It is not an impossible task to learn Japanese fast. First, enthusiasm, commitment, and focus can go a long way. Second, it helps to know certain basics. Written Japanese uses three different scripts:

• Kanji
• Hiragana
• Katakana

Kanji is composed of Chinese characters. Hiragana and katakana are syllabic scripts based on Chinese characters. A combination of kanji and hiragana are used in modern Japanese. Katakana is usually used to depict loaned foreign words in addition to sounds.

The characters are written from top to bottom, or vertically, and from right to left. This method is standard, although scientific journals and computers use the horizontal method, read from left to right.

There is a variety of politeness levels, depending on the social standings of the speaker and listener. Also, the language includes speech that males or females tend to use that is specific to their gender, which can mean differences in the use of vocabulary, grammar, and even pitch.

Many teaching sources promise quick learning of a foreign language. Choose a course wisely, one that is most suitable for you. Bear in mind your budget, level of interest, and the amount of time you are willing to invest.

To learn Japanese fast, pay close attention to the manner of study offered by different courses. This depends primarily on your need. Do you want to improve on your reading and writing skills? Do you only need to be able to get around while you travel, speaking to native speakers? If you expect you only need to know how to speak proficiently enough, you do not need to concentrate on learning characters as much as mastering conversations on everyday topics.

If you want to learn Japanese fast when you are focusing on speaking the language, speaking is easier to pick up than the writing part. Listening to audio files, such as listening to the language being spoken by a native speaker, is the quickest method to pick up proper pronunciation and wording. (If you do plan on learning how to read and write, lots of books have CD-ROMs that include audio.)

Listen carefully to the tones and then imitate them as best as possible. The only other things needed are patience and perseverance. There are no textbooks, teachers, or drill exercises involved here. When you study by yourself, you benefit from the convenience of learning any time, anywhere, at your own pace.

Another thing to consider in order to learn Japanese fast is the amount of grammar and vocabulary you need to study. For sake of time, you can focus on words you know you would use the most often, which also helps in remembering them. For grammar, you can save time by becoming familiar with the basic forms of sentences and words, just enough to help with constructing sentences and talking.