Good news – It’s relatively easy to learn how to speak. Bad news – reading and writing are time consuming and Japanese characters are often difficult to memorize!

Japanese is a Unique Language

You may have heard that there are “language families” and languages in the same family are somewhat similar and easy to learn. For example, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, and French are all in the Romance language family. Within this family, Spanish and Portuguese are categorized as the Ibero-Romance languages – that is why these two languages are very similar to each other.

The Japanese language is under the Altaic language family, which includes Turkish or Mongolian. However, Japanese does not have other languages in its subcategory. This means that Japanese is an isolated and uniquely unique language.

Is Japanese Hard to Learn?

So, is Japanese hard to learn? As a Japanese teacher, I would say speaking Japanese is not difficult compared to many other languages. First of all, the pronunciation is relativly easy for English speakers. In English, there are 11 vowels (or 12 depending in regions), whereas Japanese has only 5. Those 5 vowels are almost identical to the Spanish five vowels. Once you acquire how to pronounce those 5 vowels, [a] [i] [u] [e] and [o], the only thing you have to be careful of is pronouncing the “length” of those vowles and hearing the differences.

Pronunciation Tips

One of the common errors that Japanese learners make is not making a difference between long and short vowels. The pronunciation is exactly the same. It’s only the matter of the length. For example, “Obaasan” and “Obasan” means two different things. The one with the long [aa] sound means “old lady” or “grandma”, and the one with the short [a] sound means “mid-aged lady” or “aunt”. When you try to say “obasan” and if you mistakenly say “obaasan”, people might get upset! (They wouldn’t show that in their face, but in their mind, they could be offended and upset!). So these two differences are quite important.

As for consonants, you need to be careful for a couple of tricky ones. For example, there are no “F” “V” “th” or “R” sounds in Japanese. They have katakana spellings for [V] (ヴァ、ヴィ、ヴェ、ヴォ) but they appear only in the loan words from foreign, especially western, languages.

The pronunciation of “F” sound as in “family” is not the same as English. When you want to make a sound of “fa”, you make your lips round and try to say the first part of “who”. Do not say [oo] but instead, say [a] after [wh]. Then it sounds like this: “famirii” .

The [V] sound is very simple. It is replaced with [B] sound. Names like “Las Vegas”, “Venice” or “Victor” become “Rasu Begasu”, “Benisu” and “Bikutaa”.

The English “th” has two different sounds as in “bath” or “weather”. The first one is unvoiced – and this becomes [s] sound. When you say “bathroom” in the Japanese loan word style, it becomes as “basu ruumu” . The second one is voiced – and for this, use [z] instead. So “weather report” will become “wezaa ripooto”.

For [R] sounds and additional explanation for [F] sounds, please refer to F & R Sounds for more information.

Speaking Japanese

Same as learning other languages, knowing vocabulary and basic sentence structures will help you a lot! If you are a beginner, don’t be shy to use your Japanese. Most of the time, Japanese are very nice to foreigners, and they will try to understand you very carefully. The point is that you should speak up and say things clearly. When speaking in a foreign language, people tend to speak too soft or not clear enough, because they are not confident in their speech. Japanese are always happy to hear when you speak Japanese, even a little. They will praise you for saying even simplest things in Japanese.

Here are some useful expressions for beginners:

• … wa nihongo de nandesuka? (What is … in Japanese?)
• … wa eigo de nandesuka? (What is … in English?)
• sumimasen (Excuse me/ I am sorry.)
• mou ichido onegai-shimasu (Please say it one more time.)
• wakarimasen (I don’t understand.)
• nihongo ga yoku wakarimasen (I don’t know Japanese much).

For more useful and common expressions complete with audio, try this Japanese phrases page.

Reading and Writing Japanese

When asked is Japanese hard to learn? Most people will tell you the hard part of learning Japanese is reading and writing. Japanese use three alphabet sets in their daily life – hiragana, katakana and kanji (Chinese characters). In any written materials like magazines or posters etc., you see the combination of all of them. To become proficient in reading and writing in Japanese, you will eventually have to know all of them.

In almost all Japanese classes, teachers introduce you to hiragana when you start learning Japanese. However, when it comes to language for survival, I recommend you to start with katakana. Katakana is used for loan words from foreign languages. By learning how to decode each katakana letter, there is high chance that you understand what is written much better than knowing hiragana letters. However, those loan words are spelled in the Japanized pronunciation, so you will need to be familiar with how the Japanese pronouce foreign words. Here are some examples.

• カメラ　ka me ra →　camera
• ワインバー　wa i n ba (long vowel) → wine bar
• スポーツカー　su po (long vowel) tsu ka (long vowel) → sport car
• ハンバーガー　ha n ba (long vowel) ga (long vowel) →　hamburger
• タワー　ta wa (long vowel) →　tower
• マクドナルド　ma ku do na ru do →　McDonalds

Japanese like to use shortened words, such as パソコン (personal computer) エアコン (air conditioner) or スタバ (starbucks) as well.

