Is it difficult to learn the Japanese language?

Many believe that the Japanese language is very difficult to learn. And it really can be intimidating because of its thousands of ideograms. However, the reality is that the Japanese language is very simple; in this article, I will try to show in what sense the Japanese language is very simple and easy to learn.

It is worth clarifying that all languages require dedication and patience to learn. I personally believe that the fact that we speak Portuguese makes the process of learning Japanese a bit more difficult. This is all because Portuguese is a very complicated language, full of grammatical rules and has a different structure. Enough with the preamble; let’s understand why learning Japanese can be easier than we imagine.

Simplicity in grammar and verbs

Unlike Portuguese, Japanese does not have thousands of verb conjugations or pronouns. While Portuguese has 10 indicative tenses and 6 subjunctive tenses, Japanese has only 2: present and past. In Japanese, verbs do not conjugate according to the subject.

The example below shows how many different variations exist for the verb to go in Portuguese and how few there are in Japanese:

• Portuguese – To go – vou, vais, vai, vamos, ides, vão, fui, fostes, foi, fomos, fostes, foram, ia, ias, ia, íamos, íeis, iam, fora, foras, fora, fôramos, fôreis, foram, irei, irás, iremos, ireis, irão, iria, irias, iria, iríamos, iríeis, iriam, vá, vas, vá, vamos, vades, vão, fosse, fosses, fosse, fôssemos, fôsseis, fossem, for, fores, for, formos, fordes, forem, vai, vá, vamos, ide, vão, ires, irmos, irdes, irem;
• Japanese 行く – iku – iki(masu), ikou, ike(nai), itte, itta, ika;

Just the iku can be used in most cases. The variations shown above are just to add a termination that changes the sentence to past, present, negative, or to give politeness, condition, emphasis, etc. (masu, mashita, nai, tte, ta, nda, zo.)

Japanese also does not have gender (masculine and feminine) in nouns and nor plural. There is also no definite or indefinite article in the Japanese language.

Pronunciation and syllables of Japanese

Due to the fact that we speak Portuguese, learning Japanese pronunciation is very easy. Unlike English, Japanese syllables are similar to those of Portuguese, so pronunciation is not a difficulty. Not to mention that Japanese has fewer syllables than most languages (109), and they do not change in tone (words).

Another thing that facilitates learning Japanese is that despite there being 109 syllables, there are only 46 kana (letter types) that represent the syllables. Japanese uses 2 alphabets composed of 46 kana that form 71 different sounds. This is possible because some kana have different pronunciations due to 2 dots or a small circle placed above them. See some examples below:

か ka	き ki	は ha	ば ba	へ he
が ga	ぎ gi	ぐ gu	ぱ pa	ぺ pe

Mastering these 46 kana (hiragana and katakana) and the 71 sounds, you are able to speak and read any word and text in Japanese that does not have ideograms, or that use furigana (kana above the ideograms).

Formation of Japanese words

Another proof that Japanese is an easy language is the fact that many words originated from the English and Portuguese languages. Many nouns like objects, names of animals, and even some verbs have their origin in another language or have a foreign version. These foreign-origin words are written using katakana.

Despite many being afraid of the ideograms (kanji), the reality is that they are very useful. Japanese becomes much easier and more comprehensible when you start to understand the ideograms and see that they bring words to life. Some ideograms are composed of elements and shapes that make perfect sense, as if we were seeing the meaning of the word. Just like in German, we can easily see that many Japanese words are combinations of other words, as in the examples below:

• 手 (hand) + 紙 (paper) = 手紙 (letter). Combination of 2 ideograms forming one word;
• 木 (tree) = 林 (grove) = 森 (forest). All this with a single ideogram;
• 木 (tree) + 几 (table) = 机 (desk). 2 different ideograms became one ideogram;

Conclusion

Japanese is a super simple and easy language; its difficulty lies in memorizing the ideograms and its writing. The grammar, although simple, can be complicated because it is different from Portuguese, so it takes a good amount of time to get used to not swapping the order of words. Japanese can also become quite complex due to its variations, dialects, formality, and politeness. Not to mention the countless ways of counting and other elements that can make you scratch your head a bit.

That being said, I find it much easier to learn the Japanese language, despite requiring a longer time and a great dedication to master the ideograms. What do you think of the Japanese language? Do you find it easy? Leave your opinion in the comments.