An Overview of Learning Japanese

~What Studying Japanese is Like~

Rona's Japanese Class with Dr. Yoko Kelley

Learning any new language is not an easy task. This is the basic path that most Japanese learners follow.

1st phase . . . This is easy!
Wow, Japanese is easy! Everything encountered here is simple but useful. To open a gate to the Japanese language, it is important to memorize some words. The word form does not change, so just memorize them and speak!

Numbers	desu
Adverbs	arimasu
Nouns	imasu
Compound nouns

2nd phase . . . What's this?!
It's still easy, but wait, here the word forms change, so it becomes a little more difficult. You have to think before you speak.

Adjectives

types of adjectives

modifiers

diverse usage of adjectives and their forms

3rd phase . . . Help me!
Most people give up when they encounter Japanese verbs because they are so complex. A suggestion here is to 'relax and trust your ear'. Word form, or even the entire word, changes depending on the situation. It requires a lot of thought. You really have to think before you speak!

Verbs

conjugation

speech styles

tenses

Particles

Conversation becomes easier, but producing correct Japanese becomes more difficult.

expressing probability, belief, and intention

using the '-te' form

giving & receiving

Are you ready? Now comes the hardest part of learning the Japanese language!

expressing capability and possibility

passive voice

using the causative

Congratulations!
You can have a regular conversation and feel comfortable speaking Japanese!!

4th phase . . . Chilling out

You are able to relax and make longer sentences, which brings more joy to your speaking experience.Subordinate clauses

giving reasons

conditional mood (if/when)

Connecting predicates

Relative clause