Kanji Letters

Kanji is the most ticky part of the Japanese writing. Japanese students are required to learn almost 2000 kanji letters (!) in the elementary and junior high school levels. You do not have to be able to write all the kanji, but recognition is what’s most important. When typing in Japanese on computers or mobile phones, you don’t even need to know how to write each kanji stoke by stroke, but you will need to be able to recognize and select the kanji you want to use. Japanese has a lot of homonyms (same sounds but different meanings). For example, the sounds “kai” have the following meanings depending on the context and kanji characters.

• 会 group/meeting
• 回 times (once, twice, etc.)
• 階 floor
• 海 ocean
• 貝 sea shell
• 界 world/field of
• 買い buy
• 下位 lower rank

If you want to master kanji, basically you will need to study them all one by one. You can start from simple kanji, then you can move onto more complicated ones. Most kanji have radicals, which often shows the basic meaning of the character, so knowing radicals first will help your understandings of many kanji charaters.

Keigo – Polite speech

Japanse culture has a seniority system. They are respectful to olders or more experienced individuals. This respect is also found in customer services as well. When Japanese speak, they use different levels of politeness based on who they are talking to and who they are talking about.

Keigo is the Japanese word for respectful speech. There are three types of keigo: teinei-go (simple polite form), kenjou-go (humble form) and sonkei-go (honorifics form). If you are aiming to work in Japan, it is helpful to know all of them, and you might want to be able to speak in keigo. Otherwise, it is especially helpful to know sonkei-go, since you are more likely to be talked to in sonkei-go in customer service situations.

For example, if you ask someone where the washroom is, normal conversation and keigo conversation answers are different as following:

You: Otearai (or toire) wa doko desu ka?

Normal answer: Asoko desu. (It’s over there.)
Keigo answer: Achira ni gozaimasu.

However, if you did not understand what they said in keigo, you may simply ask again or say that you did not understand. They might adjust their speech simpler for you (knowing you are a foreigner).

Japanese is one of the most complicated languages to master. It is for sure a long way to become completely fluent. Although, the good thing is that Japanese are very generous for foreigners and they will try to understand you and forgive your mistakes. There are numerous ways to study and practice Japanese, even for free! The best way to learn a foreign language is having knowledge about the language and culture, and use your knowledge in actual speech. So, is Japanese hard to learn? Yes and no. Rome wasn’t built in a day. Your daily study/practice will make your language skills strong! Good luck.

When doing business in Japan it’s important to take into account that it is a different culture with different etiquette. What may be common sense to you is not necessarily going to be common sense to a Japanese client, business partner, or coworker. General business practices may be very similar to European or American ones but there are some details which one should properly understand in order to conduct business in Japan.

Initial Greetings

A common known bit of Japanese culture is the bow. When you meet someone in a business situation make sure to put your hands at your sides and bow at an angle between 1 and 2 o’clock. Don’t overdo it or it will come off as awkward. Handshakes are not a part of Japanese culture and many people feel uncomfortable with them. However, some Japanese people who are interested in western culture or who are used to working with foreigners enjoy shaking hands and will insist on doing it. Although you may be met with many people like this, don’t assume they are from the start and wait until they extend their hand.

Business Card

One of the obvious differences between Japan and Western business practices is the importance of the business card (or meishi). Meishi are cards that contain a persons name, company, position and contact information. When meeting a new person, be it a potential business partner, or a stranger at the bar, it is common practice to pass your business card when introducing yourself. Though your common sense may dictate that the rest should be self-explanatory, there are many do’s and don’ts surrounding business cards in Japan. When giving and receiving meishi in business situations, it is important to hold the card with both hands. You can’t just throw someone’s meishi into your pocket either. There are special cases meant for holding meishi and in case you don’t have one, it may be a good idea to use your wallet. Before you put the meishi away, you should spend a few seconds to look at it. Show that you acknowledge the person you are talking to as a sign of respect. Meishi are considered so important that some people will never throw them out. When their case becomes too full, meishi are often transferred to binders that resemble a photo album. You never know when you may run into the same person again or when you might have a reason to contact someone. Meishi are also helpful in case you are bad at remembering names.

Joushi and Buka: Social Standing

It is important to remember that there is a social heirachy in Japanese business that remains an important part of the way people work in Japan. The Joushi (or person in charge) is always placed higher than buka (his subordinates) and this will effect the way people act, the language that they use and the position they sit at a table. A general rule of thumb and an obvious one is that people must show respect to their seniors. Although it depends on the relationship one has with their boss, a certain amount of keigo is usually used when talking to your boss. Keigo, or polite language, can be spoken in many different ways and when compared to polite English is very complex. There are verbs that you can only use on yourself to sound humble (kenjogo), verbs that you can only use with other people to show them respect (sonkeigo), and the most common form (teineigo), in which you use masu and desu. One must be careful to at least use teineigo when speaking in business situations but as far as sonkeigo and kenjogo go, it is important to feel out the situation and the person who you are talking to. If you are drinking with your Joushi and he is trying to be buddies with you, it won’t be necessary to whip out all the keigo you know as it will sound rigid and distant. On the other hand, you may need to use keigo with the same joushi when he is giving you an assignment or working orders or in a more formal situation. As a foreign speaker of Japanese, the best thing you can do is listen to how your Japanese peers speak try to talk and try to follow suit.

