A lot of new Japanese language learners seem to rely too heavily on Romaji (or even the English alphabet) to get by while mastering or learning Japanese. I understand. I really do. When you’re just starting out, it takes considerable time to honestly master all of the Kana symbols. It may seem like you’re not getting much better.
Am I just pestering you as your Japanese teacher? What is the real problem with using the roman alphabet?:
You are already used to the English alphabet
You already have associations about the Roman alphabet and how to pronounce things written with it. Japanese characters, on the other hand, are new to you and you don’t need to worry about this. You are starting with a blank canvas here and can learn to pronounce Japanese words and phrases the correct way without being negatively sidetracked by your current associations with the English language.
You won’t see much Romaji in Japan
Maybe your textbook uses Romaji. This is still no excuse. That means it was made by a lazy editor. In all honesty, you won’t find much Romaji in use when you go to Japan. Maybe just the names of the department stores and a few English terms here and there. If you write something in romaji and for a Japanese friend of yours, he or she will probably be quite taken aback because, frankly, the Japanese in general just don’t use romaji.
Forget training wheels
If even a small part of you wants to seriously study Japanese and master it, sooner or later you will have to forget about Romaji and master some Japanese symbols. It is much easier to do this right away than to put it off for a few months or years.
Okay, so Romaji isn’t the best way to go. What should you do when you are just starting out? It honestly depends on the type of Japanese student you are. From my point of view, there are two types of Japanese students:
The engaged student
Maybe you are learning Japanese at university. Maybe you are going to stay in Japan for several months or a year. Perhaps your job involves dealing with many Japanese clients or consultants. Or maybe you just have a lot of Japanese friends and you’re sick and tired of them talking about you behind your back.
If this sounds like you, start by mastering Hiragana and Katakana. They are not difficult to master and by taking them little by little and progressing at your own pace, you may be able to study them in a few weeks using a few flashcards. After this, you can go ahead and start building your vocabulary, sentence structure along with other language skills using Hiragana and Katakana as a reliable foundation.
the amateur
Maybe you could go to Japan for a little vacation. Maybe you are a fan of Anime or Manga and you want to show off to your friends and watch a series without subtitles. Maybe you just have a little free time and want to learn a couple of languages for fun.
For people like this, my suggestion is to start with a simple conversational Japanese instruction. This is less difficult than studying how to read and write, especially if you are immersed in a quality course of study. When you have a quality knowledge of verbal language, you may decide that you have the Japanese bug and now you really want to study Japanese. Going forward, you’ll be in the best place to take the path mentioned above and master all the Japanese symbols (including all those pesky Kanji).
Romaji is really not beneficial for you. I really hope you can really see that now. Regardless of what your ultimate goals are in studying Japanese, you’ll be much better off taking the time to leave the crutch behind and study Hiragana and Katakana or practice a little conversational Japanese.
