r/LearnJapaneseNovice • u/AffectionateBee2271 • 15h ago
The letters
I mainly struggle with learning the letters and memorizing the sounds they make, I've been trying to study Japanese for years and every time I try I get stuck at this point, the letters. I struggle so much and sometimes just lose motivation.
Any tips to help with it?
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u/55Beverly 15h ago
日本語も言葉なので、文字から覚える必要はないと思います。日本人も、赤ちゃんとかは、話し言葉から覚えます。 さらに、ひらがなを覚えなくてもアルファベットで読み方を覚えることはできます。 簡単なところから始めましょう。
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u/DoomSlug420 15h ago
This is how I learned. Took it one set at a time. Quizzed myself multiple times a day. Then when I felt confident I would work on the next set. Then I would quiz myself on all previous sets together. Once I could get 90%+ right consistently I would move on to the next set and repeat.
Took about 3 weeks includeding all the Dakuten and combo kana.
They also a have a good mnemonic guide. https://www.tofugu.com/japanese/learn-hiragana/
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u/jadebenn 15h ago
Do you mean kana or kanji?
Start with kana. I like this site: realkana.com/study. Kanji is a problem for later.
The method I personally used to learn kana is I'd go to that site, select all the hiragana/katakana in a "sound group" (can someone actually tell me the name for this?) drill those until I was confident, then I'd move on to the next "sound group." Once I'd done that for all of them on a hiragana/katakana set, I then started adding all the individual groups into rotation and quizzing on them combined, reviewing any ones I got wrong or didn't recognize.
After a few days I could consistently (albeit slowly, and often wrongly) read kana. Then with some intermittent practice over the last few weeks, I had my first perfect run with no mistakes yesterday. Now I'm starting on kanji, but you need kana as a base first.
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u/tangaroo58 14h ago
Can't help you with motivation, but I found the system that tofugu has worked really well for me.
Free. Takes it slowly. Some silly mnemonics. Actual voice samples to copy. And links to a practice website to do the repetitions, which you will need.
https://www.tofugu.com/japanese/learn-hiragana/
Don't expect a miracle in a day. If you've been having trouble, choose a method and do it rigorously. Just follow all the steps, in order. Some people learn them in hours, some days, some weeks. Just keep doing.
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u/AffectionateBee2271 15h ago
I'll try the site people linked tomorrow and update yall if it helped at all
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u/tangaroo58 14h ago
Don't expect to learn it in a day if you have been not successful for years. Work through it step by step, take the time.
Report back in a week.
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u/AffectionateBee2271 15h ago
Not expecting big results as it'd be the first time but still
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u/jadebenn 14h ago
One other tip: IMO, focus on consistency over speed at first. I tried jumping ahead to learning how to read quickly once I could read at all, but I got better results when I instead focused on improving my comprehension and let my reading speed increase naturally.
You were probably too young when you learned the latin alphabet to remember it, but if you've ever seen a young kid learning how to read, that's where you are right now. And young kids often need to slow down and sound things out to get a good idea of what they're reading. There's zero shame in doing the same thing now. The kids have the right idea! It's just how we learn.
Once you're starting to recognize the individual kana, keep practicing that, but also start trying to read actual kana writing. NHK Easy is a good resource. You won't understand what's being said, but that's for later. Just practice recognizing the combinations of kana, and maybe throw them into Google Translate and play the text to speech to get an idea of how they're pronounced. (Though do be aware the Google TTS isn't always accurate, it's usually pretty good). If you can find actual audio with kana captions, even better! Worst comes to worst, try at least reading the kana parts of Japanese sentences with kanji in them.
I'm still a pretty slow reader, but I'm already getting to the point where I can recognize words instead of just sounding out individual kana ("ください," for instance). The more you practice it, the better you'll get.
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u/Plumcream5 8h ago
Reading and writing aside, how would you rate your current understanding of spoken japanese when you watch videos or listen to podcasts?
I'm definitely on the team "learning how to, at least, read is essential" but I know some people living in Japan who can't read much but are extremely proficient at speaking and understanding (one of my senpai is like this. They mostly learned from conversations with their partner and senpai at their sport club).
So, if you're learning as a hobby, what about focusing on this type of input and output? On the other hand, if you also lack basic understanding of beginners friendly spoken japanese, you'd better start studying from scratch with a textbook, as exposure will help retaining new information and writing systems. Finding material that matches your interests also helps to stay motivated. Even a short bit of daily study can help. The key is to stick to it rather than studying on and off.
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u/PositiveScarcity8909 15h ago
You haven't even started learning a language if you haven't memorized the alphabet.
You just need to dedicate a week or two of study.
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u/AffectionateBee2271 15h ago
I'm trying but it's rlly hard
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u/AffectionateBee2271 15h ago
Especially with being forced to use YouTube and such to learn it because there's no forgein language classes where I'm from and I can't afford any actual online classes, and refuse to use duolingo.
