How to get SO good at Japanese you stop thinking in English

Summary

This video provides a step-by-step guide to learning Japanese, emphasizing the importance of building a solid foundation. It outlines a four-step formula for mastering the language, starting with deciding if you genuinely want to learn Japanese. Key tips include focusing on hiragana and katakana, utilizing Anki flashcards, avoiding ineffective learning methods like the core 6K deck, and integrating kanji early on. The video also introduces immersion and sentence mining for active learning, and stresses the importance of staying consistently surrounded by Japanese to achieve fluency. The final pillar, extreme immersion, challenges learners to push their limits for rapid progress.

Takeaways

• 😀 Be sure you're truly committed to learning Japanese before starting. It's a long journey that can take 5 to 10 years to reach fluency.
• 😀 Start by learning hiragana and katakana, focusing on reading rather than writing them initially.
• 😀 Using Anki decks, like Hiragana and Katakana, will help you get familiar with the basics. Limit new cards to 5-20 per day to avoid burnout.
• 😀 Avoid the core 6K deck. It's time-consuming and not as efficient as other methods for progressing in Japanese.
• 😀 Focus on building a large vocabulary first—learning 1,000-2,000 words should be your priority before tackling complex grammar.
• 😀 Kanji learning should be approached early on, alongside vocabulary. Using kanji to learn words speeds up your progress.
• 😀 Passive learning is essential—engage with Japanese media in a relaxed, enjoyable manner. This helps build comprehension without straining yourself.
• 😀 Immersion is key: consume Japanese media like anime, music, and games, and aim for comprehensible input where you mostly understand what's happening.
• 😀 Sentence mining is a powerful technique. It involves finding sentences in media with unknown words and turning them into flashcards for active learning.
• 😀 AAT (All Japanese All the Time) is the most extreme and effective method for rapid learning, though it requires deep immersion and mental commitment.

Q & A

What is the first step beginners should take when starting to learn Japanese?

Before diving into the language, beginners should genuinely consider whether they truly want to learn Japanese. It’s essential to commit because learning Japanese takes years, and without this dedication, learners may give up later.

Why is it important to learn Hiragana and Katakana first?

Learning Hiragana and Katakana helps you familiarize yourself with the Japanese writing system and pronunciation. Mastering these alphabets first will lay the foundation for more complex language skills.

What is the recommended approach to learning the first 1,000 to 2,000 Japanese words?

The recommended approach is to use flashcards, specifically through Anki. A deck like the 'Japanese Core 2k' helps introduce these words in sentences, which helps familiarize you with sentence patterns without the pressure of translating every word.

Why is the 'Core 6K' deck not recommended for beginners?

The 'Core 6K' deck is considered inefficient because it requires a significant amount of time and effort to work through. There are more effective methods to learn vocabulary and kanji, especially when combined with immersion and sentence mining.

What is the benefit of learning Japanese through kanji?

Learning kanji not only helps you understand the meaning of words, but it also significantly accelerates your language learning process. It allows you to recognize words faster and more efficiently, leading to quicker comprehension and recall.

How does active understanding differ from passive understanding in language learning?

Active understanding requires consciously thinking about the language, such as when trying to recall vocabulary or construct sentences. Passive understanding, on the other hand, involves recognizing and understanding the language with little effort, often through repeated exposure to words in various contexts.

What is immersion, and how does it help in learning Japanese?

Immersion means surrounding yourself with Japanese in daily life by engaging with media, such as anime, manga, or music, entirely in Japanese. This helps you build passive understanding and improve language skills through constant exposure.

What is comprehensible input, and why is it important in immersion?

Comprehensible input refers to content that is slightly above your current level, where you can understand the general meaning even if you don’t know every word. It's crucial for immersion because it allows learners to enjoy the process while gradually increasing their language comprehension.

What is sentence mining, and how does it enhance language learning?

Sentence mining involves extracting sentences from media, identifying unknown words, and adding them to flashcards for review. This technique helps reinforce vocabulary and sentence structures, improving both active and passive understanding of the language.

What is the final pillar in the learning process, and why is it considered extreme?

The final pillar, 'All Japanese All the Time' (AAT), involves immersing yourself in Japanese 12-16 hours a day, minimizing exposure to your native language. It’s considered extreme because it requires a significant mental commitment and can lead to burnout, but it accelerates language mastery.