Japanese: Don’t Learn Romaji – Learn Hiragana And Katakana
Many new learners of the Japanese language seem to rely too heavily on Romaji (also know as the English alphabet) to get by when they are studying or figuring out Japanese. This is mainly because when we begin learning Japanese, you want to dive in and be able to speak the language. Simply mastering Hiragana or Katakana can take some time, and after you really can’t even recognize much (you can read, yes, but understand…no).
Am I simply pestering you like your Japanese teacher? Exactly what is the real problem with using Romaji?:
You Are Presently Used to Romaji
You already have associations between the English alphabet and how to say words written with it. Japanese is probably new for you and you won’t need to concern yourself with getting your relationships confused. You are beginning with a blank canvas here and you can learn how to speak Japanese words and phrases properly without being negatively led astray by your present relationship with the English language.
You Won’t See Much Romaji in Japan
Maybe your textbook uses Romaji. That’s still no justification. That just means that it was made by a lazy publisher. In all honesty, you won’t really find much Romaji in use when you go to Japan. Maybe just the names of major department stores and certain English terms here and there. If you jot something down in Romaji and give it to a Japanese pal of yours, he or she will probably be pretty confused because quite frankly, Japanese people more often than not, just do not use Romaji.
Ditch the Training Wheels
If you feel you might want to keep learning Japanese and ultimately get really good at it or even become proficient, you will need to learn Japanese characters sooner or later. It’s just likely to be simpler to learn them from the get-go. An inch of work now or a mile of pain later on. Which might you rather have?
Okay, so Romaji seriously is not the easiest way to go. What could you do if you are just getting started? It truly is dependent upon what type of Japanese student you are. From my point of view, there are 2 kinds of Japanese students:
The Serious Student
Maybe you are learning Japanese in college. Maybe you’re intending on traveling to Japan for a while and wish to be prepared for your trip. Maybe your work involves handling plenty of Japanese customers or professionals. Or maybe you simply have several Japanese pals and you are tired with them talking about you behind your back.
If this describes you, the most effective thing you can do is to sit down and study Hiragana and Katakana. You can pick up these two sets of characters in only a couple of weeks with a couple of flash-cards and a bit of dedication.. When you learn the Kana, you should have a great base to improve on and you may start mastering vocab, sentence structure, and all the other things on the right foot.
The Dabbler
Maybe you’re traveling to Japan for a few weeks of vacation. Maybe you truly like manga and want to find out more on the culture. Maybe you simply have a little spare time and wish to study one or two languages for the pleasure of it.
For people like this, my recommendation is to start with some straightforward conversational Japanese classes. This is often better than studying how to read and write, specifically if you are immersed in a good quality course. After you have a solid grasp on the verbal language, you may make up your mind that you have the Japanese bug and now you wish to intensely learn Japanese. From this point, you’re in a good position to take the first choice above and learn how to read and write Japanese characters.
So I trust you can recognize now why relying on Romaji really is not in your best interest. No matter what your eventual goals are with learning Japanese, you will end up significantly better off if you put in your time and leave the training wheels behind and either study Hiragana and Katakana or practice a bit of conversational Japanese.
About the Author
Billy Buchanan has studied Japanese since 2000 and enjoys helping other learn Japanese for school, business, and pleasure.
If you’re ready to take the leap and get serious about your Japanese language learning, check out Learn Hiragana, Study Katakana, and Learn Japanese.