First off, I'm not sure I'm qualified to write this article because unlike many JETs, I studied Japanese in a structured environment (i.e. school) while many JETs learn Japanese the hard way (i.e. being thrown in a town where the only English signs available were definitely not written by a native English speaker). However, unlike myself, you are learning Japanese in Japan, which has a gazillion advantages to say the least. If you would like to make learning Japanese one of your prime goals for your JET term, I hope that this article will give you some advice on to how to go about it.

For starters . . .

Japanese is not the easiest language for a native English speaker to learn and vice versa. The main reason behind this is grammar and, the bane of every Japanese learner's existence, kanji, which we'll deal with later. English grammar is primarily composed of a SVO (subject verb object) form while Japanese grammar is composed of a SOV form. In other words, the English phrase "I like samurai movies" when put into Japanese is "I samurai movies like." This is one of the most frustrating aspects when first starting out with a language. You even might be thinking "How am I ever going to remember the who and what by the time I get to the verb at the end of the sentence to figure out what is going on?" Okay, maybe that's just what I used to think. The truth of the matter is that you start off with simple sentences and then to harder ones, and after a while you don't seem to notice or care that the verb is at the end. Actually, it gives you time to think since honorifics, present, and past tense, along with other grammatical things that are added to the end of the sentence.

For basic grammar knowledge, I would recommend taking a beginner's Japanese course. Afterwards, you can figure out a lot of things based on conversations with Japanese speakers and from Japanese study books (such as the CLAIR language course books). For intermediate learners of Japanese, I would recommend Intermediate Japanese by MIURA Akira and HANAOKA MCGLOIN Naomi (ISBN 4-7890-0741-3).

Vocabulary

Luckily, Japanese is fairly easy to pronounce for English speakers (though, I've been told, we'll always have an accent). Probably the hardest part of Japanese pronunciation for English speakers is intonation (the meaning of the word can be changed by the intonation), the lack of stress on words (unlike English), long vowels, precise vowel sound (not just any similar vowel sound will do), and the r/l thing (yes, it goes both ways). The best way to perfect your pronunciation is with practice. One book to help foreigners practice their pronunciation is 『1日10分の発音練習』 (Ichi-nichi jyu-ppun no hatsuon renshu) by KONO Toshiyuki, KUSHITA Machiko, TSUKIJI Nobumi, and MATSUZAKI Hiroshi (ISBN: 4874242863). It comes with a CD and explains certain pronunciation rules (in Japanese, though you don't need to use the book to practice and understand the intonations).

Of course, pronunciation should be practiced with actual words. Depending on your Japanese class or Japanese language book, the words you will learn will be different. Also, because you are in Japan surrounded by people who speak Japanese all the time, you'll be able to pick up words for daily use rather easily. You might find that you pick up school words (along with Japanese slang that your students use) first. At the beginning you will find that you won't be able to speak because you don't know enough words. That's fine. Try speaking in short sentences here and there at work. You will also notice that your Japanese listening comprehension gets better the more you study Japanese. Unfortunately, the only real way to learn vocabulary is to study (or hear the same word so many times that you just pick up its meaning). At the bottom of this article, there will be several Japanese learning links that include ones that teach vocabulary.

Japanese Characters

Along with vocabulary comes the ever-so-loved Japanese characters. There are three main alphabets in the Japanese language-hiragana, a phonetic alphabet; katakana, similar to hiragana but used primarily with foreign words; and kanji, which are Chinese characters. At first, the fact that there are three character sets is quite daunting, but in actuality the only difficult one is kanji. It is highly recommended that you learn at least hiragana and katakana. In actuality, though, the one that will help you out most without learning kanji is katakana, which you can use to figure out what certain foods are at restaurants (a plus!). It is easy to learn both hiragana and katakana within a week, and being in Japan, you'll have lots of places and opportunities to practice your hiragana/katakana reading skills.

Kanji, on the other hand, are usually the least loved by the Japanese-studying community. It is suggested that people learn about 2000 of them to be able to read a newspaper and function in Japanese society (though there are more and even some native speaking adults don't know what some kanji mean). Although learning 2000 kanji might be a daunting task, a knowledge of basic kanji will definitely help you out with your every day life in Japan. Kanji were imported from China and are basically pictograms that represent words or ideas. Although 川 may not look like anything in particular to you, in olden days people would tell you it looked like a "river", which is what it means in the present day. There are also different readings for a kanji depending on whether or not it is combined with other kanji (on reading, which is taken roughly from ancient Chinese), or if it is by itself or with kana (kun reading).

There are various workbooks that teach you basic kanji, including Basic Kanji Book Volumes 1 & 2 by KANO Chieko, SHIMIZU Yuri, TAKENAKA Hiroko, and ISHII Eriko (Vol. 1 (red) ISBN 4-89358-091-4, Vol. 2 (blue) ISBN 4-89358-119-8). Learning the kanji for the 4th level Japanese Proficiency Test, which are probably the essentials for living in Japan (including the kanji you would use to distinguish between a large beer and a regular sized one), will greatly aid you in your journeys here in Japan. For a list of the kanji used in 4-kyu, see the links at the bottom of this page.

Putting it all Together

Once you have the basics down, you can go and wow people with your Japanese ability. Being in Japan, there are many opportunities to do so from your work enkai, eating out, and asking for directions to practicing with private volunteer tutors (or doing language exchanges) or during a homestay. The more you use your Japanese the better it gets, and the better it gets the more you can use it. Also, the more Japanese you know, the more understanding you get on the Japanese culture, not to mention the easier it becomes to live in Japan.

Summer Courses

Several JETs (who have the option of taking kenshu leave (meaning some municipal JETs)) study Japanese in the summer at a qualified language school. Here is a list of famous summer language schools:

Yamasa, located in Okazaki City, Aichi-ken

 

Kyoto Center for Japanese Linguistic Studies, Kyoto

 

SIL Sapporo Nihongo Gakko in Sapporo, Hokkaido

 

EII Japanese Language Center (various places throughout Japan)

 

OMF Japanese Language Center, Sapporo, Hokkaido

 

IAY Japanese School, Sapporo, Hokkaido

For information concerning Japanese language classes in Niigata, go here.

Links

The Japanese Page - Info about useful and fun vocab, grammar, and kanji. Kanji section is also divided by level for the JLPT.
The Kanji Site - Teaches hiragana, katakana, and kanji (up to level 2 for the JLPT). Also has online character quizzes.

Charles Kelly's Online Japanese Language Study Materials - has quizes and vocab lists for the JLPT

JLPT 1st and 2nd Grade Study Guide - a guide for studying for the 1-kyu and 2-kyu tests of the JLPT