How Long Will It Take To Learn Japanese

how long does it take to learn Japanese?

Want to learn Japanese?

Whether you're just getting started or you've been learning for some time now, information technology'southward natural to enquire yourself: how long does it take to learn Japanese to a fluent level?

You lot're not lonely in thinking about this.

After all, almost nobody learns a language just to say they know it!

There are many reasons you might have chosen to learn Japanese:

Connect with friends or family unit on a deeper level
Discover more almost a culture and land that deeply interests y'all
Improve your chore prospects and perhaps fifty-fifty motility to Japan
Enjoy Japanese books, comics and television shows that are not available in your native language.

But if you're simply starting out in Japanese, how long volition it have you lot to be able to do these things?

The truth is, the reply volition exist different for everyone. But there are a number of key factors which influence how long it will take foryou.

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Anyhow, back to the question at manus… how long does it take to acquire Japanese?

In order to figure out roughly how much fourth dimension you'll have to dedicate to learning Japanese, you'll first need to respond a few questions. Let's examine each of those questions in plough:

ane. What Are Your Japanese Learning Goals?

First of all, what do yous hateful by "learn Japanese"?

What are your Japanese learning goals and how would you ascertain them?

This is important because depending on what your objectives are, it may take more or less time to accomplish them.

For example, if you want to learn to write kanji it will accept yous longer than it would to just learn to speak Japanese conversationally.

Kanji are the most most complex of the characters used in the Japanese writing organization. And they're one of the hardest parts of learning Japanese, because they require a lot of memorisation and practice.

And because, well,… there'due south a lot of them to learn!

If y'all desire to acquire to write them, learning Japanese will exist a more fourth dimension consuming experience. But you lot'll ultimately develeop a more rounded fluency when you're done too.

In language learning as in life, you get out of it what you put in!

And then in guild to judge how long it volition accept you to larn Japanese, you'll need to think about all the pieces that make upwardly the language.

The four master skills are listening, speaking, reading, and writing.

If your goal is to be able to practise all of those to a loftier level, await information technology to take much longer than if you just want to be able to do one!

2. How Much Time Do Spend You Studying Japanese?

How much time do you have to dedicate to practising your Japanese each day or week?

It'south an obvious statement, but… the more you practice, the faster you'll learn.

A coincidental learner who studies Japanese for a couple of hours a calendar week will naturally meliorate more slowly than someone who's dedicated to practicing for a couple of hours a day.

That'south not to say that you accept to study Japanese eight hours a day in society to make any worthwhile progress!

Simply just like when edifice a jigsaw, you'll do it faster if you just sit down and build information technology than you lot would if you only walk by every at present and so to put a piece in identify.

Students of Japanese who actively study for a few hours per twenty-four hour period are typically ready to endeavor the advanced-level Japanese tests (like the JLPT N2—that's Japanese Linguistic communication Proficiency Test Level ii) after about two and a one-half or three years.

But, it'south worth noting that the N2 exam is largely equanimous of kanji and more obscure grammar.

Tin you learn to effectively communicate in Japanese earlier then?

Certain!

It all depends on what your goals are, as you saw from my outset "key question".

iii. What Is Your Native Language?

Some other important thing that will event how long it takes you to learn Japanese is how similar or different it is to your native language.

If yous're a native speaker of a European linguistic communication, Japanese very unlike to what y'all're used to.

It uses a different writing system, the grammer and sentence structures are dissimilar from your native language, and yous'll take to acquire near of the vocabulary completely from scratch.

Naturally, all of these things increase the amount of time information technology will take you lot to acquire Japanese.

In that location are certain elements of the writing system, such equally Hiragana, the entry-level Japanese letters, that are really not particularly difficult.

But withal, they take time to to learn and go used to! And that'southward without getting into the more than compicated kanji characters.

And so, unless you've studied an Eastern Asian language before, be aware that there will be a steep learning curve and it's simply going to take you some fourth dimension to arrange to this.

4. Polite Or Informal? Getting To Grips With Japanese Keigo

Something else to think nigh when learning Japanese is whether or non you demand to larn keigo?

"Well, I'1000 only starting in Japanese, so… what on world is keigo?" I hear you say.

Keigo is the ultra-formal register of Japanese; information technology'due south what makes Japanese legendary as such a polite language.

