#Japanesepod101

[tan1-7jhing1932an]

[neptunianrefrain]

FUCK (just remembered he has 2 languages to study)

[chizoies]

Not 100% about the main discussion but if I would share my own experience as a language learner, duolingo's unnecessary competitive way of teaching always bothered me. It was nice at first, but as you go on more and more days and building your rank higher and higher...it is not about learning the language anymore. It turns into a horse race.

I was studying German and Japanese on that app but since the day I discovered the japanesepod101.com and innovativelanguage.com 's other language teaching sites and their youtube channels, I have been improving way better! I am able to read paragraphs in Hiragana and Katakana very well and now I'm studying the Kanji and everyday phrases. All though my improvement in Japanese is probably because of my native tongue - Turkish - being a sister language with Japanese (Ural-Altaic language family) i think with innovativelanguage everyone can pull the language learning off! AND NO THIS IS NOT SPONSORSHIP. I JUST RESPECT AND LOVE THEIR TEACHING METHODS.

Edıt: Thank you for the people who informed me about the real relationship with Turkish and Japanese! My debatable statement was rather arrogant I assume. So I apologize for the misinformation. Long live the Turkic family!

[maziijapanese]

Complete guide to self-studying Japanese

Learning Japanese on your own can be a rewarding experience with the right resources. Here's a comprehensive guide to various methods and materials that can help you effectively self-study Japanese.

Self-study Japanese through textbooks and guides Textbooks and guides are the backbone of structured language learning. They provide comprehensive coverage of grammar, vocabulary, and kanji, ensuring a solid foundation. The "Genki" series is highly regarded for beginners, offering thorough explanations, engaging exercises, and accompanying audio CDs to practice listening and pronunciation. Another excellent resource is "Japanese for Busy People," perfect for those with limited time, focusing on practical conversation skills and essential vocabulary. Additionally, "Minna no Nihongo" offers an immersive experience by using only Japanese, pushing learners to think in the language from the start.

Self-study Japanese through videos Videos are an invaluable resource for enhancing listening skills and understanding pronunciation nuances. YouTube channels such as "JapanesePod101" and "Learn Japanese from Zero" provide free lessons ranging from beginner to advanced levels, covering grammar, vocabulary, and cultural insights. Additionally, watching anime like "My Neighbor Totoro" or dramas such as "Terrace House" with subtitles helps learners get accustomed to natural speech patterns and everyday expressions. For music lovers, listening to Japanese songs like those by J-pop artists such as Hikaru Utada or Arashi can also improve language skills and pronunciation.

Self-study Japanese online The digital age has revolutionized language learning, and Japanese is no exception. A plethora of online resources are readily available to cater to diverse learning styles. Interactive platforms and engaging apps offer personalized experiences, allowing learners to focus on specific language skills and track their progress efficiently. From mastering grammar to honing pronunciation and expanding vocabulary, these digital tools provide flexibility and convenience for self-paced study.

Self-study Japanese through exam preparation For those aiming to certify their proficiency, preparing for the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) is crucial. Resources like the "Nihongo So-matome" and "Shin Kanzen Master" series offer focused practice across all JLPT levels, including grammar, reading, and listening exercises. Additionally, websites like "JLPT Sensei" provide practice tests and tips to help learners gauge their readiness and identify areas for improvement. Self-studying Japanese can be a fulfilling journey with the right resources. By utilizing textbooks, video lessons, online tools, and exam prep materials, you can develop a well-rounded understanding of the language. Remember, consistency and practice are key to mastering Japanese, so make use of these resources to enhance your learning experience.

[seitokaisnihongo]

Learning a language is more accessible than it's ever been

Really.

There's such a wide variety of free lessons, resources, communities, and language exchanges.

This is especially true for Japanese and other languages not commonly taught in schools. We've been running a mildly successful Discord server for a few years now (500+ members), but now we want to use our knowledge and experience to provide *free* lessons, utilizing *free* resources in every format possible, which will eventually span from N5-N1 fluency levels.

Our lesson posts will have "homework", which are apps, websites, or Youtube videos you can use to practice what you have learned, which you can pick and choose what homework format you prefer. Don't want to download Duolingo for our first lesson's practice? Watch JapanesePod101's Youtube video on the topic instead. Don't like that? Try the link to Tofugu which covers the same topics as our lesson. We will also cover topics such as language exposure when you can't visit the country, exercises, community games held on our Discord (we're working on Japanese Trivia Monopoly for N5 right now), streams, and more just like we always have in our Discord server! Ready to learn Japanese, for free, regardless of skill level?

