The answer is yes. But the answer is also no, not necessarily! In this article, I will explain what is hard about learning Japanese, and what is not as hard about learning Japanese as you may have initially thought.
Why is Japanese Hard to Learn?
Japanese is a hard language to learn in the same way that any other foreign language is hard to learn. Many beginning learners of Japanese, or any other language for that matter, radically underestimate the amount of effort that is required to become a fluent speaker of that language. When embarking on your study of Japanese, understand in from the outset that just like anything else in life worth achieving, you will need to work hard at it in order to become good at it.
However, if you have excellent Japanese learning materials and you are willing to put in the effort and the hours practicing (and yes, learning a foreign language really is more about practicing than studying), then it is absolutely possible for ANYONE to become a successful learner of Japanese!
Aside from the fact that Japanese is hard to learn in the same way that all languages are hard to learn, there is no getting around the fact that the Japanese written language is hard to learn.
Why? Simply because of the fact that it is comprised of four different scripts--hiragana, katakana, kanji, and the Roman alphabet--and that while hiragana and katakana can be learned relatively quickly, the sheer number of kanji to be memorized (native Japanese speakers learn 1,945 from elementary school through high school!) means that learning the written Japanese language is a grueling, time-consuming process.
Why Japanese is NOT Hard to Learn
If you take the written language out of the equation, at least in the beginning, then you'll find that Japanese is no harder to learn than any other language. There are plenty of beginning Japanese courses and learning materials that do not require you to focus on the written language, and it is these materials that I recommend you use when first starting out.
Why else is the Japanese spoken language not difficult to learn? Well for one thing, you'll find that Japanese grammar is pretty straightforward and in fact, it is far more flexible than English. Compared to Chinese, pronunciation is quite simple. There are no tones to learn, and there are only a few sounds to learn that we do not have in the English language.
The best news of all is that Japanese contains literally thousands of loan words that are derived from English. These loan words sound similar to their original English derivatives, and they are commonly used in everyday speech. This means that even as a beginning learner of Japanese, you'll find that you already possess an impressive vocabulary that you can immediately put to use!
