For Japanese Learners
One of the most common questions I'm asked is some variant of "what's wrong with you?" However, the second most common thing I'm asked is "how did you learn Japanese?" or something related to my language knowledge. So I decided I might as well write about it. I do have suggested resources, but before I give those out I have things to say to all the beginner or considering-beginning learners. Parts of this entry might be useful advice to learners of any language, or just those targeting languages that greatly differ from their native language.
Before I give any tips directly related to language learning, I want to give my two cents on a common belief: A baby learns language better than adults. After a certain age, learning a new language becomes really hard. Try as you might, you'll never be the linguistic machine that a baby is. Blah blah blah. I've seen the research; I'm sure there's stuff going on in a baby's brain related to language that's very interesting and unique. But I simply don't believe that babies learn languages better than older people.
Babies are just better?
First of all, it takes a baby 2-3 years to say a sentence intelligible to a stranger fluent in the language. If it takes you 2-3 years of studying to say something understandable in your target language, that's... you should look into that. Secondly, babies take all that time to figure out how to do that even considering the fact that they have at least one fluent person speaking to them all the time in the target language. They simplify things for them, non judgmentally hold up a bottle and going "Bottle? You want your bottle? Booottleeeee," speak clearly except for when they're babytalking them, etc. How many adult learners have the privilege of a full-time private tutor with great patience and compassion? Not to mention how during this time they're taking in no other language, just the target one(s).
And you know what was the final nail in the coffin for me? What made me realize that the "babies are just betterrrrrr" myth meant practically nothing? Thinking about what babies even have to talk about. When toddlers and small children talk, they say things like "pass me the ball," or "I want cereal," or "I don't like these socks." When I want to talk, it's things like "Ultimately after much consideration I must come to the conclusion that this is the very antithesis of rational, due to the evidence provided to me from..." Do you see the difference here? Older learners have much more to learn before they feel they can say/read the things they would say/read in their native language. They have higher standards for themselves. They're kind of their own worst enemies.
And, you - speaker of at least one language already - have a clear advantage over babies. You already have a language or two (or three!) under your belt. You have a strong tongue that you can manipulate into many positions with ease. You can hear the differences between many similar sounds already. You understand that sounds can express concepts and ideas, even those that don't even exist yet. You have teeth!!!!!! You very much have the upper hand here.
(If you can't hear or don't have teeth, my bad. If you intend to only learn how to read/write Japanese, you probably won't need those anyways. Understanding that things objectively unrelated from concepts can signify them is the important part here.)
The one thing is that if you're defining "fluency" as "will produce sentences in exactly the same way a native raised in the culture and language would," you're going to have a hard time. Learning that you will likely never be ~fluent~ the way a native is can be a red pill moment, but once you realize that you'll never need to be THAT good to do the things you want, it'll be okay again. Unless your goal is to disguise yourself as a native speaker, I guess. Even with perfect grammar and pronunciation, you'll raise suspicions when you don't understand every reference someone raised there would catch.
Moving on.
4 Areas, 2 Parts
Knowing a language consists of four areas.
- Reading (input)
- Writing (output)
- Speaking (output)
- Listening (input)
However. You don't have to study all of these. If you really intend to only learn Japanese for reading manga or playing games, you don't have to worry about knowing how to write or speak the language. You might still want to be able to understand it when it's spoken though. If you only want to learn Japanese to go to Japan and meet the partner of your dreams, just being able to speak it and listen to it will suffice. If/when you decide to learn the areas you purposefully ignored, it'll be easier than if you were starting from scratch.
Babies don't have to worry learning about how to read/write for years, by the way. (And students in Japan spend 9 years learning all the most necessary kanji!!) But whatever.
If you want to be an all-rounder, you have to work on all 4 of these areas. Do not forget this. It will be on the test.
There's also 2 big parts to any language: vocabulary (the words) and grammar (rules on how to use those words). A fresh beginner should focus on vocabulary and important phrases ("My name is..." "Help!" "Where is the bathroom?" etc.). All the grammar in the world won't save you if you don't know the right words. And if you have some sentences under your belt, you'll have context for future grammar rules that you'll study.
