Learning basic Japanese and 3 effective listening tips

The importance of basic Japanese

What to start with in basic Japanese learning?

Just like in elementary school, in basic Japanese, we need to start with the alphabet. Japanese consists of 2 main alphabets: Hiragana (soft characters) and Katakana (hard characters). Many people underestimate learning the alphabet. However, I must emphasize that learning the alphabet plays an extremely important role if the language you are studying is Japanese. It particularly determines how accurately you pronounce and communicate afterward.

Besides the 2 main alphabets, Japanese also has a hollow sound chart and a combined sound chart. Don't worry too much if you see Japanese has many alphabets like that. If you study the 2 main Japanese alphabets carefully, learning the remaining 2 sound charts is as easy as pie. Because you can simply understand that the hollow sound chart is just an additional chart of 25 more syllables, which is the formation of letters by adding 2 comma 'at the head of the first letters' in the Hiragana alphabet, called' tenten '.

The combined sound chart is all the syllables will be combined from 2 single sounds called 'double sounds'. Its characteristic is that the characters や ゆ よ will be rewritten smaller to ゃ ゅ ょ

Learning Japanese alphabet for beginners

3 effective elementary Japanese listening tips

1. Mastering vocabulary is essential in elementary Japanese listening practice

It's really hard to understand Japanese if you want to listen to Japanese but don't grasp Japanese vocabulary. The most important thing is the correct pronunciation of vocabulary. Knowing how to pronounce correctly is the key to hearing that word on the tape. Next is to understand the meaning of the word. Meaning is very important; every time you hear a homonym, you can rely on the context and the meaning of the word to know how to write it. Whether there's Kanji or not, if there is, which Kanji it is. Most elementary Japanese listening practice materials have notes on new words. So it's very convenient for practicing listening skills and learning vocabulary.

3 effective tips for elementary Japanese listening practice

2. Mastering grammar structures is crucial in elementary Japanese listening practice

Not only vocabulary needs to be emphasized, but also Japanese grammar is crucial in elementary Japanese listening practice. Mastering grammar will help learners recognize the content connections in dialogues. A basic Japanese dialogue will mostly feature N5 and N4 structures. N5 Japanese listening exercises are extremely simple. But once you reach N4, the required listening skills differ significantly. Therefore, it's essential to thoroughly learn all basic grammar structures. Knowing keywords alone isn't enough; grammar connects these keywords and creates the most accurate meaning field.

3. In elementary Japanese listening practice, refining keyword recognition skills is crucial

Starting off well in elementary Japanese lays a solid foundation for easily mastering Japanese. Mytour Japanese Center wishes you great success in your studies!