 1850 hieroglyphs and 146 characters two Japanese syllabic alphabet
	There is no sound in Japanese L". Instead of the word Alexei", the Japanese will say" Areksey".
	In Japanese, not only verbs have a tense (past, present and future), but even adjectives: AKAY- RED AKAKATTA- WAS RED
	The Japanese perceives the text not by letters, as Europeans do, but by syllables. They have, so to speak, developed syllabic thinking. So, if you ask a Japanese person to say the word " WATAKUSHI"(I'm) the opposite, then he'll say" SI-KU-TA-WA", but not " ISUKATAV"as we would do.
	In Japanese, there are no categories of person and number (except for personal pronouns) and gender. Out of context, it is impossible to determine whether we are talking about a cat or a cat, about many animals or about one. If necessary, a specific number of objects (people, etc.) can be indicated, or even an explanation - "plural" - can be attributed in brackets.

Sound " With"in a syllable" SI"Japanese pronounce it slightly sizzling, like very soft" shchi".

Not scary?

Well then -

Peculiarities Japanese language - first lesson from online course on Japanese Language at. Japanese lessons for beginners. Online Japanese lessons. We study Japanese. Let's start learning Japanese in Japanese lessons online tutorials Japanese language (Japanese for the soul) Alexandra Vurdova. How to learn Japanese? How to start learning Japanese? The easiest way to start learning Japanese. The best way to get an idea of ​​the Japanese language is to read online lessons Japanese on the Japanese Language Self-Teacher website (Japanese Self-Teacher).

Have you been thinking about learning Japanese for a long time, but don't know where to start, and is it even worth taking on? Throw away doubts, gain determination and talk less about what could be, act!

This article is intended for persons over 18 years of age.

Are you over 18 already?

How to learn Japanese from scratch on your own?

It is believed that the Japanese language, along with Chinese, is quite difficult to learn, that it needs to be learned from childhood, otherwise it will be difficult to master even basic knowledge. However, this is not at all the case, Japanese is quite simple if you dig a little deeper and try to understand it at least a little.

In fact, we are held back by the stereotype that learning Japanese is a difficult task, however, if desired, and even without proper skills, after just a couple of months of study, you can begin to understand elementary vocabulary and even communicate a little, and after a year and a half, you can speak fluently.

Of course, there are difficulties with Japanese, at the first stages of learning the language it all comes down to banal cramming. But in any undertakings it is difficult! But after you learn the basic alphabets and the alphabet, it will be much easier for you, and the language will no longer seem so difficult.

Therefore, if you are wondering how to learn Japanese from scratch and in what time, and also on your own, then the answer will always be this - you need desire and motivation, that is, there is a reason why you want to do this, and everything else will come by itself.

Why do people learn Japanese?

Before moving on to a specific practical guide, it’s worth just clarifying what is the reason that people are so attracted by the Japanese language and the Land of the Rising Sun in general. Why do people study Japanese? There are several standard answers to this question:

• admiration for culture;
• tourist interest;
• business opportunity;
• work and life in Japan;
• obtaining citizenship.

In most cases, admiration for the culture itself eastern country in the world is intertwined with the other reasons listed above, that is, with work, tourism, etc. Businessmen and business people also see Japan as a reliable partner, with whom it is not only pleasant, but also profitable to cooperate.

I think today everyone who wonders how to learn Japanese and whether it is difficult to learn it, came to this after watching anime. If not everyone, then every second person interested in the Japanese language loves this genre of animated films, and was inspired by the culture of Japan through them. This is not a banal minor fact, but the most basic one. This culture has spread very widely around the world, which led to the emergence of various subcultures.
For many, acquaintance with Japan could begin precisely with this, although there are a lot of historical factors in this country that glorified it as a country of honor, justice and courtesy. This is also one of the main reasons why people are so fascinated by the culture of this country and why there is a desire to study the life and language of Japan.

What does learning Japanese give?

One way or another, whatever the reason that inspired you to learn Japanese, knowing it opens up great opportunities! It is known that today Japan is one of the leading countries in the field of robotics, cybernetics, production computer technology and mechanical engineering. And this is just the tip of the iceberg! Other industries are also developing here, which attract the attention of businessmen from all over the world. Therefore, build partnerships with such a state is not only interesting, but also very profitable.

How to start learning Japanese?

As we said earlier, if you firmly say to yourself that “I want to learn Japanese, where should I start?”, then start with motivation, namely by defining and setting goals. It is important not only to set yourself the task of learning Japanese, but also to do something concrete for this. The easiest option might even be to go there as a tourist.

Once you've settled on that, it's also worth getting rid of the stereotype that Japanese is a difficult language to learn. When asked if it is possible to learn it, you should answer yourself that it is difficult, but by persistently and patiently going towards your goal, it is possible to achieve it. And in particular, this, by the way, works with Japanese. Smoothness and patience are the main qualities inherent in the Japanese, so take them as part of learning and understanding the culture of the land of the rising sun.

It should be noted right away that for a deeper study, it is worth doing not on your own, but with a tutor or enrolling in courses. You may even want to go to a university, to the faculty of Japanese philology, where you will be taught all the intricacies of the language. But it is quite possible to learn it on your own at home, using textbooks, books, games, manuals and all available applications and programs that in one way or another will enrich you with knowledge.

The Basics of Learning Japanese

The Japanese language must be learned gradually and measuredly, constantly accumulating vocabulary, learning new characters and honing your speech and calligraphy.

Learning any language begins with memorizing template phrases and words that are most often found in everyday speech, but in fact, if you need to quickly learn simple sentences to communicate with the Japanese, then this can be done, and at the same time engage in deeper learning. This method will give you the opportunity not to wait long and go to Japan, where you will not experience difficulties at least in the most primitive communication with people.

But the classical technique of learning Japanese in any case begins with the development of the alphabet and hieroglyphs.

In total, there are two main alphabets in Japanese:

• hiragana;
• katakana.

There is also another main writing system that is used in addition to these two - kanji characters. The most interesting thing is that all these systems in "nihongo", which translates as "Japanese", can be used in writing at the same time. This mixed style is called "kana". This is where the problem lies, that without knowledge of hieroglyphs and alphabets, it will be difficult for you to understand what in question. Therefore, in Japanese it is impossible to hack and cram hieroglyphs, as well as the symbols of hiragana and katakana, you need to conscientiously!

Do not immediately get scared and worry, is it hard, is it real and is it even possible to learn everything? In both alphabets, there are only about 48 characters each, which is certainly not 33, as in our case, but learning 96 characters is quite a lifting task. Whether it's hieroglyphs, everything is a little more complicated with them.

Learning Japanese Characters

With the alphabets of hiragana and katakana, everything is more or less clear, but the hieroglyphs are not an easy thing. For beginners, you should first choose the most common options that are used in Japanese vocabulary and writing, and then just start memorizing them. In reality, you will need to learn about 2,000 characters in order to master speech without much difficulty, ideally if your stock is about 5,000 thousand, then you are considered a full-fledged Japanese!

It is necessary to learn hieroglyphs and the alphabets themselves by writing in a dictionary. Get a large notebook where you will write down new characters. By prescribing, you will quickly learn and remember the hieroglyphs. This is a good practice, which is used not only for studying at home, but also in schools with in-depth study of the language.

For those who are wondering how much time and years it takes to learn a sufficient number of hieroglyphs, the answer is: for each in different ways. Everything depends on your individual characteristics. If you think that you can learn enough in 5 minutes a day, then most likely your learning will not be very fast, but perhaps better if you have a good memory and are able to memorize 10 to 20 in such a short time. hieroglyphs. What's the matter when you spend more time and in 1 hour every day you can learn more. In this case, your training will proceed much faster.

In learning Japanese, everything depends on how responsibly you approach the issue of learning, how much you are ready to study "seriously and for a long time." If you regularly and every day learn new hieroglyphs, words, then you will quickly achieve results and after a year or a year and a half you will be able to easily understand not only speech, but also writing, and also practice both yourself. But if you are not motivated and constantly hack, then even as a university student, you are unlikely to be able to make out at least something without a dictionary.

The economic and industrial development of Japan has raised new level Japan's interaction with other countries, a huge number of foreigners came to Japan for a variety of purposes and currently live there in close contact with the population. This could not but affect the increase in interest in the Japanese language. Whatever your interest in Japan, be it Japanese culture, art, music, manga, anime or bonsai, etc., Lingoust will help you take the first step in learning Japanese thus bringing you closer to your goal.

Step by step online lessons presented on the site will help you learn the basics of the Japanese language from scratch and prepare you for independent more serious study of Japanese. Well consists of initial lessons for learning the alphabet + 10 lessons from the international manual Minna No Nihongo. The lessons consist of theoretical and practical material, including audio accompaniment and exercises to consolidate knowledge. To see the answer to the exercise, move the mouse over the key: .

Reasons for learning Japanese

• The unique culture of Japan. From sushi and anime to bonsai and origami, she has become part of international culture. Knowledge of the language will open the world of Japanese cinema, animation, and music to you. You will be able to deal with the special terminology of your loved one martial art, or order sushi just like a Japanese does at his favorite Japanese restaurant. Everyone will find something to their liking!
• Trip to Japan and communication. Of course, knowing Japanese will make your trip much more enjoyable and exciting. Knowing the language will help you understand the behavior and way of thinking of the Japanese, thereby avoiding embarrassing situations and making new friends.
• Road to business and the world high technology. The Japanese economy occupies a leading position in the world along with Japanese companies such as Sony, Toshiba, Honda, Mitsubishi, Canon, etc. Knowing the language can help you develop your professional career in areas such as business, information Technology, robotics, etc.
• Discover new world! Acquaintance with Asian culture will allow you to see the world with a new look. And Japanese can serve as a bridge to the culture of the Korean language, because. they have similar grammatical systems, and of course into the culture of the Chinese language, from where the writing was originally borrowed.
• One last thing: learning Japanese is not that difficult. Yes, they have a complex writing system, but it consists of alphabets that can be learned just like any other alphabet, be it English or Russian. The grammar of the Japanese language is in some respects much easier than the grammar of any European language. There is no gender, no plural, no future tense. So go ahead! To knowledge!

Many people would like to learn Japanese from scratch on their own, but don't know where to start. Therefore, I give my own instructions based on my experience. First, a brief instruction will be given, giving only the names of the items and a minimum of information, and then a complete instruction.

