How to Increase Japanese Vocabulary

Use a Japanese-English dictionary to increase your Japanese vocabulary

Learning any language can be frustrating, but according to Richard Brecht, Deputy Director of the National Foreign Language Center at Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, "Japanese is without question the most daunting language for a native English speaker to tackle." The difficulty with Japanese lies in the three different writing systems. Kanji is the most complex, using Chinese characters. A student may have to learn up to 15,000 characters in order to master kanji. Katakana and hiragana are writing systems based on syllables and also use Chinese characters. The Japanese also use romaji, which is the use of Roman letters that we use in the English language.

In order to make it easy for beginners to the Japanese language, stick with learning the words in romaji first, instead of trying to master the many different characters of kanji, katakana and hiragana. By studying diligently, you will start increasing your Japanese vocabulary fairly rapidly. One of the keys to increasing vocabulary in any language is repetition. The repeated practice of saying new words helps the mind to remember the words. Writing new words down will also aid in memorization of new vocabulary. Flash cards are one of the best ways to learn a new language. They can be used as a tool to memorize new vocabulary. Flash cards are easy to create and can be carried with you anywhere to aid in practicing new Japanese words whenever you have a little extra time.

Things You'll Need

• Flash cards (3" x 5" index cards)
• Pen
• Japanese-English dictionary
• Scissors

Instructions

1. Create your own flash cards by buying 3" x 5" index cards. Cut index cards in half. This will make them small enough to carry in your pocket.

2. Look up new vocabulary words in a Japanese-English dictionary. If you don't want to purchase a dictionary, your local library may have a copy you can check out. The internet is another free source for learning Japanese vocabulary. The Voyages Université website has a list of basic Japanese vocabulary: langage.com/vocabulaire/learn_japanese.htm

3. Write down new Japanese vocabulary in romaji (Roman) characters on the flash cards. Writing aids in the process of memorization. Some basic words in Japanese are douzo (please), arigato (thank you), hai (yes), O hayou gozaimasu (good morning), kon-nichiwa (hello), konbanwa (good evening) and o-genki desu ka (how are you).

4. Look at the Japanese words on one side and try to remember what it means in English. Say the word out loud in Japanese. Use whatever senses you can, whether it's hearing or sight to help with memory retention.

5. Flip the cards to the English side and shuffle them. Try to remember the Japanese equivalent.

6. Add a few new words every day to your cards to increase vocabulary continuously.

7. Try different methods. Organize cards by category, such as foods, animals, numbers and colors and memorize that category for the day.

Tips & Warnings

• It's helpful to have a person to study with. You can take turns quizzing each other with the flash cards.

• Study frequently in small blocks during the day. Practice and repetition are necessary to learn a new language.

References

• University of Michigan How to Learn a Foreign Language
• Vistawide World Languages & Cultures 10 Tips for Language Learning Success
• Voyages Université Basic Words Vocabulary
• John Hopkins Magazine Degrees of Difficulty
• Omniglot Japanese (Nihongo)