Added: 11/26/2005 |
Around 125 million people in Japan speak Japanese, and this makes it the ninth most widely spoken language in the world. There are another 5 million people who speak Japanese with some degree of proficiency outside of Japan - predominantly Japanese descendants in Hawaii and Brazil.
Japanese is not known to be directly related to any other language or family of languages. Although some resemblances to Japanese and the Altaic languages (such as Mongolian) have been noted, a clear relationship has yet to be demonstrated.
The Japanese language has a number of dialects, some of which are mutually unintelligible.
Because of the nature of Japanese culture, which is characterized by a hierarchical system, the Japanese language has evolved to be very complicated, they say it is difficult to learn Japanese. The style of speech varies significantly according to social class, gender, age, and so on. Only if you have personal information about your partner in conversation, you will be able to choose the appropriate manner of speaking Japanese.
Japanese pronunciation differs dramatically from English pronunciation, for instance. Because all Japanese words end in vowels, English speakers may have to spend quite a long time to learn Japanese, practicing them to get the hang of the rhythm. At first, the tongue tends to tie itself in knots! Forget your native language and say To-Yo-Ta, Ka-Wa-Sa-Ki, Ma-Tsu-Shi-Ta. It may help to know that individual vowel sounds in the Japanese language are not very different from Italian or Spanish.
Communication is the key to understanding Japanese society. This is the reason to learn Japanese. You might only have one chance to study Japanese in Japan, and if so, then you need to make the most of your opportunity. By joining the learning community that is the Yamasa Institute, you have the opportunity to learn Japanese faster, and in full cultural context, than anywhere else in Japan.
The highest quality Japanese language school in Japan, the Yamasa Institute is an independent, selective, non-profit teaching and research center under the governance of the Hattori Foundation. APJLE accredited, they provide an innovative, international, and professional learning community for Japan Studies and Japanese Language Studies.
Yamasa's courses include the most intensive accredited programs in Japan. The top priority is high quality - they also offer unmatched facilities, flexibility and choice - and as a non-profit organization, they provide all of their programs as affordably as possible.
This Japanese language school offer classes at all levels from foundation courses for the absolute beginner through to advanced programs for students, requiring high levels of proficiency for professional careers or Japanese universities & graduate schools. You can study from just 4 weeks to as long as 2 years. No Institute offers more course options, flexibility, quality or affordability to lern Japanese than Yamasa.
Yamasa's Office exists purely to support your studies, from first email, throughout your studies and right through to alumni support. So if you drop by their virtual office today, their actual office will meet you in Aoi Hall when you arrive in Okazaki!
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