Constantly people are asking me what influenced me to learn Japanese as a third language. To the best of my knowledge, I always reply that it is the hardest language to learn. Being a person with a stubborn personality, I chose to learn Japanese while in college and while living abroad in Japan. After that answer has been given, the next question in line is asked, “Wasn’t it hard though?” Well, to tell you the truth, yes it was hard because like most Asian languages, Japanese is very different from Latin based languages. This shouldn’t discourage anyone from learning Japanese or any other Asian language though, it has its perks.
As a college student, I was one of those college geeks that liked to study. It was not my entire life though to sit around in the library and see how much I could cram into my head. Rather, I created games and tried to make the best out of what was needed to be learnt. It was an honor to be a foreign language student though, the students in these classes are much free-going and are a little more relaxed since most students in the beginning classes were there as an elective. Early on, I found out that I had a knack for power learning vocabulary – much to my classmates chagrin. Here are some tips that I found to help out throughout those multiple vocabulary quizzes each week.
1. Read over the list and group in similar categories. For instance, many times there are a few categories that are placed on each vocabulary list. For instance, one week a student might be asked to learn all the colors or numbers and et cetera. When doing this, group the categories together since it is easier to learn them as a group instead of individually.
2. Make flashcards and practice throughout the day. Since I attended a large university, my classes were all over campus which meant I had to run around to get to all my classes. Before each class though, I generally would have a few moments before the class would start to practice my flashcards. Yes, I felt like an incredible geek however if I got the studying done during the day, which meant that I could have my nights free. Make sure to practice the words starting with English to Japanese and Japanese to English. If the quiz is for Kanji, take the same flashcards and write the Kanji down from the English word and etc.
3. Get a group of classmates together and have a flashcard game. Basically take all the flashcards that you have created in tip 2 and quiz everyone at the same time. Every shout out what the answer is at once or you can take turns. Even if you are the quizzer is it very effective since the more you review the flashcards, the better they are fresh in your head. If studying for a kanji vocabulary quiz, try showing the English part of the flashcards. Have everyone write down the Kanji. Then count up how many each person gets. Keep doing it until everyone gets them 100% correct. Repeating is the key here.
4. Read the thesaurus. Yes, this sounds crazy however I got many good grades and know a large amount of vocabulary since I knew more words. I would practice using the thesaurus and studying all the words for a certain one. For instance, I would learn all the similar words for “happy” then I could express myself easier in Japanese class. Learning more words makes learning the language easier!
5. Learn Prefixes and Suffixes while learning Kanji. For instance, the prefix “fu” in Japanese is almost the same as “non”, “un” or “dis” in English. By learning this one word, other words are easier to read such as “advantage” and “disadvantage” and so on. Therefore by knowing “fu” as a prefix, a learner can know two words by just learning one at a time. This technique makes learning seem more fast and will double the vocabulary at once.
6. Learn all the meanings of a Kanji. For instance, by knowing what the Kanji “Go: five” means in Japanese – then the student will know how to say “Goju:fifty” and “Gonin: fifty people” is in Japanese. In addition, it will assist in reading harder words that are unknown. For example, “hisashiburi” is long word that contains the Kanji “hisa: long time” therefore one can recognize this one Kanji and know that is deals with a “long time”. Even though the reader may not know that “”hisashiburi” means “for a very long time,” he/she will know the general content of the word and can proceed without using the dictionary. This is very useful if visiting Japan or living there, in addition to learning more words.
7. Write in a journal. One of my professors suggested that I write in a Japanese journal so that I can learn everyday words since most teaching books start of with more formal language. By writing in a journal, I was able to write how I think. Hence, when I lived in Japan, I felt comfortable speaking normally without sounding like I got all my sentences from a textbook.
These are seven tips that I still use today to increase my Japanese word power and usage. Since I use all of these tips and have used most of them to learn the other languages I speak, I feel they are very important to learn a language properly. It is important to learn from a textbook however it is important to take a few extra moments each day to learn a new word or look through a thesaurus here and there. In no time, your foreign language will double in known vocabulary; therefore you will be better off than the average student. In addition, if thinking about living in a foreign land, it helps to understand how to talk like normal people, instead of like a textbook. Just remember to have fun while learning and it will seem easier than expected! Any language can be learnt, it is just about taking the time to do it.
