LEARNING FOREIGN LANGUAGES – JAPANESE LANGUAGE
“You live a new life for every new language you speak. If you know only one language, you live only once.” This is a Czech proverb. Number of reasons such as Education, Immigration, Friendship, Culture, food and so on can set you on the path to acquiring a new language. Your choice of the new language would be dependent on the reasons. But, when the decision is reached, then the next step would be to identify the tools and materials required. Fortunately, in today’s internet driven generation, there is a multitude of these resources including online lessons, mp3 players, electronic translators, etc. The days when you had to go hunting for a tutor already proficient in the particular language you want to study are gone, because even virtual tutors are available just at the click of a button.
Why Learn Japanese:
Though geographically small, Japan is a vibrant nation enjoying leadership position in a number of areas like Steel, Automotives, Electronics, Engineering, Robotics, etc. The resilience with which Japan has achieved this coveted position after the Atom Bomb holocaust that nearly wiped out the nation is indeed astounding. By learning the native language of this great island nation, you will gain better insight into the making of today’s Japan. Most of Japan lives in urban agglomerates and the country side is sparsely populated. The vibrant society that Japan has today is credited with presenting the world several amazing products be it in domestic consumables, sports, pastime, brainteasers, electronics, paper craft etc. Whoever has not heard of their famous paper fans or bonsai? Or more latently, the “Sudoku”.
The Learning Process:
The process of learning Japanese Language can be divided into several parts according to your own convenience. In most cases, spoken language comes in first and therefore, pronunciation is important. When your objective is speaking a particular language, pronouncing the words correctly is equally important since the natives can either misunderstand you or make fun of you when the words are pronounced differently. In college campuses, new language coaching among peers start with learning slangs and there are plenty of campus jokes associated with this aspect. After gaining the basic knowledge of the Japanese language through appropriate language learning Audio, CD, mp3, internet downloads etc., you can turn to the Japanese TV channels to fine tune your pronunciation and enhance your knowledge of the language itself. Vocabulary building is another important aspect of learning a language. But, this comes gradually as you travel down the road or through a systematic effort like learning a certain number of words every day.
Learning the grammar is necessary to understand the language correctly and construct your own sentences when necessary. The grammatical terminologies or the reason why words change may not be very relevant but the ability to use the right words at the right time would be very essential. Though there are several languages with common script, the Japanese script can be challenging. Yet again, the internet has several offerings to address the issue and you can overcome this problem with relative ease. |