Here's the link to sign up to our Discord server.

We can't wait to see you there!

またね～

[benkyoutobentou]

Hello

What are some good resources for learning Japanese?

Thank you for asking!

For just starting out, I recommend JapanesePod101's videos on both hiragana and katakana.

For beginner grammar, I used and really enjoyed videos from both Japanese Ammo with Misa and Miku Real Japanese (both on YouTube). Misa's videos are a lot longer and more in depth, but if you want a quick overview of a grammar point, Miku's videos are great. Both channels also have lots of other Japanese learning content as well!

For beginner textbooks, Genki is well loved, but I haven't used it myself. I also believe that there are YouTubers who make videos based on the lessons within Genki, if that's up your alley. I won't even name the textbooks I used to start out, because I'd never recommend them.

To get started with kanji, WaniKani is a popular choice that seems to work great, but it's a pretty pricey subscription. I use the app Learn Japanese! - Kanji, which is a one time purchase of 10 USD. It can be buggy, but it has a built in spaced repetition system and, hey, it's ten dollars.

The subreddit r/LearnJapanese has a huge resource list here, but I only link this hesitantly, as my main advice to using it is to look at the resources, and never darken r/LearnJapanese's door ever again. That place is horrible and will eat all motivation you have to learn Japanese. I saw someone ask elsewhere if it was possible to be fluent in Japanese because they saw someone on that subreddit say it wasn't. Seriously, it's bad.

As for my current resources, ie. very much not beginner resources, I'm slowly but surely making my way through Tobira. I really like it as a textbook, but I also just use it as far as I need it. To elaborate, I came back to it after a while of not using it, and found that it was just a bit too easy now (singing the praises of immersion!), so I've been skipping around on the reading comprehension questions, because I just don't think they're worth the effort for me right now. The later chapters probably will be, though.

JPBD is a lifesaver for me right now. I've fought with Anki on multiple occasions and had it work for me many times, but right now, the premade decks are what are gonna get me to study vocabulary, not pretty pictures. I also really like the ability to study a deck before you read something, rather than only being able to study vocabulary retroactively. The example sentences can be weird or terrible, but it allows you to choose from multiple sentences or make your own, so the benefits absolutely outweigh the drawbacks for me. Another thing of note is that these flashcards only go Japanese-English, so if you want to have the option to do English-Japanese cards, you might want to stick to Anki (or idk rip the decks and put them in Anki).

If you're ready to immerse and want to start a collection of physical books, I buy 90% of my Japanese language books through CDJapan. They have multiple options for shipping and are generous enough with sales and rewards points that usually I can get that to cover the cost of shipping. Plus they sell at Japanese retail price (minus tax!) so it's extremely reasonably priced.

I hope this helped a bit, and good luck on your language learning journey!

[call-me-copycat]

Im learning japanese rn and one thing I've noticed is that my voice when I speak japanese is A LOT quieter than when Im speaking English because if i speak loud I notice the words dont sound as clear- This language is forcing me to be quitter- which is honestly a good thing I talk way to loud😭

Ah, I hope I can help! ٩(,,•ω•,,)و⚑⁎∗ﾌﾚﾌﾚ

For me, learning how to pronounce certain words was pretty big, and the best way I did that was plenty of research combined with just casually listening. Whispering is a start, but you might develop habits that aren't so correct (just noting down what I saw in myself - particularly in pronouncing my "r/l's").

For starters, I used Buusu to begin learning pronunciation (before it was put behind a paywall :⁠-⁠\), but there are plenty other things available!

One of the biggest ones is japanesepod101, as they have many YouTube videos going over basically everything you need to know:

This channel's also really good as well ୧꒰*´꒳`*꒱૭✧

Alongside videos like these, you can also develop good pronunciation habits just by listening to anime (although not always the best example sometimes) and music! That's how babies learn to speak anyway, just by listening and piecing things together (๑>ᴗ<๑)

Other examples include podcasts, radio, Japanese YouTube channels (many have subtitles!), advertisements with VPN, and more (๑ˊ͈ ꇴ ˋ͈)

I think it's very important to note that pronunciation is very important in Japanese. Depending on the word, you can change the whole meaning of something just by giving it the wrong pitch.

Example: In English, you can change the message of a sentence by stressing a word like so,

This isn't my cat.

