JAPANESE

ABOUT THE JAPANESE LANGUAGE

Japanese is an East Asian language spoken by about 128 million people, primarily in Japan, where it is the national language. Though Japanese has no genetic relationship with Chinese,but it makes extensive use of Chinese characters in its writing system, and a large portion of its vocabulary is borrowed from Chinese.

It has been the second largest economy in the world for a while and now third by GDP, there are hundreds of billions of dollars spent by the Japanese on consumer goods and services. Its imports and exports are healthy, and there are Japanese multinational corporations with branches around the world. Being able to communicate well with potential customers, business partners, employers or vendors will be valuable in making your career grow.

Most Frequently Asked Questions and Answers

Japanese is one of the more difficult languages for a native English speaker to learn. It takes much dedication and time. Learning the kana and how to pronounce the syllables is relatively easy, the grammar is about in the middle between easy and difficult, and the kanji is very hard. The finer points of the language are easy to learn, but difficult to come by. The key, as in learning any language, is to put in the effort.

There are plenty of opportunities in Japan if you speak English or have other useful skills. Yes, you can work in Japan without speaking Japanese but eventually you might realise that you are missing out on opportunities that ask for command of the Japanese language.

Japan is one of the biggest investors in the world, and there are numerous Japanese companies that have been established globally in recent times. Getting a high-paying job in these organisations requires the candidates to be proficient in Japanese language. Often due to the lack of candidates who are proficient in Japanese language, these positions remain vacant.

Learning a language like Japanese is an amazing process, and every stage of it can be very fulfilling. If you already speak a foreign language or were raised bilingual, you may save yourself some time as you learn Japanese. Bilinguals find it easier to learn a third language, as several linguistic studies have proven.

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