Japanese has 128 million speakers around the world. The majority of them are in Japan as it is the national language. It is one of the toughest and the most complex languages to learn after Chinese Mandarin. Despite it being such a complex there are so many learners across the globe which is proof that it is something you shouldn’t be scared of but approach in a unique way. While learning any language it is very important to know about the language well. This will help you have a better idea of what you are stepping into and how you should approach it. Learning any language comes with a set pattern or order that would make the learning process easier and will help you master the language just like any native speaker. If you are someone who is looking for steps to follow while learning Japanese then this blog is definitely for you so read till the end. 

 

Following an order, while learning a language, especially complex ones such as Japanese is very important as this will help have a clearer path to proceed in your journey or learning. Oftentimes you would find yourself confused with what to do first and what should be left to be learned at the end, this set pattern will also help you avoid that phase in your learning and all the unnecessary stress that comes along with it. 

The first thing you should do while learning Japanese is learning the Japanese alphabet. The first steps are very important as these will help you set a strong foundation on the basis of which you can make your learning easier. There are three types of alphabets that are followed in Japanese. 

• Hiragana – it is where everything starts in Japanese. It will help you understand how and why the Japanese words sound the way they do. It helps a lot in pronunciation.
• Kanji – it is considered to be the most difficult part of Japanese. But learning Hiragana first will help you a lot with it. Also, Kanji being the most difficult it is also a very important part hence you can not totally decide on skipping it for later. Learning Kanji would lead to building a vocabulary. 
• Katakana – Katakana initially would seem very less in use, but as you will proceed you will find that it appears more frequently. Just being able to read Katakana at the initial stage is enough as later on, you will get to practice it, however, this is not the case with Hiragana and Kanji you need to be thorough in them before moving forward. 

Focus on building a vocabulary after you finish learning these alphabets.

 

The next step is to perfect the grammar. Once you have learned the alphabet and built a bit of your vocabulary, you can move forward to learning and perfecting the grammar of Japanese. Before beginning with grammar make sure you know 300 Kanji and 1000+ words. With this, you will not find yourself clueless in the middle of your grammar sessions. You would know enough words to understand and follow the grammatical rules of the language. 

 

The third step is the combination of your first and second step. After learning the alphabet and words, you have also learned the grammar now. So what are you waiting for? combining both the steps, try forming sentences. Since you know a lot of words and their meanings by now, you can understand simple questions and try forming the answers to them in Japanese. This will put your grammar and vocabulary both at test. 

 

These are steps or the order you should follow while learning Japanese. These are the basics and mastering the basics is equivalent to mastering the language as half your work is done there. After that, all that remains is practice and practice and practice. With thorough practice, you will be able to read books and talk fluently in Japanese. 

 

To have a helping hand in learning Japanese, you can also take the help of a tutor or a Japanese-speaking friend, moreover with the right books and material you can also learn it completely by yourself. 

Following an order is nothing but planning your study and lessons. This will keep you organized in your study and will help you in not missing out on any topic. Following this blog will definitely help you in organizing your learning process and making learning Japanese easier. Remember the key to learning it well is to take baby steps in the right direction because this will ensure systematic learning. Happy learning!