How to Learn Japanese On Your Own (Fast!)

In this video, I'm going to show you the best way to learn Japanese on your own. We're going to cover each of these major topics so that you can build a learning plan that meets your goals and needs. Core learning. Japanese differs from English in almost every way. So, when you first start learning, you'll want to build a strong foundation in the basics—everyday vocab, how to use verbs, basic sentence structure, things like that. And the best way to build that understanding is by using the Genki textbooks. There are dozens of Japanese textbooks out there, but in my opinion, these two are the best for absolute beginners. They're well-structured, they're practical, and most library systems in the U.S. carry at least a handful of copies, so you can save some of that hard-earned dough. But there's yet another good reason to use the Genki series, and it's this free video playlist from Tokini Andy. Andy is a fantastic Japanese teacher, and he's created extensive video guides for each chapter in Genki. He explains every grammar point in detail and offers lots of helpful examples. And, by the way, I'll put links to everything I'm talking about in the description box below. So, I would recommend that you get the Genki books and then follow along as you watch the videos. By the time you finish the series, you'll basically have completed two years of college-level Japanese. Once you finish the Genki curriculum, I would personally recommend that you stop using textbooks altogether and instead focus on the listening, speaking, and reading resources that I'll talk about later in this video. However, if you're the type of person who likes using textbooks, great. For you, I would recommend the Morigoto series, starting with level A2B1, this book. Again, there are tons of options to choose from, but I like Morigoto because at the lower levels, every textbook comes with a free video guide, and it's a good mix of reading, listening, vocab, and grammar. Now, before we move on, I want to share with you guys my secret weapon for learning Japanese, the Jarvison Translator 2. It's a dedicated language translator, and it's awesome. Here's how it works. You fire up the device, select your native language, and your translation language. I use the Jarvison Translator for Japanese, Mandarin, and Arabic, but there are actually 108 different languages and dialects to choose from, and it's super easy to use. You tap here, say a phrase in English, and within a half second, the JT2 will translate that phrase into your target language. Where is the nearest pharmacy? Translations are 96% accurate, which is very high. And unlike Siri or Google Translate, the JT2 is designed to replicate spoken language, the way people really talk to one another. And I like to use this device in two ways. If I'm listening to a podcast or watching a show, and I hear a phrase that I don't understand, I hit this red button, repeat the phrase, Jinko Yuki. And there it is. I get an instant translation. And number two, if I'm speaking with someone in Japanese, either in person or online, and I'm doing that thing like, oh, how do I say, uh, I'm allergic to cats. And obviously there are tons of other uses. If you're traveling, if you're doing business, if you're making new friends from around the world, the Jarvison Translator 2 makes communication much easier. And it comes preloaded with two years of free mobile data worldwide. So you don't need wifi. You don't need a cell connection. You just turn it on. It connects automatically and you're good to go. The battery lasts around 10 days on standby and works for six hours of continuous use. So you'll have plenty of time to translate anything you need to on the go. The Jarvison Translator 2 is currently available on Amazon and I'll link to the page in the description box below. If you want to boost your Japanese speaking skills or your skills in any language, it's a fantastic tool. Learning kana and kanji. As you might be aware, Japanese has three writing systems, hiragana, katakana, and kanji. Let's start with hiragana and katakana because they're both phonetic syllabaries, ka-ki-ku-ke-ko. And as you'll see, it's helpful to learn them as quickly as possible. Fortunately, these free PDFs from Tofugu will help you memorize both these forms in a matter of days. And if you want some extra practice, I'll link below to this free Anki deck as well. Kanji, on the other hand, are based on traditional Chinese characters. They are most definitely not phonetic. And most kanji have at least two different readings. For instance, this character can be pronounced ni-chi, hi, or bi depending on the word. Now don't be scared off by that because the Genki series does a very good job of gradually introducing useful kanji in context. And if you use the vocab and reading resources that I'll talk about in just a moment, you'll learn all the kanji you need over time. That said, if you want to focus on kanji from the get-go, I would suggest using the website WaniKani. It's a very well-designed platform, and it's pretty comprehensive. But if your ultimate goal is to speak Japanese and not just read it, I personally don't think it's worth the effort. Building Vocab If you've seen some of my other videos, you'll know that I'm a big fan of using Anki to build vocabulary. It's free on your laptop or mobile browser, and the Anki community has created some phenomenal flashcard decks for Japanese learners. For beginners, my favorites are the Japanese Core 2000 deck and the JLab Beginner deck, but as you can see, they're very different. The Japanese Core deck is pretty traditional and leans into more formal speech, similar to what you'd find in a classroom setting. But if you plan on taking the JLPT exams, which we'll talk about a little later in this video, using this deck is a great way to prepare for the first two levels, JLPT 5 and 4. The JLab deck, on the other hand, is completely different. It uses snippets of real anime audio to teach more casual and sometimes very slanging Japanese. Whether or not you love anime, it's a fantastic resource, and if your ultimate goal is to use Japanese for everyday conversation, I think this is the better deck for most beginners. Just don't go to Tokyo and start saying things like, 「てめえ、この野郎!」 