Table of contents:

1. Brief instruction
2. Full instructions

How to learn Japanese - quick guide

1. Learn hiragana.
2. Learn katakana.
3. Turn on the Japanese layout.
4. Watch anime, Japanese movies or dramas for at least 20-60 hours (with Russian subtitles).
5. this link. This is a very simple and clear textbook, the best guide for beginners who are not familiar with Japanese at all. This point is the most important. PS. For a very small number of users, the site does not open. The site is actually working fine. If you encounter this problem, try connecting through a VPN / proxy / tunnel or from another Internet. If you are not well versed, then just install any browser extension for VPN.
6. Install the Rikaichan add-on - it's very good dictionary, which allows you to point to the desired word on any site, and the add-on itself will find the end of this word and give its translation in the dictionary and tell you what form this word is in.
7. Start using dictionaries.
8. Learn kanji. The 100 most popular kanji allow you to read 36% of the kanji in the text, 200 - 50%, 400 - 66%, 600 - 75%, 800 - 81%, 1000 - 85%, 1500 - 92%, 2000 - 95%, 2530 - 98.0 %, 3000 - 99.0%. You don't need to know 100%. The site is best for learning kanji.
9. Watch another 50-150 hours of anime / movies / dramas with Russian subtitles (you can do it in parallel with points 5-8).
10. This item is described in complete instructions below. The item is very broad.

Complete Instructions for Learning Japanese

Introduction - Japanese Writing

If someone thinks that only hieroglyphs are used in Japanese, they are wrong, hieroglyphs make up only about 23% of the characters in the text (although in phonetic ratio, hieroglyphs make up more, since one hieroglyph on average means more than one syllable) . In addition to hieroglyphs, Japanese writing uses two syllabaries at once - hiragana (46 characters) and katakana (46 characters), for a total of 92 characters. The syllabic alphabet is something like the Russian alphabet. All 3 types of writing are used simultaneously, for example, part of a word can be written in hieroglyphs, and part of a word can be written in kana. Examples of hiragana signs:   あ - a,   い - i,   う - y,   え - e,   お - o,   か - ka,   き - ki, etc.
Examples of katakana characters:   ア - a,   イ - and,   ウ - y,   エ - e,   オ - o,   カ - ka,   キ - ki, etc.
Examples of kanji (Japanese characters borrowed from China): 食、誰、大、好、何, etc. In total, 2136 characters are used + about 500 more that are not included in the list of standard characters.

When is kana used and when are hieroglyphs

Hiragana:

1. All particles.
2. All changing parts of words (and sometimes not changing).
3. Some words.

Katakana:

1. All foreign words.

Kanji (hieroglyphs):

1. All basic words.

This is a sufficient explanation of what is used where, but you can read more about kanji and kana signs (in the section "What are kanji and what are they used for?").

1. Learn Hiragana

The best hiragana tablet is in the akanji app at. You can also read about hiragana on Wikipedia. Hiragana consists of only 46 unique characters and learns in about 6 hours. Hiragana is a syllabic alphabet, something like the Russian alphabet. Please note that when writing kana characters, the order of strokes is very important. You need to find a site that lists the stroke order. You should also be able to write in hiragana by hand on paper (if it's crooked, it's okay). Personally, I taught like this: first I wrote in a notebook and pronounced the first sign あ (a). When I remembered it, I added one more character to it, and copied 2 characters into the notebook at once (from memory). Then immediately 3 signs, and so on until the very end. When you learn hiragana, remember to pay attention to the following things:

1. If you add a small ゃ (ya), ゅ (yu), or ょ (yo) to syllables ending in "i", you can make a syllable ending in i / yu / yo. For example, きゃ is "kya", but きや is kiya, because in the second case や is big. Your tablet should contain columns with syllables ending in i / u / ё.
2. If you add two sticks, you can voice a consonant, for example, か is ka, が is ga. Your plate should contain lines starting with "g", "s", "d", "b" and "p".
3. う (y) after "o" denotes a long vowel. For example, the word ありがとう (arigatou) reads "arigato:", where the colon indicates the length of the vowel. When writing in Latin, English speakers often indicate longitude with a stick above the letter (macron), for example, instead of arigatou they write arigatō, but if you do not write English text You don't need to write like that. When writing in Russian letters, the longitude after a / y / e / o / i / u / yo is not shown and they write, for example, simply "arigato". But after "and" they show, for example, "kawaii", "shiitake" (shiitake).
4. aa, ii, uu, ee are also long vowels, for example かわいい (kawaii) reads "ka-wa-i:".
5. You can see how to pronounce sounds in this video.
   1. The syllables し (shi), しゃ (sha), しゅ (shu), しょ (sho) use the soft sh sound. There is no such sound in Russian. That is, it is correct to say not "sha", but "shya".
   2. The syllables じ (ji), じゃ (ja), じゅ (ju) じょ (jo) use the soft j sound. There is no such sound in Russian. That is, it is correct to say not "zha", but "zhya". Examples: じゃない - jyanai, 大丈夫 - daijo:bu.
   3. In the syllables ち (chi), ちゃ (cha), ちゅ (chu), ちょ (cho), the "ch" sound is softer than in Russian. That is, it is correct to say not "cha", but "cha". You don't have to try it yet, but in the future, to make the sound "ch" softer, pay attention to how it happens with other sounds in Russian (for example, ta-tya, na-nya, ka-kya).
   4. The sound わ (wa) is not labial-tooth, but labial-labial. To pronounce it, try to pronounce it as close as possible to the usual Russian "va", but passing air through the gap between the two lips, and not between the lip and the teeth.
   5. ざ、ず、ぜ、ぞ - at the beginning of words it looks more like "dz", in the middle it looks like "z".
   6. じ、じゃ、じゅ、じょ - at the beginning of words it is more like "j", in the middle it is more like "zh".
   7. Other sounds different from the Russian language are "u" and "e", but for them I have no description. I think while you can not bother with it, in the future understanding will come by itself.
6. Small っ (tsu) is sokuon, which means doubling the leading consonant, for example, ずっと is jutto. In pronunciation, if broken down into syllables, っ would refer to the syllable ahead: zu-tto. There is even a word in Japanese that begins with sokuon - って (tte).
7. ん before "p", "b" and "m" is pronounced like "m".
8. You may also find general rules stroke order in the General Guide, but there are many exceptions to the rules.

