Keigo Resource & Study Tips

If you have the need to improve your keigo skills for a specific reason such as school, an interview, or a job, or if you just want to refine your Japanese, I can recommend the study resources focused on the keigo portion of the 日本語検定.

The 日本語検定 is a test for native speakers of Japanese, so the keigo study materials cover the different types and usages far more comprehensively than materials for foreign speakers do. Levels 3 and 4 cover basic keigo for everyday or school interactions and 1 and 2 focus on keigo used in more formal situations or in the workplace with superiors, clients, etc.

The answer keys provide clear explanations on why something is correct or incorrect and point out when a particular use is commonly used but actually incorrect. Due to the targeted answer explanations, I’ve found that many little “doubts” I always had have cleared up and my understanding of keigo has become much more lucid.

Although written completely in Japanese, the language used in the questions and answer explanations is clear and accessible for an intermediate or above learner.

Here are some links to the particular study resources I’ve used and would recommend (I use the digital version on my iPad and would recommend using either a tablet or kindle PC reader as I don’t think they would be very readable on an actual kindle. Bonus points if you have kindle unlimited through amazon JP as many 日本語検定 mock tests and resources are included!)

* [日本語検定　公式　領域別問題集　敬語](https://www.amazon.co.jp/-/en/速水博司-ebook/dp/B00LKWB2W2/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1665307490&sr=8-2)
* [日本語検定公式領域別問題集](https://www.amazon.co.jp/-/en/加藤-淳/dp/4487812348/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3LAD4FKGJKW2D&keywords=日本語検定+敬語&qid=1665307490&qu=eyJxc2MiOiIxLjQ2IiwicXNhIjoiMS4wOCIsInFzcCI6IjEuMjMifQ%3D%3D&sprefix=日本語検定+敬語%2Caps%2C464&sr=8-1)
* Bonus: [失礼な敬語 誤用例から学ぶ、正しい使い方](https://www.amazon.co.jp/野口-恵子/dp/4334037526/ref=d_pd_sbs_sccl_2_57/356-2540740-2898146?pd_rd_w=G3SnC&content-id=amzn1.sym.b9a166d7-7482-4775-949d-b24eab648ff5&pf_rd_p=b9a166d7-7482-4775-949d-b24eab648ff5&pf_rd_r=ZVRYK5DCPTYM2TN8S631&pd_rd_wg=IMozb&pd_rd_r=a2698975-7b8f-46f7-936e-9b56595e6c33&pd_rd_i=4334037526&psc=1) (This is not a study resource for the 日本語検定 but is for any other grammar or reading nerds or those who want to take a deep dive)

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**Benefits of Keigo Study for Different Levels of Learners**

If you are a beginner or intermediate, it’s good to understand the “vocabulary” of keigo (for example 聞く→伺う) and the different types of keigo, how to turn native Japanese verbs into keigo expressions, etc. This will help you understand them when you read or hear someone saying them to you, and you can slowly start incorporating them into your own Japanese.

If you are advanced, you are most likely already familiar with keigo and able to use it to varying degrees. From my own learning experience, I think continued growth in the advanced levels comes from iterative learning and revisiting things that you may already know and use and explicitly learning about them. You already have the base and feel for how it works, but revisiting the rules can suddenly click everything firmly into place in your head. Going through that process with keigo can help you solidify your knowledge and gain further confidence in your Japanese abilities.

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**Possible Study Techniques**

I worked through the questions in the books and then threw them into anki with a cloze deletion where the answer should go, so I could quiz myself and practice recall of the expressions every day.

If you aren’t into anki, you can work through the books like a normal textbook and simply take notes for review later. However, I would recommend some kind of flashcard use or review schedule, since a big component of keigo is learning vocabulary and you need a strategy to be able to internalize the words.

If you are working with a teacher, you could go through the questions together and run through some spoken scenarios together to practice speaking in keigo and further internalize the expressions.

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**My Experience**

Now that the main portion of the post is out of the way, I thought I’d write about my own reasons for and experience with improving my keigo in case anyone is interested.

I am an advanced learner and have spent a lot of time “[immersing](https://www.reddit.com/r/LearnJapanese/comments/v5z4tf/i_read_200_books_in_japanese/)” and interacting with native Japanese content. However, I don’t live in Japan, which means I don’t get to hear or read keigo regularly. I’ve picked up a lot from books/TV but only ever had a vague idea of the rules and didn’t feel really confident using it. However, I started working with a tutor this year who is much older than me and always speaks and writes beautiful, polite Japanese and I felt challenged to finally up my keigo skills to be able to “keep up” with her, so to speak.

After working with the resources above, I feel I have a good understanding of how the different types of keigo work and can use them with confidence when writing or speaking (and I occasionally even identify when someone is using them incorrectly now!).

I think keigo tends to be a lower priority area for a lot of learners since there is so much other ground to cover when it comes to the Japanese language, but if you live in Japan or interact with Japanese people at all there is a massive benefit to learning how it works and becoming comfortable with it, even on a “basic” level like what levels 3 and 4 of the 日本語検定 cover. Being able to use the polite register when speaking will simply help you sound more like an adult and is vital if you work with Japan or Japanese.

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**Conclusion and Final Notes**

If you are an advanced learner and are really looking to deepen your understanding of Japanese, I very much recommend 日本語検定 study resources for any of the test components, not just keigo!

If you aren’t necessarily a grammar or vocabulary nerd but do live in Japan or have the need to use Japanese daily and sometimes find yourself hitting a wall when it comes to improving but don’t want to or have time to sit down with a textbook, there are also tons of non-textbook books on “adult” or 社会人 Japanese aimed at native speakers that are breezier reads and good for when you just want to read a few pages at a time. I enjoyed [社会人の日本語](https://www.amazon.co.jp/-/en/山本晴男-ebook/dp/B076H1PQRQ/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1L4OPM048J3P2&keywords=社会人の日本語&qid=1665310103&qu=eyJxc2MiOiIwLjgxIiwicXNhIjoiMS4wMCIsInFzcCI6IjEuMDAifQ%3D%3D&s=digital-text&sprefix=社会人の日本語%2Cdigital-text%2C444&sr=1-1) and[敬語の使い方が面白いほど身につく本.](https://www.amazon.co.jp/合田敏行/dp/4860639782/ref=d_pd_sbs_sccl_2_19/356-2540740-2898146?pd_rd_w=rZOdW&content-id=amzn1.sym.b9a166d7-7482-4775-949d-b24eab648ff5&pf_rd_p=b9a166d7-7482-4775-949d-b24eab648ff5&pf_rd_r=98R2JYNXHZ11VRPZB71Q&pd_rd_wg=swUGu&pd_rd_r=b8d7a316-fc49-44ae-9920-622951caf2ce&pd_rd_i=4860639782&psc=1) There are many more out there so browse around at your bookseller of choice and I’m sure you can find something interesting and helpful.

Thanks for reading and happy learning everyone! 😊