Buy a beginner's guide to the Japanese language. This may be a book, audio CD, or free grammar guide available on the Internet. The material should include the 48-character Japanese alphabet, complete grammatical rules and an extensive vocabulary list. By studying these core basics intensively, you will understand how the language is formed, how words are pronounced and how each word is written. By memorizing these fundamentals through constant study and repetition, your comprehension will improve and boost your ability and confidence in communicating with Japanese speakers.
Sign up for a Japanese language course. Normally held in school classrooms or community halls, professional teachers or native Japanese speakers instruct these classes that feature individual and group-based activities that encourage interaction through role-play, games and tasks. The classes, which tend to focus on conversational skills such as pronunciation and vocabulary, may also include homework.
Form a relationship with a Japanese citizen or fluent speaker to learn the language in an informal environment at your own pace. Ask your partner to speak in their native tongue during dates or while you are at home. Not only will you have fun while you learn, but this will really boost your conversational and listening skills.
Rent or buy Japanese movies and cartoons that will act as a visual aid. Many movies are subtitled in English so you can see written translations as the characters utter the words. Meanwhile, by reading Japanese newspapers your understanding of written Japanese will improve.
Move to Japan for a while. As with other foreign languages, the best way to learn Japanese is to surround yourself completely with native speakers and interact with them daily. By living in Japan for a few weeks or months, you will speak, read, hear and write Japanese throughout your day. While not recommended for absolute beginners, this option will allow those already equipped with a good understanding of Japanese to boost their comprehension and knowledge in a natural environment.
