Where can I learn Japanese online and easily?
Japanese, Nihongo, is an East Asian language spoken by about 128 million people, primarily in Japan, where it is the national and official language, making it one of the most spoken foreign languages in the world. Japanese is also the official language Palau. A member of the Japonic (or Japanese-Ryukyuan) language family, its relation to other languages, such as Korean, is debated for ages. Japonic languages have been grouped with other language families such as Ainu, Austroasiatic, and the now-discredited Altaic, but none of these proposals has gained widespread acceptance. While most people outside Japan refer to the language as ‘Japanese,’ native speakers call it ‘Nihongo.’ Same is the case with the name ‘Japan,’ which is referred to as ‘Nihon’ or ‘Nippon’ in the native dialect. Despite Japanese being a non-tonal language, it still follows a certain rhythm and cadence to its words and sentences. Japanese, one of the most fast-spoken languages in the world, with an average of eight syllables spoken per second, beats out Spanish, French and Italian!
Little is known of the language’s prehistory, or when it first appeared in Japan. Chinese documents from the 3rd century recorded a few Japanese words, but substantial texts did not appear until the 8th century. During the Heian period (794–1185), the Chinese had considerable influence on the vocabulary and phonology of Old Japanese. Late Middle Japanese (1185–1600) included changes in features that brought it closer to the modern language and the first appearance of European loanwords. Despite popular belief, Japanese Chinese have a common kanji writing system and Japanese “borrows” quite a few phrases and words from Chinese. Japanese is considered one of the most unique languages in the world. The Japanese language relies on not one but three different alphabets – hiragana, katakana and kanji – which are differentiated both by their distinct appearances and by their use.
It is often said that globalization opens international markets, which is one of the reasons why learning Japanese is important. Japan is the third-largest economy in the world after the United States and China. The Japanese economy is larger than those of Germany and the United Kingdom, which are ranked fourth and fifth-largest. The Japanese language is the ninth most spoken language in the world, with 128 million people speaking it as their first language in only two countries. Globally, Japanese is spoken by 128.3 million speakers. It might be more difficult to find a Japantown than a Chinatown, but the Japanese diaspora can be found in several countries. Brazil has the largest Japanese community, followed by the United States, the Philippines, China, the United Kingdom, Peru and Canada. Japanese communities are also found in Europe, South America, Central America, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Pacific Islands, Qatar, Pakistan and Russia.