Word Games
N5 vocabulary is up to you, but frequency words are important. They say you'll reach passing fluency in a language if you know 2000-5000 words, but make sure they're the right ones! Knowing a lot of words won't help you if 75% of them are about whales (unless you're studying exclusively to learn more about whaling in Japan)*.
Here's a frequency list of the top 5000 most common words in Japanese, and here's a copy of that list in case you accidentally throw it in the garbage.
But you don't have to worry your head off about vocabulary. I said you'll need two or five thousand words to get around, right? Do you know how many words a native English speaker knows? Around 30,000. But! You'll understand a lot of words in a language using context clues (another advantage you have over a drooling baby). Plus, have you ever played Taboo? Speaking a language is like that. You don't need to know every single word ever if you can describe what you mean. This makes for a great game to play by yourself or with friends for quick practice, by the way.
*Bringing me to another point: If you're only learning Japanese or any other language with one goal in mind, you can tailor your vocabulary studies towards that goal too! Why would you study words for doing an interview in Japan when you're only learning to watch shows about cute girls? You should be studying words related to school or high fantasy or romance instead.
What is N5? What is the JLPT?
The Japanese Language Proficiency Test is an exam held twice a year, all over the world, for testing the Japanese skill level of non-native speakers. There are 5 different tests, with N5 being the easiest and N1 being the hardest. Here is what they expect from those taking each level test. It might be slightly outdated, but here's a good site for the vocabulary, grammar, and kanji expected from each level. Keep in mind that the JLPT doesn't test your output (speaking and writing) skills.
If you go take the JLPT and pass, you get a certificate! Cool! If money and travel is no problem, go take the tests to your heart's content. But the certificates that really matter when it comes to job prospects are N2 and N1. I don't want to say taking any test below them is a waste of money, but... I wouldn't do it. There's plenty of tests online for checking your progress that don't cost $100 plus gas money.
Input, Input, Input
Babies are able to learn a language without a textbook, without flashcards, without anything. They just sit around native speakers and absorb. You probably have less free time and target language speakers that live with you than a baby. But that doesn't mean you can't absorb as much as you can.
Change your phone language. Put sticky notes on objects around your house with the name of that object written in Japanese. Only watch shows dubbed or (or both!) subbed in Japanese. Only listen to Japanese music. Change your language on Bluesky so that recommended posts are only in Japanese. Change the language setting in your favorite game. Do it.
Seeing and hearing Japanese as much as possible is very important. Being in Japan where there's Japanese everywhere is great for improving your Japanese skills, so filling your home life with Japanese is the next best thing! If possible, try to organize a week or month where you exclusively enjoy media that's in Japanese. If you can make it so your social media doomscrolling is all in Japanese, that's even better. And consider this: if you slack on studying for a day or week or month, you won't forget a lot if you were still seeing/hearing Japanese a lot in the meantime.
Really, for a beginner I would recommend mainly watching things in Japanese that you've already seen and know well in English. If you know that in English a certain line goes "You did it, didn't you?" and the line in Japanese goes "やったのはお前だろう," then you just learned one new sentence. Awesome.
If even that's too hard, I think it's fine to watch Japanese things with English subtitles. You'll pick up a word or too that way, and you'll get a feel for how the language is meant to sound. After you have a solid vocab and grammar base (post-N5 or N4), input will do you more good. You COULD watch things for babies, but let's face it: When you're not a baby, baby stuff can be boring. So unless you enjoy toddler TV (not judging if you do; I can't say I haven't watched an episode or two of Teletubbies for fun during my adult life), it will pain you less to watch the things you already like with no/Japanese subs.
Some people recommend making flashcards out of the learns you word from the things you enjoy, but for me that's too much on top of my JLPT vocabulary AND frequency words. I just trust that if a word is important it'll appear again and engrave itself into my brain folds. If you're learning Japanese solely to enjoy media, those flashcards are perfect! You should go for it. Sadly I have dreams of having an N1 certificate with my name on it, so I need to know more generalized and business-y vocabulary. But you don't have to be me. You can be free from the JLPT curse. And if you ever change your mind, you'll have a great base to build on when you decide you do want a certificate.
