NIHONGOCENTRAL | METHOD OVERViEW

METHOD OVERViEW

“an average person can go from zero-Japanese to fluency in 2-3 years”

The claim may be bold, but I use it to show how effective these methods are. I need to mention that these methods were not created by me. I merely applied them in a systematic way to produce the best results.

STEP 1: BELIEF

Step number one is belief. Yes, BELIEF! Because without belief you are doomed to fail. I talk more about it in my introduction.

STEP 2: SCHOOL SUPPLIES

You can’t go to school without your school supplies, and you can’t learn Japanese without the proper materials. That’s why I put together a list of everything you will need to learn Japanese. I have personally bought, use, and recommend everything on my list.

see School Supplies for details

STEP 3: KANA

Step number three is learning Hiragana & Katakana. This is step number three because you should avoid transliterating Japanese. Also, after you learn the Kana you will feel like you learned a little Japanese, and you will be motivated to continue. I want to mention that learning the Kana takes almost an entire semester in the US. However, if you use James Heisig’s Remembering the Kana, you should be able to completely memorize all of the Kana in under 1 week. (IF NOT 1 DAY !!!)

see Kana (Hiragana & Katakana) for more information
see School Supplies for details on James Heisig’s Remembering the Kana

STEP 4: JAPANESE AUDIO

Step number four is something that you will start in week 1 and never stop doing. Japanese Audio Input is essential to learning Japanese. I recommend using Japanesepod101.com, and a large chunk of the method relies on it, which makes JPod essential.

see Japanesepod101 for my review and opinions

STEP 5: KANJI

Step number five is learning how to write and distinguish about 2000 kanji. You will NOT be learning how to read kanji yet. It may sound strange and unconventional, but it is the most effective way to learn kanji in the long run. Most kanji have multiple pronunciations and those pronunciations are based on context and compounds, therefore learning stand-alone pronunciation is confusing and takes too long. You will learn how to read the kanji in step six. The best and fasted way to learn how to “write and distinguish” kanji do this is to use James Heisig’s Remembering the Kanji.

see Learning Kanji and Remembering the Kanji Method for more information
see School Supplies for details on James Heisig’s Remembering the Kanji

STEP 6: SENTENCES

This step (together with Steps 1-5) will teach you:

How to understand Japanese (with ease)
How to speak Japanese (grammatically and fluently)
How to read Japanese (including 2500 individual Kanji)

Think of it as learning by example. You will use an SRS program to make, then learn how to read/understand/write 7,000-10,000 sentence in Japanese. The basic idea is this: