At a glance, Japanese looks entirely unique. While the writing system was based on and resembles Chinese, it doesn’t sound like it. Instead, you may pick up the odd English or German word. The grammar is intuitive and has markers that indicate the subject, destination, verb, and more. So, how hard is it to learn Japanese? Probably not as hard as you’ve heard.
When you’re just starting to learn Japanese, having a trusted resource at your fingertips is important. The Rosetta Stone app accelerates your language learning with short stories, Live Lessons taught by native speakers, and bite-sized lessons that can be completed in 10 minutes or fewer on the go.
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What makes Japanese “hard to learn”?
The thousands of kanji (漢字, Chinese characters) are an infamous roadblock for many Japanese learners. Some of the most common challenges when starting out are:
- multiple writing systems: hiragana, katakana, and kanji
- unique grammar because the Japanese language is a language isolate
- vocabulary intrinsically tied to Japanese etiquette, which has complex layers
But here’s what makes Japanese easy to learn:
- There is no plural “s.” Whether there’s one or a thousand, the word stays the same.
- The pronunciation system is straightforward.
- Consistent, formulaic grammar patterns use minimal punctuation.
Calling Japanese “difficult” is misleading. All languages have their quirks and surprises. In fact, people learning English for the first time sometimes find it incredibly challenging! Ultimately, Japanese is just another language and requires as much dedication as any other.
How hard is it to learn Japanese if I already speak another language?
The difficulty of learning Japanese is impacted by what your native language is. Commonalities between Japanese and another language you speak may help make connections that other language speakers miss.
Even if Japanese appears completely different from the language you already speak, there are likely similarities. Between punctuation, grammar, vocabulary, and even the direction the language is read, something is bound to be familiar. By taking advantage of those points, Japanese is less intimidating.
How hard is it to learn Japanese for English speakers?
For English and other languages that use the Roman alphabet, the three writing systems are the most difficult aspect of Japanese to learn. For that reason, it is generally considered one of the hardest languages for English speakers to learn.
The good news is that the written language doesn’t have a negative impact on your ability to pick up speaking and listening. Rosetta Stone’s Dynamic Immersion method is a good first step because you can listen to audio from native speakers while viewing images that put the words in context.
In terms of grammar, a simple English sentence breaks down into three components in a specific order: subject-verb-object. In the sentence, “I eat apples,” “I” is the subject, “eat” is the verb, and “apple” is the object. The Japanese order is subject-object-verb, resulting in “I apples eat.” Once you can identify each grammatical component in a sentence, it’s as simple as moving the language building blocks around.
When you start learning vocabulary, you will find English has a place in Japanese through loanwords. These are words that originate in one language and have been adopted into another. Japanese loanwords are called gairaigo (外来語), and they are written almost exclusively in the second phonetic alphabet, katakana. Many of them will sound incredibly close to the words you already know.
| English | Japanese | Pronunciation |
| pen | ペン pen | pehn |
| America | アメリカ amerika | ah-meh-ree-kah |
| television | テレビ terebi | teh-reh-bee |
| tennis | テニス tenisu | teh-nee-soo |
| orange | オレンジ orenji | oh-rehn-jee |
How hard is it to learn Japanese for Spanish speakers?
Native Spanish speakers will likely have the same amount of difficulty as a native English speaker when approaching Japanese. While the introduction of the writing systems is a shared challenge, there are other aspects of Spanish that are absent in English and make Japanese easier or harder.
The pronunciation system in Spanish is more standardized than English. With few exceptions, the Spanish pronunciation of the letter “a” is consistent across the language. The “a” in amor (love), dólar (dollar), and Barcelona are all nearly identical. The same is true in Japanese! The Japanese “a” is the same no matter what word it appears in.
One thing that Spanish has that Japanese doesn’t, however, is gendered words. There are some words that have male or female inclinations in Japanese, like the many options for the word “I.” However, Japanese doesn’t have anything like the words la and el for “the” (Japanese actually doesn’t have a word for “the” at all) and their associated words found in Spanish. This drastic difference may take some time to adapt to.