Senpai and Kouhai

Senpai is a concept which is much stronger in Japan than in the west. If someone has been working longer than you or has more experience than you (or in some cases, is merely older than you), you are expected to treat him/her with respect. This person is considered your senpai and you, a kouhai. This concept starts in school where senpai (people in the grade above you) are seen as mentors to follow and learn from. Senpai and kouhai in business is very similar. It is a good idea to respect this custom as senpai often know their way around a company better than you will and it won’t be unlikely to see them get a promotion before you have a chance at one. A good way to judge how to treat your Senpai is placing them between people at the same level as you and your boss. It is not usually necessary to use much keigo with them but be polite.

Work and Alcohol

Some fundamental differences between Japanese and western business etiquette is felt at the nomi-kai, or drinking party; something that many westerners never experience. There are many common times of the year or reasons for nomikai including Bounenkai (End of the year or literally “forget the year” party), Shinnenkai (New Year Party), Kangeikai (Welcoming Party) and Soubetsukai (Parting Party for leaving employees). Nomi-kai’s often start with a speech by the highest ranking person in attendance. Once the drinking starts, many people will start pouring for each other, even if the other persons drink is nearly full. It is then common manners to take at least a sip of the drink the was poured for you. Many young, new employees will become involved in what seems like a pouring contest, as this is the perfect chance for them to schmooze with their seniors and get on their good sides. When the nomi-kai is nearing its close, there will be another speech or series of speeches by the either the man of the hour (in the case of a kangeikai or a soubetsukai) or by another senior. The party is then closed with one synchronized clap.

Working in Japan may seem difficult but with some effort one can develop a firm grasp on both the language, culture, and etiquette involved in Japanese business.

I’d like to say hello to everyone from studyjapanese.org. In Japanese of course, I’d be saying “Hajimemashite,” accompanied by a proper bow. My name is Jason and I’m one of the linguists at LearnJapanese.com.

For a 14 year period, most of which was spent in the Kansai area, I spent many an evening in Mister Donut downing free refills of coffee and studying Japanese. Some of my studies involved copying Japanese textbooks into a notebook and annoying Japanese friends, government officials, police officers, and shop clerks with my horrible language skills while reassuring them that it was in everyone’s best interest for them to correct me. Occasionally, as is often the case when learning languages, things clicked and I gradually saw improvement. Eventually, I passed level 1 of the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) and found myself using Japanese to communicate more than 90% of the time. Since then, I’ve taught Japanese, worked with students studying abroad in Japan, and also acted as a cultural consultant.

One of the best things about learning Japanese for me has been the opportunity to have a whole other language with which to frame my thoughts. The linguistic and cultural differences between thinking in Japanese and thinking in English allow me to look at different topics from two very different perspectives.

Although the world has gotten much smaller with advances in technology and communication, Japan is unique in that there are still a lot of great things that don’t find their way into English language media. Even a little Japanese ability can go a long way to opening up a whole new world. I’m looking forward to all of the ways that the merger between StudyJapanese.org and LearnJapanese.com will combine resources to benefit the international community of Japanese language learners.

As I would normally say at the end of an introduction like this, “Dozo yoroshiku onegaishimasu!”

It is quite easy to obtain a quick overview of Japanese verbs and how the basic forms work and are conjugated, although it takes a fair bit of time to be able to make these conjugations instantly and automatically for a wide range of tenses, verbs, and situations. In my opinion, verbs in Japanese have to carry a lot more weight in terms of conveying the intended meaning than they do in European languages. This is reflected in a number of ways, such as verbs being a larger proportion of the total number of words that you have to learn at early and intermediate stages of study, verb conjugations being used to indicate intentions or differences in status between speakers, and the equivalents of words like “want” or “should” that are kept clearly separate from the ‘main’ verb in English being incorporated within the verb in Japanese.

Regular and Irregular Japanese Verbs

One benefit of Japanese is that there are only two irregular verbs: する (suru; to do) and 来る (くる; kuru; to come). Thus, conjugations often differ markedly from what one might expect from the conjugations of regular verbs. It is also worth noting from these Japanese text examples that suru is only written in hiragana, while kuru is written in two different ways. The first way starts with a kanji symbol (来) and ends with a hiragana symbol (る). The second way contains only hiragana. In the first case, the kanji indicates the intended verb meaning, which doesn’t change (although its reading can), while the hiragana (called okurigana 送り仮名 after kanji in this context) can be changed to reflect the conjugation. So, for example, kita (来た), konai (来ない), and konakatta (来なかった), all with the same kanji, mean ‘went’, ‘don’t go’, and ‘didn’t go’, respectively.

