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How much importance does language serve? -
08-05-2008, 01:50 AM
How much English does the average Japanese know?
I know they are required to take a class in school but I'm assuming they forget it after school. Is it pretty much required for me to learn fluent Japanese if I go? _____________________________________
   InuYasha! Sit Boy! 
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08-05-2008, 01:58 AM
Quote:
Fluency isn't required at all, but the more you know they more fun you will have.
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08-05-2008, 01:59 AM
Yeah, even though they learn it in school,
unless they, like, hardcore learn it, in a conversational element... you're screwed. Besides, you're going to their country. Common courtesy is to learn their language. Even if you're visiting, bring a phrase book, a dictionary, something.
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08-05-2008, 02:55 AM
Learning basic Japanese is not too difficult.
Learn adjectives, verbs and common nouns and try to connect that with daily situations. You need a good resource to follow though or you will be stumped everytime you see a verb conjugation.
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08-05-2008, 02:59 AM
If you're visiting the bigger cities and touristy areas, the people will be used enough to working with foreigners for you to be able to get by fine without much Japanese. It's handy to know some basic things though, so you don't end up having to resort to charades for something like 'where is the toilet', or ordering something which isn't what you think it is. A phrase book is a good idea - even if you're not sure how to say the phrase you can just point at it and communicate that way
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08-05-2008, 03:00 AM
I knew people who graduated with four-year degrees in English and couldn't string together a sentance. At least three times I met groups of men where one was a school English teacher who pretended to be asleep to avoid showing his lack of English.
As far as learning Japanese, the grammer is pretty easy. The difficult thing for some people is the accent. Beyond that, some people learn the language but don't bother to learn the cues, aizuchi o utsu, sub-lingual communication and some psychology that makes communication more efficient.
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08-05-2008, 03:08 AM
If you just want to learn a few things quickly for a holiday then basic words and phrases you're likely to need in the situations you'll be in (like yes, no, please, thankyou, where is ____, do you have ____, I'd like to order a ____, names of food, numbers) might be more useful than getting too heavily into grammar. But if you really want to study Japanese for more than a holiday then maybe look into doing some classes? It helps so much to have a teacher, I think.
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