As an Indian, how did you learn Japanese in less duration?

Little is known of the language’s prehistory, or when it first appeared in Japan. Chinese documents from the 3rd century recorded a few Japanese words, but substantial texts did not appear until the 8th century. Japanese is an East Asian language spoken by about 128 million people, primarily in Japan, where it is the national language. It is a member of the Japonic language family, and its relation to other languages, such as Korean, is debated. Japonic languages have been grouped with other language families such as Ainu, Austroasiatic, and the now-discredited Altaic, but none of these proposals has gained widespread acceptance. Roughly 127 million people speak Japanese in Japan. One can also find sizeable Japanese speakers in Korea, Taiwan, England, Canada, Brazil, the USA, and the Philippines. It is also one of the most widely used languages on the Internet. 

The Foreign Service Institute (FSI) mentions the approximate time needed to learn the Japanese language as an English speaker. To reach Speaking 3: General Professional Proficiency in Speaking (S3) and Reading 3: General Professional Proficiency in Reading (R3), an English speaker would take only 2200 diligent hours or 88 weeks, at a minimum, assuming there aren’t any distractions or responsibilities to be discharged and a student can give 25 hours a week without fail. This would mean approximately 19-24 months. This also helps us understand how much of an effort a Japanese learner must give to learn Japanese. Learning Japanese for English speakers isn’t a cakewalk as there are no similarities, whatsoever! 

English is taught in India as a first language,  and if you happen to be one with proficient too, then this will certainly lead you to success in most European languages,  however, Asian languages are a different ball game altogether. However, let me not miss mentioning the road to learning any foreign without knowledge of English may be awfully tough! So I recommend you weigh your stakes before taking a plunge. 

Japanese falls is the category of languages that are considered exceptionally difficult for native English speakers. However, there are a few things that can help you if you are honestly serious about it and can go out of your way to learn better!

Japanese could help you secure an edge over others due to bilingual or multilingual proficiency. Companies world over are trying to increase their client base in Japan with progress in their bilateral relationship.

Japan has been known overages to have one of the best education systems in the world. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) an international organisation that works to build better policies for better lives, ranks the country’s high school students number one globally for maths and number 2 for scientific literacy. Thus, studying in Japan will always significantly improve your employability.

Japan is also one of the leading nations in patent filings. Statistical intellectual property data from around the world indicates that Japan’s total patent application in 2018 alone was over 300,000!

Prominent Japanese brands such as Sony, Honda, Panasonic, Hitachi, Toshiba, Sanyo, Casio, Canon, Minolta, Pioneer, Nikon, Fujitsu, Suzuki, Toyota, Mitsubishi, and hundreds of more continue to infiltrate the world of the market over in a wide range of sectors.

Unlike English and other European languages, there is a lack of reliable Japanese translation tools and software.

The demand for Japanese specialists is staggering high, and the competition is relatively low due to the complexity of the language, the scope automatically becomes immense. 

The Japanese learning can open doors to knowledge and learning of a variety of fields ranging from Anime to Manga, Origami, Zen Buddhism to Bonsai, Sumo Wrestling to Martial Arts, Sudoku to Sony PlayStation & Nintendo, from Sushi, Yakitori, to Tempura from Hello Kitty to Pikachu and Haiku, Karate to Karaoke, adzuki beans or matcha tea!

A Japanese learner could seek a job in a variety of fields such as travel and tourism industry, translation, interpretation, proofreading,  editorial, content writer, curriculum designer, instructional coordinators, subject matter expert, a researcher in a variety of domains like social policy, economics, military, technology, culture and export and import houses, become a corporate trainer, Japanese instructor at a college, University or Institute, or choose to join a school as a Japanese teacher after completing a C1/C2 level Japanese as may be required in your country of origin or choose to teach as an ESL teacher in Japanese speaking countries or Japan. Other than this, you could either secure a job at Japanese companies with footprints in India, such as Sony, Hitachi, Panasonic, Mitsubishi Electric, Honda, Toshiba, Suzuki, Toyota and many more, in your country of origin or work for them in Japan or Japanese speaking countries. With relevant qualifications and knowledge of the Japanese language, one could practise as a lawyer in Japan, apply for a role of a Consul, Diplomat or an Ambassador, or seek jobs in embassies. One could also bag hospitality positions available at Casinos, resorts or at top-ranked, star hotels from the receptionist to manager, be a Flight attendant, or work in a specialised KPO, BPO as a chat, voice or email support, or to extend support as a voice-over artist to dubbing movies, for commercials and cartoons.

