1. Setting Achievable Goals
Setting achievable goals is a great way to keep yourself motivated when you’re learning a new language. Achievable goals are defined as, specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and timely. If you’re confused about what goal to set first, here are the recommend goal-setting steps.
Start with One Goal
Write your Goal Down
Set Short-term Milestones
Be Specific
Measure Actions as well as Progress
Set Goals you actually want to Achieve
2.Using Benchmarks to help Measure Progress
The goal-setting system like benchmarks provides guideposts on your Japanese vocabulary progress. For example, the ones used in video games could even be applied to Japanese vocabulary. When you start a video game, it gives you progress updates by how much you’ve completed. You can track your vocabulary like you’re playing a video game.
In black and whites terms, you need to know 10,000 words to be fluent in a language and at least 2000 words to be conversational. This a completely arbitrary number and won’t be able to define your fluency, but using it as a benchmark a good indicator of your fluency.
3. Listen to Japanese Songs
Believe it or not, you really can learn and increase your vocabulary by listening to your favourite Japanese songs.
Probably the reason is that when you keep listening to the songs over and over, somehow the lyrics just got into your head subconsciously. And by that, your knowledge of words increased after a period of time, without even you knowing.
4. Watch Japanese Dramas
Naturally, if you keep watching more dramas, your ears become so used to the language. In no time, before you can notice, you have picked up a certain amount of new words and you remembered these words related to the scenes in the dramas.
In fact, I think this is the best way to learn new words without forcing yourself to remember them. Didn’t we do the same thing when are learning our mother tongue?
5. Read Japanese Novels
This is the universal “rule” to increase one’s word list when learning any new language. You will come across many new vocabularies you normally won’t find in the textbooks or notes when learning Japanese.
You will also discover how some words are used differently as opposed to what you were taught in the classroom.
6. Learning through Frequency
Here is our secret on how to learn vocabulary as a beginner. Learn based on how frequently you use the word. Many other methods of how to learn vocabulary fail because they teach you vocabulary that you do not use and therefore forget.
Think about the 100 most common words in English, then choose 20 or 30 most frequent words that you use and try to make a list of them. Learning the most frequent words you use on a daily basis and adding them to your Japanese vocabulary is a great way to learn. If you use these words on a daily basis after you say them in English repeat them in Japanese. Chances are if you use those words frequently in English you’ll use them just as much in Japanese.
7.Learning through Kanji
Another method of how to learn vocabulary is by learning Japanese Kanji. Learning Kanji makes it easier to expand your vocabulary because you can associate the character with a group of words. When you see the kanji you know, you can piece together which word it is.
In Japan, there are three different alphabets; hiragana, katakana, and kanji. Here are a few examples listed in their respective categories.
あいえおう Hiragana
アイエオウ Katakana
方位絵尾卯 Kanji
Typically, everyone begins with hiragana. In comparison to English, it would be like learning your ABC’s. Most people move onto katakana next. Katakana is used for foreign words which have been imported into Japanese. The last thing people usually learn is kanji. Kanji is a logo graph and depending on the use of the kanji, it has numerous ways it could be read.
8. Japanese Vocabulary and Flashcards
You know I’m going to say it – one obvious “secret” on learning Japanese vocabulary is through flashcards. The system is popular for a reason. The concept is simple, and you can easily create them using paper or an online template.
9. Repetition is the key
Sometimes it happens with most of us that we learn Japanese words so fast and quickly and suddenly we forget it in about 2-3 days. So, as I mentioned, ‘Repetition is the key’. When you learn words you must repeat them daily for 15-20 min.
Only 15-20 minutes Daily can do what 2 hours of continuous study can’t do. Daily small parts of study can’t make you bored and you also have sufficient energy for the repetition of old words.
