Japanese is harder/easier than other languages in what ways?

I want something to say when my other language-learning friends talk about how hard/easy XYZ language is.

For example, for easy parts:

  • No genders
  • Easy vowels/consonants

For difficulties:

  • Kanji
  • Formality

Please help? Thanks!

Edit: summary of comments for my future reference:

Easier:

  • no genders
  • resource rich for learning
  • simpler tenses

Easy and hard:

  • pronunciation (consistent, but accent hard to eliminate)
  • grammar (consistent but different)

Harder:

  • Kanji (like icons)
  • formality
DigitalAudio,
@DigitalAudio@sopuli.xyz avatar

Assuming English is your native language:

Pronunciation is a majorly difficult thing for most native English speakers. I know people look at Japanese vowels and consonants and think “wow, only 5 vowels and a limited set of consonants and combinations, this is super easy!” And I guess it is easier than… Russian, Hungarian or French. But that doesn’t mean it’s easy.

But that’s mostly because they’re thinking of the “a” sound in English and the “o” sound, and so on. In reality, Japanese vowels are so radically different from English vowels, the vast majority of learners are going to completely butcher their pronunciation. You have to learn how to simplify all of them to their real sounds, because English vowels are usually rather complex, while Japanese are more similar to Spanish vowels. You also have to get rid of the plosives, which are also a dead giveaway when someone is a native English speaker.

As for what makes Japanese easier than others… hmm… well, not a lot, actually. I guess tenses and verb conjugations are considerably simpler than most Romance languages, for example. There are no gendered nouns but you have Kanji which is far more time consuming to memorise, and grammar structure and logic is usually completely different from English, and you’ll have to learn how to think differently to get your head around many concepts. This happens with most languages but even more so with Japanese.

So uh… the only thing that I think makes Japanese easier is that it’s arguably one of the most studied, documented and resource-rich languages to learn. There are millions of resources focusing on efficient and thorough study methodologies, as well as a lot of very popular media, books, TV shows, you name it. Cultural relevance is, in my opinion, Japanese’s biggest advantage, which is only rivalled by Spanish in the United States, or perhaps (I honestly have no clue but I’m guessing) French in the UK.

DokkaeCat,

I noticed that because I speak german (primary language) the pronounciation is “better” because we have similar sounds in german.

Sarruby,

Thanks!! Yes, I am a native English speaker.

Oh I never thought about resource richness! Thanks.

Cyo,

The only step of learning Japanese that I consider hard is memorizing Kanji. Using them later becomes easy but what can make the learning complicated is that for example: Let’s say that I don’t know any kanji and I want to learn by reading: "Oh I found this, how do I pronounce it ‘何’ ??? … ): " Learning kanji requires to read the dictionary or taking the info from some source.

Back when I learned English I could learn a word by reading it and understanding the context. “W O R D” was what I say, letters so I could pronounce it. But kanji is different, It requires more "active " study to memorize.

Sometimes I think that kanji is in someway similar to the icons of the Apps on my phone. For example the Icon of WhatsApp, when I see it I know it’s WhatsApp,but that only because I have previously learned that.

Learning kanji is somehow hard but more than difficult it just requires time. Actually I like learning kanjis, the feeling of "strange symbols " becoming words to ny brain is one of the best sensations that I could have experienced in my whole life.

Sarruby,

Thanks!! I like that analogy.

1337tux,
@1337tux@lemmy.world avatar

Letters are pronounced always the same way regardless of the word. At least this is the picture I have gotten. Unlike in English, for example: car (/ka:r/), have (/hæv/) This was very nice thing, coming from a language where letters are always pronounced same way (Finnish) You can correct me if I’m wrong :)

Sarruby,

Thanks!

Zarxrax,

Easy: grammar is fairly consistent, not a lot of exceptions. Hard: grammar is totally different from most Western languages.

Sarruby,

Thanks!

infotainment,
@infotainment@lemmy.world avatar

Two other “easy” bits for Japanese:

  • Verbs don’t conjugate based on subject or plurality, which is kind of nice coming from more European languages where you have to deal with that
  • Only two irregular verbs in the entire language
Sarruby,

Thanks!

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