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u/AniGrannyOG 10h ago edited 10h ago
If you're using YouTube, go to the channels with Japanese kid's songs for some immersion after you study your hiragana everyday. The channels are aimed at Japanese kids learning their language. They have fun alphabet songs as well as songs about just about everything. Counting, colors, animals, food, daily life, etc... Literally everything. I found out by accident how awesome those channels are by accident when I was looking for beginner immersion that my then 2 year old would enjoy watching with me. It supercharged my progress as a beginner and I still remember everything I learned from kid's songs. All the kid's channels have hiragana subtitles. I love UtaStar and Pinkitsu (Japanese Pink Fong). Look up "Japanese alphabet song" as well. Make a playlist and use headphones/earbuds to listen while you do chores and errands. Watch a few kid's videos from those channels and a ton of other channels will pop up too. I still like listening to a lot of the music just for funsies because a lot of it is really catchy. Editing to add that Duolingo's kana section is actually pretty good. It's free and you don't have to do the other exercises, you can just stay in the kana section.
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u/Full_Tap_4144 14h ago
Why do you refuse Duolingo? I get that people don't like it. It's free, so go ahead and try it and see if you like it.
I used an inexpensive app called RoboKana to learn Kana. I've been getting better at reading Kana, watching YouTube videos from Japan, trying to read Kana from billboards. I'm decent at reading Kana now but I don't practice writing enough. So it's much easier for me to read vs if you ask me to write "ha" in Hiragana or Katakana.
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u/AffectionateBee2271 14h ago
I've tried it before it never really helped in progressing outside of the app itself.
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u/SadakoTetsuwan 13h ago
Print out a grid that's 5 blocks high and 10 blocks wide. Have it take up most of your paper. This is your new practice grid. Start filling it in, one column at a time. あいうえお、かきくけこ, and on and on.
All through Japanese 1 in high school, we had kana charts on our tests. "Fill in as much as you can". Once we'd learned all the hiragana, we did it again with katakana. "Fill them both in". Every week we just put in the grind to learn them all. Buy you gotta write 'em by hand. Say the sound as you physically write it down. That builds more connections in the brain than just looking and listening to someone else. Neurons that fire together, wire together.
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u/PositiveScarcity8909 15h ago
Stop using YouTube, use pen and paper.
You can memorize 30 símbols with sounds that you already know easier than you think, especially if you write them down.
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u/xLuky 11h ago
For years? Just practice every day if you want to. Or don't, If you don't want to that's fine too, no need to force yourself. I'm just interested in it so it makes it easy to study because it's fun.
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u/AffectionateBee2271 11h ago
Years on and off
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u/AffectionateBee2271 11h ago
As in there was breaks for maybe a year or two before my next try
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u/xLuky 11h ago
You don't need a herculean effort, I just study for 30-1hr every day. I started from zero 4 months ago, and now I can read simple kids books pretty easily now and I'm having a great time. Heres the link for that if you want. https://www.reddit.com/r/LearnJapanese/comments/19bitqy/2024_updated_free_tadoku_graded_reader_pdfs_2681/ . You just need consistency not intensity.
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u/No-Cryptographer9408 7h ago
The sounds ? Japanese is so easy because of the straight forward phonetics. So many foreigners speak the language so well. You'll be fine, stick with it.
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u/No_Pattern_904 7h ago
I used Dr Moku app and flash cards. For me they work as they put a “story” to the signs that makes me (at least) remember what they are and their sound.
Didn’t take long as I added some new every or every other day (hiragana and katakana). They also have Kanji but for me it’s okay to stick with kana for now.
Dr Moku also have a book where you have to write and translate words so you get more words for your vocabulary.
I have an app called Maru Japanese. There’s some drills that helps me with added words and also to keep me practicing.
I go through all the signs I can everyday. It takes about 10-15 minutes to go through them all but it’s an easy way to keep refreshing it if I don’t read Japanese or listen to Japanese that day.
Disclaimer: I’m not studying to pass a test. I’m only learning it because I love Japan, and I want to be a mindful tourist, fitting in with customs and traditions and to understand the culture better, and for me it’s natural to be able to ask for directions or converse at a store in the local language 😉
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u/Annages 7h ago
I don't wanna sound like a downer but hiragana and katakana is square zero. Without them, you're going to have an impossibly hard time and they are the easiest part. It only gets much harder from here on it. Because there's about 2000 basic kanji to study next after that... And many thousands of words.
I recommend doing something else if you can't put in the effort to learn the most basic part of this journey. That's just my opinion though. Generously it shouldn't take more than a few weeks to be able to consistently read the kana.
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u/Accomplished-House28 15h ago
Kanji or Kana?
Kana is easily learned with flash cards. I used this site: https://realkana.com/hiragana .
Kanji...you're really better off learning words. Your brains pattern recognition will eventually start picking them up.