10 good habits to learn Japanese
1. Keep a notebook
Buy a cheap notebook (I recommend moleskin) and jot down any new vocabulary or phrases you hear. For each entry, write the new language, its meaning, and one or two examples of its use. If you hear a word you know used in a new way, write it down again.
2. Take up a Japanese hobby
If you engage in a Japanese hobby, you get three benefits. First, you can take up an interesting and enjoyable hobby that is fun in itself. Second, you’ll find a great place to interact with Japanese natives and get plenty of speaking practice. Finally, you will get a source of motivation to study Japanese harder. You can indulge in anything from flower arranging (ikebana) to sword fighting (kendo).
3. Make Japanese pen pals
Google ‘Japanese pen pal’ and you’ll find a plethora of websites dedicated to finding you a Japanese pen pal. Be sure to insist on answers in English and Japanese. This is a great way to expose you to a new language and of course make connections in Japan. If you can’t read Kanji, you should try downloading Rikaichan, a Firefox web browser plugin (which you should be using anyway!)
4. Review characters once a week
If you are just starting out, it is very important that you review hiragana/katakana characters at least once a week. Instead of spending an afternoon trying to get all the characters into your brain, it’s much easier and more effective to go slow and review periodically. You must be able to read the words you see and write the words you hear. If you are confident with your kana, you should move on to Kanji when you feel ready.
5. Make Japanese friends on Skype
Just like making pen pals, the difference is that you will actually be talking to them over the internet. You can often turn pen pals into Skype friends and vice versa. This is a great way to practice speaking if you don’t come across native Japanese in your everyday life, but it’s never a substitute for the real thing.
6. Listen to the Japanese podcast Pod101
If you open iTunes (comes with all Macs, you’ll need to download it for Windows) and go to the iTunes Store, you can find a podcast created by JapanesePod101. They regularly stream high-quality Japanese lessons through their podcast. They can be a bit pushy for you to join their paid website, but the podcast is very well produced and a great way to practice listening for free.
7. Check your grammar with Tae Kim’s Japanese guide
Tae Kim’s guide can be found at this URL:
http://www.guidetojapanese.org
It is a one stop shop for Japanese grammar explanations. Although I wouldn’t recommend it as a good way to start studying Japanese, it’s a great way to brush up on grammar you may have forgotten. His explanations are brief and full of examples. He also has a great understanding of contemporary Japanese language usage. Best of all, it’s free.
8. Correct yourself
We all make mistakes when speaking, the most important thing is that we go back and correct them. If you know you’ve made a mistake, don’t be lazy and let it go. If you get used to letting yourself go, you will never get better. Go back to what you said, make the correction, and continue the conversation from there.
9. Don’t second-guess yourself
Don’t try to make everything you say perfect. Do your best to speak naturally, and only after you’ve made a mistake can you go back and correct it. Unless you’re giving a speech, never spend more than a couple of seconds trying to figure out what you’re going to say.
10. Come to Japan!
Whether it’s for a few weeks or for the rest of your life, coming to Japan will multiply your Japanese ability. If you are a beginner, you will get 24/7 exposure to the language as it is spoken naturally. If you’re in between, then you’ll have more chances to talk than you could handle or prepare for (which is a good thing). If you’re advanced, you probably already live here: