Category: Learning Methods

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Should I Read for Fun or Read for Study?

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Should I Read for Fun or Read for Study?

Read for fun or read for study? AKA extensive or intensive reading? I’m specifically referring to reading books in Japanese, but this can be applied to any subject or language you want to learn.   Extensive reading is a fancy way of saying reading for fun. The “extensive” implying that you want to read as much and as wide ranging as possible in the language you’re studying. Honestly I think you should just read whatever you want to read. Forcing yourself to read subjects you find boring because you think you should read them can be counter productive. The point is… Read More…

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Studying Japanese Through Translation

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There are a plethora of English translations of Japanese novels and out there. But is reading translations a good way to study Japanese? Can you learn Japanese effectively through translation? This article looks at some methods for studying Japanese through translation, and discusses if it’s an effective way to learn Japanese. This will only focus on studying Japanese language and NOT on studying Japanese translation. If you’re interested in studying Japanese translation I recommend checking out the J-En Translations blog.   Techniques for Studying Japanese Through Translation For this I tested these techniques on two books, If Cats Disappeared From the World and… Read More…

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5 Second Trick to Remembering Vocabulary When Reading Japanese

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Different people learn and remember information in different ways. This is obvious when you talk to different people about how they learn languages, such as Japanese. (I personally like using mnemonics but my spouse is a wizard an can “just remember” words… I’m not jealous…) Anyway, this is just one of many different methods you can use to remember vocabulary. It’s actually an incredibly quick trick I’ve been using when I read novels. (This is partially so I don’t spend so much time later drilling vocabulary with flashcards.) When I first come across a word I don’t know I try… Read More…

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How to Get from Intermediate to Advanced Japanese

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Many language learners hit this point around intermediate level where they feel like they’ve plateaued. It’s the same for Japanese learners, coming in at around JLPT N3 to N2 level. This point, where you feel yourself stagnating, is the time to change up your approach to studying Japanese! Here is how you get from intermediate to advanced levels with your Japanese learning.   70% Consume, 30% Study Up until the plateau, most of Japanese learners’ time is taken up by studying. Especially if they attend Japanese classes. This means focusing on a textbook, studying for tests, doing homework; all important… Read More…

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How to Remember Japanese Vocabulary

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Remembering new words can be difficult. Remembering new words in an entirely different language, can be an even greater challenge. Not to mention that Japanese is notorious for being a language that takes time to learn for English speakers. (Especially as the alphabet and cultural approach to the language is so different.) There is, however, a trick to remembering vocabulary, grammar, and kanji long-term without putting too much time in. (In other words, without having to drill vocabulary by writing it down twenty times on a piece of paper.) This trick is actually one you’ve probably already come across before…… Read More…

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Language Learning Tips from a Polyglot Conference

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I attended the Polyglot Conference 2019 in Fukuoka, Japan this last weekend. All the workshops and presentations were held by polyglots, people who know multiple languages. As a bilingual (and aspiring polyglot) I was really eager to find out how these amazing people learned their various languages. Here are my language learning takeaways from the various talks I attended.   Immersion Isn’t the Only Way Workshop by Rebecca Howie (co-host of Language Chats Podcast) Rebecca says you can “immerse” yourself in a language without having to visit another country. To do this, she suggested people create practical opportunities for themselves. Practical… Read More…

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Using Twitter for Japanese

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Social media can be a great tool for learning and practicing Japanese. Not just the language, but the culture and current affairs too. Actually it has so many benefits for learning and practicing Japanese that I don’t know why people don’t do it more often. This post will be focusing on Twitter, although can mostly apply to other social media like Facebook, YouTube, LINE, etc. Benefits of Twitter for Japanese Learn vocabulary and grammar specific to your own interests. See native interactions & natural language usage. Find out about current affairs. Make friends. Able to practice writing and reading.  … Read More…

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Get The Most Out of Language Exchange

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A while ago I set the first 3 month challenge for Speaking Japanese in 1 Year. A lot of it involves booking a speaking partner or teacher at least once a week (ideally twice) and practicing Japanese with them. Even as a brand new beginner this is doable. However many beginners might not know where to start or what to do, and put it off. This article was requested by a Patron on Patreon (ありがとう！) and covers how to get the most out of a language exchange. Whether you’re beginner, intermediate or advanced, these tips should help! Finding Language Partners First… Read More…

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Japanese Flashcards: Dealing With Backlogs

