Learning Japanese Quickly Through Association

As many of you know, Japanese is one of the toughest languages to learn, however, that doesn't mean learning it needs to be boring. While most people use very dull and repetitive methods when trying to learn the language, there are ways to make it fun and at the same time, learn it quickly. One of the best ways I've found to do this is by using associations.

The trick here is to create an association (or link) between a Japanese word and something you already know in English. Here is an example:

The Japanese word for meet is “au”. It is pronounced “ow” as in “owch! that hurts!”

So now lets think of an association for that word.

Since “au” sounds similar to “owl” let’s link it with owls. Imagine a group of owls meeting for the first time. I'm serious, Close your eyes and imagine “a group of owls meeting for the first time” for 10 seconds. Really concentrate on the image for the full 10 seconds. Now, remembering the word for meet should be simple. Now imagine if you could do this for all the other words...well guess what? You CAN!

Let us know how this method works for you. Hopefully it helps! :-)

Do you know of any other ways to make learning Japanese fun? Let us know about it in the comments section!