Learning Japanese with Dyslexia

2 comments

1. There is some flexibility with Japanese and the markers are what define the different parts. But when learning it is generally subject, object, verb in that order. Each part is followed with the particle (は、が、を)

   SUBJECT (followed with は／が）OBJECT (then を）VERB

   Other things like where something is taking place and with whom can go anywhere except for right at the end. It has a different stress, but at beginner level, this isn’t too important.

   For example:

   At the Café Sam eats apples with Dan.

   カフェで　サムは　ダンと　りんごを　食べます。
   Kafe de Samu wa Dan to ringo wo tabemasu.

   Can also be written:

   Sam and Dan eat apples at the Café.

   サムはダンとカフェでりんごを食べます。
   Samu wa Dan to Kafe de ringo wo tabemasu.

2. Hi there! I also have dyslexia. In my experience, I am not good enough to put sentences together in Japanese yet (I’m not at that level yet). But, as for learning the difference between Verbs, Nouns, Adjectives etc. I have found that using Wanikani is the most important tool that I have seen so far, for me anyway. Tae Kim’s guide is good as a reference too. English is a language that I don’t think of, I just know how to speak it and write/type it from experience. (I’m a native English Speaker also), But now that I have been using Wanikani, I know that when a word ends in a U sound in Japanese (う, す, る etc.), that it is most likely a verb (an action! word) [don’t forget after you *start* to add the “**!**” I’ll explain that in a minute…]. The ending of the word conjugation will tell you everything that you need to know about what kind of word you are dealing with. Example:

   始まる (hajimaru) = >**TO**< **begin** [verb: *action! word*] (as in: “I’m going **to begin** *to do something*.” Or “You can *start* **to begin!** to do something” [actively doing]) (action”!” as in “**to do** something”).

   始まり (hajimari) = **beginning** or **origin** [Noun: person, place or *thing]* (as in: “in the **beginning,** God made the heavens and the earth.”) (the beginning is a noun in the sense that it is almost like a different *place* in time). (“Place”!” **doesn’t sound like an action word when you try to yell it by itself, but “*****to do*****!” emphasizes Action**!”) [you can’t do **beginning!** because it is a *place* therefore a noun] [but you can *start* **to begin!** because it is in motion].

   It is difficult to explain all of this, but you will begin to understand it the more that you study and see them in the wild. Also, I hope that I didn’t confuse you, I know that myself, I have to have examples in order to comprehend these kinds of concepts. Having something that as a dyslexic person, I am able to relate to helps. *I had to look up the 始まり because I couldn’t remember off the top of my head if it was a adjective or a noun in all honesty.* Takoboto is a good dictionary in my opinion because it has an option to look at different forms when looking up a word. And it will tell you if it is a noun, verb etc.

   Edit: fixed a few things…