How to Learn Japanese By Yourself

How to Learn Japanese By Yourself

A step by step guide to teaching yourself Japanese

Why?

Why do I feel the need to add to the already massive stream of Japanese learning resources on the internet? I’m writing this because learning Japanese is a daunting task, especially if you don’t live in Japan or you don’t have any Japanese friends.

I have been studying Japanese now for a number of years. I’ve worked as a Japanese translator and even lived and worked in Japan. Yet I have never made a plan for learning Japanese not because I haven’t wanted to, but because of the lack of good examples of designing and making a plan.

Go ahead, look. There are a few results none are what I would really call complete or in some cases even useful.

Motivation

When I first started my Japanese journey I was a young boy in the UK. I forget the exact initial spark but I remember going to the travel agent (yes I’m that old) and picking up physical books on Japan and it’s many beautiful destinations. Dreaming that I would one day go there.

View of Mount Fuji from behind the Chureito Pagoda during Sakura Season

Seeing the majestic Tori gates on the Kyoto shrines and seeing women in Kimonos, just blew my little 13-year-old mind.

It seemed so impossible to me that I could ever even go there let alone use their language.

You need a why

Just like anything in life, if you don’t have a strong enough why you will never find a way. My why is as follows.

I learned and continue to learn Japanese because I want to craft my own Japanese path, I want to communicate with Japanese people so they can help me to enjoy their wonderful culture, food, and landscape. I learn Japanese because I want a sense of achievement and something to be proud of.

If you can not connect with this on a daily basis, if this doesn’t hold true for you all the time, the hard days will knock you off course. Yes, that’s right hard days. Everybody has them. Not one single person on this planet hasn’t had a day where they just wanted to smash their laptop or other learning materials and just quit. But it’s your why that stops you from staying quite.

Ways I have tried (and their effectiveness)

1) Japanese Drama (JDorama)

Japanese drama is great! Not only is incredibly entertaining, but many of them are very educational. Depending on what level you’re at, you’ll get different things from it.

If you’re just setting out, you’ll feel like you’re just not getting anything from it. But this couldn’t be further from the truth! You’re doing something called brain soaking. Before you wash anything you might wanna leave it to soak, to loosen up the dirt on it. That’s exactly what brain soaking does. It exposes you to Japanese, it gives you a chance to hear what Japanese sounds like, how it flows and more importantly it solidifies what Japanese is in your head.

Have you ever watched a foreign movie and thought:

I don’t even know what language these guys are speaking!

This is because you’ve never been exposed to it, you’ve not had the chance to get to know it’s nuances and it’s flow. Doing this is an excellent primer for learning any language.

When you know a few words this is great because you will hear those words and feel proud of yourself when you hear and recognize them it will boost your confidence.

When you’re competent at using Japanese, watching Japanese dramas is great because you will learn new ways of saying things, you’ll pick up new vocabulary and you’ll get to know what I call the Japanese fillers. For example; to drive a car is to 運転 (うんてん/unten) or to operate that car. Knowing this word is great, but knowing how to use it in a sentence is even better. Adding the suffixする (運転する/untensuru) takes it from “operate “ to I’m driving.

Also if you know this word and you hear or see 運転中です (うんてんちゅうする/untenchuusuru) takes it from I’m driving to I’m in the middle of driving, as in please call me back as I’m currently driving right now.

All these little things, you might not notice if you just learn the vocabulary.

2) Books

Books are great, they’ve helped mankind pass on wisdom for generations. But let’s face it if you’re under 40 and you no longer attend any kind of school, reading textbooks is not high on your to-do list. You’ll buy them and if you’re anything like me, you’ll use them for a few days before they become expensive paperweights on your desk.

The best book to start learning Japanese

This is just about the least fun way to learn a language. But it’s effective if you can actually sit down and do it. Much of the Japanese I have read about just one time, I have actually retained. A few great examples that helped me were:

1. Minna No Nihongo — A bit pricy but well worth it
2. Japanese for Busy people — Great book for young people on the go
3. Remembering the Kanji — Probably the most comprehensive Kanji book ever
4. Chibi Maruko Chan Kanji Dictionary — How Japanese kids learn Kanji
5. The Education Kanji — The official Japanese school grading system for Kanji

3) Apps

Apps are a great way to learn any language, they make learning a language fun. A few I recommend are:

1. Anything in LinguaDecks — Of course, I’m gonna suggest this I made it lol
2. DuoLingo — Great app I use it every day for top-up
3. Textfugu — Very slow to get started but it’s a great resource once you’re in

You might wonder why I didn’t mention Anki (The OG of Japanese memorization apps (Anki/暗記 Literally means to memorize in Japanese)). The reason I didn’t mention this app is that while it’s old-school and it has helped a lot of people, I didn’t get a lot from it, because the decks are hard to make, the existing ones aren’t relevant to me and the user interface is poor.

Videos/Audios

This is a great method if you plan to sit there all day and listen to the mp3/video all day every day. It works a bit like hypnotism, the more you’re exposed to the same track over and over again, the more it will get stuck in your head. It’s great for learning new concepts but it’s a slow process and you won’t retain it well unless you do it a lot.

