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Studying Japanese
As mentioned on the Preparations page, there is a lot that you can do to study Japanese before you come to Japan. However, if you are serious about learning the language, there is no substitute for coming to Japan. You really have to learn to use the language in the culture - or rather, learn the culture in the language, because learning Japanese without learning something about the culture and people is firstly probably not possible and secondly only half the story.
It is possible to get the basics studying abroad, and many do achieve a relatively high degree of fluency on university programs and such like, but even the best universities recognise the need for students to study in Japan and either have schools in Japan or encourage students to find their own.
Learn the hiragana and katakana
These are simple syllabic scripts of 46 characters each, that you can learn in a week or less. You should really know these before you go to Japan - it saves classroom time.
Learn the kanji as you go
It is easy to do, and many of us make (and have made) the mistake of putting it off until later, but you really need to keep working at the kanji while you study. Even just one a day makes a difference: after a month, you will know thirty kanji, compared to about two if you try to learn thirty in one day. The human brain seems to have a limit on the number of kanji that it can take in at one time - most people find that it is impossible to really take in more than one or two a day on a regular basis at first (this changes as you learn more kanji - you speed up as you start to see the patterns and combinations).
There are plenty of books to help you learn kanji too - check your nearest bookshop or see Amazon.com.
Get as much conversation practice as possible
You can learn all the grammar you please, and fill your head with a few thousand kanji, but you still don't know the language until you speak it. Take any chance you have to use your Japanese, and people will almost always be happy to listen, laugh with (or at) you. This is usually the most interesting and fun part of the language - after all, communication is what a language is all about.
Some common questions
Some commonly asked questions/ideas concerning Japanese and learning the language. Please let us know if you have any further questions you would like to ask or see added here.
Japanese is far too difficult
Well, no one said it was easy. If they did, they were Korean and consequently already knew most of the grammar. Japanese is definitely one of the more difficult languages to learn, although speakers of Altaic languages (Mongolian, some dialects spoken in China, etc.) find it easier than others. Also, if you are a Chinese native speaker, or already know kanji, you have an advantage when learning the written language.
However, it will take you time. You will need to dedicate several years to the language to master it. Study in Japan for 12 to 18 months will see you fluent, but not perfect - it will probably not be enough to work in a Japanese company unless you work really hard. In general, 18 months to two years should be adequate for that.
It takes too long to learn Japanese
If you don't have time to spend a year or more in Japan, then it is still possible to combine short courses in Japan with studies in your home country. This is in fact fairly efficient too: you increase your fluency dramatically by spending even a short time in Japan, and in between trips you can do a lot of rote learning of grammar, vocabulary, kanji and so on as well as learning conversational skills with a teacher in your home country.
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