Ok so like, how I *actually* learn this?

9 comments

1. Typo in the title, rip

2. Learn proper grammar and sentence structures first. That’s the most crucial part cuz Japanese structure is very different from English(tbh, most languages are like that tho). You can worry about memorizing terms and words later on as you’re getting used to understanding how the language flows. I suggest you look up grammar lessons on YouTube, there are a lot of them.

   edit: And if you really want to learn words right off the bat, Wanikani is a beginner friendly website. It teaches you the meaning/origin, pronunciation, different readings, as well as mnemonics to help you memorize. And the best part is it does so gradually, you don’t jump to words right away, you start with kanji radicals, then you slowly move to the most basic words and their most common readings and so on.

3. English isn’t a Latin language either

4. Get a textbook.

5. *Look at the Starter’s Guide in the SideBar….*

   First of all – don’t just go learning ad random. You need structure. Second of all – you seem to be a tad overwhelmed by having to learn another writing system. Rest assured, hiragana and katakana are not as daunting as they seem, and you should be able to learn them within a day of cramming.

   For learning the two ‘alphabets’ first, an app like Duolingo, KanjiTree or whatever actually work wonders. Duolingo is honestly great if you just start out and need some basic structure in the beginning (it’s less useful once you’ve got the basics down). Learn kanji along the way, don’t spend too much time learning the different pronounciations of each separate kanji, chances are you will tire and bore yourself out.

   If you can afford it, buy books like Genki to give you structure. If you can’t afford those, you can find old copies online for free; or you can follow YT channels like Tokini Andy who actually explains each Genki chapter in depth. Or look at Tae Kim’s guide.

   Also – follow the JLPT levels for some more structure. The levels aren’t great (level 3 is for most people considerably harder than level 4 and 5 for example), but it gives you some guidelines. Plus, you can look up old examinations to test your level.

   Edit: [http://hukumusume.com/douwa/index.html](http://hukumusume.com/douwa/index.html) for fairy tales in simple Japanese (aimed at Japanese kindergarten and elementary school kids)

6. simple

   you dont

   🙂

7. For hiragana/katakana I liked MarshallYin’s website the best, it has good mnemonics. You should be able to learn them all to a minimum level in about a week and then move on. After that, go straight to the [Cure Dolly grammar course](https://m.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLg9uYxuZf8x_A-vcqqyOFZu06WlhnypWj). Switch on subtitles and set the audio to 1.25-1.75x speed, it’s more pleasant that way.

8. Hiragana and Katakana can be memorised pretty easily, if you still feel like struggling you can use mnemonics.

   For vocabulary I recommend Kanshudo’s usefulness lists, it, like the name suggests, lists words by their usefulness (so the word for “house” would have a higher usefulness level than the word for “thermodynamics”, for example). That way, you learn common and applicable words first and then go down into more complex and rarer words. The list has got 10 thousand words and can be found here: [https://www.kanshudo.com/collections/vocab_usefulness2021](https://www.kanshudo.com/collections/vocab_usefulness2021)

   Also don’t forget to learn grammar and don’t be like me in my beginner stages who had completely ignored grammar, thinking words would be all I’d need.

   You’ll learn kanji with vocab, there’s no need to learn them seperately – in fact, memorising kanji with their readings and meanings is usually discouraged for multiple reasons I won’t explain in detail right now. If you want to learn them seperately, it won’t *hurt* you, but again, not encouraged. Just stick with learning them with vocab.

   Also, use Anki’s spaced repetition system for remembering these.

9. The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

   Yes, initially learning to adequately read hiragana is pretty key in my humble opinion. Katakana, while equally important given the number of loan words Japanese has can wait.

   If I were to be at your level again, I would start with hiragana and learn the absolute basic grammar structure. *SPECIFICALLY NON-FORMAL.* Starting out on formal speech (Keigo) is honestly a bit of a hindrance when it comes to learning how Japanese functions I think, Keigo is ‘decorated’ Japanese that you have to learn to ‘un-decorate’ if that’s where you start… And a LOT of sources will start you there.

   As for where to start? At absolute basic, and I DO mean absolute basic, Duolingo is not terrible. But honestly, once you get comfortable with kana and some basic grammar points? Frikkin’ bail and go elsewhere.

   Luckily there are a number of resources on Youtube for Japanese, I personally recommend Japanese from Zero. CureDolly is the best I’ve found thus far, but you need a solid base to get the best out of her lessons.

   If you’re looking for something structured, again, Japanese from Zero (I swear I’m not sponsored!). I bought the books, but there’s also a website that covers everything in the books and then some for a monthly fee.

   In the end, it’s going to be a combination of self-study, taught and actual digested input. But the important part is to not solely rely on one method of learning, know that you ARE going to lose momentum at some point (The honeymoon doesn’t last forever.) and you have to make mistakes to progress. I think some people forget that last one.

   ​

   Anywho, take that as you will from some schmuck who can’t comfortably call himself intermediate even after years of learning.