2. Learn Katakana

The best katakana tablet is also in the akanji application and is available at . Katakana consists of only 46 unique characters and takes approximately 6 hours to learn. Katakana is a syllabic alphabet, something like the Russian alphabet. Everything is exactly the same as in hiragana. When learning katakana, pay attention to the following things:

1. In katakana, a long vowel is shown with a ー, such as デート. Doubling a consonant is also done with a small tsu, but in katakana: ッ.
2. Exist informal katakana table compiled by myself. It is not worth learning katakana from it, this table can only help you understand how some combinations in katakana are composed.

3. Turn on the Japanese keyboard

On a computer You can do this in the control panel. Once enabled, you can simply write English letters- they themselves will transform into hiragana. After pressing the spacebar, hiragana will be converted to kanji. Helpful information:

1. In Windows, the Japanese layout has a built-in English layout. To switch between Latin and Kana, press Alt+~ (Alt+Ё).
2. Ctrl+Caps Lock - Hiragana.
3. Alt + Caps Lock - katakana.
4. F7 - convert the entered word to katakana.
5. "x" or "l" before the required character will make that character small.
6. Other combinations are possible.
7. In the settings, you can also make hiragana without Latin characters printed right away, but for this you need to have a Japanese keyboard on which hiragana characters are drawn, and since you do not have it, this method will not work for you. However, firstly, this method is not colossally faster, because many characters still require more than one press, and secondly, most Japanese themselves type using the Latin alphabet (including because it does not require learning separate layout). Nevertheless, on phones it is quite possible to enable typing with kana signs right away, because there is a touch keyboard.

When you have 3 layouts on your computer, switching is difficult. The method of switching layouts described can be saved. If you know others, write to me (contacts below).

On the phone

For typing in Japanese on a phone, I recommend the Gboard keyboard (by Google) or the Google Japanese layout. Gboard is preferable because it includes other languages, and for Japanese it seems to be as good as the Japanese "Japanese Google Layout" now.

3.1. Also set the Japanese font

For hieroglyphs, there are 2 fonts - Japanese and Chinese. Desired font selected depending on the language. Chinese characters look a little different, and some look a lot different. Unfortunately, some sites or programs do not indicate the language, so you must select your preferred language. You can also choose your preferred font for Japanese, as fonts can vary in beauty (especially on Windows).

• Android: By default, if the program does not specify the language of the text, all characters are displayed as Chinese, not Japanese. To set this up on Android 7+, go to settings, find "Language" and add Japanese as a second language. After that, the system will understand that when the language is not specified, you prefer to see the Japanese script, not Chinese. In Android 6 and below, there is no such feature, but the Kanji Fix app can save it. Unfortunately, the application requires root access, so for most people this method will not work. If you don't want to root your phone, the only solution is to update your Android, ask app developers to choose your preferred font, or buy a new phone. If you have a MIUI shell, then the style change function only works starting from MIUI 10, so even if you have Android 7+, you still need to update to MIUI 10.
• Browsers on Windows: Here, the characters usually display normally by default - like Japanese, not Chinese. Nevertheless, in some browsers on Windows, for some reason, the old ugly MS Gothic font (which also does not support anti-aliasing) is installed, when a new very high-quality Meiryo font has appeared on this system for a relatively long time. You can set it up like this:
  • Mozilla Firefox: As of Firefox 57 (11/14/2017) Meiryo is already the default. But if you want, you can check here: Menu → Settings → General → Language and appearance→ Fonts and Colors → Advanced → Select Fonts for "Japanese" → Select "Meiryo". I'm not sure if this happens, but if for some reason you are using Chinese characters, and not Japanese, try: 1) make sure that you have the Meiryo font, 2) go to Menu → Settings → General → Language and appearance → Language → Select the language you prefer for displaying web pages → Select → Add Japanese to the end of the list.
  • Google Chrome: For 2019, unfortunately, it displays in the old font and does not support customization (which is very strange, because the correct display of text is the main task of the browser). However, I found an add-on that allows you to customize the font, as Firefox does: Advanced Font Settings .

4. Watch anime, Japanese movies or dramas for at least 20-60 hours (with Russian subtitles)

This will allow you to understand the sounds used in the kana you have learned. It will also allow you to study grammar much faster during further study of grammar, as well as understand the intonation with which you will need to read examples. If you have already watched so many anime before, you can skip this paragraph.

5. Read the whole grammar book from this link

Read the entire grammar book at this link. This is a very simple and clear textbook, the best guide for beginners who are not familiar with Japanese at all. This point is the most important.

PS. For a very small number of users, the site does not open. The site is actually working fine. If you encounter this problem, try connecting through a VPN / proxy / tunnel or from another Internet. If you are not well versed, then just install any browser extension for VPN.

6. Install the Rikaichan add-on

Install the Rikaichan add-on for Firefox or for Chrome and Opera.

