Is Japanese really hard to learn?
Is Japanese hard to learn: the writing system is indeed heavy — three scripts and thousands of kanji, but grammar is easier for Russian speakers than English. There are no genders, articles, plural forms for nouns, or agreement, and pronunciation has only five vowels, each of which exists in Russian.
"HARD?! — Maru jumps, the shell rattles, ばーん!" Friend, Japanese is not a dragon at the gate. It's a bakeneko cat: it hisses while you're scared, and purrs as soon as you scratch it behind the hiragana (｀•ω•´). Three alphabets sound like a death sentence. But in fact, hiragana can be picked up in a couple of weekends.
What is really hard about Japanese?
- Writing system: three scripts at once and kanji, of which about two thousand are needed for fluent reading.
- Politeness (keigo): several levels of speech depending on the interlocutor.
- Counters: objects are counted differently depending on their shape.
- Kanji readings: a single character can have multiple readings.
And what, on the contrary, is easy?
- Pronunciation: five pure vowels, syllables are read as they are written.
- No stress swings like in Russian — the rhythm is even.
- Grammar without genders, articles, or plural forms.
- Only two tenses and logical, predictable verb forms.
What is easier in Japanese than in English
There are no articles, genders, or plurals, and the verb does not agree with the person: 食べる means both "I eat" and "they eat." Word order is freer than in English, and pronunciation is closer to Russian than to any European language.
Check it out: it's not that scary
A couple of questions — and you'll see that the first steps are within your power.
How to make the start not scary?
The difficulty of Japanese is not a wall, but a staircase: the height is frightening, but you go one step at a time. The secret is not to try to learn everything at once. Master the alphabets, build a habit of 15 minutes a day, add repetition — and the "overwhelming" language turns into a series of small victories.
What really stops people
Not the kanji, but the lack of quick payoff: the first weeks go into the alphabets, and it seems like there's no progress. Those who make it to the point where they start recognizing words in anime and on signs usually don't quit.
FAQ
- Is Japanese really one of the hardest languages?
- For English speakers, it's considered hard mainly because of the writing system. But "hard" doesn't mean "inaccessible": grammar and phonetics are actually friendly, especially for Russian speakers.
- Do I really have to learn thousands of kanji?
- Not right away and not for the start. For N5 you need about 100 kanji, for everyday reading — 600–1000. You build them up gradually, a few per day.
- Is Japanese easier for Russian speakers than for English speakers?
- In pronunciation — yes: most sounds already exist in Russian. Grammar is equally unfamiliar for everyone, but it's logical. The main advantage of Russian speakers is phonetics.
- What actually prevents people from learning Japanese?
- Most often it's not the difficulty of the language, but irregularity: people quit when they lose the daily habit. Consistency matters more than ability.
Updated: 2026-06-25