In the case of regular verbs, there are two groups, called imaginatively Group I and Group II verbs, or sometimes –ru and –u verbs [which reflects the fact that Japanese verbs end in a ‘u’, that is, う (‘u’), く (‘ku’), す (‘su’), つ (‘tsu’), ぬ (‘nu’), ふ (‘fu’), む (‘mu’), ゆ (‘yu’), る (‘ru’), ぐ (‘gu’), ず (‘zu’), ぶ (‘bu’), or ぷ (‘pu’)]. The identity of a verb in terms of Group I or II is vital for the way it is conjugated, so it can be very useful if you can remember a verb’s status when you first learn it. A key difference between these groups relates to how the polite (-masu) form is made from the plain (or dictionary) form of verbs, with an extra syllable being present in the case of –u verbs [see Part 2 of this article].

Subject-Verb Agreement of Japanese Verbs

Another benefit of Japanese verbs is that one does not have to worry about subject-verb agreement. So, while you might have bad memories of language lessons from school involving endless repetitions of I am, You are, He/She is, We are, You are, They are, or J’ai, Tu as, Il a, Nous avons, Vous avez, Ils ont, Elles ont, this is completely unnecessary in Japanese. The verb doesn’t change in this manner.

To your average part-time learner of Japanese, the multitude of different components of the language that are to be studied in order to build a well-rounded proficiency can be a stumbling block when trying to develop an effective study schedule. Students may wish to improve their ability to listen to and understand spoken Japanese, to construct and pronounce their own sentences, to expand their vocabulary, to understand and correctly apply a wide range of grammar rules, to read hiragana, katakana, and an increasing number of kanji without difficulty, or to work on Japanese writing and correct stroke order. When students only have a few hours to spare each week, what should they focus on, how should they plan their study, and what changes might be necessary as their level of proficiency increases?

Goals for Learning Japanese

When deciding on what components to focus on, students must consider their reasons for learning the language and their goals. Some may want to master daily conversation, to read manga comics, or to understand Japanese films without subtitles. However, even in such cases, students should bear in mind that neglecting certain other parts of the language may be detrimental to their specific goal because all the components of Japanese are of course interwoven. For example, being able to write many kanji and remember the correct stroke order will speed up your reading speed, or an improved vocabulary obtained from a lot of reading will help make speaking and constructing sentences easier.

For students who have no specific target but just generally want to learn Japanese for fun, focusing on speaking and listening, with the associated need to learn how to apply and decipher grammar rules correctly, should be considered most important. A few hours of this type of study each week, with frequent revision of previous work, can be accompanied by vocabulary learning by making word lists of all the new words that one encounters during one’s studies.

Diversifying and Reviewing Progress in Japanese

As one progresses, it becomes increasingly necessary to add reading and possibly writing studies to one’s focus on Japanese. This helps bring some variation to one’s study schedule. However, as the number of different aspects of language study that one is engaged in increases, the necessary study load can become a burden. For example, after you have learnt the general English meanings and the kunyomi and onyomi readings of 500 or so kanji, then you will have to keep returning to these every week or two in order to ensure that you do not forget them. This is especially true since your memory of them won’t be reinforced by speaking or listening practice, or from studying grammar. So, to some extent, unless you are naturally using both spoken and written Japanese in your daily life, you will be engaged in a battle to stop yourself slipping backwards in terms of what you have already learnt.

At more advanced levels, students may want to consider particular specialist areas to focus on. As such, there is a dedicated literature as well as classes at Japanese language schools at which students can focus on Business Japanese or Japanese for other fields like Law, Medicine, and Science, with an emphasis on the terminology required to participate in these sectors effectively.

Imagine studying day after day for hours at a time. The JLPT is just 2 months away and you have half a book of grammar and thousands of words to study. It seems like there is no way you could possibly pass. You kill your social life in hopes that you might be able to pass. The day finally comes and you are sure you bombed it. A few months later the results confirm it.

You can look at this two ways. The first and most common is to focus on the failure and feel like crap about it. Yes, it means you may have to take the test again. Yes, it means you wasted precious money. And yes, it means your Japanese isn’t where you would like it to be. It is natural to be upset or depressed about these things. So it’s fine to feel a bit sad or angry. Try to get over it as soon as possible and realize quickly that your time wasn’t wasted. Try to build up the motivation to move on and make something productive out of it.

What you learned

Sure, you can say that a lot of the grammar and vocabulary are useless for real life and sometimes this may be true, especially once you reach level 2 and level 1. But if you are aiming for fluency, this isn’t the case for a large percentage of it. Those thousands of words and difficult grammar will help you to read a novel or have an interesting conversation. You are bound to come across those words somewhere and studying for the test motivated you to familiarize yourself with them. If it weren’t for the test, who knows if you would have been able to make that many flashcards or sit in front of a textbook for countless hours. Whether you passed or failed, if you studied Japanese you learned something. While you probably want to boast to yourself or your friends that you can speak Japanese well, and there may be other reasons for you to take the test (school, finding a job), the most important thing is actually fluency and you are still making your way towards that every time you open a textbook and study Japanese. I know foreigners in Japan who got jobs because of their fluency in Japanese and they have never taken the JLPT. Focus on the future.

