The biggest reason for people to think that Japanese is hard is because of the different writing system that includes three different ways to write things. With these ten tricks I will make it easier for those who want to learn Japanese.
Learn Hiragana and Katakana
Before even starting to look at different vocabulary learn the two simple writing systems the hiragana and katakana. Hiragana is the main one of the two that is being used all over in Japan to give the final touch to the verbs, nouns, just everything. Basically learning hiragana is almost everything that one needs to be able to read Japanese as anything can be writing in hiragana. Katakana is the other typing system that is being used in Japanese. The small children in Japan start learning with this one, but for foreigners who are planning to learn Japanese it is recommended to learn Hiragana first. Katakana is used for writing foreign words like computer becomes konpyu-ta-.
Like I said earlier that hiragana is all one needs to write and read Japanese. Any word in Japanese can be written with hiragana the problem does not lie in writing it but understand the context the word is in. Because of the several, in some cases dozens of different meanings it would be hard to understand a text written totally in hiragana. In many places the Kanji, the written symbols, have furigana on top of them which equals to hiragana as an aid for people who do not know the kanji. So knowing kanji is helpful, but not a must. Basic Words and Sentences
After having mastered the two simple writing systems it is time to start learning the basics words and grammar. Unlike in English Japanese word order is reversed which means S - O - V. The only difference to English is that object and verb have been exchanged with each other. The subject appears usually only once after having mentioned it once it will not be mentioned again.
Basic words should cover words that are needed often like few simple verbs, greetings, yes and no. Just like in any other language. There is no real order for the words to be learned in just follow your logic and in case you have a book the order the book teaches them to you. Kanji
There are two different ways to start learning the kanji, the written symbols. The first one would be to learn first enough basic words to be able to have small conversations and then start learning the kanij. The other would be to learn the kanji while learning the basic words.
Both ways have their advantages. Because of this there is a third way to learn the kanji which is the most reasonable one. While learning the basic words one also learns the important kanji and the not so important kanji one tries to recognize. For the important kanji you should be able to write them and not only read.
Being able to read a kanji is a big advantage to you because it helps you to remember the shape of the kanji. While trying to memorize a kanji you should memorize the stroke order as well. Without being able to follow the stroke rules you will have trouble to write the more complex kanji later on. The simple kanji is easy to write no matter the order of the strokes however with the more complex kanji you will start to have trouble fitting it nicely in a square, it will be hard to read and other problems occur. The strokes order is easy to memorize and also logical be careful as there are some exceptions to the stroke rules. Complex Sentences
Having knowledge of kanji it is time to start learning the more complex forms of sentences. With more complex sentences you will be able to understand more when you read or listen and you will be able to have more complex conversations. The key to the complex sentences is not hard as each of them follow their own rules.
The following words are important when learning more complex sentences. The words will be in Japanese. Each word will have a sample sentence in Japanese and English translation.
から (kara) will be used after the verb and has usually the meaning because.
私は病気ですから、学校に行きません。 Because I am sick I won't go to school.
事 (koto) will be used when describing a happening.
原宿に行った事ある。I have been in Harajuku.
は marks the subject, に to, から from, とwith or and, が marks also the subject, slightly different meaning, these are the main words that built out a sentence without them you will not be able to write any kind of sentence. There are more than these, but the other ones are slightly more specific so there is no need to know them straight away.
Now you should be able to built normal sentences for the daily use. Reading
After all this you should be able to read simple comics or children books. Reading is a very good way to get you a bigger vocabulary, so I frankly recommend you do read as much as possible. There are many different kinds of comics and children books that you will be able to read now. Just get few of them that you think you would like and start reading. If you need, use a dictionary as your aid. There is nothing to be ashamed to read and use a dictionary at the same time. The more you use the dictionary the bigger your vocabulary becomes. Writing
The truth is without producing text yourself; you will not be able to speak the language well. Just writing some Japanese each day will make a good start for getting better skills in Japanese. Start writing a small paragraph each day in Japanese what you did that day or what are you going to do that day. This will help your writing skills. If you arrive to the point that it becomes too easy, you can always start to write more or about more complex things like your hobby. Listening
The time has come for listening practice. Many people say that watching anime and listening to anime is a good thing for you, I disagree with that slightly. Indeed it makes you understand the language better but the language used in anime is usually not as polite as you would have to use in Japan. So if you want to use anime for your help, just keep it in mind that you should not talk like the anime characters. Real movies or TV shows is a lot better choice for listening comprehension. It does not mean you should start to imitate the character in them neither. Speaking
When speaking Japanese you should prefer to be too polite if you are in a situation you do not know how polite you should be. Even if this brings you to funny situations it is better than to get into trouble because you spoke to casually or even rude to someone. The Japanese do forgive foreigners rather a lot when they are new but it will not last forever so you better learn at some point the right level a speech otherwise you might end up insulting someone.
Latest at this point you should give a look to the different ways of speaking and their level. All the books you should have used to help you learn Japanese should use the polite level. There are three more that you should know of. The highest level you can basically ignore for now as you will not need it. The polite level, the ones your books have thought you, is going to be the most used speech you will be using. The casual speech will be only needed if you have Japanese friends. The last one is the rude way of talking which you should keep your fingers away unless you want to get into trouble. Time to Get Friends
After all this trouble you need a reason to use Japanese a good way to do is to get Japanese pen friends or Japanese people to chat with. Japanese forums are a good way of getting friends and also making your skills better if you are active in a forum. With the help of basics and active writing your language skill will increase faster than you can imagine.
Having a friend or friends will be able to fine tune your Japanese and also they will be able to teach you the Japanese slang and other details that no book can teach you. They are also a good source of getting information about the culture itself. Culture
The final step is to learn the culture. The knowledge of a culture is a big part of the language even though it stays hidden for long. Through the knowledge of the culture you can understand sayings better, stories and in case of Japanese also the different levels of language.
Final Words
These tricks or tips however you want to call them are only there to make it easier for you to learn Japanese. Not all of these tricks will work for everyone so feel free to change it according to your learning skills. What I have said it what I have experienced myself and found the best and easiest way to learn Japanese it will not be the same for everyone among us so use your brain while reading using these tricks.
