Taro Naritomi: How To Study Japanese

How They Did it – Stories for Migrants by Migrants

When you think of learning Japanese, it is good to set a goal, specifically the level up to which you would like to raise your Japanese ability. By setting your goal, learning motivation (or what makes a person face a specific activity, gives him a passion for it and instills in him the discipline to keep at it) increases: In short, as the person more concretely sets a goal that is more difficult and challenging, the more motivation he or she will have to reach it.

In this article, we aim at the N4 Level of the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT), which is the ability to understand basic Japanese for a person whose current Japanese ability is at zero. Let us go through the process of attaining this goal using the following problem solving approach:

Step 1: Identifying the gap between the current and ideal situations.

The standard for attaining N4 level is approximately 300 Kanji characters and a vocabulary of 1500 words and around a number of 300 hours of comprehensive learning. Learning starts with the memorization of characters, both hiragana and katakana. Charts will help you learn faster.

Step 2: Specifying Causes or Finding the Key Factors for Success.

Time on Task Principle

The key to successfully learning a language is the Time on Task principle or allowing yourself sufficient time for comprehensive learning: If you do not actually immerse yourself in the language you are learning, you will not improve. You must learn to listen, speak, read, and write in that language if you are to become proficient in it.

Enhance motivation and Engage Yourself in Japanese Learning

In order to devote sufficient time to learning a new language, you must be motivated by the desire to be able to use that language. It is advisable then to wait until such time. To enhance the motivation, the following are effective:

(a) Set a more specific, difficult, and challenging goal for yourself;
(b) Identify a mentor or role model;
(c) Adapt a social strategy by choosing a study partner; and
(d) Focus on a field that you thoroughly enjoy or are interested in.

Once your motivation has increased, in one go, start studying. During the early stages of learning, it is best to acquire the basics of vocabulary and grammar within a short period of time, and it will be necessary for you to continue studying until a critical mass is attained and a threshold of proficiency is reached. If you don’t, all the time that you have spent will be for nothing.

Look up things that you may be in doubt about, do research to deepen your curiosity and interest in the Japanese language, and create situations wherein you can actively engage in learning Japanese (get into the habit of it).

Continuing studying is the Key Factor for Success.

“Use it or Lose it”

When learning a language, a lot of input and some amount of output are always necessary. It is at a level wherein one can play a simple melody with a musical instrument or be able to contribute to a team in a mini-game of basketball. At this same level of learning Japanese, one should be able to enjoy the input (listening, reading and understanding messages in Japanese) as well as the output (putting into pieces what you want to say inside your head and saying or writing them in Japanese). Keep in mind the principle of “use it or lose it:” As soon as you have learned something (acquired an input), immediately find an opportunity to apply it (produce an output).

Step 3. Develop Solutions

In allocating sufficient time for comprehensive learning, a good idea will be for you to combine self-study (where you proceed with your coursework independently) with classroom learning. When you find your motivation flagging, go to a classroom, study with your classmates, and learn new things. Most of the time, this works. During the early stages, there will of course be things that you will not understand at first. When this happens, so as not to become easily discouraged and give up, it would help to have someone such as a teacher who will help guide you through the basics and can answer your questions. This will make it easier for you to avoid being disheartened and continue with your studies. You might want to find a Japanese class near your home, an online class, or a tutorial with someone who can help you learn Japanese. I also recommend that you watch NHK’s “Easy Japanese”.

Regarding a development for solutions, “The Four Strands” by Paul Nation is an excellent reference. It says that in a language course, you must devote time and effort to the four strands or elements namely:

Meaning-Focused Input;
Meaning-Focused Output;
Language-Focused Learning; and
Fluency Development.

(Note: The Japanese reference of the Four Strands by Aotani (2012) is also easy to understand.)

Meaning-Focused Input

This refers to learning by listening and reading. The focus of the student is to understand the meaning of the input and obtain knowledge from it. To do so, the student must have a vocabulary corresponding to approximately 95 to 98 percent of what he or she hears or reads.

A typical example of Meaning-Focused Input is Extensive Reading. In the Tadoku Tokusetsu site of the NPO Tagengo Tadoku, various levels of study materials are being introduced. There are also 26 PDF files and MP3 files for learning in KC Yom-Yom.

Meaning-Focused Output

This refers to learning by speaking and writing and includes making conversation, delivering speeches, and writing messages. In short, it is being able to express in Japanese what you wish to convey to another person. Outputting has the effects of:

Identifying the gaps in your knowledge so that you can fill them;
Verifying the hypothesis: whether the output you created is accurate, or a revision is necessary; and Thinking deeply about how the language is being used.

A good example of a Meaning-Focused Output is found in the activity of “Speaking” in Seikatsu no Nihongo “Irodori”, where you talk using the expression you learned in that specific section. Also, by finding a partner who can speak Japanese with confidence, such as a Japanese teacher or friend, efforts to actively use the Japanese language skills that you have learned will help in developing fluency.

Language-Focused Learning

This refers to learning language features such as pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, etc.

Specifically, it applies to closely reading the main text of Japanese textbooks, paying close attention to their sounds, and practicing their pronunciation. For example, in the Seikatsu no Nihongo “Irodori,” there are explanations in “Pay Attention to the Form” and “Grammar Notes.” Also, by September 2020, the Japan Foundation, Manila expects to launch its free coursebook on “Komprehensibong Teksbuk ng Nihongo” which is based on a textbook on the Filipino Language at a university and is intended to provide Filipinos with a way to learn Japanese grammar in their native language.

When you are joining a class, you will be using a textbook. When you are studying by yourself, aside from Seikatsu no Nihongo “Irodori,” you might want to use try these other books:

“Minna no Nihongo“ Elementary I & II, 2nd Edition, Book & Grammar Explanation in English,

GENKI, An Integrated Course in Elementary Japanese, I {3rd Edition} (Elementary Japanese Genki {3rd Edition}

Fluency Development

This refers to putting to best use the knowledge that the student already knows. Just like Meaning-Focused Input, the student develops fluency by listening, reading, speaking, and writing. Also, just like Meaning-Focused Output, emphasis is placed on relaying the correct meaning. Unfamiliar vocabulary words and grammar rules are typically not used, and training is conducted under a time limit and activities done at a speed faster than usual.

Some examples are speed reading under a time limit and the 15/45 Exercises for training in speaking. In the 15/45 Exercise, you are given a theme such as where in Japan you would like to go and then given 15 seconds to think about it, followed by another 45 seconds to talk about it. Training becomes much easier when vocabulary words and grammar rules that have already been learned can be applied.

Step 4. Implementing

Explanations on how to make progress in the study of the Japanese language based on The Four Strands have been provided in Steps 1 to 3 of this article. For this final step, I would now like to invite, even challenge, you to find a method which you think will be good for you, aside from those which have already been mentioned above. I wish you the best of luck and every success in your studies.

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