How much time would it take to learn Japanese?

BetterThanThou

Alright, I don't really have much time, I'm in 5th year right now, and I'd say I have about an hour a day of free time, bar the weekends. In the future, I want to at least do an extended visit to Japan, and possibly live there, because I find the culture extremely interesting, and overall it seems like a good place to live.
I was thinking, it might be a good idea to learn Japanese now, so I have it in the future, would 2-3 hours a week be sufficient to learn the language? Or, is it like other languages where you'd pick it up within a few months if you lived in Japan? I've spent a couple of months in Spain, and I can speak Spanish pretty competently, though, I can't really write it, would it be like that?

Tristram

It's an impossible question to answer. So much depends on the individual's aptitude and dedication. Then there's the question of how you gauge progress or measure levels of fluency. If you can outline your goals more clearly I'm sure posters can offer advice on how to progress. You can learn the phonetic alphabets (hiragana/katakana) very quickly but kanji take time. If you are more interested in conversational Japanese than reading/writing maybe you won't place such an emphasis on kanji? What do you want to be able to do?

Can I ask what aspects of Japanese culture you are interested in and why you think it might be a good place to live? Do you have any Japanese friends? I'm not sure that "liking Japanese culture" and "wanting to live in Japan" always match up.

Best of luck with your studies and travels!

hibby

BetterThanThou wrote: »

I was thinking, it might be a good idea to learn Japanese now, so I have it in the future, would 2-3 hours a week be sufficient to learn the language? Or, is it like other languages where you'd pick it up within a few months if you lived in Japan? I've spent a couple of months in Spain, and I can speak Spanish pretty competently, though, I can't really write it, would it be like that?

No.

Okay, it depends on the person, etc., etc. But no.

I learned Spanish for Leaving Cert. I started in 5th year and I was lucky enough to have a school exchange to Spain for 3 weeks during that year. By the end of that year I was able to speak and understand Spanish.

I have been learning (struggling with) Japanese for many years. About as long as you've been alive, in fact. I have now been living in Japan for 10 months.

Result? My Spanish ability is still far, far better than my Japanese. I regularly use Spanish for work (both written and spoken), while my spoken Japanese is woefully inadequate for any meaningful work, and I can barely read anything at all.

So, based on my direct (and bitter) experience, there is a world of difference between learning Spanish and learning Japanese. In my opinion, Spanish is one of the easiest languages in the world to learn; Japanese is one of the hardest.

But, I'm just one person, your experience may differ.

hibby

I hope my last reply didn't put you off completely.

I think it's great that you are considering learning Japanese, and I think you should go ahead and give it a try. You will definitely see a lot of progress within the first year if you study for 2 or 3 hours a week. And you never know where it will lead - you may indeed end up living in Japan one day, or it may give you a career advantage, or just make Japanese culture more fully available to you.

The fact that you've picked up Spanish so readily proves that you have some aptitude for languages - just be prepared for Japanese to present some unfamiliar challenges.

If you do decide to do it I think you will find it very interesting, and I am certain you will get some excellent advice on this forum and other forums where learners share their experiences.