Japanese Language

Japan is a prosperous country and has the most diverse economy in Asia. With a GDP of $4.9 trillion in 2005, Japan’s economy is 2nd only to that of the U.S.
The Japanese have relied on their creativity and scientific know-how to succeed not only economically but also in ecology- and effiency-oriented ways.

They are leaders in various fields of technology such as fermentation processes, industrial robotics, semiconductor manufacturing, electronics and optical media. They are great innovators, attested by their being on top of the list of patent filings in the world. Each year, around 420,000 patent applications are filed by Japanese inventors.

The Japanese are known as high tech leaders in fields such as optical media, semiconductor manufacturing, industrial robotics, and fermentation processes.The leading Japanese companies are among the largest, most efficiently run, and most well-known firms in the world.

Familiar names like Sony, Toshiba, Sanyo, Casio, Canon, Minolta, Honda, Toyota, Mitsubishi, and many others have infiltrated the world market in a variety of sectors.  Whether you’re in the field of business, engineering, manufacturing, research, economics, or politics, chances are you will be competing with, if not working for, a Japanese entity.

The Japanese make up the third largest language community on the Internet, after only English and Chinese speakers. Learning Japanese by Japanese Online Lessons can connect you to these people in an instant. They may just be future friends or acquaintances, business associates, or even the market that you or your future employer hopes to target.

Levels of Japanese at SFLI

The Japanese language has five levels: N1, N2, N3, N4 and N5.

• The easiest level is N5 and the most difficult level is N1.
• N4 and N5 measure the level of understanding of basic Japanese mainly learned in class.
• N3 measures the level of understanding of everyday situations to a certain degree.
• N1 and N2 measure the level of understanding of Japanese used in a broad range of scenes in actual everyday life.

The Japanese-Language Proficiency Test or JLPT, is a standardized criterion-referenced test to evaluate and certify Japanese language proficiency for non-native speakers, covering language knowledge, reading ability, and listening ability.

The test is held twice a year in Japan and selected countries (on the first Sunday of July and December), and once a year in other regions (on the first Sunday of December).

5 Different Levels

The JLPT is composed of 5 different levels, from 1-5 with 5 being the most basic, and one being the most advanced. The content on this website is organized and divided based on these ability levels.

Beginner N5 lessons will include more English instructions, and the higher level lessons will start to use more Japanese primarily in the instructions. The Japanese writing system consists of three different character sets: Kanji (several thousands of Chinese characters), and Hiragana and Katakana (two syllabaries of 46 characters each; together called kana).

Japanese texts can be written in two ways: In Western style, i.e. in horizontal rows from the top to the bottom of the page, or in traditional Japanese style, i.e. in vertical columns from the right to the left side of the page. Both writing styles exist side by side today.