Don’t stop there

If you think of the test as just part of your ongoing struggle to be fluent at Japanese, there is no reason you should stop once the test is over. I know many people who take a big test like the JLPT and as soon as it’s over, they take a break from studying until they receive the results and sometimes after. Their Japanese often returns to the level it was before they started studying for the tests. After coming so far, you don’t want to lose everything you worked for. Some of the most progress will be made if you can motivate yourself to frequently review all the test material after you take the test. This method of studying Japanese is likely to work wonders. It is often said that binge studying only helps for tests and that the things you learn won’t stick. If you bring yourself to review, it WILL stick. So quit whining about a poor grade, focus on the future and get back to the books!

After studying at class it can be liberating to do things at your own pace and on your own terms. Still there is no doubt that people enjoy being in groups and there are certain things you can do together that you can’t do alone. Studying is no different. If you can stay focused, there are many ways you can benefit by sticking together and forming a Japanese study group or by just having a partner to study Japanese with.

Sharing Japanese

When you study Japanese together, you have a much bigger information base. If you don’t understand something, your friend might and you can ask. You can also share textbooks and interesting or useful words and phrases, books, movie and music recommendations and motivate each other. When you study Japanese in a group, it’s more interesting and the information you take in will tend to stick a lot better. You can also practice speaking together. If you are studying the same material, you can make good use of the words and grammar that you are currently studying. You can also brainstorm together and think of questions to bring to class or to a native speaker and your study partner or group member may bring up some important question that you haven’t thought of. If you and your study partner(s) level is not even, one person can take the role of the student and one of the teacher. The benefits of the student-role may be obvious but the person who takes the role of the tutor will have a great chance to review everything that they have studied up until now.

Compete and Learn

I am not a competitive person. When I was young, soccer was more about trying to kick the ball hard than get it in the goal. Since I made my own challenge (kick the ball across the field or even further), the standard challenge of soccer didn’t matter much to me. But whether you prefer common straightforward challenges or making your own original ones, a competitive attitude can help motivate you to to learn Japanese faster and will bring out your fighting spirit. If you are lagging behind your friend, it will make you much more motivated to put in a little extra time, learn a few extra words or get further in your textbook. When you are together, you can work together and build on each others knowledge and when you go off to study on your own, let yourself get extra competitive in order to try to surpass your study partner(s). Almost everyone loves a friendly challenge and you have nothing to lose. The point of competition isn’t to beat someone. Winning and losing isn’t important; the idea is to push yourself in order to prove and a rival may help give you a benchmark to measure your fluency and help motivate you to keep studying Japanese with everything you have.

Stay Focused

The point of studying together is to make the whole ordeal more fun but don’t forget the reason you’re working together. If you aren’t learning anything, you might as well be drinking a beer or playing video games together. Try to develop a habit of studying seriously for at least 60-80% of your time and relaxing, talking about your studies and sharing information for the remainder. If you have a hard time focusing, make a goal such as finishing a chapter or memorizing a list of words and don’t talk until you finish that goal. This method should make studying Japanese a painless, even fun experience.

One of the interesting features of the Japanese language is the abundance of honorific usage of words and sentences. Japanese people are fond of using honorific forms in their conversations, whether it is a casual greeting or an official talk with a customer. A “gaijin” (foreigner) who tries to learn Japanese by conversations, finds it interesting to note that the alphabet ‘O’ (お) is used as the honorific prefix most of the times. ‘O’ (お or 御) is used as a prefix to “kunyomi” (Japanese reading) words so commonly that a beginner gets confused between the O-prefixed words and the natural “kunyomi” (訓読み) words starting with letter ‘O’. Sometimes, the potency of honoring the word is so strong that the O-factor throws out funny usage of prefixes!

O in Conversations

It is most common to start a Japanese conversation with “Ohayou gozaimasu” (Good morning) and the famous “Ogenki desuka?” (How are you?). As one can notice, even during such casual greetings, the O-factor has a role to play. Yes! They are “O-hayou” and “O-genki” when you split those greeting words. And even after learning Japanese for a good period, it is difficult for a student to recognize this O-factor easily. Any foreigner would appreciate the honorific prefixes when they are used in sentences like “onegaishimasu” (I request you). Rather, it is so obvious that nobody recognizes “onegai” (request) as “O-negai” (the holy – request!!) consciously. No doubt that the O-factor makes the language really polite; but its abundance makes a beginner face different situations, which may be funny sometimes. A “gaijin” student trying to learn Japanese was found enquiring his Japanese classmate about the honorific ‘O’ used with “mizu” (水- water). It was not clear to him why such a great honor must be conferred on a commonest material like water. He was struggling to make out the contexts in which “mizu” (water) must be used as “O-mizu” (Holy-water!?). Indeed, many beginners wonder how “suidou no mizu” (tap water) becomes “O-mizu” (holy water!!) when transferred to a glass!

