Japanese – Exotic but Practical
Above: written Japanese (Source: Daily Yomiuri)
Japanese has a reputation as being a very difficult language to learn. The first Westerners to encounter it were Portuguese missionaries. They dubbed Japanese “the devil’s language”--based on the notion that unholy forces had created the language as a barrier to those preaching the Gospel in Japan.
Japanese is arguably a difficult language, with its complex grammatical rules, vast vocabulary, and multiple systems of writing. However, most of the perceived “difficulty” of the Japanese language stems from the simple fact that Japanese is unrelated to any Western European languages. When we English-speakers learn Spanish, French, or German, we encounter many cognates and familiar grammatical concepts. When we learn Japanese, we are in completely foreign territory.
Japanese is Unique
There are few nationalities which have an inherent advantage when attempting to learn Japanese. No direct link between Japanese and any other language has ever been proven. Grammatically, Japanese is similar to Korean; and Japanese shares much of its writing system and some of its vocabulary with Chinese. So perhaps the Chinese and the Koreans have a slight edge as students of the language.
Characteristics of the Japanese Language
Writing System
A typical page of written Japanese contains four varieties of script: hiragana, katakana, kanji, and Latin letters.
Kana:
The hiragana and katakana are categorized together as kana. They are not alphabets, but syllabaries, each consisting of fifty characters. Kana characters are easily distinguished from kanji ideographs because the latter are far more complex.
The hiragana characters are written in a cursive style, and indicate verb conjugations, suffixes, and other grammatical elements. The katakana are written in an angular printed style. Katakana are primarily used to write foreign words in Japanese.
Kanji:
Kanji are ideographs borrowed from the Chinese language. An analogy can be drawn between the kanji and the Latin and Greek roots of English. The kanji represent words that signify specific meanings-- nouns, verbs, adjectives, etc.
Both hiragana and katakana characters can represent the sound of any given kanji; and it is possible to write any Japanese word using only kana. However, Japanese contains a large number of homonyms; and the shape of a kanji conveys an instantaneous meaning. Therefore, the kanji perform an important functional role in written Japanese that cannot be substituted with the simpler kana.
Latin Letters:
Latin letters were rare in Japanese written texts before World War II. They are not technically considered a part of the Japanese language, but they are used for special notations: the names of international corporations (few Japanese would be puzzled by the words “Honda” or “Toyota”), some technical words (ex: DVD), and certain loanwords from English (ex: OL = “office lady”).
Acronyms comprised of Latin letters can be alternatively converted to katakana. In most cases, though, the conversion of English acronyms to katakana results in unwieldy combinations of kana characters. Most English acronyms that find their way into the Japanese language are therefore written with the Latin alphabet.
Humble and Honorific Speech:
In English, there are some words which naturally seem more polite than others. In Japanese, there are multiple hierarchies of plain, polite, honorific, and humble speech. The honorific and humble modes of speech take some time to master. For the non-native speaker, however, the simpler plain and polite forms of the language are usually sufficient.
Worth the Effort
Japanese is difficult; but a significant number of native English-speakers have learned the language in recent decades. Although all Japanese study English in school, most are far less than fluent. Therefore, learning the Japanese language is a sound investment of your time if you plan an extended stay in the country.
Japanese is also a very valuable addition to your resume. It is one of the most requested second languages among employers in the United States.
