This subreddit seems to be the starting point for learning Japanese for a ton of people (638K members now) yet somehow the starter’s guide reads like it has not been updated in over a decade. (I am talking about the main starter’s guide here: [https://www.reddit.com/r/LearnJapanese/wiki/index/startersguide/](https://www.reddit.com/r/LearnJapanese/wiki/index/startersguide/), not the wiki or resource pages).
Just at first glance I see:
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* No real discussion of different ways one could approach learning. E.g. differences for people who want to take the JLPT and move to Japan vs. people who just want to consume Japanese media. Or people who simply want to go visit Japan in a couple of months.
* Anki is mentioned only for learning kana. Not even a single mention of wildly popular study materials like the Core or Tango vocabulary decks (or Yomichan/Yomitan). Instead, for vocabulary it simply links to a Genki vocabulary list in an inconvenient format with no audio.
* No discussion of kanji and if/how people should approach individual kanji study, despite this being asked here *every single day*(!). Instead there are simply links to an apparently no longer existent Memrise deck and Wanikani without any context. “Learning kanji” is one of the first things new learners worry about and I would think a starter’s guide should address this better.
* For listening it only recommends Pimsleur, with no mention of entirely free resources like podcasts, Youtube, etc. Nothing against Pimsleur but I really do not see this being the right choice for most people.
* In general the guide could do a much better job at pointing out that Japanese can be learned entirely for free and specifically highlighting free resources.
* After completing a beginner resource, the guide recommends to either continue with textbooks or “expand vocabulary with scanlation”. That’s it. This feels like extremely little guidance for people who do not want to continue with textbooks. There is so much content people could learn with yet no discussion/recommendations at all. From graded readers to learning with anime/LNs/VNs by using popular media difficulty lists like jpdb or LearnNatively. And no mention at all of mining/people making their own vocabulary lists. Or how people could continue learning grammar without textbooks.
Besides feeling very dated, I also do not think that the structure of the starter’s guide is ideal. I get the idea of not just posting a fixed study plan but instead giving learners something that enables them to make their own. But IMO the guide should at least give *some* guidance on how to structure your studies, e.g. along the lines of:
Step 1: Learn kana. Here are possible resources.
Step 2: Simultaneously learn beginner grammar (\~N5+N4) and vocabulary (typically 1K – 2K words). Here are possible approaches and resources.
Step 3: Read and listen to things appropriate for your level. Here are possible resources you could use. Here are possible ways you could continue studying grammar, etc …
by Blackstone40