HOW TO LEARN A LANGUAGE – LEARNING JAPANESE
Language is the collective name for any means to communicate one’s thoughts or feelings to others. The word language has its origin in the Latin word lingua. A language is also sometimes known as “tongue”. E.g., what is your mother tongue? A linguist is a person who can speak several languages. But, if we take language a bit into the philosophical domain, the roaring waves of the sea, the chirping birds in the deep woods, and the endearing actions of your pets, all have a language of their own. But the languages in this domain cannot be scripted and cannot be consistent. For varying reasons, different societies put together, their own languages for communication among the members of the society, or others having some affinity to that society. Some of these languages gained popularity and more and more people started using them. Even though there is a large number of recognized languages in the world, very few and in fact, just about a dozen of them are in regular day-to-day use. About 95% of the world’s population know and use any one or more of these dozen languages.
Learning the Japanese Language:
To learn the Japanese Language, the first thing you need is the determination to do so. The internet provides vast resources for self learning. You can identify the most appropriate resource for you in the form of self learning audios, videos and even interactive tutorials. After identifying the most suitable resource, you will have to draw out a schedule for learning. You have to be consistent with your efforts to achieve the goal. As the learning schedule progresses, you will also need to devote time for revision. Your first objective can be learning spoken Japanese and then if your enthusiasm subsists, you can move on to the written form of Japanese language. A word of caution though, the Japanese script is entirely different from most other world languages and you will have to put in focused efforts to master it. The necessary tools are available from the internet and it is not essential that your browser support Japanese language. Special downloads would take adequate care of that aspect.
Advantages of learning Japanese language:
Inspite of the great strides that Japan has made in every facet of trade, industry and culture English as a link language has not made any major impact among the Japanese. Though the Japanese people travel a lot on business as well as pleasure, they tend to use their own language and rarely use the services of interpreters where absolutely essential. By learning the Japanese language, you can get closer to the Japanese culture, its people, their cuisines and perhaps even their martial arts if you choose to. You can explore various language based career options such as in Travel and Tourism, Translation services etc. |