Rikaichan is a very good dictionary: on any site you can hover over the desired word, and the add-on itself will find the end of this word and give its dictionary translation. Also, the addition will say in what form this word is.

After installation, you should also do the following:

1. Click on the add-on icon, select Options and select Color Scheme - White VL as the default theme is very bad, but this one is good.
2. Next, you need to install 3 dictionaries. By default, there are no dictionaries in the add-on. To install, go to the dictionaries page (the link to it can be found on the add-on page). Here you will see a list of dictionaries. We will need the following ones:
   • Dict_Japanese-Russian - Japanese-Russian Dictionary
   • Dict_Japanese-Russian (Warodai) - Another Japanese-Russian Dictionary
   • Dict_Japanese-English - Japanese-English Dictionary
   To download a dictionary, right-click on it and select "Download". Now you need to download them in addition. To do this, click on the add-on icon, select Options, find the "Dictionaries" section and download all three dictionaries. Move the default "Kanji" dictionary to the bottom.

When you look at the meaning of a word, you can switch between dictionaries with the Shift key.

Rikaichan can also be used without hovering: click on the add-on icon and select Search. In this case, Rikaichan will work like a regular smart dictionary that understands the forms of words. Unfortunately, Search usually does not work correctly for them, in which case you can use it to simulate a Rikaichan bar.

There is also a better version of Rikaichan, but it only works with older Firefox. This version is more convenient + "Search" works correctly there (which is convenient) + "Search" itself is more convenient there, because it is created in the browser, not inside the tabs. If you want to install it, you must first install Firefox 56 (can be found at ), disable auto-update in Firefox, go to the add-on's official page and install it from the link "The last version of Rikaichan can be downloaded here". On the same page, install 3 dictionaries in the same way. The dictionary "Russian (Warodai)" is now hidden there for some reason, but it can be downloaded.

7. Start using dictionaries

Quite often there is a very big need to translate a word into Russian. The following dictionaries may help you:

1. First, the Rikaichan add-on, which has three dictionaries built in at once:
   • Japanese-English EDICT. This is open base, on which many applications and websites are built.
   • Japanese-Russian JMdict (as well as other languages). Also an EDICT project, but for languages ​​other than English - Russian, German, French, Hungarian, Vietnamese, Thai, etc. Dictionary and languages ​​are available both in Rikaichan and other applications and sites.
   • Japanese-Russian Warodai. There is an online version (+ you can download the entire dictionary), and many applications and sites include this dictionary.
2. Yarxi is a powerful Japanese-Russian dictionary, installed on almost all platforms, but with a complicated interface. There is also an online version. Uses its base.
3. The list is not over... Contact me (contacts below) to add dictionaries to the list.

8. Learning Kanji

After you read the entire tutorial, if you wish, you can start learning kanji. The site is best for studying. I also wrote an extensive article that covers everything and answers all the questions you may have, I highly recommend reading it.

• If you have no desire to learn at all, I advise you to learn 1st year kyoiku kanji (80 pcs) + 170 most popular kanji (250 kanji in total). This will allow you to read 54% of all kanji in the text! (do not read 46%).
• If there is a desire, but not very big, then the 1st year and 420 most popular (500 in total) - this will allow you to read 71% of the kanji in the text (do not read 29%).
• If there is a strong desire, then 1 part and 920 most popular (1000 in total) - this will allow you to read 85% of the kanji in the text (not read 15%). 1500 will read 92%, 2000 - 95%, 2530 - 98.0%, 3000 - 99.0%. You don't need to know 100%.

You can also:

• Find more detailed statistics on hieroglyphs.
• Read the old article from .

9. Watch another 50-150 hours of anime/movies/doramas with Russian subtitles

This point can be performed in parallel with points 5-8. For example, you are doing step 5 and have learned a new grammatical structure. You know her, but you have no intuition for her, she seems alien and unfamiliar to you. In fact, there is nothing to worry about: when you start looking in Japanese, you will immediately begin to recognize this construction in speech, and very soon you will not even be able to understand how you did not notice it before. And over time, you yourself will be able to use this design unconsciously. Watching in Japanese with subtitles will also help you understand what intonation and how to pronounce phrases, as well as allow you to understand someone else's speech. It is impossible to learn a language without ever hearing it. If you have already watched so many anime before, then 10-30 hours will be enough.

10. Last item (large)

At this stage, you understand Japanese sounds, intonation, grammar, speech, part of the characters. You can also speak for yourself, but with difficulty. However:

• You can't watch without subtitles yet because of a small vocabulary, and possibly insufficient listening comprehension or grammar learned but not yet deposited.
• You can't read Japanese because of the small vocabulary and because you only know a part of the characters.
• You have difficulty speaking (harder than listening) due to your small vocabulary and lack of speaking experience.
• There are also other less serious problems.

