Japanese: Easy to Learn, Difficult to Master

Japanese: Easy to Learn, Difficult to Master

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Learning Japanese
Picture: Fotomaximum / PIXTA(ピクスタ)
Our hosts discuss how they learned Japanese, great Japanese TV programs for learners, and their favorite (and most hated) Japanese words.

What are some of the challenges you encounter when learning Japanese? And what challenges exist for Japanese people born abroad who learn it later in their life?

In this episode from the Unseen Japan Live broadcast, co-host Sachiko Ishikawa and I discuss our different learning journeys, how having a Japanese spouse who doesn’t speak your native language helps (and hurts), and what we do now to advance our Japanese language skills. We delve into how the Japanese we speak today deviates from standard “textbook” Japanese. We also discuss one of the most useful – as well as most confusing – words in the Japanese language.

Towards the end of our discussion, I talk about my own Japanese learning journey and list some resources I’ve found useful. Sachi and I also discuss the usefulness of subtitles. Finally, we discuss a few of the Japanese TV shows we like that have proven useful for polishing our Japanese skills.

Japanese: Easy to Learn, Difficult to Master

What are some of the challenges you encounter when learning Japanese? And what challenges exist for Japanese people born abroad who learn it later in their l…

Your Hosts

Jay Allen â€“ Publisher, Unseen Japan. Japan nerd. White. Bald. Old-ish. Resides in Seattle and (occasionally) Tokyo.

Sachiko Ishikawa â€“ Japanese Feminist and activist. Co-host of the Unseen Japan Crowdcast. Resides in Tokyo. (Read Sachiko’s piece on Japan’s Flower Demos)

More Information

Jay’s recommendations on learning Japanese

YouTube Video: Studying Kanji with the Kanji Kentei

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Quotable Quotes

“Japanese is a language that is easy to speak but it’s very difficult to master….You can learn and learn and learn and you will never be done.” – Sachiko

“The particles? I just skip that. I’m done with them. I eat them. Like I’m just, ‘kore, taberu?’ I don’t think I’ve used a particle in YEARS.” – Sachiko

“Everyone stresses out about the particles. Pro tip? You can leave out the particles….You can basically just speak in verbs and it’ll be totally fine.” – Jay

“I was so mad when I first got to Japan and bit into dorayaki thinking it’d be chocolate and it was anko because I HATE anko.” – Sachiko

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Jay Allen

Jay is a resident of Tokyo where he works as a reporter for Unseen Japan and as a technial writer. A lifelong geek, wordsmith, and language fanatic, he has level N1 certification in the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) and is fervently working on his Kanji Kentei Level 2 certification.

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