I’m a japanese learner but my problem is that most of the resources are for English speakers, Although I can speak English pretty well (I’m not native to English) sometimes I find it hard to understand the japanese meaning because I don’t even understand the English meaning.
Should I start learning japanese with my native language or should I continue learning it using English?
edit: I should’ve mentioned that my English level is between B1 and B2
7 comments
It’s always better to learn from your native language.
Most second-language speakers of Japanese are from non-English backgrounds. The biggest foreign nationalities in Japan are Korea, China, and Brazil.
Tae Kim’s Grammar Guide is in 10+ languages. That could help get you started in your native language.
well it depends, u still haven’t mentioned what ur native language is
Same case as me, use this opportunity to improve your english too.
Minna no nihongo have translation books in 13 languages maybe one you are comfortable with?
English
Burmese
Chinese
French
German
Indonesia
Italian
Korean
Portugese
Russian
Spanish
Thai
Vietnamese
So long as your English level is high enough to understand the resources, go ahead and use them. It’s only a problem if you’re spending more time understanding the English than the Japanese.
Hopefully, by the time this becomes an issue, you can reach a point where you’re primarily consuming 100% Japanese learning content. There’s plenty of YouTubers out there who try restrict themselves to speaking simpler Japanese, targeting advanced-beginner/intermediate levels.
I don’t see why you can’t use any and all resources at your disposal? Just use whatever works best for you. This really only becomes an issue when you are choosing to spend money, right? Even then, the answer is pretty simple: if you can find quality content or products in your native language, you should prefer those. If some learning Japanese resources are simply missing in your native language, but are available in English, try to evaluate them before purchase if you can.