Avoid Translation
This one is hard because many methods of teaching languages have you do this. But, whenever possible, you should avoid translating things. Why? Well, when you speak your best language you aren't translating, are you? You just turn the images or ideas you have in your head into words using the vocabulary and grammar rules you know. People who natively speak Japanese do that too.
Seems obvious, but consider this: When you get too caught up in trying to translate things from your mother tongue to Japanese, or trying to map concepts over, you might get lost in the sauce. Things might not make sense. You might struggle speaking because you're trying to directly translate something you would say in your usual language to Japanese. Stop that. Many things can't be translated so easily. There is no way of directly saying "bruh, he is aurafarming like crazy," but if you have the idea in your mind and the vocabulary and grammar to express it, you can say "ugh, he's trying too hard to look cool," which means the same thing. Does it sound more boring? Yes, but as you learn more you'll discover there are cool and funny things in Japanese that when rephrased in English sound boring too. (Not to mention if you literally say "Brother, he is farming aura like he is crazy," you will look crazy.)
When possible, use pictures and context clues to learn new vocab and grammar rather than translation. A flashcard that says りんご with a picture of an apple, or even one that says りんご - apple with a picture of one is fine. This way, you don't have to think "Round red fruit = apple. How do you say apple in Japanese... Ringo?" because you already have in your head "Round red fruit = ringo." Skip the middle man.
Translation is a different skill set. Knowing two languages doesn't mean you'll instantly be able to translate between them. Don't bother purposefully practicing translation/interpretation unless you genuinely want to be a translator/interpreter, and save it for after getting the basics down. You'll be able to communicate better if you speak as you speak your usual language -- putting your ideas into words with the lexicon you have, rather than wasting time thinking of how to translate your native-language thought into Japanese.
Obsession
You know how I said you won't forget a lot if you are consuming Japanese media even when not actively studying? Even if you are actively studying, Japanese is just so different from English and other Indo-European languages that I think you should be constantly exposed to it even if you're still studying. It's easy to forget things because they're just so different. Suboptimalism put it best, but TLDR; you need to be some sort of deranged to learn Japanese to an advanced level. If you're not obsessed, and I do mean obsessed, with something Japanese now: you better find something. Even better if the thing is exclusively or near-exclusive to Japan. I'm obsessed with a series of dating sims that only has 2-3 anime adaptations and half of the manga adaptation translated into English. Sounds sad, but it's motivational as hell, and you'll need a LOT of motivation when learning Japanese. Trust me on this. You have to trust me. This language is not for the weak.
Resources
Congrats! You've made it to the resources section! Here's everything I've used to learn, or have heard good things about.
Reading
- For a lot of manga, you can read the first few chapters + latest chapter online for free if you can find the website of the magazine the manga runs in.
- I buy most books and manga using Bookwalker. If something is region-locked, I use this little thing called a VPN.
- News Web Easy, for keeping up with the latest news in Japan without crying.
- Natively, to find more books on your level.
- Sakura Tadoku Lab, for free books on your level.
- Nihongo Tadoku, for even more free books. Easier, too.
Writing
- LangCorrect is my website of choice for having writings be checked by native speakers. Be sure to help others out too.
- Dreamwidth, if you want a more private space :3 You can write here without judgement, where no one can see :3 Or you can make it visible and say that you'll take corrections :3 We could even have a community for this purpose one day, with enough active users :3
- Paper and pencil is a classic. Since Japanese has 3 writing systems, you'll want practice with writing those. If nothing else, you should be able to write your kana.
Sometimes I type things on the computer first, and after having people check my writing I'll rewrite it in a notebook. Sometimes I'm too lazy for all that and write in the notebook without checking for mistakes though.
Journaling about your day is good practice, because if you do it consistently the words you write most often will stick. The words that you use often about/in your day are the ones you need to know most, if you want to speak and write to people.
Speaking
Look at me. You think I talk to people?
You should use a language exchange app or Reddit to find a partner to speak with. However, I'm too shy for that. When I want to practice speaking, I shadow. That is, I listen to Japanese and repeat what I hear while they're still talking. You should be one or two words behind the speaker, like their shadow. :3
And I talk to myself in Japanese, sometimes.
