Do you need to know the language?

[Renkurai]

Help me, I'm a 13 year old obsessed with wanting to go to Japan. I really want to go there, but I'm scared cuz I hardly know how to speak Japanese. So, do any of you know how I can start learning Japanese? I have my whole life ahead of me so I'm not that worried. This is just a question that's been bugging me for a while. To be able to survive in Japan, is it necessary to be fluent in speaking Japanese?

[samurai007]

Originally Posted by Renkurai

Help me, I'm a 13 year old obsessed with wanting to go to Japan. I really want to go there, but I'm scared cuz I hardly know how to speak Japanese. So, do any of you know how I can start learning Japanese? I have my whole life ahead of me so I'm not that worried. This is just a question that's been bugging me for a while. To be able to survive in Japan, is it necessary to be fluent in speaking Japanese?

No, you don't need it to survive. I didn't know any Japanese when I went to Japan to live there for 2 years, and I survived just fine. I picked up a little while I was there, and you will too, but you can get by without it.

Of course, the more Japanese you know, the easier it can be to get around, talk to people, etc...

[Harold]

Originally Posted by Renkurai

Help me, I'm a 13 year old obsessed with wanting to go to Japan. I really want to go there, but I'm scared cuz I hardly know how to speak Japanese. So, do any of you know how I can start learning Japanese? I have my whole life ahead of me so I'm not that worried. This is just a question that's been bugging me for a while. To be able to survive in Japan, is it necessary to be fluent in speaking Japanese?

You have so much time to study. I would suggest that you begin studying Japanese right now and go when you turn 18. It'll be a great and rewarding experience, I'm sure.

[SSJup81]

Do you have any idea what High School you'll be attending? Maybe you can take it through there. My old high school had Japanese classes, but, there weren't enough students taking it, so they got rid of it.

I looked back at what they have now, and, surprisingly, not only do they teach Japanese again, they even have a Club Japan, Asian Culture Club, and Universal Language Club (I'm assuming this is just a new name for "Foreign Language Club"). Kind of sucks that this stuff (Asian Culture/Club Japan) wasn't there when I was. I would've ditched Spanish in almost a heartbeat.

[Retrogamer77]

Of course you don't need to know the language to just get by. You can easily just learn enough phrases to do what you want to do. However, it would make more sense to learn Japanese if you want to actually LIVE there. What's the point of going there if you aren't even going to try to learn the native language. I feel that's disrespectful to some extent. You don't have to be fluent, but you should at least try.

[MMM]

Every word you know will make your experience that much better. At 13 you have PLENTY of time to get started, and that is great.

I didn't start studying Japanese until I was 18 and moved there when I was 22. I am sure glad I had four years of study behind me, because it opened up the doors of who I could talk to. I would go assuming no one speaks English, and learn as much as you can before you go.

[Renkurai]

I'm not sure as of now, since they'll send the reply in March for high schools but I put William Cullen Bryant High School as my first choice. I don't know if they have any Japanese classes, but I'll ask around. And even if I can survive in Japan without knowing the language, I want to learn the language. But as of right now, I don't have a clue to how I'm going to learn. Maybe the internet... :[ How did you guys learn Japanese? And I know it isn't gonna be easy.

[Amnell]

I'm sure most of the people here who can actually speak Japanese learned through a class. There are a large number of us (including myself) who are self-teaching using the internet. If you search around on this site, you'll find some threads where people have listed their resources that they've used.

Also, of those of us that are beginning self-teaching, a large percentage are trying to take an actual class. Self teaching can take you only so far, really. I've been at it for months and have only learned how to read kana, recognize a few Kanji, a few words, and the most basic of polite verb-conjugations. I learned more about spanish in two weeks taking a class in high school.

Get a class if you can. It's the best way to go. Otherwise, find a friend who speaks Japanese very well and glue yourself to his/her hip (figuritively).