Turns into:

This isn't my cat.

Insinuating that the cat isn't yours, but is someone else's.

Japanese is sort of like that. Words can change meaning based on where you put your high and low pitches, so that's why speaking clearly when practicing is best to start off with.

Here's what I'm trying to explain since you can't hear through text:

But before you worry about all that, just having the basics down is best (๑´ㅂ`๑)

I'm sure you might know most of this already, and if you did then I'm sorry for wasting your time! I do hope some of this might've been useful though(;´∀`)

I tend to get my practice through talking to myself throughout the day ("yabbai!" if I mess something up, "mendokusai.." if I'm upset, etcetera etcetera). I also talk to my pets as well in Japanese to practice, seeing as they don't mind (៸៸᳐⦁⩊⦁៸៸᳐ )੭ﾞ

Wishing you all the best with your learning! I'm happy you came to me, and if you ever have any other questions I promise to answer them the best I can! (*´∀｀)ノ

I hope you have a lovely day!

[nanonana39]

If you've started learning Japanese, either self taught or in a course, Genki was probably recommended to you. But what if you don't have the money to buy the book? I sure don't. Fear not, this Reddit thread has got you covered (with more resources like the Remembering the Kanji by James Heisig).

Genki I & II PDF + Audio Lessons (Reddit Thread)

NOTE: It's come to my attention that the original post has been deleted; this is not what you're looking for. The actual book and its other resources are in the REPLIES. The Google Drive and its files are also safe! I tested it and it's 100% safe to download. Be careful when downloading things from reddit threads.

Other Resources

[nihongonoto]

I just realized recently that I'm still not clear on what's the difference between くらい／ぐらい and ごろ. They both mean "approximately", or "around", but are used differently.

The site below helped me to understand the difference pretty quickly.

Basically:

くらい／ぐらい is used for durations of time, e.g. 2時ぐらいかかります。

ごろ is used for specifying the point in time, e.g. 2時ごろに始まり��す。

[macquarieridge]

japanese version of Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo.

chau chau chau? chau chau. chau chau chau.

[tan1-7jhing1932an]

[linguajunkie]

50+ Japanese PDF Cheat Sheet/Workbook Bundle Giveaway

As the title says....

JapanesePod101 is doing a PDF resource giveaway for Halloween — with 50+ Japanese conversation cheat sheets plus workbooks until October 31st. You'll need a free account. After you sign up, return to that page to get the free bundle.

get it here: https://www.JapanesePod101.com/halloween

[rigelmejo]

More on the glossika app japanese course journey: せつめいして 下さい. 説明して 下さい。 is "please explain" setsu mei (to me) sounds a bit like shuoming. This reminds me of jikan (time) 時間 which i think sounds slightly like shijian. Yes I know they're barely similar. Or 来週 に 出来 ます か？ raishuu (next week) sounds a bit like laizhou (how it'd be pronounced in chinese). My guess is maybe this is about how similar the 2 kanji word pronounciations are to some chinese 2 hanzi words that are maybe loan words (or were once loan words).

Also i am still dealing with Fear that glossika is not teaching correct grammar. Lol. Again, i do NOT recommend a total beginner use glossika. I recommend, if you're a beginner AND you really want audio lessons that play on their own (which is what I wanted) then use either: japaneseaudiolessons.com free lessons (i know the maker's human translated it with a native speaker and they have extensive grammar notes for free on the site), japanesepod101 (or its FREE Full version through your library which is called Innovative Language Japanese 1-9... the downside or upside depending on perspective is the lessons are classroom paced so a bit slow for me - but it goes in depth explaining well), or find the OLD cd audio glossika japanese at your local library (or free files online if you dig) as while i do think the old course had errors it was more like 5% of sentences versus the new app course's 20% sentences having errors (flaws being that the old cd course doesnt explain grammar just gives examples).

The new glossika japanese app course should not be $16 at its current quality. Clozemaster is cheaper, if you really desire an app SRS sentences experience. And Anki japanese decks are sometimes MUCH better (and free). I just... really wanted some lessons that play audio english/japanese sentences and autoplay, and autoplay my review sentences on the right day to study (per SRS), because i like hands free listening study i can do while im busy. And listening works really good for me. But at this point the quality of glossika app is irritating me so much im just trying to get done as much of it as i can in spite. I want to be able to make a very informed review of if it can even get a learner where it claims: a1, a2, b1, b2, and i know sure as hell its not getting anyone to C1 like it claims.

