Factors that Influence the Length of Time you Need to Learn Japanese

You probably want to study Japanese to connect with your family and friends on a deeper level, learn more about the country and its culture, as well as enjoy Japanese movies, books, and shows and improve your job options. If you are looking to study business Japanese, you may be wondering how long it will take learn it at a fluent level. While the answer is not fixed for all, there are some factors that influence the length of time you need to learn the language. They include the following:

Your Goals of Learning Japanese

Depending on your goals of learning Japanese, it may take more or less time to achieve these. For instance, learning kanji will take longer than learning to speak Japanese conversationally. In the Japanese writing system, kanji is the most complex characters that require plenty of memorization and practice. When learning the language, you need to develop listening, speaking, writing, and reading skills. If you are looking to do all of these to a high level, you must expect to take much longer than when you want to do just one.

The Time you can Spend Studying the Language

Obviously, the more you practice the language the faster you will learn. If you can only spend two hours every week, then you can expect your improvement to be slower than when you spend two hours per day to practice. Students who study Japanese and actively spend a few hours per day are usually ready to try the advanced-level Japanese tests after around two to three years.

Your Native Language

If you are a native European language speaker, you may find Japanese very different from what you are used to. Japan uses a different writing system. Also, its grammar and sentence structures are different from your native language. Your study of Japanese may involve learning most of its vocabulary from scratch. This will increase the amount of time it will take to learn the language.

The writing system has certain elements like Hiragana which are entry-level Japanese letters and not very hard to learn. However, they still take time to learn and get used to. And you will need more time if you are planning to learn the more complicated kanji characters.

No matter how long it will take to learn Japanese, the most important thing is to enjoy your journey. Sure, you cannot learn it overnight but you can have worthwhile experiences with your consistent efforts.