For case, y'all could inquire your teacher for aid in the following standard way:

Tetsudatte-kudasai (please help me)

But if you wanted to exist really polite (and sound more than like a native), you'd utilize keigo and say:

Tetsudatte itadakemasen ka? (Would you be so kind as to assistance me?)

Keigo is very important if you're going to be working with Japanese people in a business environment or if you anticipate talking to lots of people who "rank" higher than you, such as regime officials.

In a nutshell, Keigo takes words y'all already know and completely changes them. Hither's an instance:

taberu – eat (standard form)
meshi agaru – swallow (keigo course)

As you tin see, these two variations are completely different!

And it doesn't end there…

Keigo has two forms:

one form is used to praise and speak highly of people "ranked" higher than you
the other course is used to speak humbly almost yourself

Both of these are used at the aforementioned time, and you lot definitely have to make sure that yous don't switch them and so that you speak highly of yourself and humbly of someone higher than you lot!

So if y'all need to learn to employ keigo, it'due south going to accept you a lot longer to larn Japanese as you'll simply accept many more new words to larn.

Quick Reckoner: How Long Will It Take Y'all To Learn Japanese?

As you can see, there are quite a few things to call back most when figuring out how long it'due south going to have you to acquire Japanese.

Only don't worry!

The point hither is to give y'all an idea of how long information technology volition take, not to make yous feel overwhelmed!

The truth is that achieving a high level in Japanese (or any linguistic communication for that affair) takes fourth dimension.

You tin can't expect instant results or fluency in a matter of weeks.

But it's also important to remember that learning a new linguistic communication is a process.

You lot go the results incrementally equally y'all progress, not all at once!

And then don't think you'll accept to study Japanese for years before you can actually use it. You'll be able to do a lot of things in Japanese very early!

Want to talk to friends and hold basic conversations in Japanese? No trouble—you tin larn enough Japanese to exercise all this in just a few short months.
Desire to read simple fiction books or comics in Japanese? Depending how much you study, this could be do-able in a little over a year.
Aiming to read native-level cloth or watch TV shows in Japanese? That'due south a more long-term goal, and you're probably looking at around three to five years of learning.

Merely in truth, trying to put number estimates on things similar this is not actually that useful…

Why?

Because every person's state of affairs is dissimilar.

Studying for i hour a week for a year is non the same as studying an hr a day for a year.
The way you written report may be more or less constructive than the way another person studies.

This is why understanding how long it volition have you to learn Japanese depends primarily on your goals and how yousare going to study to achieve them.

How To Speed Up The Learning Procedure

The average Japanese learner spends around ten hours a week studying the language.

Now you might be thinking "10 hours?! I merely don't have that much time!"

I get information technology.

Don't worry!

The answer is to find ways to brand Japanese part of your daily life, so that even when you're not sitting down to study, you tin still spend time with the language.

Thankfully, there's a lot of things you can practise to immerse yourself in Japanese without taking whatever time out of your schedule!

For instance:

On your commute, try listening to Japanese music or a podcast that teaches y'all some Japanese on the get.
If you lot're interested in what's happening in Japan, endeavour reading the news on NHK News Like shooting fish in a barrel. This is a great website for learners that provides news using uncomplicated kanji and vocab, plus audio, so you can heed and read along.Pair this with the browser extension Rikaikun, which lets y'all hover your mouse over Japanese words to translate them in real fourth dimension, and you've got yourself prepare for some quick and easy learning!
And of course, use a fun an effective method like StoryLearning® to learn through stories, non rules. One of the core parts of the method is reading stories in Japanese.

And then How Long Does It Accept To Larn Japanese?

If you lot've read this far, it will be clear to you that there simply isn't a single definitive answer to this question.

Learning Japanese isn't easy and it volition take time. It'south probably fair to say that you can expect a commitment of at least 3 years in order to accomplish something resembling fluency.

The boilerplate learner gets to the advanced level in iii or 4 years.

But as I've highlighted throughout this unabridged acticle, how long it'southward going to take you depends on, well,… yous.

No matter how long it takes you, the most of import thing is that you enjoy the journey.

Considering the truth is there's no "magic moment" when you lot've "learned" a language and the task is done.

Yous larn every 24-hour interval along the way.

From Japanese Beginner To Fluent Through Story

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Instead of learning grammar rules and ending up translating in your caput when you speak, your learning takes identify as yous read and listen to the story.

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