In Response To: Best way to learn to read Japanese?
Konnichi wa Tim (Hello Tim), it took me about 7-8 years to learn to speak and understand Japanese, to a satisfactory level. I believe I need another 4-5 years in Japan to reach a proficiency level. The grammar is VERY easy, the pronunciation too (if you have a background of Latin or ancient Greek from school helps a lot). The only difficulty lies in the volume of completely new words, which is not so frightening. Reading Japanese is another thing. It completely depends on you. You can learn how to read and don’t mind about pronunciation. It can take you from 2 to 22 years to learn the 2.500 necessary Kanji. It’s really up to your memory and will. To make you feel better, Chinese use more than 5.000 kanji. What I learned after many years of study is that Japanese is not just another language to learn. You need to have a feeling about both the language and the people. Preferably an admiration/respect feeling. I’ll be glad to help you somehow if you ever decide to start learning.