Some more Japanese O-humor

In fact, a lot of funny things gush into the mind when one starts separating the O-factor from the commonly used words. For instance, an alien who visits a Japanese clinic waits at the reception until the “o-nesan” (revered – sister) sends him to the “o-isha” (revered – doctor), and the basic knowledge of O-factor imparted on him is enough to understand the dialogues. Also he can try to understand “o-kusuri” (holy – medicine!) administered for his own “o-naka” (sacred – stomach!) ailments. But when the revered – sister at the reception asks him to collect some “o-shikko” (holy – urine) for routine clinical tests, he would definitely burst into a big laughter trying to make out the potency of the politeness conferred with the O-factor! Once this mischievous idea of recognizing the O-factor separately as a sacred prefix enters the mind, any student who wants to learn Japanese would look for more and more of it because it makes the study more humorous!

1. Take off your shoes indoors
Japanese have strong concept of “uchi” (home/in-group) and “soto” (outside/out-group). From that, at Japanese people’s houses and traditional Japanese hotels called “ryokan”, most likely you will need to take your shoes off when entering. Many times, you will be offered slippers to wear inside. In that case, please use them. Some people do not like guests to walk around without slippers. If you are invited to visit a Japanese person’s house, please wear socks since going into someone’s house bare-footed is not polite (especially for a semi-formal or formal invitation).

Here are some tips about indoor slippers. 1) Take your slippers off before entering a “tatami” room. You are not supposed to wear any shoes on tatami. 2) If there are separate slippers in the washroom, wear them only in the washroom area. The separation is important! Keep the house slipper out of the bathroom and the bathroom slippers in the bathroom!

2. Eating in public
This also abides separation of “uchi” and “soto”. There are things you are not supposed to do in “soto”.

Generally speaking, Japanese eat or drink in designated areas only. In most public areas (e. g., at public transportation: trains, subways, buses etc.), you are not recommended to eat something noticeable. For example, eating a rice ball (onigiri), fruits, or drinking canned sodas are not recommended. However, something small to eat, like candy or gum, or drinks with bottle-caps would be acceptable.

For long-distance travels, eating and drinking on Super Express or Bullet trains is normal and accepted. You may bring a bento box, drink beer, and basically enjoy any food or drink you like. There are often places on the train platform to purchase food or drink to bring with you on your journey. However, you may want to be careful not to eat strong smelling food. Consideration to others would be highly appreciated.

3. Talking loud in public places
In general, English speakers talk much louder than Japanese speakers. In places like coffee shops, restaurants, buses or trains, even if you are speaking in a normal level of voice, it is usually considered very loud to most Japanese. However, it varies depending on the situations, so please look around and check if it is somewhat quiet or not, then please be careful about how loud you talk. Most of the time people will not say anything, but there is a chance you might get yelled by a Japanese person (especially old grouchy ones!) to be quiet.

4. Eating Sushi – Using soy sauce properly
One of the most popular Japanese food is sushi. There are different kinds of sushi: nigiri-zushi, gunkan, maki-zushi (roll), te-maki-zushi (hand roll), chirashi-zushi (various sushi in a box with rice on the bottom), etc. Here I would like to explain how to use soy sauce when you eat nigiri and gunkan sushi.

Nigiri is the most popular sushi among Japanese – when they hear “sushi”, they would think about nigiri-zushi. This is the one with rice on the bottom and raw fish or other ingredients (called “neta”) on top. When you eat nigiri, either hold the sushi with your chopsticks or in your hand, and apply soy sauce from a separate small plate that is provided. When you do this, do not soak the rice part in the soy sauce! Your sushi will have too much soy sauce and the rice will fall apart. The correct way is to flip the sushi over, and put the fish into the soy sauce. Basically you do not want to have your small soy sauce dish have any rice in it at the end of the meal.

“Gunkan” is a similar to nigiri in shape but it is characterized by a small piece of dried seaweed wrapped around it. For Gunkan, you want to pour soy sauce directly on the sushi, so that you don’t lose your “neta” by flipping it over like when eating nigiri.

Now you are a pro sushi eater without a messy soy sauce plate with full of wasted rice!

5. Soy sauce on steamed white rice
Steamed white rice by itself is boring with no real taste, right? Let’s pour some delicious soy sauce and make it tasty! W-R-O-N-G! This could make Japanese feel grossed out! Write rice is supposed to be pure and clean. Making your rice and rice bowl dirty with anything is not a good manner, unless it is already mixed before it is served (like fried rice). So how do Japanese enjoy plain steamed rice?

Usually, Japanese meals contain a main dish, some side dishes (called “okazu”), soup and rice. Japanese eat okazu with rice. Eat okazu first and while it is still in your mouth, add some rice as well. They mix okazu and rice like this. If you like, you can have rice first and add okazu right after. One thing you want to remember is that it is considered good manners to eat each dish little by little. Do not finish only one dish first then move onto another one. Eating little by little shows respect and appreciation for each dish. So remember balance everything when you eat your meal.

If you are invited to a Japanese person’s house for a meal, try finishing everything. If you cannot finish, you shuld to tell them that you are full (“onaka ga ippai desu”), that it was very delicious (“totemo oishi-katta desu”) and that you appreciate their served a meal for you saying “arigatou”.

