General Tips – How to Learn Japanese from Scratch
As a beginner, read one short text at a time and finish it before you start the next one. When you’re more advanced you can alternate between different texts of varying lengths, dropping one for another to keep yourself interested.
A great way to make rapid progress is to read the translated version of each text segment before the corresponding source text. By doing this you will intuitively understand much more of the source even if it contains many unfamiliar words.
Stay focused by working on a desktop screen with everything conveniently arranged for easy access. Avoid printed texts or dictionaries in your routine reading work, and only use them for occasional reference.
Be creative with online resources. For example, whenever you can’t find a word in the dictionary you’re using, look it up using a search engine; you may be able to find it in resources such as Wikipedia or Google’s image search.
As soon as you’re feeling somewhat comfortable reading Japanese, switch to a Japanese-Japanese dictionary as your main dictionary. However, if the definition itself contains too many unfamiliar words, use your Japanese-English dictionary; you have enough to read without the dictionary itself distracting you with unnecessary reading practice.
Use bilingual example sentences to get a better understanding of actual usage. This is especially helpful for figuring out frustrating grammatical constructions.
Many texts are available as audio recordings on websites like YouTube and Librivox. If your text is short and popular enough, go to YouTube and look up the title; chances are that some kind Japanese soul has uploaded an audio version of it.
Don’t worry about your level. As long as you have the right resources, it’s definitely possible to read and understand texts at any level, even those that would otherwise have been too difficult for you. Aim higher than you think you can hit; your real potential may surprise you.
BF-30, Tagore Garden (Near Tagore Garden Metro Station, Gate No.1) New Delhi 110027 Phone :+91-11-47353843, +91-99997-98094, +91-11-65656171