Hello everyone! I started learning japanese about 2 months ago from a course at university. It’s for teaching the basics. I am currently learning Katakana, and trying to create a dictionary of all the new words I learn. However, I feel like my progress is very slow and I would really like to become fluent one day. Can you please recommend me some learning strategies you used at the beginning that helped you make some progress when it comes to speaking in the language. I am aware that the first step is always to study the alphabet (in the case of japanese, more than one) but can I parallel this with some more communication-oriented learning.
Recommendations of textbooks are highly appreciated!
Thank you😊
2 comments
[Here you go.](https://docs.google.com/document/d/19FEIOJWbLhJQ-AmepxFBMC2ebhJJr9RBUMfMeatYuq8/edit?usp=sharing)
Two months in and only learning katakana is *extremely* slow – that’s something you can finish up learining on the first *day*. I was in a class like that once, and my learning got much faster after I quit and dedicated that time to self study instead.
>(In the case of Japanese, more than one)
In the case of Japanese, *less* than one.
Japanese has a syllabary (kana, which covers hiragana and katakana) and a set of logograms. It has no alphabet. Knowing that difference is pretty important for understanding pronunciation of the language as a whole.
Other than that, you’re two months in to a university course. Don’t worry too hard about it. Especially with katakana, since you’re kind of doubling the number of kana you use (and it’s rare anyway), so long as you know hiragana, you can make a start on the kanji, and just get used to katakana as you go.
Muscle memory and repetition are more important than anything, and dedicating all your time *just* to learning katakana or some other single thing will not be as productive as just repeating it as and when it pops up. Consider it ‘natural spaced repetition’.