I recommend using this again as general brian soaking. Do it in your spare time, don’t make it a big part of your overall lesson plan and definitely don’t make it your daily driver.

Man-to-man lessons (or any other gender type to type)

One-to-one lessons are great, they give you the chance to ask a native Japanese speaker with years of experience how this stuff works and you can almost guarantee the source will be correct.

You will likely have to pay for this, the going rate through some kind of video chat is about $10–20 USD for an unqualifies teacher and $20–40 USD for a professional teacher.

A word of warning. Many of these one-to-one lessons are total immersion which means they are designed so that only Japanese is used in the lesson. If you know absolutely no Japanese words other than hello, goodbye, delicious and cute then I highly recommend you reach out to the teacher first and ask what kind of lesson they teach. If this is not your thing then maybe check out some apps first.

Sites I have used:

1. Italki — Possibly the best website out there for this
2. Tuttroo — Great fro in-person lessons

Reading actual books

When you have enough Japanese vocabulary and a basic grasp of the grammar you should try to read an actual book in Japanese. Make sure they fit your level because nothing will knock your confidence like trying to read a book that you know none of the words.

This method is a fun, real and practical way to obtain real-world language and insight into the Japanese culture. Even if your Japanese level is low there are still children’s book you can read. Don’t be afraid to pick up a children’s book, you started this way for English so why not start this way in Japanese?

Japanese Friend Apps

One of the best ways to learn Japanese is to actually have Japanese friends. if you’re unable to go to Japan and make friends that’s ok. There are companies that have made apps for language partners to get together and exchange language skills.

Positives of this include:

1. Speaking with a real native speaker
2. Audio and text
3. Making friends with cool people

Negatives of this include:

1. Unfair language exchange — When you’re the one doing all the language it can feel about like free tutoring.
2. Visibility — You usually don’t get to see people through these apps, so it can be hard to tell their expression. You could ask them I guess but you lose a lot not seeing their face.
3. Not-so-cool people — There is the possibility that the person you meet online might not be so nice. It’s unlikely however as most people are on there to make friends.

Example include:

1. Hello Talk — Really great app, nice people
2. Speaky — Few people on this app
3. PolyGlot CLub — Focused on meeting people in real life

Ways I’ve tried summery

Ultimately you will need a combination of reading, writing, speaking and listening to fully use this language, so make sure you use them all at some point but I’ll talk about how often to use them below.

Way’s I haven’t tried yet

Group lessons

This is a great way to get social with your language learning. This can give you motivation and what I call accountability coaching. When you have a group of people that you have told you will complete a task (whether that’s public on social media or private among friends) you feel a sense of obligation to meet the standard you set for yourself.

On the flip side, you also get tempted to form cliques. Cliques are small social groups that bond over one particular topic. This can be a benefit but oftentimes you get so hung up on the social element that you don’t knuckle down and get the job done.

Also, it’s expensive and if it turns out you don’t do well, then you’ve wasted close to $15,000 USD.

Also, this article is about self-study so I’ll stick to what can be done as an individual.

Writing — The elephant in the room

Okay, I’m not gonna sugar coat it. learning Japanese is a bit different to learning almost any other language because it’s made up of these weird cryptic symbols that kinda came from China.

First of all, you need to know that the Japanese writing system is actually made up of 3 subsystems.

1. Kanji — Many came from China but Japan has added their own (漢字)
2. Hiragana — Hiragana (ひらがな) was the original writing system in Japan before the Wu Dynasty came to Japan and introduced the Kanji
3. Katakana — A relatively new system brought in around 1200 years ago because of all of the foreign words they needed, to distinguish between what they call GaiRaiGo (外来語/がいらいご) and Japanese words. Katakan looks like this カタカナ.

The Kana is the collective term for both the Hiragana and the Katakana. They make up the Japanese syllabaries. A syllabary is a bit like an alphabet but with one slight difference. Each character in the syllabary must make a syllable in the language.

The best way to learn the kana is with a language app. LinguaDecks has a great deck on learning Hiragana and Katakana.

The best way to learn the Kanji… Um, well there is no single good way to learn the Kanji really. It’s kind of a joint effort. You have to look at them at lot, use them in a sentence, be introduced to them in real life and maybe read about them too.

It’s best to pick a methodology first then find your method. What I mean by that is there are over 2000 Kanji that most Japanese native speakers are at least aware of. Learning that all at once is like trying to eat a cake the size of a house one bit at a time. If it’s going to work you need a strategy (more on this below).

The one thing you absolutely must remember when learning the Kanji is they represent meaning not words. Knowing the meaning of a Kanji is pointless unless you can use it. Don’t ever learn a new Kanji without learning at least one word that fits into it.

All these Homophones!

The main reason Kanji is needed is because of all the homophones. A homophone is a word that is not only spelled the same but also looks the same. The difference is context.

If I said:

There is a Jaguar in your garden!

