How Difficult is it to learn the language?

[Zagato289]

I took japanese my first year of college. They only offer the first part so i was finish then. As long as you take your time every day to study, you will suceed in the course. If you stop review for a few days, you can get really behind.

[Yuna7780]

This is what I think:

Learning a language that has similar sounds and a similar alphabet (such as German for example) would be MUCH easier to learn. But something that is completely "new" to your eyes and ears (such as Japanese for example) would be much harder to learn and get accustomed to.

It's not impossible with the "new" type of language, but I think it's more challenging from experience.

[KyleGoetz]

Originally Posted by Yuna7780

This is what I think:

Learning a language that has similar sounds and a similar alphabet (such as German for example) would be MUCH easier to learn. But something that is completely "new" to your eyes and ears (such as Japanese for example) would be much harder to learn and get accustomed to.

It's not impossible with the "new" type of language, but I think it's more challenging from experience.

What you think is definitely supported by tons of evidence.

[gothicXlolitaXwannabe]

hi i was wondering if anyone new how i can learn japanese with out the use of university or lesons? via a teacher i dont want to learn how to wright just to speek so if any one knows plz post? x miya

[hinata2]

im taking lessons and know some i might beable to help

[sardO]

Originally Posted by Nyororin

I think you have the right idea, at the least.
I believe that the level of difficulty someone is going to feel has a lot to do with their expectations. If you expect to come out of it fluent in no time at all, then you are probably setting yourself up for failure. If you have realistic expectations, then you will probably have your ups and downs, but most likely will be satisfied with the outcome. If you just have the dream and low expectations, then you`ll probably be amazed at how easy things are in the end.

I think that too many learners simply make their goal fluency... Which is great, but that is very very far away. It`s sort of like starting a hike from New York to Los Angeles, and setting your first goal as LA. You`re not going to make it all the way there in one go. Walk as far as you can in that direction, and end up collapsing somewhere along the way with the feeling of total hopelessness... After all, you wouldn`t have even made it out of the state, let alone anywhere close to LA.
But if you say "I want to walk as far as I can toward LA - my first goal will be *insert small town within a day`s walking distance*" chances are, you`ll make it to the first goal with time to spare and feel good about it. Have a good meal, get a good night`s sleep, and be ready to walk to the next town in the morning. And when you look back, instead of feeling that you aren`t any closer to the ultimate goal, you`ll be impressed by how far you`ve come.

That's some sound advice, thanks. My final decision I've made thanks to everyone who replied to this thread (thanks everyone! ) is that I won't be taking the Japanese university course because I simply don't think I'll have the time or that I'll be willing to spend the time it takes to be successful because of the work load of my other courses. Essentially, I've come back down to earth about my plans to study in Japan not just because of the language barrier, but just my realization that I don't really want to undergo such a huge change of environment, despite the fact that I think it would be awesome. I still have my dream of going to Japan one day as a tourist and for that trip I would like to pick up some basic conversational Japanese, but for that I can refer to the internet, books, or some extra-curricular classes. Thanks again to everyone for the very useful help.

[KyleGoetz]

Originally Posted by sardO

Wow, that's pretty harsh.

I'm not afraid of a B - in fact, a B is quite good. I'm afraid of a low mark that might push my average below the mark I need it to be in order to continue on in my program. Sure, you need to take risks sometimes, but I'm not prepared to risk my future just for a Japanese class I may not even need. If I graduate from university with a degree, even if I didn't take any risks, that will still have plenty of meaning for me.

As far as the language goes, I've recently have accepted the fact that I will probably never speak the language well, but I do dream of going to Japan one day, so I do have a desire to pick up a decent amount of the language so that I can somewhat communicate if/when I go. As I've said before, I can do that by taking classes outside of school or picking up a book or learning on the internets.

Thanks again for the useful responses.

You speak of a "dream" and yet you let fear of a B in a class (it's impossible to get below a B in a language class unless you just don't try) crush that dream. Someone needs to smack you in the face and point out how quick you are to give up your dreams.

And for such illogical reasons!

[sardO]

Originally Posted by KyleGoetz

You speak of a "dream" and yet you let fear of a B in a class (it's impossible to get below a B in a language class unless you just don't try) crush that dream. Someone needs to smack you in the face and point out how quick you are to give up your dreams.

And for such illogical reasons!

Once again, I don't fear a B. As I said, I would be happy with a B. I don't necessarily buy into the fact that getting lower than a B is "impossible". All the language classes in the university course descriptions come with a warning: "language classes may be more intensive and require more work and assignments than other classes". That scared me off because they went out of their way to warn me, which means it must be pretty hard, or there wouldn't be a warning. Also, just because I don't learn the language in school, doesn't mean I can't learn outside school - my dream is still alive and well if I choose to pursue it. Ya, I did give up rather easily on my dream, but always in the back of my mind I knew I wouldn't really want to have such a big change of scenery, but I was considering it and I did dream about it, but as we all know dreams aren't always reality. As far as my reasons being illogical, I think your reasons for saying my reasons are illogical are illogical. My reasons make good sense to me, at least.

[KyleGoetz]

I went to one of the nation's best Japanese-language instructing universities. I don't know anyone who got less than a B except those who never attended class or didn't try.

I majored in abstract mathematics, was an officer in a couple university clubs, had a social life, and still found time to make straight As in Japanese classes. I'm telling you that only lazy people find language classes hard enough not to make a B.

But whatever, I don't know you, your work ethic, your desire to learn Japanese, or what university you're going to.

I just find it very sad when I read you capitulating with statements like "as we all know dreams aren't always reality." You're (presumably) 18. You're not supposed to think like that until you're 30 or 35! At 18, you're supposed to live like everything is possible, because only in that way can you accomplish great things!

At the very least, please don't cast off future dreams so easily; it will slowly destroy you.

[freegreatcharter]

my buddha!all these replies are so long, reading foreign language is tiring,and the speed is slower than the natives,give you a piece of brief advice,japanese and chinese all are hard to learn,but if you have enough time,according to my exprience,learning foreign language will be easier and easier,if you learn it in school,this won't make you bored,since i am learning japanese by myself,i cannot control the pace,i am often tired with memorising vocabulary and expect to learn new lesson,learning needs patience,give you a chinese saying,maybe it can be found in japanese too,世上无难事,只怕有心人