Japan Survival Notes #1 - Learning the Japanese Language

A little more than an year back when I got to know I'll be moving to Japan soon, one of my biggest concern was how am I going to communicate or get things done when I do not know a single word in Japanese? I wasn't into anime or J-pop to even know the most basic Japanese. Thus began my journey of picking this language up from scratch. 

Before physically shifting here I started with learning the Hiragana and Katakana with help of a book I purchased from Amazon (Cost - ¥1,500). It had these wonderful visual mnemonics to remember each character and space to practice writing it yourself.

Next came the of haphazardly watching all the YouTube content I could find on "Basic Japanese Phrases YOU MUST KNOW before visiting  Japan" (Cost - free). It is safe to say as long as you know the 5 golden phrases - Hai, Sumimasen, Arigatou Goziamasu, Daijoubu desu and  ○○ onegaishimasu / kudasai - you're good to go.

I felt like this wasn't enough for me. If I am going to be living somewhere I would like to integrate into the society, speak with the locals, learn about their customs and traditions from them and language fluency plays a huge role in that.

Overwhelmed by the amount of study material online and not knowing where to begin I started with the most structed form of learning Japanese know to foreigners -  Japanese-Language Proficiency Test (JLPT). A lot of people argue that JLPT doesn't measure your language fluency and only how well you memorize stuff but I'd say so otherwise. Studying through JLPT level course material gives your an entire roadmap to follow (Cost - free/buy textbooks).

Until now I've given the first two level exams (N5 & N4) and this helped me immensely to gradually step up in a previously unfamiliar language. Perhaps I shall share my study process in another blog because mind you, I did not attend a language school and prepared for these exams by myself using text books and resources from the internet.  

My most recent and fun learning tool has been attending Japanese Language Classes at a Community Center (Cost - ¥500/month). Run by the sweetest volunteers from the community once a week are these classes held in nearly every community center where they teach Japanese language based on your level. Yes you can totally join them as a beginner but personally I feel like they are a bit slow. I'd rather suggest self studying in the beginning and then joining community classes for speaking practice.

There are so many other ways to learn a language too - schools, courses, private tutors, language exchange meet-ups. Since I wanted a budget friendly and a quick route to learn this language, this is the path I am on. I am happy to say that now I can comfortably make small talk, introduce myself and my purpose of living in Japan to locals.

Perhaps can do it much faster if you ask a translating app or AI to write up a paragraph for you and memorize it word to word but that doesn't really have the flow of a natural human conversation doesn't it? What when someone asks you a follow up question. 

I'm quite far from the language fluency I wish I had but everyday I learn something new and move an inch closer.

How has your language journey been?