Japanese Language Resource

Learning Resources  -  Software  -  Books

Japanese is spoken by over 130 million people, mostly in Japan and Japanese communities around the world. It is an polysynthetic language and contains a complex system of expressions that reflect the hierarchical nature of Japanese society. Verb forms and some vocabulary indicate the status of speaker and listener. The sound inventory of Japanese is relatively small (as compared to Chinese), and has a lexically distinct pitch-accent.  Japanese is the official language of Japan,and is the only country having Japanese as its official language.

The Japanese language is written in of three different types of scripts: Chinese characters called kanji, and two syllabic scripts made up of modified Chinese characters, hiragana and katakana. The Latin alphabet, rōmaji, is often used in modern Japanese, particularly for company names and logos, advertising, and when using Japanese via a computer. Arabic numerals are generally used for numbers, but traditional Japanese numerals are also used.

Japanese vocabulary is substantially influenced by other languages. A huge percentage of words come from Chinese, or were created from Chinese over the last 1,500 years. Since the late 19th century, Japanese has also absorbed a substantial number of words from European languages, mainly English. Additionally, Portuguese and Dutch - largely due to a previous trade relationship.

Even though Japanese is spoken almost exclusively in Japan, it has been spoken elsewhere. This was especially true in the conquered Japanese territories during WWII - including Korea and China - as part of building it's empire. As a result, many people in these countries can speak Japanese in. Japanese emigrant communities sometimes use Japanese as their primary language. About 5% of Hawaiian residents know Japanese, with Japanese ancestry the largest single ancestry in the state.  Japanese emigrants are also found in Peru, Argentina, Australia, the United States and the Philippines. Their descendants ,however, rarely speak Japanese fluently, especially after the second generation.

Formerly, standard Japanese in writing was different from colloquial language.  The two systems have different rules of grammar and some variance in vocabulary. Bungo was the main method of writing Japanese until about 1900; since then kōgo gradually extended its influence and the two methods were both used in writing until the 1940s. Bungo still has some relevance for historians, scholars, and lawyers. Kōgo is the main method of both speaking and writing Japanese today, however bungo grammar and vocabulary are sometimes used in modern Japanese for accent.

Japanese language courses are provided at many major universities in the world , and a fair amount of secondary and primary schools worldwide offer some level of the language. International interest in the Japanese has become more prevalent following Japan's economic surge of the 1980s and the global popularity of Japanese pop culture (such as anime and video games) recently. The number of Americans studying Japanese has steadily increased due to this cultural interest, rather than business.

In Japan, more than 90,000 foreign students study at Japanese universities and Japanese language schools, including 77,000 Chinese and 15,000 South Koreans in 2003. In addition, local governments and some NPO groups provide free Japanese language classes for foreign residents, including Japanese Brazilians and foreigners married to Japanese nationals. In the United Kingdom, studies are supported by the British Association for Japanese Studies. In Ireland, Japanese is offered as a language in the Leaving Certificate in some schools.

Start Today!

There is no time like the present, and never have so many resources been at your disposal for learning a foreign language.  Check out the links and descriptions below to find a program that fits your needs.

Japanese Learning Resources on the Web

Japanese English Communication & Immersion

Language training, Youth challenge and Business innovation through Japan interface. Development of Character, E-Q wellness, Wisdom and Leadership.

Japanese Software

Coming soon!

Japanese Books

Coming soon!