How long does it take to learn fluent Japanese?

[boysenberry]

I've been told that learning languages is a great way to prevent Alzheimer's disease when you get older. It makes you seem more of an attractive person and increases your job prospects and ability to make friends. And, after watching some anime and other weird stuff on youtube, I've gotten this urge to learn Japanese all of the sudden and just be immersed with its culture. I don't think I'll do it for VCE, I'm a bit late for that but maybe some time in the future, just for fun. So, here's my question, how long does it take to learn fluent Japanese for an adult?

What about other languages? Is the amount of time taken roughly the same?

[kyzoo]

Assuming that learning Japanese is similar to learning Chinese, several years (at least 3).

[Fyrefly]

Mastering a language is a life-long task... fluency is something that must be maintained.

Initial acquisition is different for everyone.
I'd agree that as a bare minimum, 3 years will be needed.
This would be very intensive, and would almost certainly involve living in Japan.
I think the average length of time is closer to 5 years for most people.

The JLPT is a decent indicator of fluency.
To pass level 1 (the highest level), it is estimated that 900 hours of study are required.
This would mean 50min of study every day for 3 years, or 2.5h of study every day for a year.
Personally though, I think more than 900 hours may be required for most.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_Language_Proficiency_Test
http://www.jlpt.jp/e/

[boysenberry]

Mastering a language is a life-long task... fluency is something that must be maintained.

Initial acquisition is different for everyone.
I'd agree that as a bare minimum, 3 years will be needed.
This would be very intensive, and would almost certainly involve living in Japan.
I think the average length of time is closer to 5 years for most people.

Hmmm...that takes all the fun out of it. Not sure, whether I'd be able to cope doing this while studying at uni or working a full-time job here.

I wonder how people like the pope manage to learn around 7-9 languages. 

[herzy]

its different in europe - there's a lot of immersion, and some people grow up speaking 3... and learning the other three. for example, in germany all students start learning english in year 4 and have to keep doing it till year 10... like maths in australia. they go on excursions to england, etc., etc.. the italian class goes on excursion to the alps to go skiing etc., . plus some people get foreign language-speaking nannies which helps a lot. my grandfather grew up speaking hungarian (mother tongue) and german completely fluently. in school (like prep) he was taught italian, latin and french, and when he was in POW camp he learnt english (well, the american version of...) fluently by speaking to them constantly. somewhere along the way he learnt rudimentary spanish. but yes that whole thing is very different to the australian idea of just picking up a language through sheer labour.

[IntoTheNewWorld]

This blog may be of interest to you

http://www.alljapaneseallthetime.com/blog/about

The author claims to have learnt Japanese in 18 months, not in Japan. Interesting read.

[schmalex]

Mastering a language is a life-long task... fluency is something that must be maintained.

Initial acquisition is different for everyone.
I'd agree that as a bare minimum, 3 years will be needed.
This would be very intensive, and would almost certainly involve living in Japan.
I think the average length of time is closer to 5 years for most people.

Hmmm...that takes all the fun out of it. Not sure, whether I'd be able to cope doing this while studying at uni or working a full-time job here.

I wonder how people like the pope manage to learn around 7-9 languages. 

I have a friend who picked up French in year 11. He's just finished year 12 and he can read books written in French and speak to French people quite comfortably. So don't give up hope

[Fyrefly]

I think, for English-speakers, European languages are much easier to learn than a language like Japanese.

[schmalex]

Well he got above 40 in Japanese as well, but it does take a lot longer to learn all the characters and stuff.

[teebagger*]

I wanna learn Japanese too, but recently I've become quite a Koreaboo as well so I want to tackle both languages on simultaneously in the future. I've heard that that's suicidal though.

Read this on Wikipedia (lol so yeah, don't take this to heart but it makes sense): 'The Foreign Service Institute (FSI) of the US Department of State has compiled approximate learning expectations for a number of languages. Of the 63 languages analyzed, the five most difficult languages to reach proficiency in speaking and proficiency in reading (for native English speakers who already know other languages), requiring 88 weeks, are: "Arabic, Cantonese, Mandarin, Japanese, Korean", with Japanese being the most difficult.'

[nabbiechan]

I thought Japanese was easier than Chinese(Mandarin)  :buck2:

[IntoTheNewWorld]

I thought Japanese was easier than Chinese(Mandarin)  :buck2:

Both languages have different difficult parts I guess.

[nabbiechan]

^Agree.

Although I wonder, is Japanese's Kanji pretty much the same in Chinese? I have a friend who can read bits of Japanese kanjis but she's not familiar with the language although she was Chinese?

[IntoTheNewWorld]

^Agree.

Although I wonder, is Japanese's Kanji pretty much the same in Chinese? I have a friend who can read bits of Japanese kanjis but she's not familiar with the language although she was Chinese?

It is pretty much a mix of traditional and simplified Chinese characters, with generally the same or similar meanings, which means Chinese people have a massive advantage when learning Japanese =]

[nabbiechan]

If I was only born as chinese. Funny thing is, I'm 1/3 Japanese but I don't know how to speak in the language. That's why I'm having a self study, but I might try learning it in uni if i can.

Although it's not that hard for me in regards of the pronunciation. I'm only learning it since May (I've been stopping every once in awhile due to overload of school works), once I get used to it and actually used them whilst talking to my friend, It tends to get easier except for the writing. It's also helps when you watch animes, and listening to music.  :smitten: