You are at : Main page->Countries & Languages->Why Japanese

Learning Japanese may seem a funny idea. So here are some good reasons :

It's martial arts language. I know nothing about that, but a lot of my friends are involved, and so we can speak the few words we know. It's both fun and a good occasion to share the language : I confess I don't know many Japanese people.

Among westernized countries, Japan is a special one. I find very interesting to know a litlle more about it, by studying the language. For instance they won't say "nice to meet you", but something like "thank you for your kindness".

Clic picture to visit Giovanni Poli's site

I think we are both extremely different and very close because we are amazed by each other. They are fan of our cool way of life and we like their taste for perfect things, respect for other people, etc... Our civilizations have taken different paths, but each of them are valuable.

Last but not least : Japanese language is easier to learn than you may think, especially for English speakers. A lot of words have been imported : beer, fork, knife, spoon, bed, air brush, computer, grapefruit, patrol car, skirt, shirt, suntan lotion, radio, and so many others. Pronounciation is easy, too. I mean if you don't want to pretend you're a true Japanese guy. No weird sound to produce.
Grammar is quiet simple. The conjugated verb is the same for all persons. Pronouns are implicit, except when absolutely needed (they vary a little for politeness needs : eg : watashi (I), watakushi (my humble person)).
Assimil method (or other ones) are written in romanji, (our alphabet) with an overview of real Japanese writing way.
Romanji transcription/writing is used for us to be able to read some words. There's no cultural background about it, so nothing special to know about any word which would need a special accent or something. For instance, you need to be taught how to pronounce "Worcestershire Sauce" (if you're French) or "Les poules du couvent couvent" (if you're English).

So, writing is the second step in learning Japanese. And, I must admit, a tough one. Other than romanji, wich cand be seen on motorbike tanks :-) there are two ways to write Japanese language : syllabic alphabets which are hiragana and katakana, and the Chinese method, kanjis, were one sign matches a word. Kanji are thousands, so even natives have to struggle to know enough. As Chinese and Japanese have totally different grammars, Japanese must had some hiragana to write a sentence. So writing, or just reading a short sentence is not an easy thing, even with a dictionnary at hand.
Katakana is used to write foreign words, but is nearly the same as hiragana. It's a little like handwriting and typewriting.