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As many readers of Japanese Talk Online know, I LOVE using Memrise. I use it practically every day for Japanese flashcards when I’m studying for a test. But there are often times when I won’t use it for a week, a month, or several months. This creates a lot of backlog of items to review, and seeing that long list of 2000+ words I need to review can be really daunting. This post will look at how to deal with huge review backlogs you often get with flashcard programs like Memrise and Anki.   How Spaced Repetition Flashcard Programs Work SRS,… Read More…

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How to Avoid Study Burnout

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It can be really exciting when you get started on a study binge. You’re feeling motivated. You have the time to study for a few hours a day. You’re storming through level after level on your flashcard program. Then you get burned out. Burnout can happen after studying for several hours or several days in a row. Your brain is a muscle and it’s not good to overworked it for long periods of time. When you over work it you can get headaches, feel tired and irritable. And in worse cases get migraines! This post will look at how to… Read More…

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Keeping a Diary in Japanese

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You may or may not have ever considered keeping a diary in Japanese. This is actually a really, really, great way to practice Japanese and learn new things! It doesn’t matter if you’ve just started or at an advanced level, keeping a diary is great for learning Japanese!   Why Should I Keep a Japanese Diary?   Improves writing. Improves memory. Introduces you to new words. You use more words relevant to you. Practice words you’ve learned.   What Kind of Diary Should I Use?   To be honest, anything that you know you will use on a regular basis.… Read More…

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The Minimum Japanese You Need to Know

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How much Japanese do you need to know? What Japanese do I need to know? These are tricky questions but ones that beginners really want to know. The following tries to answer these by clearly laying out the minimum Japanese you need to know.   The 80-20 Rule Ever heard of the Pareto Principle? Or maybe the 80-20 rule? To boil it down the idea is that 20% of the efforts bring in 80% of the results. In the context of Japanese you only need to know about 20% of the language to be able to get by 80% of the… Read More…

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Why You Shouldn’t Study 1 Hour A Week

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I have been studying Japanese for so long that I’ve gotten to the point where I don’t need to study too much (unless I have an exam coming up). So I haven’t felt what it’s like to be a beginner in a long time. Then I started learning Korean and my early days of Japanese came flooding back. When I started learning Japanese it was before the era of smart phones and easy-to-make websites. Which surprisingly enough wasn’t that long ago! I would spend 1 hour a week with a teacher and then would sometimes study on my own and… Read More…

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How to Draw Kanji

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by Gabriel from Koipun Why learn to draw Kanji? In the era smartphones and computers, is it still worth it to learn how to draw kanji i.e. Japanese handwriting? Nowadays even native Japanese speakers are having a hard time maintaining their handwriting skills. Why should a Japanese learner bother with handwriting? There are actually several great reasons why you should learn Japanese handwriting in this day and age. It is magic. Being able to write kanji by hand from memory feels like being able to cast magic spells, and it is! Being able to write out so many different characters by… Read More…

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The Benefits of Studying in Japan

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A lot of people who learn Japanese do it in their home country. Which is great, but they often never consider actually studying it in Japan. Visiting Japan, sure, but never to go for a long period to study it. But there are so many benefits from studying in Japan! It was my friend who suggested we studied in Japan and I’ve studied there two more times since then! I loved it so much, it’s well worth going if you’re serious about Japanese. NOTE: It seems like many people think I’m talking about studying at University in Japan. But no! There… Read More…

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10 Ways to Study Japanese After You’ve Stopped

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Sometimes when you’ve been studying Japanese for a while you just stop. Often for seemingly no reason. A day goes by, then a week, then a month, then 6 months without learning anything. Even I’ve been guilty of this! It can be really difficult to pick up learning a language after you’ve stopped studying for a while. Often this is because it starts to feel like a chore… but you know you need to keep studying… but studying is boring… So what’s the best way to study Japanese after you’ve stopped?   Here are 10 ways to study Japanese after you’ve… Read More…

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Study Japanese When You’re Busy

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Studying another language can be a challenge, especially when you’re busy. Even just sitting down for even 20 minutes a day can be hard! But it’s really not impossible. Here are some tricks to help study Japanese when you’re busy.   1. Label Everything This is a great trick when you’re starting out. Label all the objects in your house/office in Japanese. Don’t write the English, just the Japanese. That way you can read the Japanese for those objects every day. It doesn’t take long to label things and it’s great practice. You can even cover the labels with another… Read More…

