TOKYO

It seems whenever a list of the most difficult languages to learn is released, Japanese
sits near or at the top. We can see why, as the language does have quirks and
peculiarities that can occasionally make you wonder how anyone, even native
speakers, manage to communicate with each other in Japanese.
Today were going to explain four ways learning Japanese isnt nearly as bad as some
other languages.
1. The writing isnt as difficult as youve been told
Lets start with one of the most common complaints about Japanese: the three
different sets of characters used to write it. The first of these, the characters imported
from China called kanji, are a legitimate obstacle on the way to becoming proficient,
as there are about 2,000 that are commonly used.
Learning 2,000 characters is no joke, but its still a far smaller amount than the
number youd need to become functional in Chinese. Several Japanese kanji are
simplified versions, compared to their originals forms, to boot.
While remembering kanji can be an uphill struggle at first, learners eventually reach a
critical mass of knowledge, at which point they gain the ability to discern the meaning
of words theyve never seen before. For example, is you know means to put on,
means color, and means cooking, you can probably guess that means food
coloring, even if youre not sure how to pronounce it (its chakushokuryo, by the
way).
The other two sets of phonetic written characters are even less of a problem.
Hiragana, the set used for writing Japanese words, consists of 46 characters. That may
seem like an intimidating number at first, but no individual symbol is particularly
complex, and almost all are simple enough to write with two or three strokes of your
pen. Learn two a day, and youll be completely able to read and write the set in less
than a month.
Theres a second set of phonetics, called katakana, which gets used for writing foreign
loanwords in Japanese, and its also got 46 characters. But before you burn your
Japanese textbooks and sign up for French class, take a look at how remarkably
similar the hiragana (left) and katakana (right) for certain sounds can be:
ri: /
ka: /
se: /
ki: /

Once youve learned hiragana, katakana comes pretty quickly. Best of all, the
pronunciation rules for hiragana and katakana dont have nearly the same amount of
wiggle room as English with its long and short vowels and hard and soft consonants.
If you see written in a thousand different words, for example, itll be pronounced
ka in each and every one.
2. Pronunciation is a snap
Sharp-minded linguists have probably already figured this out, but that point about
absolute rules of pronunciation is related to another nice thing about learning
Japanese. Having 46 phonetic characters with only one possible pronunciation means
there are only 46 possible sounds in the language. While that might seem like a lot,
its actually a comparatively small set of sounds to train yourself to pronounce and
hear. This is especially true if youre comparing Japanese to English, where the
myriad possible reading for the 26 letters of the alphabet and their near-limitless
combinations, makes things a lot more complex.
Also, Japanese isnt a tonal language. That doesnt mean that its spoken by droning
flatly like Frankensteins monster, but rather that changing your pitch or stress as you
say a word doesnt result in it taking on different meanings like some kind of
linguistic shape shifter.
For example, take a look at anything written in Spanish, and notice all the accent
marks which the language requires. Or try speaking Vietnamese, which has so many
tones that even linguists cant agree if the correct number is six or eight.
3. Simplified time
For a nation that values precision and punctuality, Japans language is surprisingly
laid back with regards to time. Japanese doesnt have a future tense, so I cook, and
Im going to cook are said exactly the same way.
While that might seem incredibly confusing, context usually makes which the speaker
means incredibly clear.
Also, not having a future tense means at least one less grammar rule to memorize.
Even English, which seems so straightforward in this regard, has two oftentimes
exclusive ways of expressing future actions (if you dont believe us, next time the
doorbell rings, try telling your family Im going to get it! instead of Ill).
Japanese does have a past tense, but there are clear rules for it, as opposed to the
largely arbitrary way things are done in English (call becomes called but fall
becomes fell?). And students of Japanese have it way easier than would-be speakers
of Finnish, which has different verb forms for the distant past, ordinary past, recent
past, near future, regular future, and far future.
4. Mountains and mountains of source material
Some textbooks make a big deal out of the use of different words used in Japanese
depending on the age/social standing of the speaker and listener, even though this is
something that exists in other cultures as well.
Still, Japanese does have a few more conventions regarding this than other languages,
which is largely a reflection of social norms. There is, though, another way in which
Japanese society makes its language far easier to learn than many others.

While you wouldnt mistake a lot of it for Shakespeare in terms of complexity or

timelessness, the Japanese creative industry is a veritable juggernaut in the amount of
TV shows, movies, books, magazines, music, animation, comics, and video games it
pumps out. Young people are the target market for the vast majority of it, and while
that may not always result in the most mature storytelling, it does ensure that the
language is largely contemporary and close to the way people are speaking in Japan
right now. Walk into any Japanese bookstore, plunk down a few bucks, and you can
come away with hundreds of pages of 100 percent authentic study material.
Does learning Japanese take effort? Sure, just like damn near anything in life worth
doing. But as all the members of our team can personally attest to, it is possible, and it
might just be easier than you think.