Japanese Language

Wakarimasen. Eigo de itte kudesai.

I don't even know if I said or spelled that correctly.

I would like to ask something I really want to know since I was a kid:
do japanese people write in japanese with alphabet? is it possible?

For you non Japanese, that can understand Japan language completely please answer my question :

How long it take for you to understand Japanese language completely?
How long it take for learning Kanji only?
Shamefully I'm 34 years, is it too late to learn Japanese language?
Is it possible to learn it our self without teacher/ courses?

Fun fact: In Hong Kong, many youngster can read some Japanese (because of Kanji) and understand some Japanese by hearing (watch too many anime). When youngster were asked to translate some Chinese short phase into other language, the first thing come to their mind is Japanese, rather than English, despite the fact that most, if not all, of them had been learning English since kindergarten, while only some of them have had Japanese course.
Disclaimer: not scientifically proven

I don't understand Japanese but I would like I do :) I like Japan and maybe I will start learning Japanese some day, who knows.

Only thing I can say to you now, you should know that its never too late, so just go and start learning Japanese if you really want that. ;)

I can more or less tell basic topics from hearing, but that's very vague.
I can speak very little of it (just the very very very basics) , can't read and absolutely can't write...

But I can count to 99!

To read a newspaper you need 2300 Kanji. To work in Japan you need around 8000.
Add grammar to that and you're set for a couple years at least.

I can understand Japanese partially. Reading(including Kanji-Originally Chinese letters), Hearing is so-so. Writing and Speaking in Japanese are worse than in English.
I learned Japanese at High School, and almost forgot the fact for a long time. Thanks to games and anime, I could increase my knowledge during recent years. In addition, I'm accustomed to Chinese letters thanks to my father's education when I was young.
If you speak an Indo-European language, Japanese will be very hard. Pronunciations and number of letters are simple, but grammar is different from Chinese and Indo-European.
And I think "Nothing is too late to learn." Good luck! :)

its never to late to learn a new language ^^

and i only know a few words from anime XD

Well, whatever it is, it never is too late to learn something. If you really put your head into it, you can master it eventually.

Sadly, my Japanese heritage is now long gone, my Nanna has gotten worse in health, She taught me a song, and a few words not to get me by though...

Moshi moshi, ano ne.
Ano ne,
Ano ne,
Moshi moshi, ano ne.
Ah so desu-ka!

Thanks for the support, I try learning this myself though it seems very hard, especially kanji.
They have one meaning but have up to >5 sounds read differently depends on the words/ combination.
The most basic one is 2000 kanji, but they actually have 40000+ kanji OMG.
I'm trying, but not sure if possible without a teacher or attend courses.

It's never too late to learn new things. Im 30 years and learning programming, french and japanese in spare time.

There are plenty of places where You can learn online like WaniKani.

It looks like Steamgifts didn't post my long reply for unknown reasons, so I'll try to recall it briefly =(

I've tried to learn Japanese a couple of times, but had to drop it because i didn't have enough time.
My friends, who are achieved N1 in JLPT, said that it shouldn't take very much time to learn basic vocal Japanese (at the level they use in anime), but it would take years to learn kanji. There is no limit to learning it, because there are always more and more rare and complex characters to learn.
I don't think 34 is too late, if your memory is all right, but it should take time every day, without long delays. It is possible without a teacher for some people, but hearing Japanese speech is essential.

I hope 34 is not too late because I am 32 myself and just started to begin learning it ;)

I chose the "I can understand Japanese completely (Read, Write, Hear, Speak)" option but I almost can't write without a computer anymore. Now I read it from the choice given by the computer.

I started learning japanese in high school, it was really basic (hira and kata+ basic grammar on the first year, some "culture" and some kanjis on second year, and for the third just some more kanji) so I learned from my dictionary, from translation for myself and different sites.
4 years later I could watch japanese TV, still had trouble reading. But japanese variety & news shows have subtitles almost every time so I learned alot from it. 1 year later I could easily read most of what I wanted. Still need a dictionary for most science or history related words.

so:

-How long it take for you to understand Japanese language completely?
A whole life wouldn't be enough, but for basic understanding and speaking I would say 3-4 years.
-How long it take for learning Kanji only?
Another whole life, or 5 to 10 years if you want to cover all kanjis even those that aren't used anymore (gotta learn 'em all!!)
-Shamefully I'm 34 years, is it too late to learn Japanese language?
It's never too late, I met a 70 yo man who had been learning for 2 years and could understand most of what he heard in japanese.
-Is it possible to learn it our self without teacher/ courses?
Yes, but having some japanese people to talk to helps a lot.

It's never too late! Thinking you're too old is just an illusion and will restrict you to learn it psychologically :) Just go for it, just do it! xD
I'm learning vocabulary by watching japanese movies and anime (obviously japanese origin) with english subtitles. I'm not actually trying to learn actively but the vocabulary I catched would be the edge on making it through a day in Japan. Best way learning would be of course living over there^^

It's never too late to learn something. But keep in mind that younger people can absorb knowledge faster than the older ones. :/ Every language needs you to study it for AT LEAST 2 years in order to become a fluent speaker/writer. But the languages that don't have the latin alphabet, are harder than the ones that have it.

I only know Hiragana and I'm not able to use it completely. But I can use Romaji, my hear & speak is intermediate level ^^

I'll start a Japanese course next month after my finals, it costs 100$ in total ^^

I did learn a few phrases in Japanese and considered taking some classes, but I decided to concentrate on learning French instead. I already have a good basis in French from school and I'd rather be really good at one language than sort of crap at loads. Plus in my every day life it's much more likely that I will find French useful.

Don't listen to what those guys say. I graduated from Japanese Studies, had a government scholarship in Japan, I own a company specializing in a pro translations and Japanese teaching. And I have 35 years now :)

You only have to learn about 2100 kanji called jōyō kanji: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J%C5%8Dy%C5%8D_kanji
When you get to know them you can read anything. If there is a kanji that isn't from that list it has to be signed in hiragana (furigana). You don't have to know 8000 kanji!

Of course just knowing kanji isn't enough, you have to know grammar, idioms etc. Like in every language.

It took me 3 years to get to know jōyō kanji but that was on university and I was a Japanese Studies student.

I was teaching Japanese (and still doing so) but the problem in most cases is motivation. I don't know what your basic language is but in most cases it is very difficult to learn it on your own. It is even more difficult if Japanese native speaker is trying to teach you.

I lived there three years, starting when I was 20. I came away... sadly ma ma. It comes back when I drink enough rum or make a visit though. I always tried to speak it like I was an old samurai, a yakuza gangster (complete with yakuza-ben!) or at least a dirty old man. Fun times.

The JLPT tests are great for motivation. The Steam game, Influent, is fun for little drills and vocabulary retention.

You can use the browser extensions Rikai-kun and Rikai-chan to help understand meanings of some characters online, along with their pronunciations. This can be invaluable.

The Heisig approach to learning kanji was very fun and I never really forgot the 400 or so I picked up through it. That said, you don't learn how to pronounce them, nor their "exact" meaning, but it's enough to get the gist of stuff and learn how to write. Some people would hate it, and I can see why. It's 1945 kanji there.

Yeah, enjoy. I miss it sometimes.

It's never too late to learn something new! :)
If you want to learn kanji quite quickly, I can recomend you this application
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.Obenkyo

Interestingly native Japanese people tend to have hard times to acquire English. Maybe it's due to the cleavage of the cultures.
I heard rikaisama is useful for learning it from real sentences.
If somebody is forced to be in the foreign country, he/she has to learn the language to survive in the region. It's not impossible at any age. Good luck.