Listening
- Netflix (which costs money, but makes it easy to switch the language) or Learning How to Torrent (free, but be careful) to watch your favorite shows dubbed or subbed in Japanese.
- Youtube, which is free. Youtube is just as popular in Japan as it is in the Anglosphere, so there's no shortage of videos. Anything you could possibly be interested in likely has Japanese videos there. Plus, there's episodes of shows too sometimes.
- Axtongue, which is just certain Japanese songs on Youtube with karaoke-style subtitles + an English translation highlighting the equivalent words. Pretty fun.
Vocab/Kanji
- I've never used Wanikani, but I know so many people who swear by it. It's $9/month.
- Anki is a free flashcard app, and probably the wise choice. Just find a pack online or make your own, and you'll be golden.
- Clozemaster is my app of choice for frequency words. Because of the sentences it uses, I wouldn't recommend it for learners who are literally new. Study for a few months first. It's free, with the caveat that you'll only be able to study 30 sentences a day per language, which is annoying. To change that it's $8/month, but I got it during Christmas for $20/year, so I'd wait for that. Anki is probably better, but I have an emotional attachment to this app now. Please send help.
- Technically, I've never used My Little World Land. I did use the site it's based off of (Memrise) before enshittification got it. I had heard someone made classic Memrise again and got happy even though I've outgrown it. I'll be back though. When it's time for me to learn a new language, I'll be back. World Land is free, and if it's like Memrise, it's an easy-to-use flashcard app with the packs made by a dedicated community. Memrise carried me for years. I used to do it before school... on the bus to school... in the computer lab... before bed...
It seems slightly more people prefer Anki over (old) Memrise. If you want a dedicated flashcard app, maybe try out both Anki and My Little World Land to see which you prefer.
Grammar
- Joubu na Kuzuri, which I have nothing to say about except that it's good.
- Maggie Sensei is organized in a way that feels a little chaotic, but it's a certified classic website.
General
For the love of all that is holy, do not use Duolingo. It sucks. At the very least, don't use Duolingo by itself, I beg you. You can look up why I'm saying this, especially in the case of Japanese. You know, back in my day Duolingo didn't even have a Japanese course yet...
- Renshuu is my #1 most-used app and website. It does it all. New vocabulary, grammar, kanji, a dictionary, and all sorts of lists like frequency or JLPT level or situation. It's mainly a flashcard app, but it has games like shiritori and crossword puzzles too. Plus, everything you need to learn is free! Renshuu is so good that there's a good chance you'll start paying just because of how great it is. If you decide you want to reward the developers for such a great app, it's $7/month.
- I normally tell people to start with Tae Kim's Guide to Japanese. Why? Because 1. it's free, and 2. it's where I started! (Okay, I actually started with a Human Japanese disc, but that costs money.) It's a good place to dip your toes in and see if you're really willing to learn this language. People rag on textbooks, but honestly? I think they're great, and your language learning should always be accompanied by one if possible. Matter of fact,
- If you have $40, go ahead and get yourself Genki Vol. 1. Or you can get it by... cheaper means. It's great.
- Lingodeer is like if Duolingo were good. It is $13/month, or $15 if you want to learn multiple languages. I know that sounds steep compared to Duolingo, but the much shorter Japanese course taught me more than Duolingo's miles-long course ever could. And no, it doesn't make Japanese much harder or something in exchange. Duolingo is just bad. You can try it for free and see how you like it, but you don't really need it. You can learn Japanese for free quite easily. But if you need a Duolingo-like to survive, this is the one.
- Japanese in Anime & Manga, my goat... A site dedicated to learning the basic vocabulary required to understand various common settings in Japanese fiction. I think it's really cute and fun, but rarely do people bring it up. 10% of their site traffic over the past years is me, probably.
- TheMoeWay, a guide to learning Japanese for the simple otaku, focusing on input
- More resources than you could ever dream of
- More resources, but on Stack Exchange so you know they're good
- Another guide on how to learn Japanese by focusing on input
Thanks for reading! がんばります！(Ganbarimasu! Good luck!)