In this section, we will describe the things you need to further improve your knowledge of Japanese. This is a very extensive section, but since all these things now no longer need to be done in a certain order, but at the same time, we moved them into one tenth paragraph. So:

1. Expand your vocabulary:
   • Use to improve your vocabulary. This is a mobile application with decks. You must find a ready-made Japanese deck with 13,000 words and study these words while traveling, waiting in line, and so on. More details on the link.
   • Usually when you watch something in Japanese, you use a dictionary. But after entering the word, do not immediately delete the word, but leave it entered in kana or hieroglyphs. At the end, when you finish viewing (so as not to interfere with viewing), take all these words and write them down in a regular text file in the format "<слово> <чтение> <значения>" (each word on a new line). You will have to learn these words. The bottom line is that when you heard this word in real life, it will be much easier for you to remember it. Firstly, you already have an example of its use, respectively , you better understand the meaning of this word (because just a translation from a dictionary is not enough). Secondly, you will already have an image associated with this word. Thirdly, when you remember this word, you will remember the situation, where you heard this word, thanks to remembering the word it can be 2 times easier, and the word will be remembered for longer.Fourthly, you will know how to pronounce this word.The text dictionary does not provide such information. real life it will additionally help in memorization, because it will pop up in the head. The advantage of this method is that such a study of words will be many times better than with AnkiDroid. You will also learn those words that come across to you more often. Also, such a study can be performed without knowing all the hieroglyphs. But the big minus is that you can’t just sit down and teach. Instead of studying, most of the time will be spent on viewing, i.e. the method does not allow you to replenish vocabulary in an accelerated mode. Of course, not all words you hear will be popular. But to check the popularity, the site will later compile a list of the most popular words based on a large number of good sources using a clever algorithm. We will provide a link to this list in this manual as soon as this list becomes available. For example, you can skip words that are more than 10-15 thousand, or put them at the end so as not to spend too much time on them, but first learn more popular words. If you heard the same word on different days, you can also put a number in front of it, indicating the number of times you heard the word. After the list appears, we also recommend that you start writing its number before the word. This will give an incentive to learn words. For example, when you see that a word is among the first 5000, you know for sure that you are learning one of the most popular words in Japanese, and not that you have come across a word that occurs very rarely. Learning becomes more interesting.
   • When a list of popular words appears here, try to write out and learn the most popular words in the same way, for example, from the first 1000. Most of them you will already know, but still you won’t be some, but the most popular words are the most important.
   • Find other sources to build vocabulary, preferably with audio playback. From myself, I can advise memrise.com, it has audio, but there are very few words (about 700). In it, you need to study the decks "Japanese_1", "Japanese_2", "Japanese_3" and "New Approach (vocabulary)". If you know other sources of words, write to me (contacts below).
2. Learn all the necessary characters. For a good knowledge of Japanese, you should know 2500-3000 characters (of which 2136 are joyo kanji, and the rest are the most popular jimmeiyo kanji and hyogaiji). You can find instructions for studying, and an application for studying. Knowledge of hieroglyphs will also help you in replenishing your vocabulary, because firstly, in AnkiDroid you will not be able to learn words whose hieroglyphs you do not know, and secondly, when studying hieroglyphs, you learn some words, especially those that are both kun readings of the hieroglyph.
3. Keep watching in Japanese:
   • First, with Russian subtitles. You won't be able to start watching immediately without subtitles, because you need to build up your vocabulary and become more familiar with the language. Viewing with subtitles is needed to consolidate the learned words and other things. Also, if suddenly you still have insufficient understanding of speech by ear or grammar, viewing with subtitles will solve this problem. Watching with subtitles helps in vocabulary building, but at a slower pace.
   • With Japanese subtitles (when available) or without subtitles (when not available). Such viewing helps to listen specifically to Japanese speech and speeds up vocabulary replenishment and learning Japanese compared to viewing with Russian subtitles. As a minus, you will need to go into the dictionary while watching.
   • My personal advice: try watching モニタリング (full title ニンゲン観察バラエティ モニタリング). It's kind of like a Japanese prank (but not really, long to explain, so see for yourself to understand), only in Japanese style. There are no Russian subtitles for it, but there are Japanese ones, and very good ones, and they are part of the program. To watch, I think you need to know at least 5000 Japanese words. Watching it is much easier than, for example, anime, because a lot of things are either clear in meaning or it's not scary to miss. Now it comes out every week (read more on the Japanese Wikipedia). You can find the transfer:
     • On Youtube on request (Monitoring / モニタリング) + date in 20190509 format.
     • On the Chinese video hosting bilibili on demand (Monitoring / 人类观察 / 人间观察) + date in the format (190509 / 20190509 / 2019.05.09 / 2019年5月9日 without zeros). There are most releases (they are 5-10 times more often, on YouTube). To view in HD you need to register. You can do this not by phone, but by e-mail using this link (if it suddenly changed, you need to hover over the account icon at the top, click on the registration link, and then on the registration page there will be a link to switch phone / e-mail). Unfortunately, the site is in Chinese, so either use the function of translating the entire page with Google browser Chrome or Google translator, or right-click on the input field, select "Inspect element" / "View element code" and copy into the electronic translator the text that is contained next to the inscription "placeholder" in the element inspector that opens.
     • On the Chinese video hosting youku for the same requests. There are probably far fewer releases.
4. Practice the sounds that are problematic to pronounce (at least when you already know well how the sound should actually sound).
5. You can look for other grammar books. However, personally, the textbook indicated in the article was enough for me - I don’t come across unfamiliar grammar in speech. PS. Don't learn from "Minna no Nihongo" - this tutorial is meant to be taught with a teacher, not on your own.
6. When you feel confident in Japanese:
   1. Read lyrics, comments, manga, comics, light novels, captions, etc. (optional). You need to read in Japanese, preferably without furigana, because you must learn to read well with hieroglyphs and kana.
   2. If you want to be able to speak freely and express your thoughts, you will have to speak. Without it, this skill will suffer.
   3. To learn how to use correct intonation When speaking, it also takes practice.
   4. You can try to start communicating with the Japanese. Ask them to correct your mistakes.

