Why Japanese?
1. Gateway to technology
The Japanese are innovators. From Japan came bullet trains, the Walkman, blue LED light, pocket calculators, and android robots, just to name a few. If you’re into technology R&D, learning Japanese will open doors to numerous opportunities. Even if you’re not technically-minded, knowing Japanese will allow you to better understand the cutting-edge technology and use it to your advantage.
2. Promising business and career opportunities in Japan
According to Nasdaq, Japan boasts one of the most diverse economies in Asia and is the 3rd largest economy in the world which contributes almost 6% to the global GDP. With many firms established all over the world, famous Japanese brands such as Toshiba, Honda, Sony, Nikon, Toyota and Casio have become international household names.
3. A must for fans of pop culture
If you learn Japanese, you will be able to understand animations, movies, variety shows, news, and any mainstream Japanese media! This allows you to follow pop-culture, current events, history, and many other things in the original language, allowing for a deeper connection to Japan traditional and pop culture.
4. The best choice for Asian learners
It is relatively simple to learn the 44 hiragana or katakana characters that represent sounds in much the same way as the English alphabet does. Besides, the kanji system resembles Chinese characters greatly in terms of writing and even the pronunciation, so you definitely have an advantage if you learn Japanese. Furthermore, Japanese grammar is similar to Korean grammar and both languages have a high volume of honorific terminology used to demonstrate respect.
5. Great help for travel around Japan
Although most Japanese people study English at some point in their lives, many tend to shy away from actually speaking it. Knowing Japanese will allow you to easily work out the transport systems, book accommodation and find the best eateries whilst meeting new people along the way
Click here to learn more:
10 Essential Japanese Phrases
The following travel phrases and words will get you through almost any situation in Japan. This list isn’t all-inclusive, but probably you will use these the most.
- ありがとうございます (arigatou gozaimas)
Thank you - お願いします (onegaishimas)
Please (Used when making a request) - すみません (sumimasen)
Excuse me. - はい (hai)
Yes - いいえ (iie)
No - ごめんなさい (gomen nasai)
I’m sorry. - わかりません (wakarimasen)
I don’t understand. - 日本語がわかりません(nihongo ga wakarimasen)
I don’t understand Japanese. - 英語が話せますか？ (eigo o hanasemasu ka?)
Can you speak English? - もう一度お願いします
- (mou ichido onegai shimasu)
Could you repeat that, please?
Source: https://www.nihongomaster.com/blog/21-essential-japanese-travel-phrases/
Useful websites for learning Japanese
Dictionary:
https://ejje.weblio.jp/content/Japanese
Reading
News: https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/easy/
Stories: http://life.ou.edu/stories/momotarou.html
Trendy Japanese magazine: https://matcha-jp.com/easy/
Listening & speaking
https://onlineradiobox.com/jp/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzzweIQoIOU
Grammar:
Information about Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT)