Big Difference Between Native and Second Language

Intermed 1 R/W
May 4, 2011

     There are many different things between learning native language and second language.  I’d like to write about the things between Japanese and English. First, when I started to learn Japanese, I was surrounded by native speakers. Now I’m surrounded by native speaker. However, When I started to learn English in junior high, all people around me was all Japanese. The teacher was Japanese, too. Second, these languages have different word order. Usually, the word order in Japanese is Subject, Object, and Verb. In English, it is Subject, Verb, and Object. Third, these languages use very different characters. In Japanese, we use three types of characters that are called Hiragana, Katakana, and Kanji. There are many kinds of Kanji and it is impossible to memorize all Kanji. On the other hand, English use only 26 characters. It is easy to remember alphabet. Fourth thing is meaning of words. If I see a Kanji that I’ve never seen before, I can expect the meaning from the shape of character. But, in English, I can’t expect meaning. Finally, these languages have many difference, but there are not only difference but also they have some commons. In Japanese, many English words are taken in and are used as Japanese. We change alphabet to Katakana. Today many English words have gotten so popular. All in all, many Japanese people have trouble learning English. I think these differences are the reason of problems.