Introduction to Japanese

Japanese can take some getting used to for first time learners. It is very different from most western languages, with its own grammar structure, word order, and writing systems. I have summarized some key points below:

Grammar

• English word order is Subject Verb Object (SVO) For example, I kicked the ball.
• Basic Japanese word order is Subject Object Verb (SOV) for example, I ball kicked.
• Japanese uses particles to denote part of speech. Particles come after the word they modify. The closest English example is adding -ly to a verb to make an adverb.
• Japanese combines present and future tense. i.e. do and will do are the same.
• Japanese only has 2 verb tenses, past and present/future. 
• Japanese words have no singular nor plural (generally). 

Writing

• Japanese has 3 different writing scripts. Hiragana, Katakana, and Kanji. They aren’t as hard as people say they are to learn.
• Japanese has a phonetic alphabet. That is, symbols represent sound. This is great, since you won’t need to worry about spelling. 
  
• Stroke order (the order in which you write sounds in Japanese), matters. Stroke order is usually the easiest/quickest to write order, but if you don’t follow it it will look weird and/or be wrong

Pronunciation

• Japanese only has 5 Vowel sounds. あ(ah), い (“e”), う(oo), え(eh), and お(oh). That’s it.
• The soft Japanese F sound is made by not biting your lip (very much)
• The Japanese R sound is made by positioning your tongue halfway between L and D.
• Japanese people do not move their lips much when they talk. Its a little annoying, but it means you don’t have to either. 
• Japanese has long sounds and short sounds. Please see pronunciation page for details.

Advice

• Because letters change their sounds in English, you should learn hiragana and katakana as fast as possible and use them all the time, making sure you pronounce them correctly. Looking at Japanese in Roman characters will make you unintentionally pronounce them like they are English. Even if you think you won’t do it.
• Take it little by little. Its much better to be slow and thorough than fast and wrong.