It should also be noted: the most important and difficult of the things listed here is vocabulary, because when you already know all the rules of grammar and know how to use them, you know the intonation of the language, you perceive speech well by ear (if you have looked at something in Japanese for enough time ), the only thing that will further restrain you in knowing the language is vocabulary. If you don't know the word, then you don't understand what you were told. And it’s even harder to speak yourself, because you may not know the words that you need, which will be confusing when composing a phrase, even if you would have a very good speaking skill.

Conclusion

In conclusion, I would like to collect all the things that are needed to know the Japanese language:

• Understand sounds. Achieved by watching anime already to the 4th point.
• Know hiragana and katakana and be able to read it fluently. Achieved with:
  • Direct study (1st and 2nd points).
  • When studying grammar, because you will read sample sentences (5th paragraph).
  • When learning kanji, because learning hieroglyphs, you will also actively encounter kana (8th and 10th points).
  • Reading manga/comics/light novel/comments/lyrics etc‌ ‌etc. (10th point).
  • Viewing with Japanese subtitles (10th item).
• Know grammar. The most important thing. Achieved by direct study at the 5th point.
• Understand speech by ear. Achieved by viewing in Japanese (4, 9, 10 points).
• Have a vocabulary. Achieved with:
  • Browsing and reading in Japanese.
  • Direct study in the 10th paragraph.
• Know hieroglyphs and be able to read fluently. Achieved with:
  • Direct study (8th and 10th points).
  • Reading manga/comics/light novel/comments/lyrics etc.‌ ‌etc. (10th point).
  • Viewing with Japanese subtitles (10th item).
• Pronunciation:
  • The ability to speak and express one's thoughts. Achieved by practice (10th point).
  • Ability to pronounce sounds correctly. It is achieved by itself + by training the pronunciation of problematic sounds (10th point).
  • Ability to use correct intonation when speaking. Achieved by practice (10th point).

The most difficult of these is vocabulary, and it is he who will restrain you at the very end from a very good knowledge of the language (however, I think this is the case in all languages). At the same time, the Japanese language, as luck would have it, has a rich vocabulary =)

Dialects

The Japanese language consists of more than one dialect. The most popular is the standard Tokyo dialect. Next in popularity is the Kansai dialect, which is actually a group of dialects that includes the dialects of the Kansai region, such as the O:saki dialect, the Kyo:to dialect, and other dialects that differ from each other. After Kansai, there are many different other dialects. This raises the questions: How much does the variety of dialects interfere with the understanding of Japanese? What dialects should be learned?

In reality, everything is quite simple. You need to learn exactly the Tokyo dialect. On it you can find mutual language with any resident of Japan. All products are also produced in the Tokyo dialect. Including because it is the most popular dialect in Japan, because this dialect is understood by everyone, and also because it is the "official" dialect. Tokyo dialect - dialect of the Internet, television, works.

However, other dialects will also occasionally come across to you, usually Kansai, which is not something to be afraid of. They meet:

• On broadcasts, people from Kansai are often asked to speak their own dialect.
• In the works - sometimes the characters are specially given the Kansai dialect.
• When shooting ordinary people.

There is no need to be afraid of this, because:

• Still, usually on the Internet, television, and especially works, the Tokyo dialect is mainly used.
• Dialects in Japanese are not like Chinese. In most dialects, the differences compared to Tokyo are not huge.
• Over time, you will begin to roughly understand the Kansai dialect even without special study. You can also study and special. The bottom line is that the better you know Japanese, the more often you have met the Kansai dialect, and the better you know it.

Dialects other than Kansai are even less needed. If the Japanese himself does not understand a dialect well, then you don’t need it all the more. It will not be used where all Japanese should understand. And if it's something simple, and the Japanese still understand, then you can understand, depending on your knowledge of the Japanese language. It's like a "vocabulary".

As a result, fortunately, dialects are not a problem that you will encounter. Without any study of dialects, you will much more often encounter ignorance of words, the need to spend some time studying hieroglyphs, or something else. And if all this is not a problem for you, then the dialects are even more so - either without studying, or with it. You don't even have to think about dialects until you realize that you already know Japanese quite well.

But if you have a desire to go to Japan, then the situation will change a little. If you go to a place where a non-Tokyo dialect prevails in the first place (which is far from necessary), then most will speak it with each other, since here it is no longer necessary for any Japanese to understand. That is, the situation when you are inside Japan is different from when you are outside. But even in this case, you can easily speak Tokyo or learn the dialect of the region you are going to.

How long does it take to learn Japanese

Feedback

If something is unclear during the execution of the instruction, or if you want to add something to the instruction, you can write to me

How to learn Japanese? On one's own? The question is interesting, and most importantly intriguing. Every year more citizens travel to the East. People go to Japan to study and work. You can learn the language on your own. But not in 5 minutes. This may take months. The following are recommendations, teaching methods, how to learn Japanese correctly, in accordance with the rules of grammar and vocabulary, colloquial speech.

Language Features

Languages ​​whose letters are represented by hieroglyphs are complex. Speech, pronunciation, and writing have to be taught separately. Japanese grammar and language in its construction is represented by two systems. This hiragana, as well as katakana, are the syllabic constituents of the alphabet. Hiragana prescribes grammatical relationships, the connection between spoken words, katakana is necessary for recording, denoting foreign terms, borrowed phrases. Mutually complementing each other, they form a complex system of grammar and vocabulary.

