No matter what language you learn, Japanese language has its own exotic and intimidating aura to it. Maybe this is valid because of the different sound it emits from the languages we usually speak. Nonetheless, there are many myths about learning Japanese, which we have tried our best to debunk. Here are a few.
- You need to learn Japanese from a native speaker and with a textbook.
Three myths combined in a sentence. Let’s debunk them one by one. You can learn Japanese from a native speaker, but if you learn from someone who has lived or worked in Japan, this is probably the best way. Their accent may not be perfect and may err a few times, but if you are rooting for perfection right from the beginning then, you are doing it wrong. If you are into textbooks and classes, they are great to start with. But you can never reach beyond with just books.
Also, know that there is no definite age to learn Japanese. You can be an elderly person or you might want your kid to learn the language, know that it is never too late to learn anything. No matter what age you are try the Japanese for kids level to take it slow.
- You cannot learn Japanese from anime or manga
Many people believe that the Japanese spoke in anime or manga is not real. This myth probably arose probably because of a lot of people watching loads of anime or reading manga. It is not wrong to learn Japanese with the help of these resources, it is the method of study. You can use any sound recording program to record a clip of few seconds and listen to them repeatedly until you learn it at a native speed. If learning from manga, then use a flashcard program to learn the words and sentences that come up in your reading and review them whenever you can. Believe us, learning Japanese from anime and manga is more real than learning from typical textbook.
- You should use Japanese native words rather than the borrowed foreign words
You might be aware of the fact that Japanese is usually made of borrowed words. So, these borrowed words are now part of Japanese language. Many people tend to use native Japanese words. They believe it sounds more pure, but they end up saying these words incorrectly.
