Will You Ever Understand Japanese Sentences?

Just this past year, I decided it was time to fulfill my lifelong goal of going to Japan. I had thought about the trip since I was a young person, and felt I was fully prepared. I had read up on Japanese culture my entire life, and thought I knew enough of the language to get by. I had read books, listened to audio books, and even taken classes at the local community center. I had a Japanese friend who helped me with pronunciation and I had seen plenty of Japanese movies. I was ready!

I was wrong.

When I arrived in Japan, I was shocked to find out that the Japanese I had been learning was completely different from what was spoken in Japan. The Japanese sentences I had been learning did not translate properly. The characters I had learned were not what I saw in Kyoto or Yokohama. The people spoke way too fast and when I spoke, they couldn't understand me.

My trip to Japan, although insightful and worth the price, was a bit of a disappointment. I had hoped to blend in and experience the Japanese culture by speaking the language. Instead, I felt like an inept tourist - just another American.

The real problem, I later discovered, was that the Japanese I had been learning back at home was not the language of Japan. Much like Chinese food being completely different than it is in China, I had been learning an Americanized version with bad habits. The Japanese sentences that I had learned, for instance, were in the wrong order - no wonder no one understood me!

So, after I got back, I decided to have another try and learn the language the right way. A Japanese friend of mine told me about a software package by Rocket Language that was intense and effective. Within just a few days, I knew more Japanese than ever, and that made my next trip to Japan all the better.

By: Al Harding

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Al Harding is the director of popular blog StartLearningJapaneseOnline.Com. He is an expert on language learning and his blog contains stacks of information on things like how to learn basic Japanese and much more. Get free tips from his site today!