Introduction
The Japanese language may appear so complex just by looking at it. You might find yourself with no other option but to learn it anyway. For instance, let’s say you have plans to locate to Japan for work or studies. Or, maybe you just won a very good Japanese scholarship and now you are obliged to go there. Maybe you don’t need to learn Japanese for any special reasons. For instance, maybe you are just interested in the language for some reason. You could be a huge fan of languages and Japanese happens to be a part of your long list. Or, maybe you are a fan of travel and you hope to visit Japanese for a while. Whatever the reason might be, the point is you want to learn Japanese. However, the issue is you maybe want to do this from the comfort of your home. The following are a few tips to help you master the language from the comfort of your home.
Set realistic goals
The truth is you are not going to master Japanese overnight. As they say, overnight success is actually a result of a series of hardworking hours. So the first thing you need to do is to draft your goals. Be realistic, it’s going to take you more than six months to grasp the basics on your fingertips. It can take you up to a year or more to master everything in great detail. Do not be in a hurry to see results. Remember, those daily hours that you are going to devote to learning Japanese are going to produce the end result. Hence, as you set your goals, make sure to set short term and long term goals. This means that you need to be clear about your daily goals, weekly goals, monthly goals and so on.
Devote some time every day to learning Japanese
There are many ways you can do this. The Japanese language is mainly different from the common languages in the sense that it looks like a pattern. Therefore, you need to devote time to grasp the writing skill. Take at least thirty minutes every to polish your writing. Learning a language also means knowing how to read, speak and listen. Hence, you need to be wise in allocating your time.
Change the language on your phone to Japanese
We devote a reasonable amount of time to our phones each day. Whether it’s making calls, texting or playing games. How about you challenge yourself a little bit. Don’t think too hard about making the decision. Switch to the Japanese language on your phone. This means that everything that you are going to do, from searches to basic operations on your phone, the Japanese language is going to be the main language.
This might feel very suffocating at first as you try to find your way around your phone. Nonetheless, it’ll surely pay off with time. The more you allow yourself to be uncomfortable with the new change, the more you are going to push yourself to learn Japanese. And, the more you get used to seeing it in your day to day operations, the more it’ll be easier for you to master Japanese.
Often listen to Japanese audios
There are a vast number of Japanese audios that you can choose from according to your personal preferences. There are audios that are based entirely on grammar, those that base on simply knowing basic Japanese and many more. Do not be in a hurry to grasp all the information at once. Listen to a maximum of two audios a day. The trick here is to not break the chain. Make sure you make it an objective to not skip a day of listening. How about you listen to Japanese audio the first thing when you wake up, and you listen to the last audio as you go to bed. Gear up your brain so that it gets used to listening to the language. This way, it’ll be easy for you to pick up sentences as someone speaks. It’ll sharpen your hearing abilities.
Maximize the advantage of social media
In most cases, you are going to spend more than half of your day on social media. Use this fact to your advantage. Manipulate your brain by making it believe you are still having fun on social media. However, you must make some huge changes to what you focus on as you go on social media. Join a lot of groups that are Japanese based. Be it education or entertainment groups. Make sure that you contribute to the group discussions. The moment you feel less confident about participating, remember what a Japanese native would sound like if they try to learn your language. The trick here is on exposure. The more you expose yourself to the language, the better chances of you mastering it.
Watch more Japanese podcasts and tutorials
Set aside time for achieving this particular goal. Focus on tutorials that will give you some form of exercise at the end. It is much easier to follow a podcast or a tutorial than it is to gather the willpower to read an educational book. Tutorials tend to provide more detailed focused explanations that are easier to grasp. Another advantage is that you can actually get the chance to learn Japanese in your own language. This makes it much easier for faster progress.
Conclusion
With everything being said, it doesn’t matter how many textbooks or hours of class you invest in learning Japanese. At the end of the day, it’s your determination and desire to learn the language that’ll yield results. So, don’t feel like you are not making more progress if you decide to learn Japanese from home. Stay focused, be consistent. You’ll end up learning Japanese faster than someone who spends hours sitting in a classroom.