2023.3.1
A Japanese teacher tells you the most recommended way to learn Japanese
To work for a company in Japan, it is necessary to have at least N2 level of Japanese language proficiency.
You do not need to be JLPT certified to be hired, but it is always a good to have a certification.
Even if your Japanese level is low, if you have skills that no one else has, or if you have more than 10 years of work experience, you can work for a Japanese company in Japan at the N3 level.
Japanese language level > Skills and experience
In this article, a former Japanese language instructor will provide detailed information on how to learn Japanese effectively for foreign residents who are studying Japanese in order to work in Japan.
Study methods found on the Internet are not good.
If you search the Internet for information on how to study Japanese, you will find that many study methods are available.
For example
Watch Japanese Anime
Read manga
Make Japanese friends and talk with them a lot.
These methods are all abstract methods of study.
Watching Japanese movies in Japanese is a good way to practice listening comprehension.
However, it is difficult to keep up with the conversation because the speed of the conversation is too fast and there is slang that is not commonly used in the JLPT.
Watching Japanese-language animations is also a great way to learn phrases and vocabulary used by Japanese people.
If the manga is of interest to you, you will enjoy learning while having fun, but your conversational skills will not improve much.
Have you ever wanted to know how to improve your conversational skills while learning new vocabulary, but had trouble finding the right study method for you on the Internet?
What should I do if I don’t have many Japanese friends?
The study method that I am going to share with you now is a very concrete and practical method that you can put into practice immediately.
It is also a great way to study Japanese even if you don’t have many Japanese friends, and you can do it anytime, anywhere.
Two recommended study methods
These methods were often passed on by international students to foreign students when I was working as a Japanese language instructor.
① Write a diary entry in Japanese every day in an A4 size notebook.
② Say what you are seeing in Japanese
If you study these two things every day, you will definitely improve your Japanese language level.
Let’s look at them one by one.
①Write a diary in Japanese every day in an A4 size notebook.
By writing in a journal, you will improve your grammar and writing skills.
You are free to write about whatever you want, such as events of the day, your plans for the weekend, etc.
If you just write in your diary, your conversational skills will never improve!
If you are wondering like that, here is the point.
Before you write in your diary, try to say out loud what you are going to write.
Practice exercises to say exactly what you want to write = training for conversational fluency.
By listening to the voice out loud and listening with your own ears, you can also check whether the pronunciation is correct or not.
Once you have said what you want to say, write down the sentence you just uttered in your notebook.
By writing in a notebook, you can visualize the sentence structure and confirm that there are no grammatical errors in the sentence structure you have just described.
You can also practice Kanji together.
①Write the sentences you want to write in your diary and say them out loud before you write them.
②Check that what you want to say is being said and pronounced correctly
③Write sentences in notebooks and check grammar and kanji characters.
Writing a diary is essentially a writing skill-building exercise, but by simply adding some of the above arrangements, you can improve your conversational skills, pronunciation, and grammar.
killing two birds with one stone
②Say what you are seeing in Japanese
This method will greatly improve your speaking and pronunciation.
The study method is to explain the situation you are currently seeing in Japanese.
Simply put, all you have to do is change your own words from your native language to Japanese.
The following explanations will be provided with examples.
Case 1: When you are talking to yourself.
When it is 12 o’clock and you want to eat lunch, instead of saying “I’m hungry” in English, you can say “I’m hungry” in Japanese.
If you say “I’m hungry” in Japanese instead of “I’m hungry” in English, your speaking level will improve.
Case 2: When you say what you are looking at right now.
This is a live report (explanation) of the scenery seen from the window of a commuter train.
For example, if you see a restaurant with a huge line of customers, you can say in Japanese in your mind 【お客さんがたくさん並んでいる、きっと料理はおいしいのだろう】
When you come home, or when you are at home, please do not talk to yourself in your head, but actually speak out in your own voice.
No one will complain or think you’re a weirdo if you mumble to yourself, lol.
The most important thing is to create plenty of time to speak Japanese.
By increasing the amount of time spent in contact with Japanese language, even those who do not usually watch Japanese animation or have few Japanese friends can study Japanese.
It is important to study at your own pace.
While it is easy and simple to say things in Japanese in your head, or to study the actual situation, it is quite time-consuming to write in a diary, and it is very difficult to do it every day.
After work, you spend an hour in an A4-sized notebook, writing and copying sentences as you go along.
It is hard to study for an hour every day after work.
Therefore, study at your own pace so that you can continue to study.
For example, write in your diary three times a week.
If you keep a relaxed schedule, your motivation will last longer.
I’m going to write in my diary every day!
If you set an unreasonable schedule, you will become a three-day monk, and you will not be able to continue.
This blog is for foreigners who want to work in Japan, and provides information on how to study Japanese language, so please read other articles as well.
