JAPANESE LANGUAGE STUDY
日本語を勉強しよう！
So you’ve made it to Japan! Now it’s time for you to begin studying, or brush up on, Japanese. Luckily, there are tons of great resources out there. I’ve compiled some of the best ones to help you start out. Resources marked with a ☆ are our personal favorites. If you’re looking to buy textbooks, the best place is the Tsutaya just off of the Shimotori, which has a great selection. For those of us who are far from the city, Amazon has everything.
Study Tips
➢Set concrete goals for the long term (year-long) and short term (two-three weeks). “I want to be fluent” is way too vague, but goals such as “I want to read hiragana by the end of August” or “I want to talk with my coworkers about their hobbies” are feasible, realistic, and will give you motivation to study.
➢Surround yourself with as much Japanese as possible through music, TV, radio, movies, and books. You’ll be surprised at how much you pick up if you pay attention to the Japanese around you – but don’t assume that you’ll be immediately and magically fluent. You can’t improve without effort.
➢Set aside a time to study. Whether that’s during your lunch break at work or an hour every Saturday, regular study is important. You remember more if you study a little every day rather than a lot once a week.
➢Get a study buddy, make a study group, join a class, find a tutor – don’t try to do it alone. Working with someone else helps keep up motivation and lets you hash through confusing points together.
➢Keep a notebook. Write down words that you hear or see, and look them up later.
➢Don’t use romaji. It will just hinder you in the long term. The very first thing you study should be hiragana, the basic Japanese writing system.
➢Get involved in the community. Even if you’re not confident with your own abilities, people will be happy to see you trying, and being forced to use Japanese is the best way to improve. Join a local sports team, cooking class, choir – whatever peaks your interest. Let it serve the dual purpose of being fun and helping you study!
➢Look back at your progress periodically. In daily life you may not feel your improvement, but it’s empowering and motivating to realize that you can do something now that you couldn’t a couple months or a year ago.
All-Around Study
☆Genki I & II: An Integrated Approach to Elementary Japanese – my favorite introductory textbook.
An Integrated Approach to Intermediate Japanese – by the same people who made Genki.
Tobira – About the same level as IAIJ. Look through both to see which you prefer.
- Online textbook, specifically made for self learners.
lang-8.com – You write in Japanese, native speakers check it. Then you do the same for people studying your native language. Unlike most other study methods, this one focuses on writing.
☆ – All Japanese All the Time. Learn how to surround yourself in Japanese until you even find yourself thinking in it!
☆Rikaichan/Rikaikun – This browser add-on is not to be missed. Hover over a Japanese word and see the reading and meaning. Great for navigating websites in Japanese! But be careful that you don’t rely on it too much. Rikaichan is for Firefox and Rikaikun for Chrome.
NHK News Web Easy – Read the news in easy Japanese!
Grammar
A Dictionary of Basic/Intermediate/Advanced Grammar – Great, comprehensive grammar guides.
– Tae Kim’s Japanese grammar guide. It doesn’t get too advanced, but it’s great for beginner and intermediate students!
– Somewhat difficult to navigate, but explains those tricky grammar points that you encounter in the upper levels. Goes into much more detail than you’ll get in a textbook.
Kanji and Vocabulary
☆Remembering the Kanji I and III and kanji.koohii.com – by James Heisig. Uses mnemonics to help you remember the meaning of kanji. I learned all 2000 joyo kanji in about six months! The website is a fantastic user-made companion. Users upload their own ‘stories’ so when you can’t think of one, you can see what other people used. It also features a spaced repetition flashcard system.
The Kodansha Kanji Learner’s Dictionary – useful method of kanji organization.
– SRS system, great for learning vocabulary.
Dictionaries
– lots of example sentences.
– great online dictionary.
Japanese Language Proficiency Test Study
Kanzen Master完全マスター and Sou-matome総まとめ
I use Kanzen Master, but both companies are pretty similar. For people who are trying to pass the JLPT, they offer textbooks that cover specific categories (vocab, grammar, kanji, etc.) for each of the JLPT levels. This really lets you target your weak points.
JLPT Target 1000: N2 Kanji – for reviewing kanji in bulk. Great for review, but not perfect for vocabulary building. They also offer textbooks for target grammar points based on JLPT level.
Smartphone Apps
iOS and Android
☆Anki (free for Android and computer, $24.99 for iPhone) – Spaced repetition flashcard system, great for practicing vocabulary and kanji. Syncs with your computer via ankiweb.com to easily input new cards.
☆WaniKani (monthly subscription) – a spaced-repetition system to study with mnemonics for learning new kanji by radicals.
iOS
Midori (Paid) - Japanese dictionary with lots of example sentences and a drawing function to look up kanji
imiwa? (Free) – Japanese dictionary app. Not as easy to use as Midori but great for being free.
Android
WWWJDIC for Android (Free) – Japanese dictionary app, uses the fantastic WWWJDIC dictionary. Features kanji drawing function if linked with Kanji Recognizer app.
JED (Free) – Japanese dictionary app with example sentences, etc. Easier to use than WWWJDIC.
Finally, if this isn’t enough, check out Tofugu’s top 100 Japanese study resources!
★Good luck! ★