1. Keep a notebook Buy an inexpensive notebook (I recommend moleskine) and jot down any new vocabulary or phrases you hear. For each entry...
1. Keep a notebook
Buy an inexpensive notebook (I recommend moleskine) and jot down any new vocabulary or phrases you hear. For each entry, write down the new language, its meaning, and one or two examples of its use. If you hear a familiar word used in a new way, write it again.
2. Take up a Japanese hobby
If you take up a Japanese hobby, you get three benefits. First, you can engage in an interesting and enjoyable hobby that is fun in itself. Second, you’ll find a great place to interact with Japanese natives and get lots of speaking practice. Finally, you will get a source of motivation to study Japanese harder. You can do anything from flower arranging (ikebana) to sword fighting (kendo).
3. Make Japanese pen friends
Google ‘Japanese pen pal’ and you’ll find a plethora of websites dedicated to finding you a Japanese pen pal. Be sure to insist on answers in English and Japanese. This is a great way to expose you to a new language and of course make connections in Japan. If you can’t read Kanji, you should try downloading Rikaichan, an add-on for the Firefox web browser (which you should be using anyway!)
4. Check the characters once a week
If you are just starting out, it is very important that you review the hiragana/katakana characters at least once a week. Instead of spending an afternoon trying to cram all the characters into your brain, it’s much easier and more effective to go slow and go over it periodically. You must be able to read the words you see and write the words you hear. If you are confident with your kana, you should move on to Kanji when you feel ready.
5. Make Japanese friends on Skype
Just like making pen pals, the difference is that you’ll actually be talking to them over the internet. Often, you can turn pen pals into Skype friends and vice versa. This is a great way to practice speaking if you don’t come across Japanese natives in your everyday life, but it’s never a substitute for the real thing.
6. Listen to the Japanese Podcast Pod101
If you open iTunes (it comes with all Macs, you’ll need to download it for Windows) and go to the iTunes Store, you can find a podcast created by JapanesePod101. They regularly broadcast high-quality Japanese lessons through their podcast. They can be a bit pushy to get you to join their paid website, but the podcast is very well produced and a great way to practice listening for free.
7. Check your grammar with Tae Kim’s Japanese guide
Tae Kim’s guide can be found at this URL:
http://www.guidetojapanese.org
It is a one stop shop for Japanese grammar explanations. Although I wouldn’t recommend it as a good way to start studying Japanese, it’s a great way to brush up on grammar you might have forgotten. His explanations are brief and full of examples. He also has a great understanding of contemporary Japanese language usage. Best of all, it’s free.
8. Correct yourself
We all make mistakes when speaking, the most important thing is that we go back and correct them. If you know that you have made a mistake, do not be lazy and let it go. If you get used to letting go, you’ll never get better. Go back to what you said, make the correction, and continue the conversation from there.
9. Don’t second guess yourself
Don’t try to make everything you say perfect. Do your best to speak naturally, and only after you’ve made a mistake can you go back and correct it. Unless you’re giving a speech, never spend more than a couple of seconds trying to figure out what you’re going to say.
10. Come to Japan!
Whether it’s for a few weeks or for the rest of your life, coming to Japan will multiply your Japanese ability. If you are a beginner, you will get 24/7 exposure to the language as it is spoken naturally. If you’re in between, then you’ll have more opportunities to speak than you could handle or prepare for (which is a good thing). If you’re advanced, you probably already live here:
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