The ability to speak Japanese offers many jobs that require bilingual or multilingual skills. Today, many companies are searching for Japanese language specialists. With a better understanding of the Japanese work ethic, business etiquette, and knowing which cultural faux pas to avoid one can bag outstanding projects, negotiate appropriately and clinch critical deals.

And an insight into all these possible fields helped me boost my morale and get back to studying whenever I felt low or didn’t feel like studying. An engineer by profession, my goal was to seek employment in one of the largest Japanese firms called Hitachi! You could choose your motivation to stick to your learning plan!

To remind me of my goals I also followed a strict regime with bits and pieces of entertainment. Learning isn’t an overnight plan! Thus, I got my facts checked,  expectations in place! I created a realistic (not over-ambitious) study plan and set short and long term measurable goals. I divided my learning into short chunks, prioritizing topics I wanted to learn first. 

I further ensured consistent study using the Pomodoro technique by studying in shorter intervals in a day rather than studying for long hours on weekends. Unfortunately, my study was often marred by calls from friends or visiting guests; thus I started keeping my phone switched off, and room locked requesting not to be disturbed while studying.  I suggest taking the same approach; ensure no distractions while studying else it impacts the quality of your understanding and learning

I created a mini Japan in my home by putting up a lot of pictures from Japan that attracted me, towards the country Japan! I labelled them with their respective names in Japanese I would sit there for hours, revising, trying to recollect the Japanese names of the objects in my house rather than translating the names of the objects from English to Japanese in my head. Besides, I also started using flashcard apps like Memrise and Anki,  by creating my own decks and using the pre-existing decks to increase my vocabulary and learning. 

Eventually, I started by writing a journal, and a diary, capturing most of the phrases and words that were used repeatedly in day to day Japanese speaking, with their respective articles, thus increasing its practical usage. I would also collect conversation connectors and fillers that later helped me initiate my first conversation. Over a period of time I was so comfortable with Japanese that I actually started writing my grocery list in Japanese! 

Reading out Japanese loudly in front of the mirror or to my pet or my plant was something that amused everyone at home. But they were all supportive and that built my confidence. Sometimes I would entertain them by shadowing dialogues from Japanese movies, I watched for a change when I didn’t feel like studying and mimicking Japanese stars during interviews! And yes, my mnemonics were hit with my kids, and while my wife laughed at all those, my folks couldn’t figure out if I was learning or had gone or of my mind! While most of this looks great fun right now, I wish to put a word of caution, remember, if making mistakes or speaking funnily deters you then you may be at a severe disadvantage. I turned it over as family entertainment to gain more.

Apart from these, I happened to build a great friend on Italki, who started as a help to learn Japanese on the platform, only to bump into each other a few years later, when I started working in Japan realising my dream. We were in the same company branch! You can find many such sites offering conversational partners at Hello Talk, Tandem, Conversationpartners, Languagepartners, and many more!

Although there are a number of dialects and accents around Japan, the essentially monolingual status that prevails here is quite rare, experts say. Several principal languages are widely spoken within the borders of most countries. According to Nagoya University linguistics professor Ken Machida, there are between 6,000 and 7,000 living languages in the world today, which, if evenly distributed, would break down to about 30 per country. Outside of Japan, 2.98 million people in 133 countries are studying the language at 13,639 institutions, according to a 2006 survey by the Japan Foundation. This number, up 26.4 per cent from the previous survey in 2003, does not include people teaching themselves or taking private lessons.

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