The concept of using different words to indicate formality is shared between Spanish and Japanese. In Spanish, the formal usted is used for “you” when showing respect for the listener (or listeners, if using ustedes), and the conjugation of the associated verb is not the same as the informal word for “you.” Japanese honorific language (keigo, 敬語) has more complex conjugations and nuance, but the philosophy is similar.
How hard is it to learn Japanese for German speakers?
Like native speakers of Spanish, German speakers are used to gendered words. Additionally, as English is a Germanic language, many of an English speaker’s concerns about Japanese also apply to German.
Culturally speaking, German manners are direct. Giving honest feedback and clear answers is a sign of sincerity. By comparison, Japanese manners are so passive that indirectness is built into the language. For example, rather than saying a simple, “No,” a Japanese speaker is more likely to respond to an awkward question with:
- Muzukashī desu. (難しいです。) = It’s difficult to say.
Acclimating to this vastly different cultural point may take more time for a German speaker.
While the writing system is different, native speakers of German may notice similarities in word structure! Japanese kanji each have their own meaning, and when put together, they create a new word entirely.
| Japanese | Individual kanji meaning | English |
| 住所 jūsho | 住 + 所 live + place | address |
| 手袋 tebukuro | 手 + 袋 hand + bag | glove |
A similar phenomenon happens with German compound words. Can you see how a native German speaker might enjoy combining kanji to create new words?
| German | Individual word meaning | English |
| Schadenfreude | Schaden + Freudedamage + happiness | deriving pleasure from someone’s misfortune |
| Handschuh | Hand + Schuhhand + shoe | glove |
How hard is it to learn Japanese for Chinese speakers?
A native speaker of Chinese arguably has the greatest advantage when learning Japanese. This is because the Japanese written language was based on Chinese beginning in the fifth century CE. However, many kanji words in Japanese are followed by hiragana—called okurigana (送り仮名)—which are not part of the Chinese written language. But the kanji themselves are often consistent with modern Chinese.
One differentiation is that modern Chinese has simplified some characters while Japanese continues to use the older, traditional characters. In some cases, the characters are in a different order. The pronunciation is also quite different.
| Chinese | Japanese | English |
| 语言 yǔyán | 言語 gengo | language |
| 说话 shuōhuà | 話す hanasu | to speak |
There are also a number of “false friends” between Japanese and Chinese that may cause some miscommunication and take extra effort for a Chinese speaker to remember.
| Japanese / Chinese | Chinese meaning | Japanese meaning |
| 娘 / 娘 musume / niáng | mother | daughter |
| 手紙 / 手纸 tegami / shǒuzhǐ | toilet paper | letter (postal) |
Frequently asked questions about learning Japanese
“How hard is it to learn Japanese?” isn’t the only common question new learners have when considering adding Japanese lessons to their schedules.
How long does it take to learn Japanese?
It can take anywhere from a few months to several years to learn Japanese. Learning enough to travel can be accomplished in 2-3 months, but someone who wants to work in Japan will need to put in at least 3 years of effort. How long it takes is directly correlated to what your goals are and how much time you spend studying per day.
What level of Japanese is considered fluent?
Being fluent in Japanese means being able to navigate the world in Japanese the same way a native speaker would. For fluency certifications, it depends on the test you take or the language needs you have. By the standards of the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT), N2 is considered to be “business-level” fluent and N1 is “native-level” fluent. According to the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines, a “Superior” or “Distinguished” level would be fluent.
How many hours should I study Japanese a day?
Ten minutes a day is a good place to start. How much more time you spend per day will impact how fast you learn, but consistency is the most important thing. Spending 10 minutes a day every day for a week is more beneficial for your long-term memory than spending two hours one day a week. Learning a new language takes time!
How hard is it to learn Japanese by yourself?
Learning Japanese by yourself as a beginner is possible! Apps like Rosetta Stone give you all the tools you need to get started on your own. As you approach more advanced topics, help from a Rosetta Stone language tutor or formal class may be more appealing, but there are incredible resources for self-learners of any level.
Am I too old to learn Japanese?
Regardless of your age, you are never too old to learn. It is true that young children generally learn languages faster than adults due to a variety of reasons. For example, their brains are still developing, and they are already learning their native language through immersion, so they are accustomed to learning through contact. However, this is mostly about how fast they learn rather than how well they learn. Adults learning a new language have the same potential as children to achieve fluency.
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