“I want to learn Japanese – will you teach me?”

by | Jul 3, 2017 | Tips

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I want to learn Japanese – will you teach me? Who? Me?

Yes! OK, I will help you learn Japanese.

Give me 30 minutes of your day…every day.

I am not Japanese…(I am sure that you figured that out by now 😉 ).

Nevertheless, I have been receiving emails and direct messages from people on Facebook and Instagram, asking me to teach them Japanese. Why are they asking me this? Well, here are my Top 5 guesses in no particular order:
  1. They don’t know any Native Japanese speakers so I am the next best thing!
  2. Nervous/shy using Japanese and do not want to make any mistakes and embarrass themselves in front of a Native speaker.
  3. Want someone with Native English to be able to explain grammar and answer questions.
  4. Like what I do on social media and want to find out more about Nihongo Connection.
  5. They want to learn from someone who has been through the process and may be able to offer some insider tips and tricks.

You are in the right place

Well, based on those five, you have come to the right place.

  1. I can introduce you to Native Japanese Speakers in my Facebook group and you can connect with them and communicate to improve your fluency
  2. Somehow it is easier to make mistakes in front of a non-Native speaker of the language that we are studying. I get this, I really do, we don’t want to insult this lovely new Japanese friend that we have made. Don’t worry, it happens. I chatted at length with a Japanese guy about something completely innocent only for him to have mistakenly thought that we were discussing something very intimate. It was awkward, rather embarrassing (if I’m honest) but we laughed, learned from it and moved on…and most importantly I did not make the same language mistake again!
  3. When we are starting out with Japanese, it is comforting to get support and thorough explanations from someone who shares our linguistic background. However, properly Trained Native Japanese teachers will have the required know-how with varying levels of English. Yes, we should go for a non-native speaker if it makes us more comfortable but it is important to have a few trial lessons with a few different teachers, native and non-native, in order to find the best teacher for us.
  4. Well, I am glad that you like what I share on social media and I am flattered that you ask me to help you! Of course, I will do what I can to help you, but I am neither Native nor trained to teach Japanese. I am still learning too 🙂
  5. Yes! Someone who can empathise with us as we learn is a great resource to have and lucky for you, my Facebook group is full of people like that who are willing to help you and give you some great tips and advice.

Start learning Japanese within 30 minutes per day

Ok, here is what you can do to start learning Japanese within 30 minutes every day. These are some things that I think work…(I was formerly a TEFL* teacher):

First ~ Learn Japanese pronunciation by starting with the five vowel sounds and then by adding the consonants (watch this video and repeat the sounds as you hear them). Once you can hear the sounds clearly, it will be easier to hear words and therefore easier to pick up the language in the long run. Learn the sounds by starting with Hiragana here. Listen and repeat (saying what you hear) for 10 minutes every day. 

Second ~ Say each Hiragana symbol as you learn to write it (example here). There are lots of free resources that show you the stroke order. Search “Hiragana writing sheets” on Google. Check out the vowel symbols here. Repeat and write the sounds (speak as you write the correlating symbol) for 20 minutes every day.

If you follow the First and Second Tips above, use a Language Bullet Journal and practice every day, you will be able to hear, speak, read and write Hiragana within a couple of weeks! Let me know how you get on.

*Teaching English as a Foreign Language 🙂

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