Like... while i think glossika is NOT worth the money unless they hire some fucking human translators to proofread their courses, i do think 20% errors is the same rate as Clozemaster or random sentences a learner finds and translates with google translate to learn, and while thats a LOT of errors there are still people out there who learned japanese with 10,000 sentences they Found like this and studied in this messy way. So i am curious if the 6400 sentences glossika has, is in any way close enough to that experiencd to get decently far... i would say, if glossika japanese app can get me to N3 and understanding some N2, that'd be a reasonable level of learning to hope for from this. With much work on the learners part ToT of parsing through the errors. I can already read some manga and play video games in japanese, but my real knowledge is like... below N5, maybe N3 in grammar i vaguely recognize but my vocabulary is like Genki 1 and 2 lol, and then my japanese understansing is artificially inflated because i studied chinese a lot and now i recognize the rough meaning of most kanji i see from the hanzi similar characters i know. So i see kanji in a sentence? I can guess roughly what the sentence means, and guess fairly specifically if i also know a couple hiragana words in the sentence and recognize the grammar. My biggest weak point in japanese keeping my level closer to N5 (or below) is that i dont know the pronunciation of hardly ANY kanji containing words lol. And i dont recognize a LOT of hiragana only words. So in reading? I do okay (like manga or video game subtitles) with easier things or things ive read before in english and know the context for. But in listening i recognize less than what one needs to pass the N5. Hence my listening-heavy study focus. (Also listening to audio sentences instead of doing SRS flashcards just... sticks way better in my brain? So far its the best im able to retain stuff i learn, when it comes to studying. At least after reading. And with japanese pronunciations not known to me for kanji words, reading just reinforces my weak spot by allowimg me to continue to Not Know the pronunciation).

[senseiganai-blog]

Haven’t posted in a bit but still studying Japanese! On track for fluency in a few years, as planned.

Currently this is what I do:

- Start the day with Umi. To be honest I don’t know if I’d recommend it in its current state to a beginner. There are a LOT of errors in it. Since I’m not a beginner of Japanese, the mistakes (or rather, the habit of catching them) actually help me learn. But if I hadn’t bought a yearly sub before I realized just how prevalent the mistakes were, I probably wouldn’t be using it right now.

- At least one JapanesePod101 lesson. It’s an oldie but a goodie and so much material. I’m on the Premium sub, got it super cheap before. I add the transcript to JPDB.IO for easy flashcards

- NativShark studies for at least one lesson

- Currently in a book club, and the book has a premade set on JPDB. Reading また同じ夢を見ていた. The book club is for the novel, but I also have the manga (which I read the same chapter after the book version)

This may sound like a lot, but it actually isn’t. Umi is maybe 10 minutes. JP101 is about 15 minutes. NativShark is about 20 minutes. JPDB is about 15 minutes. That’s an hour of studying, then I get to read books. If I’m having an ambitious day I can add an extra podcasts or do even more reading, or goof around on Comprehensible Japanese.

My listening skills have skyrocketed since adding JP101 (and removing iKnow), while my reading skills are pretty solid.

[withered-rose-unbreakable-lotus]

Could you give some advice for your language learning journey (material wise and also how you stay motivated)?

Hello! ^^ Well I'm not an expert but I will try to help. So, to get something clear about my journey, I didn't get a good start by myself.

Journey part (feel free to skip it if you wish, I just felt some context might help with motivation cause I'm a slow learner and struggled to find my pace, as well)