6. Hot springs (onsen) is only for your clean bodies!
Onsens have a couple of clean rules to follow since everybody is sharing the same water in the tub. The basic rule is that only clean bodies can go into the tub. When you go into the onsen, first go to the washing area and wash your body (and hair if you like – body soap, shampoo, and conditioners are almost always provided). Once you are clean, you may enter the hot water baths to soak. You might have small towel with you, but do not soak it into the bath water. If you have long hair, tie it up with a band or towel so that hair does not go in either. You do not want to see anybody’s floating hair in the good-feeling hot tub!

If you are sharing the tub with someone else, make sure not to disturb the others by splashing, staring at others, or swimming! (If you want to swim around little, do it when nobody is around you.) When you go back to the changing area, try to towel off quickly to avoid leaving too much water on the floor.

7. Which side to stand on an escalator?
Even Japanese sometimes get confused about this one, but taking an escalator differs in different places. During rush hours (crowds of people going or returning from school or work), people are in a hurry and you will make a huge line behind you if you are standing on the wrong side. In Japan, people in a hurry always walk up or down on moving escalators. Please be sure to either walk with those in a hurry or stand on the side with the people just riding. You will need to look at which side to wait or walk on because the sides differ in two major areas!

In Tokyo, if you are not in a hurry and do not walk on the escalator, stay on the left side. Stand all the way to the left to make sure that you give enough room for someone to pass on the right side of you. In Osaka it is opposite. People stand and ride on the right side. In any other place – you can remember that most of the places follow Tokyo. Some international places like Kyoto, it could be right or left depending on who is on the escalator. So just look around and see which side you should stand, if you are not sure about it.

8. Women only cars on the train
In big cities like Tokyo, there are women only cars in the train/subway system. This is only applicable during rush hours in the morning and evening as well. The reason for separate women only cars is for preventing “chikan” (pervert) problems – someone touching random women (or men!) in a highly crowded area or in the train. On the platform, they have signs for women only cars on the ground, usually with an easily recognizable pink sign, so as on the train body. Nobody would give you fines if you accidentally hopped into one of them, but you might get an un-approving look by women. Check to see if the car you are riding is for only women or not, before riding a train. It should be easy to see.

9. “Foreigners never apologize! (angry face)”
Foreigners have bad reputations for not saying “I’m sorry” when the Japanese think they deserve an apology. Rather, they say foreigners make excuses and try to justify what you have done. Japanese consider an apology and saying “I’m sorry” (“Gomen-nasai” or in casual, “gomen-ne”) as very important. By hearing an apology first, you will appear sincere in their eyes and can be ready to start forgiving you. If you did something wrong, big or small, apologize first and then move from there.

If you want to explain why you did something, explain after you say sorry. Still, remember to have a sorry-ness in your speech. If you show the attitude that you are trying to justify yourself without sorry-ness even after you apologized, the argument could go longer. Make sure to show that you are truly sorry for a longer time than you think it is necessary, and apologize more than once. That helps for you to finish the argument smoothly.

10. Be on time! Be on time! Be on time!
Japanese are very punctual since they are expected to be in every situation. Buses and trains operate on precise schedules and so do people who are meeting with you. They are trained to be on time from their elementary school life – schools often teach kids “five-to” rules. If you are meeting someone at a station at 5pm, many of them show up around 4:55.

So does this mean that Japanese are never late? Don’t worry! Japanese are also human. They could be late for a meeting of course. But here is a common courtesy for those who run late. If you are going to be late, call or text before the planned meeting time, and inform the person you are meeting where you are and/or how late you will be. This is common courtesy so they do not have to wait and wonder if you are lost or how long they have to wait for you. Giving a heads-up helps a lot, but make sure you do that before the meeting time. Also, avoid being late too often since people may start to think that you are not punctual and cannot be trusted to keep an appointment.

Japanese have a lot of “regulations” but they are usually generous when foreigners make mistakes. So do not feel too stressed about the rules in Japan, but Japanese would be delighted to see you try and show that you want to act as the Japanese do. “When in Japan, do as the Japanese do” is my best advice for your successful Japanese life.

Anyone learning Japanese in order to study abroad, show near-native speaker level fluency, or advance in business should aspire to pass the N2 or N1 levels of the Japanese Language Proficiency Test. Even people who are learning for pleasure or other reasons could use the test as a great way to understand their ability in the context of what Japan would consider fluent or proficient.

JLPT N1

The N1 is the most difficult level of the JLPT and the highest level Japanese certification available. The pass rate seems high at first glance, close to 35% of test takers in Japan and just under 30% for test takers outside of Japan. However, it is important to remember that with the availability of 5 other levels, most of the people who try the JLPT N1 go into it thinking they have a chance of passing, and hundreds of hours of study time behind them.

JLPT N1 proficiency is described simply as the ability to understand and use Japanese in wide variety of situations. Although there may be little noticeable difference between N1 and N2 level in everyday conversation, someone with N1 will have much more versatility, larger active and passive vocabularies, and better overall skills, especially when dealing with unfamiliar or less common situations and topics.