What is Katakana

The order of each word in Japanese in the construction of a sentence is not difficult, even for a novice student, it is difficult to learn. It must be remembered - the predicate comes at the end of each completed sentence, the definition - immediately before the defined itself. In the structure of the sentence, it is often omitted if the context itself makes it clear what exactly, what subject, person is being discussed. These basics will allow in the future to correctly build a sentence, to speak like a real resident of the Middle Kingdom.

Hiragana

How to learn Japanese by typing from scratch? In the process of independent, group study, different forms of words are not assigned. The latter do not change their own form according to persons, taking into account belonging to the defining genera, numbers. Plural number in a word - the corresponding particle is placed at the end of each changed word. Having learned this rule, in the future you will easily be given the plural form.

The language has no ending, forms denoting the future tense. There are three different degrees in the spoken language of politeness:

• friendly communication between interlocutors - the appeal goes to You;
• official colloquial speech between interlocutors - the appeal goes exclusively to you;
• the rules also provide for respectful treatment in everyday communication.

The phonetics of the language, the sounds of speech often resemble Russian, with a number of nuances. The difficulty for teachers and students in learning the language is writing, represented by hieroglyphs.

Quick guide to start learning Japanese

Speaking of how to learn Japanese, follow the short instructions.

• Study hiragana and katakana at the very beginning of the course.
• Include the Japanese layout in the language learning program.
• It is optimal to watch Japanese films and animation for at least 20-60 hours, choosing films with Russian translation and subtitles.
• Read the grammar textbook - the item in the course is obligatory, important.
• Install on your computer or mobile add-on Rikaichan - Japanese Dictionary. Hover over the word in italics, the addition itself finds its end, gives a translation, tells you in what form it is pronounced.
• Use dictionaries, look through 100 - 150 aces of the film and. This item has been repeated in this list, but repetition is the mother of learning.

Study Methods

The basics of studying the grammar and words of the language of the Celestial Empire provide for several methods - you can study it on your own, taking as a basis the tutorial, on group lesson or with a teacher. For beginners, the choice of the method of teaching the language of the land of the rising sun is purely individual. The main focus is motivation.

Group lessons

Each city has a linguistic center, language courses from scratch, practicing in a group. Experienced teachers will help you learn the language, help you master the methods of memorizing words.

The main thing to remember. When attending a lesson, you need to duplicate the material at home. Not just by studying in class. But also to work every day on your own. Minus - the level of knowledge of the language of each student in the group is different, respectively, the speed of mastering and memorizing the taught material. Are you lagging behind others, are you ahead? Adjust yourself to the rest of the group.

Individual lessons with a teacher

When compared with group training, individual programs and lessons are optimal. They will help to study at a pace suitable for the student. The teacher, on the other hand, adjusts exclusively to your pace, the frequency of the lessons is adjusted according to the needs of each student. The disadvantage with the teacher of classes is the high cost of each lesson and course of study.

Self-study programs

You can learn the Japanese language for free, but not so quickly, on your own - you make up the schedule, the intensity of the lessons yourself. Minus - it's easy to relax here, to abandon the study.

At the very beginning, choose textbooks, a manual. The following textbooks enjoy positive reviews:

The only negative is the unsatisfactory vocabulary. The latter does not correspond to modern realities and demands. Accordingly, expressions, phrases and phrases are taken from other teaching aids, preferably a Japanese edition, such as Try or Genky. They feature lively and varied dialogues.

The first important thing is to master the syllabic alphabet - Japanese contains 146 syllables, after which it is easy to move on to mastering hieroglyphs and grammar. For free communication in the language of the Land of the Rising Sun, it is worth learning 2000 hieroglyphs. It's hard to remember them. Teachers are advised to practice the figurative type of thinking. But no other way of thinking.

Mastering the language being studied is long, complicated, the main thing is to make the lesson interesting, not at the expense of knowledge. It is important to take some advice into account.

1. They work every day, without a break. A language that has hieroglyphs in writing is remembered quickly, the main thing is not to take a break between lessons. Diversify your lessons - write in the morning, pronounce hieroglyphs, in the afternoon - make it a habit to watch movies, fan - read newspapers.
2. All methods are good. We download applications, tutorials, dictionaries and movies to the smartphone. It is enough to allocate 5-10 minutes for such training in the subway and the result will soon be visible.
3. The main thing in the learning process is regularity. If you want to memorize hieroglyphs quickly, download applications with flash cards. Then view cards with hieroglyphs according to the degree of memorability, and the program will determine the order, frequency of reproduction on a laptop monitor or phone screen.
4. Learn the given words, preferably not one at a time, separately - in the formed composition, let it be a short expression or sentence. Compose with the word certain offer, short or long - to remember, it will be much easier to learn in a given context.
5. Communicate with a native speaker of the language itself, even if not in person, at least via Skype or another messenger, with sound and video. It is better to live for a while in the country of the language being studied, China.

The main thing to remember is that two components are important for learning, memorizing a language. Discipline and motivation are guaranteed language acquisition, and choosing a method is selected individually.

How long does it take to learn Japanese

How long does it take to learn Japanese? Each student learns the language at their own pace. For example, offline courses involve 3 years of study. This is six months for each course. This is an average pace of learning - they master writing and reading, communication, listening comprehension. But even here you will not get a 100% guarantee that you will know the language. The guarantee for basic skills is unambiguous. This will provide a basis for future self-learning of the basics of the language. Living in Japan - the language itself, colloquial speech is mastered much faster.

Videos start learning Japanese