Easiest Languages To Learn For Japanese Speakers – Top 6

Learning a new language can be challenging. As a Japanese speaker learning a new language, you might wonder. What are the easiest languages to learn for Japanese speakers?

Several languages are relatively easy to pick up. Here are some of the easiest languages to learn for Japanese speakers.

Easiest Languages To Learn For Japanese Speakers

There are several reasons why someone might want to learn a new language. But for Japanese speakers, the most common reason is probably business.

Being bilingual or even multilingual is a huge asset in today’s global economy. And Japanese speakers who know another language have a distinct advantage.

1. Korean:

With its similarities to Japanese in grammar and vocabulary. Korean is often said to be one of the easiest languages for Japanese speakers to learn.

And since Korean and Japanese share many of the same cultural references.

Learning Korean can also help you better understand some aspects of Japanese culture.

To start learning Korean, try using a bilingual dictionary. Or learning basic phrases from a phrasebook.

You can also find plenty of resources for learning Korean online. That includes audio and video lessons, grammar guides, and vocabulary lists.

2. Mandarin Chinese:

Mandarin Chinese is another language that’s similar to Japanese in many ways.

For instance, both Mandarin and Japanese use word order differently than English.

So if you’re already familiar with Japanese grammar, Mandarin should be a breeze.

Additionally, like Japanese, Mandarin is a tonal language. Meaning words can change depending on how they’re spoken.

To start learning Mandarin Chinese. Check online resources or enroll in a language course. You might also want to invest in a good quality dictionary or phrasebook.

3. Indonesian:

4. Malay:

There are a few reasons why Malay is an easy language for Japanese speakers to learn.

First, Malay is a phonetic language. That means the words are similarly pronounced as written.

That is in contrast to the Japanese. Which has a complex system of Kanji characters that can change the pronunciation of a word.

Another reason why Malay is easy to learn for Japanese speakers is that it uses a lot of loanwords from English.

Around 40% of the Malay vocabulary consists of English loanwords.

In addition, Japanese speakers are already familiar with many Malay words. Which makes learning the language much easier.

Finally, Malay grammar is relatively simple compared to other languages, such as Japanese.

For all these reasons, Malay is an excellent choice for Japanese speakers. If they want to want to learn a new language.

5. Thai:

Many features of Thai make it an easy language for Japanese speakers to learn.

For one, Thai is a tonal language, like Chinese and Vietnamese. Which means that the pitch of a word can change its meaning.

That is similar to Japanese, where words can have different meanings. Depending on whether they get used in a high, middle, or low tone.

Furthermore, Thai employs subject-Object-Verb word order. Which will be familiar to Japanese speakers as it is the same word order used in Japanese.

Finally, Thai has a relatively simple writing system, with only 44 basic characters.

Therefore, with some effort and practice, Japanese speakers should learn Thai relatively easily.

6. Vietnamese:

There are many Loanwords in Vietnamese from Chinese.

These words got introduced during various periods of Chinese occupation.

As a result, Vietnamese has a significant number of cognates with Chinese.

For example, the word for “book” is sách in Vietnamese and shū in Mandarin Chinese.

That makes Vietnamese an easy language for Japanese speakers to learn. They will often be able to guess the meaning of words based on their similarity to Japanese or Chinese.

There are many reasons why English is an easy language for Japanese speakers.

For one, English has a relatively simple sound system compared to other languages.

This means that there are fewer sounds that Japanese speakers need to learn. Just to speak English.

In addition, the grammar of English is not as complicated as that of some other languages. Which makes it easier for Japanese speakers to pick up.

Another reason why English may be an easy language for Japanese speakers to learn is. Because there is a great deal of borrowed vocabulary from English in the Japanese language.

This means that many words in Japanese are already familiar to speakers of English. Which can make learning a new language less daunting.

Additionally, because Japan is such a popular tourist destination. Many signs and other materials are in Japanese and English.

This can provide valuable language exposure for Japanese speakers interested in learning it.

To answer the question of what makes a language easy to learn. We must first understand how people learn languages.

Learning a language has three main components. They are listening comprehension, speaking, and reading/writing skills.

Although these skills are interconnecting, they develop at different rates.

For example, you may be able to understand spoken Spanish quite easily. But have difficulty reading and writing in the language.

Of course, there are exceptions to every rule. Some languages may be difficult for speakers of your native tongue. That is because they don’t share common features.

For example, Mandarin Chinese is notoriously difficult for English speakers. Because it has a different alphabet and uses tones to indicate meaning.

However, even Mandarin Chinese becomes easier with time and practice!

Japanese is one of the unique languages in the world. Over 125 million people in Japan and Japanese diaspora communities worldwide speak Japanese.

The language has a complex writing system. It combines kanji, hiragana, and katakana.

Some of the most similar languages to Japanese include:

1. Korean:

Korean and Japanese are both members of the Japonic language family.

They share a similar grammatical structure and have many cognates.

Cognates are words that have the same or similar meaning in both languages.

The Korean language has a unique set of alphabets called Hangul. But it also contains many Chinese characters.

2. Ainu:

Ainu is a language spoken by the Ainu people, who are indigenous to Japan.

Ainu is very different from the Japanese but shares common features.

Such as grammatical gender and counters (words that indicate quantities).

3. Ryukyuan:

Ryukyuan is a group of closely related languages. That is between Japan and Taiwan in the Ryukyu Islands.

Ryukyuan languages are similar to Ainu. But they also share some similarities with the Japanese.

For example, both languages have ejective consonants.

That are the sounds made by forcibly expelling air from the lungs. And vowel harmony (a feature whereby certain vowels must agree with other vowels in a word).

Overall, the hardest part of learning a new language as an adult is likely to be the grammar.

If you are starting from scratch. It can be difficult to internalize all the rules and exceptions.

However, if you’re already familiar with another language. Then it can be easier to learn a new one because you better understand how language works.

So, If You are a native Japanese speaker. Looking for the easiest languages to learn for Japanese speakers. Then this article will help you find the best option for you.