I started listening to Japanese music in 2012, but only found the motivation to start learning the language in 2015. I'd already heard I needed to learn hiragana and katakana first so I was discussing that with a friend, who had then suggested me a YT channel, which I unfortunately no longer follow, but basically there was a dude who taught people how to play Shogi, the Japanese chess, and just so happened to have a playlist with teaching people how to write hiragana and katakana. The reason why she suggested that guy was because she too wanted to learn obviously and found that his explanations were very good and he also wrote the actual characters during the recording so that you could copy it. Nowadays that is so easy to find though, like, I don't know if you've already learnt yours, but if you haven't, try "how to write hiragana & katakana" or sth similar. There are so many Japanese people teaching stuff on YT nowadays that will be the easiest thing to find. After that, I wanted to learn some kanji obviously and get into grammar. That's how I had learnt English too, so essentially, my thought process was trying to imitate what my English teacher had done while teaching me when I was little (In Greece we learn foreign languages in more detail in separate schools from our main ones hence why I personally went for that.) So I kept searching and found JapanesePod101 but quickly realized any free materials were limited so I kept looking and found a grammar guide which I still have and I could mail it to you if you want, but it was a bit too much, I have to warn you. I also found a list of kanji for N5 level and started copying them in a notebook. Some people learn easier by just repeating stuff out loud, personally I am the copy paste type, so I wrote for example one kanji, then covered it with another object and tried to write it from memory and then again and again. 10-15 times depending on how difficult I considered the kanji. But then came the problem of motivation. I wasn't studying as much as I wanted and I felt I needed a teacher, not only so that I studied more but also because I needed sb to tell me when I am doing sth right or wrong since I had 0 knowledge of the language. I got lucky and there was 1 Japanese woman who was teaching in my island and her prices were low so I discussed it with my family and we agreed I could give it a try. All that happened in 2018, so I kept trying by myself for 3 years without significant progress. So this woman had me sit a test to see what I knew so far and then we started having lessons in a class normally. And that's how I actually got to learn part of the language well. In 2020 it was I think, that she decided to drop teaching for JLPT and do only speaking cause she herself learnt any languages she spoke without learning grammar, or writing and yeah we had a big disagreement on that and well I left cause I wanted to learn the language as a whole. That woman could speak 4 languages but all broken and I wanted to be fluent. So then I looked around, found nth on my island, but thanks to the whole Covid situation more schools in my country had started distant learning programs so I found another school in Athens within the same year and continued with them. The lady teaching me there was more of my kind of educator so I kept learning with her until last September. The reason I stopped was for finances and also because I had learnt all the grammar I needed for N3 but lacked severely in kanji and vocab so I felt it was better to take sometime to enrich those and keep revising my grammar until this December when I hope to eventually try the test.

Advice

I will list materials in the next paragraph, I will stick to motivation and advice for this one. Unfortunately I can't be very spot on this, cause each person learns differently, but I think that if you lack motivation there are 2 ways to approach it: The romantic one and the logical one. The romantic one is finding a passion around the language to keep you going and the logical is to find an affordable teacher online.

When it comes to passion, this is what drives me in life and I don't know if I should suggest it to others, but passion has taken many people far in life, and the fact I am personally failing doesn't mean it's a bad approach xD. That's how I learnt English too. It is expected from every kid in Greece to learn it, but I was begging my parents before I even knew that was expected of me cause I absolutely loved foreign music and I wanted to understand the lyrics. I was obsessed and still am. Just the thought of being able to understand all those songs, and later, when I realized how commonly used it is, that I could explore stuff and meet people from every place in the world only added fuel to my fire. And the same thing happened with Japanese. I was soooo mad I couldn't understand what my favorites said, not every band had translated material online and I needed to know. Although, to be fair, there was more to it, it's my dream to work with these people so if I wanted to be serious with my goal, I had to learn the language and be able to communicate with them. So yeah, if you have any passion around your target language it helps. Be it arts, travelling, making friends, you name it. Only you know your own desires. However yeah, if you are dealing with mental illnesses or ADHD or several other factors that can affect your mood and learning flow, passion alone can be tough to use, hence why I too needed sth more than my romanticism to get a solid start.

As for the logical part, I think it speaks for itself. It's so much better to have sb keeping you on track and that I think is sth that worldwide approach to education is responsible for. We weren't taught many things by ourselves as children, there was always someone more knowledgable leading the way. So yeah I think it's important to have sb, either local or not who knows the language better than you, around, at first at least, so that you get a feeling of the language, if you know what I mean. Japanese is a language with completely different writing system and grammar rules than most western languages so, it's really hard expecting your brain to figure everything out by itself. Part of me thinks it's easier for Chinese people, because their writing system is similar (I could be wrong) but for a person not born around Asia, I think we all struggle, especially those of us with motivation and self-discipline, when it comes to education, issues.

So yeah, all in all I'd suggest you did both, like find sth that you know will benefit greatly from your learning the language and a teacher. However, if you are as shy as me or freaking out as much as me about how legit some online app with teachers is, I'd suggest you looked for either institutes or solo teachers in your region first, and only if you find nth, proceed with online stuff. I am in no way saying that you can't find a good teacher living somewhere else, I just personally freak out about money transactions with other countries, or if I don't know how legit the app is, fearing I will get scammed and stuff like that. Mostly irrational fears. ^^' And don't get too stressed about doing this long term. Even 1 year of studying with someone else might give you enough of a gist to continue by yourself. ^^ You will have established a routine with them, which you could then continue on your own instead of trying to make up a routine blindly.

Materials

Let's talk materials now.

If you are the book type, like me, you might benefit from a Genki book. Now you've probably heard of people tearing this book apart about how "not good" it is, but I learnt quite a lot from it and it's very beginner friendly imo. I have an archive link with both the 1st and 2nd Genki (https://archive.org/details/Genki/Genki-ElementaryJapaneseWorkbookI).

But these are just for some basic grammar and reading. You can't learn only with those. When it comes to your kanji, sure you can learn from Genki's list, but they are not very accurate to the level of the book. For example, the first Genki book has kanji I came across with my 2nd teacher in N4 class and she was shocked I knew them already xD. I was like "It was in Genki!" and she was so mad xD. She was making her own content for her lessons and using some photocopies from another beginner Japanese book I forget rn. But yeah your go-to for Kanji for N5 and N4 is "Nihongo Challenge N5-N4". For higher, I'm afraid there isn't one of the same name and you will have to turn elsewhere. (I have a pdf of that book if you want it too, feel free to send me your email address and I will send it ^^) As for vocabulary, I'd suggest "Tango 1000 Essential Vocabulary for the JLPT N5". Very good book. There was sb who had uploaded it on YT and I'd swear I had the link to it but can't find it in my bookmarks for some reason. That I have only in physical form I'm afraid and it's a bit tough to find for free somewhere, but if you find a link or choose to buy it, it's so good!

For listening, I'd suggest you started with a few simple ones like those in JP Launch (https://www.youtube.com/@JpLaunch). I haven't tried their grammar videos so I dunno how helpful those are, but their listenings are nice for a start, after you've learnt some basic vocabulary and grammar. You can search their channel for N5 listening or N4 or whichever is your level and you will get plenty of stuff. ^^ And each listening includes unknown words you might hear during the exercise so that you can jot it down and learn them. ^^ That is another big thing I'd suggest btw. Apart from a notebook for copying kanji and words however many times you need to learn them, I'd suggest you had one more, preferrably with many sections, I forget their name in English, in which you will be noting every new word you find. Cause learning vocab from lists is one thing but you might find many new words through texts you read and listening exercises. Keep track of them and learn them whenever you can. I personally have mine separated by hiragana so that if I ever find a word that looks familiar but can't remember if I've learnt it before, I can go to the hiragana it starts with and find it easier. That way I also know which words I need to revise. When you've learnt everything from these books and want to try mockup tests, straight up search JLPT N5/4/3 whatever and listening next to it on Youtube. There are many of them and, even though they are a bit simpler than the originals, they help a lot with testing what you get by ear. And they also have the solutions after each question or at the end of the video so that you know how well you did. ^^

For full mockup test papers I don't know what to suggest. I must have some in pdf still but most stuff I have are N4 if you want them.

As for where to look for teachers in case you find nth closeby, I found several on a site called italki. I eventually never contacted anyone but my first teacher had told me to search there so I bet they are legit. I remember there was a specific system with which I had to pay that I didn't like but you might not mind it.

What else.....I think I covered everything. You might find useful material in the official JLPT page too, for each level. I remember searching there before. Oh and try to write sentences. When you learn sth grammatical for example, try to write 5-10 sentences using it. You won't be able to test how well you did without a teacher but it's important to try, imo.

But yeah if you are an audio learner, do consider Japanese cinema and series as well. Anime can be fun but they usually speak slang or ways that most Japanese people don't use. Both my teachers had told me that. When you get more familiar with the language sure, try them without subs, but as your starting listening material, nope. Jrockers do tend to speak in ways you'd see in anime, and so do people in the gaming and anime fandoms too, but outside of those spaces not so many do it.

As for a dictionary for words and how to write each word: https://jisho.org/ It's super good! It has words, it has conjugations, sentence examples, little gif-style video for how you write each kanji to know with what turns you write each line, etc. Amazing site!

Aaaand finally for the speaking part, I have 0 suggestions. I too agree with people saying you need sb else to talk with to get used to it. So yeah if you can approach sb on social media, good, otherwise try Hellotalk (app) or Tandem (another app for language exchange)(haven't tried them yet but people on reddit say they are good).

ps: don't go hard on yourself if you can't study for hours on end. Just make sure you can free 30 minutes for it every day at first and with time you can get to more. I started with 20 minutes a day due to trauma, I used to study way more when I was still at school but being forced into a uni i didn't want ended up with me having hard time studying for even 10 minutes, but then slowly through learning Japanese, because I liked studying it too, it got to 20, then 30 and now I can read from 1-2 hours a day. Take it slow if you have to, just don't skip days unless you absolutely have to, cause that's how you break a routine and can be tempted to not go back to it.

-----------------------

That was too long, I apologize, but I really hope sth out of everything I mentioned helps. It's a tough language and keeping up greatly depends on sth that keeps you going back to it, I believe. If you are not naturally drawn to learning many languages for the fun of it, you need sth to hold on to it, so do look for it and hang on it for dear life. Also, I came across this video the other day, I've yet to check the list she mentions, I don't know if it's free, but she also mentions a site named Refold that has many free resources if you want to check it out. Here's the vid I'm talking about: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyEioinPKvk

Best of luck and I hope you find the type of resources that are more of your type asap so that you get to learning asap too! ^o^/

[seitokaisnihongo]

The Entirety of Japanese, Lesson #1

AKA - I'm sorry, you do have to learn all three scripts.

Welcome to our first lesson! Today, we are going to learn how to read Japanese.

Sort of.

See, it's not something you can learn in one day, or one lesson. Learning a language is a gradual process that doesn't cement until you start *using* it.

So we will go over the basics, both the WHY three scripts and the HOW to learn all three over time, and then provide 10+ FREE resources from all over the internet for you to practice with!

Let's go!

Why All Three Scripts?

Short answer: because I said so.

Kidding.

The Japanese language has no spaces in it. Unlike English where there is a space between each word, Japanese sentences look like this:

スモモも桃も桃のうち

All three scripts are in this sentence. It translates to "plums and peaches are both like peaches". An odd sentence, but here's why I chose it...

When you write it in *just* Hiragana (the basic, "first" phonetic script), it looks like this:

すもももももももものうち

Yikes. So many も, with no way to tell apart the multiple words in the も train.

So... how can you tell similar words apart when written out?

Wait, let's look back a bit. Can you tell where different words are in the sentence before? Yes. Even without being taught *anything* about the Japanese language, you can tell where different words start just by looking at it.

By writing in multiple scripts, you can tell similar words apart.

Okay... But How Do I Learn Them?

There's quite a few ways to learn them. In fact, on Thursday we will be publishing community responses from our Discord detailing how THEY learned the scripts.

But for now, here is the two first scripts you'll learn in their entirety, thanks to Coto Japanese Acamedy

You'll learn these first for three reasons:

First, they are easier.

Second, you can spell any word in Japanese with these two scripts. Not a hard and fast rule, but Hiragana is used for native Japanese words and Katakana is usually used for international loan words, emphasis, names, and 'sound effect words', aka onomatopoeia.

Third, you'll see Hiragana above Kanji (the difficult one) that tells you how to pronounce Kanji.

As far as actually learning them, you *could* just write them down over and over.

Writing is super important when learning Japanese.

But it might be easier to start with some apps, games, and videos where you can learn the characters both in context AND within words.

Here's our favorite FREE resources:

Duolingo (Website, Android, and Apple) is great for learning singular words and Hiragana / Katakana, however explanations of grammar is limited to desktop. Still, PERFECT for the beginning stages regardless of device.

Bunpo is another free app for learning Japanese!

JapanesePod101's videos on Hiragana and Katakana over on Youtube are fantastic for hearing natural speach.

Tofugu's Hiragana and Katakana blog posts have the * best * mnemomics, with sound bites.

Busuu's (Website, Android, Apple) Japanese course starts off with Hiragana words to get you speaking immediately.

Kana (Apple, Android) is a free app dedicated to JUST Hiragana and Katakana.

Tae Kim's Guide to Learning Japanese is the holy grail for new Japanese learners. Of course, it has a no-frills explanations of all three scripts.

Japanese Ammo with Misa has detailed lessons on everything, including Kana.

Here's a video on the difference between printed and written Hiragana fonts.

And finally... our discord server.

Wait... what about Kanji?

Well, the problem is there's a lot to learn. A LOT.

You'll be learning them over the course of yearssssssss. But that's fine; you can tune into our lessons to learn them.

Join right here to practice what you learn! You'll also gain access to new friends learning the same language AND more free resources.

We can't wait to see you there!