Most renowned historians are of the view that the Japan’s origin dates back to approximately 300 BC. Japan as a nation, with its rich heritage, has emerged as one of the leading economies of the world. After having gone through various stages of development, the folklore and versatility in Japan’s culture is a catalyst in enticing tourists from all over the world to visit and witness this spectacular and amazing part of the world. Nevertheless, with all its attractions, if you are not familiar with Japanese language, your stay here might be as enriching and fruitful as originally planned by you.
The official language of Japan , known as Japanese is a rich fusion of different languages such as Turkish, Mongolian, and Chinese and their various dialects. Apparently Japanese as a language seems to perplex a new learner and it comes across as being a very difficult endeavor. Yet an honest attempt at it will not fail its learner getting the grasp of its basics. Having a basic command over the Japanese language will enable you to interact and communicate with the Japanese, which in turn will make your trip here more fruitful and pleasurably memorable. Before you go about attempting to learn this rich language, it is imperative to ask yourself the reason for learning it? If you are going to visit this beautiful country as a tourist and your stay will not exceed more than a few days then an initial course which familiarizes you with the most common and routine phrases would be adequate for the purpose. But if the purpose of your visit to Japan is work or business related, than a more intense language course or program will be required to be taken in order for you to have a better command over the language, with more expertise than a basic course would provide.
Writing Japanese:
Contemporary Japanese is written with a combination of hiragana and katakana, plus kanji. They also include rōmaji, (Roman letters)- the normal way of writing Japanese with the Latin alphabet, as well as eimoji, non-Japanese words written in Japanese script, a variety of symbols, and kigō (season words).
Like some other languages, Japanese has a fixed number of alphabets in it, each with its own grammatical rules and forms of speech. Until and unless you are acquainted with the Japanese culture and norms, it is not easy to follow the rules of Japanese language. This is the reason that a new learner of this enticing language finds it relatively easier to speak this language than to write it correctly following all its grammatical rules. As compared to the Chinese language, Japanese consists of fewer sounds; this facilitates a beginner to get the hang of it with out much difficulty. Your greatest achievement is to be able to have pronunciation that enables the native Japanese speaker to understand you.
Sample writing in Japanese. Click on the image to see the writing clearly.
click to enlarge
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
A foreigner might not be able to differentiate between the Chinese and Japanese language yet they are structured uniquely. Though most of the words in the Japanese language are originally derived from Chinese yet the Japanese language is considered easier to learn than Chinese.
For further reference you can log on to http://www.omniglot.com/writing/japanese.htm
Or http://www.joyo96.org/
To say the least, in this age, learning any new language other than your own native language gives you an edge in today’s competitive and robust environment- and it is indeed an endeavor to be proud of.
