Japanese is considered by most people to be a very difficult language to learn. Learning Japanese isn't easy, but it isn't that difficult to learn if you use different study methods and approach study with a positive attitude. There many great ways to study Japanese and make the learning process fun and effective.

I recommend you study Japanese everyday with short focused study sessions. When I say study I don't mean spending an hour locked in your room learning from a text book. This is not an effective study method. Make your study fun and active. The more active you are with your studies the faster you will learn. Watch videos on you tube and repeat aloud when learning new words, write words you understand when you do listening practice, and speak the language as often as you can even if you are by yourself.

Here a my top seven methods for making fast progress with the Japanese language;

Japanese Dramas: Watch Japanese dramas. Generally, Japanese dramas are pretty boring. The story lines are are often bizarre and the acting somewhat amateur . However, with most Japanese dramas you can learn lots of conversational Japanese and also discover how much Japanese culture influences spoken language.

Japanese Radio: Listen to Japanese radio. There are now heaps of Japanese Internet radio programs you can listen to. Next time you are online do a search for a Japanese online radio station and hit the play button. Even if you don't understand 99% of what is being said just listen. Eventually you will start to pick up words and phrases. As you listen write words and phrases you can understand or catch. This is a very effective study technique. It won't be too long before you can understanding most of what is being said.

Learn Hiragana: If you want to make sure you are pronouncing words correctly you must learn the Hiragana syllabary. You can easily learn hiragana in less than a month with all the free stuff on the web. Hiragana is the first important stepping stone in learning how read Japanese.

Skip Romaji: Romaji is a big time waster and will slow your progress down. In fact, Romaji is not even Japanese. It was originally devised to help Japanese write the Japanese language in non-Japanese script for westerns. It was never intend as a means to help students learn Japanese. Romaji should never be taught to students at all save when the pronunciation for the kana is explained. Also keep in mind that Japanese written in romaji does not accurately reflect the way it is written in Japanese.

Learn Kanji: Once you have mastered hiragana you should start learning Kanji. Learning how to read and write Kanji is quite stimulating and enjoyable. It will help you to build vocabulary quickly and improve your understanding of Japanese grammar. Learn stroke order or how to read Kanji in context. Learning stroke order will help to read and understand new Kanji as you progress. Remember that reading Kanji in context should be your goal. Don't waste hours and hours of study time memorizing all the readings of several hundred. You can learn more about kanji by clicking here.

Make Japanese friends: If you want to learn real Japanese you have to hang out with Japanese people. There are hundreds of Japanese words and phrases that you can only learn from conversing with Japanese people. Go out and find some Japanese and become friends with learn. It is what I did when I first started learning Japanese. Only learn the common readings

Japanese Culture: Learn as much as you can about Japanese culture. This will help you with understanding the Japanese mindset and how Japanese communicate. This is an area so many students undervalue. The Japanese language is so unique due to Japanese culture.

Nicholas Kemp is an online educator and speaks and read fluent Japanese. After living in Japan for 10 years he returned to Australia and started his own online business. He teaches Japanese with the help of his Japanese wife and has produced several multimedia rich products he help people read and speak Japanese.
If you would like to learn more about Japanese and Japanese culture please http://talksushi.com/