The N2 is also recognized as showing a high level of proficiency with the language, and is the goal of many long-term study abroad programs. Someone who is N2 level is described as being able to understand Japanese in everyday situations and in a wide variety of other situations “to a certain degree”. This means that with less common situations, an N2 may encounter some small difficulties, but have no hindrance in communicating in everyday situations.

Overview of Level N1 Test

N1 is the most difficult and highest level offered. The test is also the longest of the JLPT exams at a total of 170 minutes not counting breaks, explanations, and other administrative necessities. The N1 and also the N2 are structured differently from the other tests with more integration between the reading, grammar, and vocabulary sections.

The Japanese linguistic competency required in the reading section is the ability to read materials with “logical complexity” on a variety of topics. Also required is the ability to follow narratives with “profound contents” on a variety of topics and understand the “intent” of the writers.

I used quotes for the terms I think potential test-takers should think about. Logical complexity could mean such things as essays with contradictory arguments, complex instructions on how to do something, or other topics one might encounter in business situations or other less common circumstances. The second part about understanding the “intent” of writers is also significant because it implies that readers will be expected to read between the lines and understand certain nuances in grammar and word usage. A possible example of this is the use of the Japanese term “…kirai ga aru” which implies a tendency for something to happen. That “something” has a negative connotation. N1 level readers should recognize the intent of the usage of “kirai ga aru” without it being stated outright.

The N1 starts off with a vocabulary/grammar and reading section that is 110 minutes long. The structure allows test-makers to increase the difficulty and realism of the test questions by integrating comprehension with the vocabulary and grammar.

N1 vocabulary/grammar and reading section common questions:
• The grammar questions are similar to other levels with, of course somewhat more advanced grammar. Selecting grammar forms, sentence composition, and text grammar will all be included.
• There are no orthography or word formation questions on the N1 vocabulary section, however all of the other types are in place. Vocabulary questions will include paraphrasing, usage, terms defined through context, and the inevitable kanji reading.

Those who pass the N1 listening section are expected to comprehensively understand the content of anything from news reports to conversations to lectures spoken at natural speed in a variety of settings. They should also understand intent as well as the implied relationships among speakers. The implied relationship part means that just through a proper understanding of the wording used, one should be able to figure out whether the conversation is among friends, people who’ve just met, a person and his or her superior at work, or family members… to list a few possibilities.

N1 listening section question types:
• Integrated comprehension – which makes use of reading materials or visuals in addition to the listening.
• Quick response – meaning very little time is given to think or review notes before the next test item begins.
• Task based, general outline, and comprehension of key points questions – the standard listening type questions that ask listeners to do something, find specific information, or understand the general idea or intent of a passage.

Overview of Level N2 Test

The N2 test is the level that primarily shows that a person can function effectively and with little trouble in everyday situations, with somewhat good functionality in unfamiliar or non-everyday situations as well. Many study abroad in Japan programs or companies require or aspire to this level because it shows that one doesn’t need much outside support to successfully function in a situation of Japanese language immersion.

The JLPT N2 level test runs a total of 155 minutes for the exam itself. As with the all levels, this does not count explanation time and breaks. The language knowledge section is 105 minutes, and includes the grammar, reading comprehension, and vocabulary questions in a mostly integrated style.

The N2 question types and one type unique to N2:
• The N2 level contains vocabulary questions on usage, kanji reading, orthography, paraphrasing, and contextually defined terms, but also adds one more. Word formation is a type of question unique to the N2 level. In this type of question, you are given part of a word and asked to supply the remaining kanji character. On example I’ve seen is a sentence in which “bamen” (scene) is provided. The context of the sentence calls for the completed word to be “meibamen” (famous scenes). The list of possible answers consists of 4 kanji, all of which can be read “mei” and you have to choose the correct one.
• Although this level doesn’t have the long reading passages found in levels N1 and N3, it is integrated the same way N1 is so even shorter passages can be challenging.
• The grammar questions are similar to those found in all of the other levels, though with N2 level grammar terms and vocabulary used in the sentences. The questions are basically, text and sentence grammar, and the sentence composition questions for which test-takers have to determine the proper word order of 4 sentence parts and fill the answer that fits where the star is.

The JLPT N2 listening test includes all the same questions as then N1, including the integrated lessons.

N2 listening test question types:
• Task based listening comprehension, as well as listening for key points and general ideas.
• Quick response questions – these questions allow little thinking, review, or note-taking time, and can be difficult if one falls behind.
• Integrated comprehension – as with the N1 test, these items are not limited to just listening but require taking in other types of information as well.

Conclusion and Further Investigations

The JLPT provides a sample question for each type of question found on each level of the JLPT. This can be useful for people who are just trying to choose a level to start studying for, or people who want to know what the questions on the test actually look at. JLPT Sample Questions by Level.

The N2 and N1 level Japanese Language Proficiency Exams are the pinnacle of standardized Japanese language exams. Either of these certifications can serve as proof of one’s ability to effectively communicate and function in Japanese.

There are a total of 5 levels, from N1 to N5 and they are spaced well enough to serve as a good guide for people learning Japanese who want some verification of their accomplishments. The test levels N3 to N5 for beginners and intermediate students are discussed in detail here.