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Facts about Japanese language

24.05'13 - Jörg Nitzsche, Japan Interpreter
Categories: Japanese Language

As the demand for Japanese language instructors is on the rise both in Japan and in other parts of the world, increasingly large number of people are learning Japanese language. Working as native language instructors in Japanese schools and companies promises a good, long term career option. Here are some facts about the Japanese language for those of you who are keen to learn it.

Japanese is closely linked to the Altaic language family, comprising of Turkish and Mongolian along with a few other languages. It is also believed that Japanese has a lot of similarities with Polynesian language.




The Japanese writing system can be divided in to three character sets-Kanji, Harigana, and Katakana. Kanji includes several Chinese characters and Harigana and Katakana include 46 characters each.

There are two styles of writing the Japanese language. The first is the western style of writing in horizontal rows from the top to the bottom of the page. The second is the Japanese style of writing in vertical columns from the right to the left side of the page.

Japanese Grammar is quite easy. There are no distinctions between plural and singular. Gender articles are also missing.

Pronunciation is comparatively simpler when compared to most other languages. For beginners who are learning the Japanese language, there won’t be much problem in speaking this language as there are not many sounds to learn.

The Japanese put a lot of emphasis on the non-verbal expressions. They usually remain silent for long duration when listening to something. Facial expressions, gestures, and hand movements play an important role in conveying the actual meaning of the Japanese words and sentences.

If you want to learn to speak Japanese, you must understand their culture too. This would make learning, writing, and speaking Japanese quite effective for you.

The Japanese strongly believe in the hierarchy system. They use different words and expressions when talking to a child or to someone superior or an unknown person. They use the words depending on the context.

Join a good Japanese language school to understand the complexities of the language to learn it successfully.



Comments

01.08.2013 - 16:04 - Michael Lee

Thank you so very much for the information. The Japanese language has been a passion of mine for some time now. Self teaching has been in my path since the beginning. I live in Florida an have not been able to find a Japanese language school, so I have been grabbing every piece of Japanese learning I can find. Whether in the library or book stores or online. Whatever the outcome I'm determine to make this wonderful culture a part of my life.
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