Learn Hardcore Japanese: ryuugaku ha taihen desu ga, ii keiken desu. - Studying abroad is difficult, but it’s a good experience.

留学 (りゅうがく) is a noun meaning “study abroad” or “studying abroad.” It’s also part of the suru-verb 留学する (“to study abroad”), but here it’s used simply as a noun/topic.

What role does the particle は play in 留学は大変ですが?

は is the topic marker. It tells us that “as for studying abroad…” is the topic of the sentence. It doesn’t mark the subject in the English sense but highlights what we’re talking about (“留学”).

Is 大変 an adjective? Why isn’t there a な after it?

大変 is a na-adjective (or noun‐like adjective). When you use a na-adjective in predicative position with です, you don’t add な. You would only add な if you were directly modifying another noun (e.g., 大変な経験).

Why is there a が after です instead of another particle?

This が is the conjunction “but/however.” It attaches to です’s polite form, so 大変ですが means “It’s tough, but…” It connects to the next clause.

Why is there a comma after that が?

In Japanese writing, it’s common to insert a small pause (読点 “、”) after conjunctions like が to improve readability. It doesn’t change the grammar; it just marks a brief pause before the next clause.

Why is いい written in hiragana instead of the kanji 良い?

Both いい and 良い are correct for “good.” In modern Japanese, いい in hiragana is more common in everyday writing and feels more natural, while 良い is a bit more formal or literary.

What does 経験 mean and how do you read it?

経験 (けいけん) is a noun meaning “experience.” Combined with いい, いい経験です means “it’s a good experience.”

Why is there no verb like します? Shouldn’t you say 留学します?

Here 留学 is already understood as “studying abroad,” so you don’t need する. The sentence describes the state or quality of that experience, not the action of “doing” it.

Why is the sentence in the polite です-form? How would it look in casual speech?

Using です makes the statement polite. In casual (plain) form, you’d say:
留学は大変だけど、いい経験だ。
Here だけど replaces ですが, and だ replaces です.

Why is there no explicit subject like “I” or “it” in Japanese?

Japanese often omits subjects when they’re obvious from context. Here, the speaker is talking generally about the experience of studying abroad, so no pronoun (“I”/“it”) is needed.