I think there are a lot aspects to Japanese that are hard for English speakers to grasp.
Things like 〜くれて and 〜んです don’t really have equivalents in English, so those are the sort of things that I get stuck on. But overall, I’m definitely enjoying the learning experience.
I’m in Japan every year for snowboarding, and it’s a really cool way to see just how much my language skills are growing. And it’s definitely opened up a lot of places and experiences by being able to communicate with the locals in Japanese.
Also… on the subject of Mandarin, I’ve picked up a little bit, but I find it a heck of a lot harder to learn than Japanese. A lot of the sounds are hard to distinguish (ch,sh,zh), and tones are really hard for me to remember. At least in Japanese, I can use the hiragana as something of a waypoint. But facing a paragraph of nothing but hanzi is a lot harder.
I’m learning Japanese because I want to appreciate the culture that I love in the original language.
I fell in love with Japan after visiting it in 2015 and definitely want to move there and live in Japan at some point in my life (though I heard that that’s an entirely different challenge).
Japanese is not too hard imho, the grammar rules are pretty straightforward and all it comes down to in the end is the Kanji, which you can drill to perfection eventually.
Also I think that Czech and Hungarian are the most difficult languages in the world if you really want to speak it properly - the words are incredibly difficult to pronounce for a foreigner (here, try this czech word: https://goo.gl/QUvLnS ) and the grammar rules are sometimes completely nonsensical.
“Not hard at all” is a bit of an overstatement. Saying Japanese is easy is just total bullshit, unless you are someone that’s very familiar with learning languages in the first place. For a ordinary person trying to learn the language,“not hard at all” is a bit of an insult
But on the other hand I’ve heard that Japanese could be an easier language to begin with from scratch (as if you were an alien to the world). Not sure if it is true - just something that I seem to remember hearing.
I listen to a lot of music in Japanese. I think that for some reason, Japan’s culture has led them to create music more commonly to my tastes than almost any other country. I love those addictive melodies from video games, and somehow this applies to anime music as well.
I think this is the biggest reason, but far from the only one
I like a lot of video games that even though they were translated to English, I’d love to see them in their Japanese language form.
People seem very interesting too, I’d like to meet Japanese people while speaking their language. I’ve already met some who speak English, and they’ve been special to me thanks to the fact that they like all those other things I like granted, not everyone is like that, but those who are, are amazing!
I want to read news and see what my favorite developers say in interviews and stuff.
I kinda always thought that the Chinese and Japanese have secretly kept their language to be as difficult as it looks as a way to make it hard for other cultures to come in and adapt / affect their culture. It’s unlikely, but I’m not sure anymore when I see that even many Japanese people DON’T like their own language, especially memorizing so much Kanji.
I know a Chinese person though who loves their language, which to me seems kinda more complex.
I didn’t say that you are not free to feel what you want? If It’s easy for you, then that’s lovely. There are probably several reasons as to why you think the way you do, or maybe you are just gifted in languages. Sure, It’s my “problem” if I have a harder time learning the language, but It’s not like I have any say in it. My main thing I wanted to point out is that the way you worded yourself is a little bit insulting for us people that have a harder time with the language, and I still stick with that opinion, that’s all.
No I’m not saying that you would do that, but posting this where people just like me can read what you say is gonna be a bit insulting to us anyway. Imagine yourself if you are struggling everyday with the language, and you try to push on and don’t give up and then you see someone saying “It’s not hard at all”, and “It’s your opinion and problem, and I had such an easy time with everything” do you think you would feel good about yourself after that? Nah, I bet you would feel stupid, just like me
Not saying that you can’t express your opinions and beliefs, but you could do it in a bit of consideration to the people that is not having such an easy time, just saying.
Then again, when native Japanese people have problem with parts of the langauge I wouldn’t call it “not hard at all”, but maybe I’m just too inexperienced.
I am probably just overreacting like I usually do, but it was a bit painful for me to read that, sorry.
I’m Italian born, bred an educated. I have learned Russian. It is a beautiful, grateful language. Once you know the grammar properly, you can be reasonably sure that you will speak it in an acceptable natural way–unlike English and its special genius.
Japanese, however, is the first language I am studying with utter abandon and delight. Nothing bores me. Usually,until you master the first 2000 words the going is pretty tough–let’s face it. Not with Japanese. To me, its grammar is like the land in the Avatar film: everything is so different, and yet so human, so essentially the same. As for the kanji, I have finally realized why they are the very heart of what it means to be Japanese:the ability to immediately perceive the “thing” without words and then to again think of it, articulate it by way of sound…I
Today, Japanese is my passion, no doubt about it.
Advisors saying “Hey, why don’t you do [thing that you did that I’m interested in]?” is how a lot of academics end up in their specialities. Best of luck, it sounds like you have an amazing journey ahead of you!
I think the hardest language depends on what language you are coming from.
Japanese has been the hardest language I have learnt so far. However, this it the first time that I have not been in the country of the language that I am learning. So I think that would have a big say in this :).
I think learning to write is a bit of a pain. As well as the amount of words that have the same pronunciation…
Saying it’s not hard to get to conversational level in 2 months is definitely on the fringe. I’ve studied for 4 years. I am going to take N1 again in December. I regularly struggle to express myself in conversations.
I’m sure plenty of people who have studied for less time than me are better at speaking, but people who have only studied for 2 months and are at that level are probably few and far between.
Any language learner having conversations about lucid dreaming after 2 months is in a pretty high percentile. I couldn’t tell you what “lucid dreaming” is in Japanese, what the word for it is. Obviously I could explain it at the level I’m at currently.
At 2 months most people still don’t know all the basic conjugations.
The more I think about it, I think the hardest thing at 2 months would probably be the listening actually. Japanese people are great at phrasing things in ways that are different from the standard grammar points, and they’re just going to use the words that are best for the situation, without regard for the listener’s passive vocab, unless you stop them and ask them to explain a word you didn’t know.
Keeping up with that flow in conversations is especially difficult for beginners usually.
Again, hat off to you, but I’m going to put it in the “hard” category among things people can choose to attempt.
I’m sorry if I was very blunt in my last answer, I just had a rough time studying last night and reading your comment was the icing on the cake (Probably one of the reason why I overreacted a tiny bit too, I apologize for that.)
Don’t worry, you didn’t hurt my feelings it was just a bit rough to read that. I have such a strong passion for the Japanese language, and I dream of being able to have a conversational level with Japanese people, and reading that It’s easy to obtain that in 2 months is a bit devestating when that’s far from your own truth. Like you said yourself, you had friends telling you such things to your face so I guess you can relate then.
The reason I posted my comment was because you seemed to neglect a bit of what I tried to say, and instead focus on that I need to understand that things are easier, and harder depending on the person (It’s pretty obvious, and that you have to tell me that reflected a little bit that you tried to make me look even more stupid, at least in my eyes and mood at that time, I apoligize).
But ye, I find Japanese hard and you don’t, but just keep in mind that everyone will not have as an easy time as you.
Once again, I apologize. Hope there’s no hard feelings.