You might one of two things:

1. Yes I’ve just got it back from servicing
2. What the hell, call animal control

The Kanji is a great way of adding content to the words. For example:

1. はな/Hana (花) Flower
2. はな/Hana (鼻) Nose
3. はな/Hanao (鼻緒) Sting on Japanese shoes
4. はな/Hana (派な) A faction of

You get the idea. So make sure when you learn a Kanji to at least learn one word associated with it.

Kanji Aquisition Strategy

So there are a few schools of thought when it comes to Kanji Aquisition Strategy.

1. Aiming for the JLPT — (日本語能力試験 Nihongo Nōryoku Shiken) The official foreign person’s standard of Japanese proficiency. Level N5 through N1 dictate the level at which foreigners should be exposed to the Kanji.
2. The 教育漢字 Kanji — The Kyouiku Kanji (きょういくかんじ) is the way the Japanese education board introduces Kanji to children in school. Bear in mind, this is a set of just over 1000 Kanji, this is broken down into 6 years of study.
3. The 常用漢字/当用漢字表 Kanji — The Jōyō/Tōyō or regular/general use Kanji is a set of just over 2000 Kanji which is set as a Japanese standard for all official use Kanji.
4. The Practical Use Kanji System (PUKS) — A methodology designed by LinguaDecks that introduces the Kanji in group order or the most practical daily use in Japan. Broken down into Nouns, Verbs, and Adjectives the Practical Use Kanji System introduces you to Kanji in the order you’re likely to encounter them in Japan (as a foreigner).

Which one should you choose?

That depends on your goals. If your goal is to pass the JLPT then of course start with acquiring those if your goal is to one day become as good as a native you should probably start with the Kyouiku Kanji system, but if you just dream of arriving in Japan and being able to communicate with people and grow from there, then your best bet is the PUKSystem.

Accountability and Progress tracking

It is highly advisable to let as many people you care about know that you’re learning Japanese. Not only will this give you a mini fan club, but it will also give you a promise to live up to. Nothing says I have to succeed like social responsibility.

Always check in with your progress. Go over what you didn’t know before, take assessments and test like the JLPT to help you understand what level you’re at and use apps like LinguaDecks that let you decide when you’ve fully grasped a word.

Always, always, always, always, always, always, always, always, repeat what you’ve learned. Chances are even if you feel like you’ve got something it’s only commited to short term memory and you must repeat it to get it stuck in their.

Repetition is boring, but so is leanring a language and having to learn it all over again because you forgot the basics. So always keep on top of the langauge you’re not using on a daily basis, and even if you are it’s better to go over something you already know than to lose that concept. The worst thing you can say to someone is “I already know this”.

1. Because you might not!
2. Because you might have forgoten
3. Because it makes you sound like a know-it-all

If your Language Partner or tutor insists on going over the same stuff without any progression then you might wanna say “hey, I don’t mean to be rude, but this is going a little slow for me”.

Putting it all together

Whether we like it or not a more regimented system usually gets the best results. No matter what kind of learner you a person who puts in 3 solid hours of quality, focused Japanese study is always going to advance quicker than the learner who throws 20 minutes together whenever and wherever they can. Or even worse if you’re like me and the kinder person who studies for 8 straight hours, get’s sick of it then doesn’t come back to it for 2–3 weeks.

No matter what kind of learner you are, I’ve come up with two strategies that will suit your learning style.

Monthly plan

My 6 months to autonomous Japanese plan

If you follow this plan and use these tools for 6 months I personally guarantee you will be able to grow on your own from here. You could, in theory, stop the theoretical Japanese study and just stick to speaking with your Japanese friends at this point.

But I recommend that if you fully want to grasp the culture and the language you keep studying. Remember this takes Japanese people 9 years to master and many of them only have a 60–80% grasp of it by the time they’re adults. It’s hard, give yourself a pat on the back and keep going.

Day-to-day Plan

It’s all well and good having goals to work toward, but if you don’t have a day to plan what’s the point? You’ll just lose focus and give up.

Here is my fool-proof system for learning Japanese on a day to day basis.

Daily action plan

Summary

Learning any language is hard, Japanese doubly so. Regardless of what anyone says it takes commitment. If you go at it half-hearted it will take you years and years to master if you ever master it at all.

Learning something quickly is all well and good, but remember if you don’t use it, you’ll lose it. You don’t learn a language, you use it. If you’re saying words, reading them, writing them and understand some of the things people say, you’re not just learning you’re using the language.

Remember you don’t have to know all of the language to use it. It’s a little hard to get your head around this at first but it’s true. A mentor of mine once said to me:

“If you understand all the words you need to use in a restaurant, your fluent (in restaurant Japanese), If you know all the words you need to know to introduce yourself, you’re fluent at 自己紹介 (Jikoshoukai or self-introduction). You just need to know what you’re dealing with at the time.”

Above all have fun with it and remember, Rome wasn’t built in a day. Or as the Japanese say 塵(ちり)も積(つ)もれば、山(やま)となる Even dust, when piled, will one day become a mountain.

I hope you got lots of great help and advice from this, be sure to checkout LinguaDecks and smash that clap button it really helps. Thank you.