The Japanese language consists of four types of writing: Hiragana, Katakana, Kanji, and Romaji. Hiragana and Katakana are characters that have evolved within Japanese society and are used exclusively in the Japanese language. Kanji, on the other hand, is adapted from Chinese writing, and Romaji is the alphabet form of writing.
Usually, when someone wants to begin learning the Japanese language, they will start by learning Hiragana, followed by Katakana, and then become familiar with basic Kanji characters. Since Romaji is the alphabet used in the Indonesian language, there's no need to relearn how to write Romaji.
However, when we, as Indonesian speakers, learn English, we don't need to worry about how to write the English alphabet. In contrast, when learning Japanese, which differs from learning English, we are required to understand the writing system first before we can delve into grammar and vocabulary and subsequently engage in pronunciation practice.
While English and Mandarin are still the common choices for most Indonesians seeking to learn a foreign language, it's worth noting that there is a substantial interest in learning the Japanese language as well. According to the 2021 Survey of Japanese Language Education in Overseas, conducted by the Japan Foundation, Indonesia ranks as the second highest in the number of Japanese language learners, following China.
In the same research, the Japan Foundation (2021) mentioned that while the number of Japanese language learners in formal institutions may decrease year by year, there is actually a growing number of Japanese language learners studying outside formal institutions. One reason for the decline in formal institution data is because data on learners outside formal institutions may not be accessible to the Japan Foundation.
Are you, dear readers of this article, among those who are currently looking for non-formal institutions to learn the Japanese language? Let's join and learn Japanese with Merry Sensei's class. For more information, please send a message via the message column below this website. 😊
Source:
Suevey Report on Japanese-Language Education Abroad 2021. https://www.jpf.go.jp/e/project/japanese/survey/result/dl/survey2021/All_contents_r2.pdf
, accessed on October 31, 2023.
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