That's not going to be a good look. Once you've got a handle on common vocabulary, you can also move on to the Japanese Core 6000 deck or the JLab Intermediate decks. But in my opinion, the better option at this level is to use the Satori Reader app, which is a terrific resource for both intermediate and advanced Japanese students. Basically, it's a collection of short stories and dialogues, each with their own style and tone. But there are three elements that make Satori Reader genius, in my opinion. One, every segment is voiced by Japanese actors, so you can listen to and then model native pronunciation. Two, you can tap on individual words or complete sentences to get an exact explanation of what you're reading or hearing. And three, it has a built-in flashcard system, so you can quickly add new words that you come across to your long-term review list. Now look, Satori Reader isn't for absolute beginners. But once you finish, say, all of Genki Level 1, I highly recommend it for boosting your reading skills and expanding your vocabulary. Listening Resources Japanese has excellent listening resources for learners at every level. And once you reach Chapter 5 or so in Genki, you should absolutely check out the Nihongo Kon Teppei podcast. This is an immersive Japanese podcast. There's basically no English. But the host speaks very slowly and repeats himself regularly so that even beginners can start to make sense of the language. Nihongo Kon Teppei has hundreds of episodes. But once you're at a high beginner level, you can also move on to Japanese with Shun, which is ever so slightly faster. Shun-san also reviews advanced words at the end of each episode, which is very helpful for building your vocabulary. At the intermediate level, you should absolutely be listening to Yuyu no Nihongo, which is one of the best podcasts for language learners that I've ever come across. It's free, the topics are wide-ranging, and most importantly, Yuyu-san is a very entertaining host with a great sense of humor, which makes it fun to listen to long-term. For advanced learners, your options are practically limitless, so seek out content that appeals to you and make a habit of looking up words and phrases that you don't recognize. Look them up where, you ask? Well, my favorite Japanese dictionaries are jishou.org, which is a free website, or shirabe jishou, which is a free app. They're both high quality and comprehensive, and they give plenty of useful example sentences. If, however, you want to scan and define kanji with your phone's camera, you can use Yomiwa, which is also excellent, but costs around $30. The JLPT Test System As I mentioned earlier, there's a series of standardized tests for Japanese learners called the JLPT. The tests range from level N5, which requires that you know about 800 words and 100 kanji, all the way up to N1, for which you'll need to know about 10,000 words and 2,000 kanji in order to pass. And if that sounds like a lot, it is. So, should you take the JLPTs? Are they worth it? Yes, eventually. Because at some point, you'll probably find that your Japanese starts to plateau, and that for whatever reason, you're not really motivated to keep learning. And that's when the JLPTs are really useful, in my opinion. Because they give you clear goals and lay out the specific things you need to learn in order to reach those goals. So why not follow JLPT from the beginning? Because, in my opinion, there's so much more rich and interesting material out there. Look, you don't want to learn Japanese just to pass a test. You want to learn it for the culture, the people, shingeki no kyojin, whatever it is. Let your interests guide you, and take the tests when the time is right. Mastering Grammar Japanese grammar is notoriously difficult for English speakers for a number of reasons. Syntax, particles, honorific speech, etc, etc. And you'll probably have all kinds of questions about grammar, especially early on. And when that happens, I would recommend using Tae Kim's Guide to Japanese Grammar. This is basically a comprehensive free guide that breaks down all the essentials of Japanese grammar. It's simple and straightforward, and it will probably answer about 90% of your questions as a beginner. And you can also check out the YouTube channel Miku Real Japanese. The host has tons of useful videos that cover specific particles and word endings in Japanese. So if you're struggling with, say, the te form, or how to use ni versus de, this is a great resource. At a more advanced level, you can also use Imabi, which is a free grammar database, or these free playlists from Nihongo to Tabi that cover JLPT N3, N2, and N1-level grammar. But FYI, Tabi-san teaches exclusively in Japanese, so be ready. Now look, as you continue to listen and speak and read, you'll develop an intuitive sense for Japanese grammar over time. So I want to be clear that explicitly studying grammar rules does not need to be a part of your learning routine. But of course, if you're feeling lost, it can be helpful to seek out explanations. Writing Contrary to what some hardcore students of Japanese might tell you, learning to write kanji by hand is not an essential part of becoming fluent in Japanese. Reading kanji, yes, but you can absolutely build that muscle without learning to write by hand. And in fact, you can use a phonetic keyboard on your phone or laptop to type kanji pretty easily. That said, if you're set on learning to write by hand, I would suggest investing in a fude pen, a genkoyoshi notebook, and this textbook, Remembering the Kanji, which will teach you proper stroke order and offers helpful mnemonics for remembering the various forms. And there you have it, everything you need to learn Japanese on your own. It's a demanding language for learners, but well worth your time and effort. If you have any questions or comments, please let me know. And as always, thanks for watching.