Language in Japan

In Japan, there is only 1 national language, Japanese.

Here are some facts about the Japanese language:

Japanese is the sixth most spoken language in the world, with over 99% percent of the country's population using it.

Amazingly, the language is spoken in scarcely any region outside Japan.

Japanese comprises of Hiragana, Katakana and Kanji. Hiragana is basic form of Japanese letters, while Katakana are mainly used for conversion of the pronunciation of various languages while Kanji on the other hand was adopted from the Chinese language. After adopting chinese language, they would distinctly use it in a different and unique way.

A sentence comprising of both Hiragana, Katakana and Kanji:

私の名前はシリルです。

My name is Cheryl.

History of Japanese Language

There are mainly 4 stages of Japanese.

1. Old Japanese

2. Early Middle Japanese

3. Late Middle Japanese

4. Modern Japanese

There are many forms to the Japanese language. Two common forms are honorific (Keigo) and humble form (Kenjo-go). Honorific form (Keigo) is mainly for communicating with to the listening party with respect. Some places at which Keigo is being practiced commonly would be business meetings, service industry and talking to your elders. Kenjo-go on the other hand is similar to Keigo. Kenjo-go is used when a speaker says something about himself to a listener of respect to him.

In Japan, due to the various prefectures, there are many dialects as well. The most prominent and common dialects are Osaka and Kyoto dialect. They call them "Osaka-ben" and "Kyoto-ben". They are similar to the Japanese language, however, there are some slangs that are being included.

An example would be "how" in Japanese. In the normal Japanese language, "how" is "Donna (どんな)", however, with Osaka-ben, it becomes "Donai (どない)"

Furthermore, there are also slangs in the Japanese language. Due to the trends in the younger generation, they have created shorter forms known as abbreviations or Japanese forms of English words to their language.

Some examples are:

1. Convenience Store -> Conbini

2. Know it all -> Shitta ka buri -> Shittaka (In short form)

Japanese Language Learnt in Foreign Countries

Many universities in the world offer Japanese Language as a course or even have Japanese Studies as a major. One example would be Singapore's very own National University of Singapore. For foreigners learning Japanese, there is an annual exam (Japanese Language Proficiency Test) that can be taken and is internationally recognised, especially in Japan. There are mainly 5 stages to the test, stage 1 being the most challenging stage and would meant eligibility to study in a Japanese University.