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I Don’t Have Time to Study Japanese

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“I want to learn Japanese, but don’t have the time to study.” Have you ever said this to yourself? Have you thought about studying Japanese but then it’s suddenly 10pm and you did nothing? Yeah, we’ve all been there. Sometimes it’s hard to put aside the time to study. Especially everyday! You have real life stuff getting in the way like that one TV show, or school, or work. At least… that’s what you tell yourself. If you really, really, really want to learn Japanese then here are some suggestions for fitting it into your busy life. – Find Little… Read More…

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Achieving Japanese Goals

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Happy New Year!!! With the new year we all set ourselves goals. I want to learn Japanese, to pass the JLPT, to be able to read a manga. I’ve had similar goals in the past, but actually achieving Japanese goals has never gone quite as planned. There can be a number of reasons for this. The following is suggestions for achieving Japanese goals in 2017! Break Down Your Goals Saying “I want to teach myself Japanese” is a great goal! Buuut it’s not easy to achieve because it is so big. Even saying something like “I want to read manga” can… Read More…

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How Not to Use Memrise

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How not to use memrise

Memrise is one of my favorite tools for studying Japanese. That’s well known to people who have read previous Japanese Talk articles. I’ve created many courses for others through JTalkOnline as well as lists for my own study. What is Memrise? For those that don’t know, Memrise is a free online community created flashcard program with spaced repetition software. You are rewarded for studying by gaining points, and can compare your points to others. Because the courses are created by the community there are a HUGE number of courses for Japanese (and other languages). Some are made by people like myself… Read More…

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More Tips for Studying for the JLPT N1

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Over a year ago I wrote Tips for Studying for the JLPT N1 and Tips for When you Take the JLPT N1. The I gave general studying advice as well as what to look out for and tips for taking the exam. This post is all about some useful resources for studying for the JLPT N1. As I said before, I’ve noticed that some people find the N1 very easy and others find it a real challenge. Everyone learns differently and work differently, so some of what I’m suggesting will work for you, some might not. — How to Get Your Bases Covered+… Read More…

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Videos About Learning Languages

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Often in the process of studying Japanese I’ll hit a point where I need inspiration and advice to get me motivated again. The best thing for that are videos about learning languages. This post looks at some of the best inspirational and useful videos for learning languages and a breakdown of their core lessons (an idea I got after Japan Therapy posted one on her facebook page). These videos mostly talk about learning a language through speaking it to the point where you can have conversations in a foreign language. I’ve written down their core tips but do watch every… Read More…

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Video Game Japanese

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When I was 11 my sister got our very first video game, Final Fantasy IX. Little did I know it would greatly shape me to be who I am today. I’m sure many people who fall in love with video games have found the same thing, but for those who fall in love with Japanese video games, it can be so much more. For many it’s not anime or manga which is their gateway drug to studying Japanese language and culture, but video games. And for many of these people, being able to understand games in Japanese is the sole… Read More…

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Best Japanese Study Resources

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There are a lot of lists like this on the internet yet quite often I find they only list the most popular resources, not the best Japanese study resources. The following list are some of the best Japanese study resources that I have personally used in the last 10 years of studying Japanese that I highly recommend to anyone (not including dictionaries). I find that as you study what resources you find useful will constantly change, so it’s always good to research what will suit you best for that time. If you have any suggestions feel free to post them… Read More…

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The Importance of Using Japanese

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Do you find that no matter how much you study, no matter how many days in a row, how many hours you spend a day or points you rack up with apps like Memrise, that you don’t feel like you’re progressing? Maybe it’s because you’re studying Japanese but not using it? This blog covers the importance of using Japanese, now just studying it. In a previous post called Why Repetition is Important I talked about the importance of studying little and often, which focused on the practice of studying Japanese. In fact, most of J-Talk focuses on studying Japanese whether… Read More…

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I’m Afraid of Kanji

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I’ve noticed that lots of people want to start learning Japanese but the prospect of kanji is intimidating. A lot of people tell me they’re afraid of kanji, and don’t want to learn it! It’s not like hiragana and katakana which seems simple and phonetic. There are lots of lines and shapes, and the idea of having to memorize over 2000 is even more frightening. But you don’t have to be afraid of kanji, and once you start studying you might even find it fun!   Take Baby Steps No one’s saying to need to learn all 2000 in one… Read More…

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Tips for Studying for the JLPT N1

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For those that probably aren’t aware, I took the JLPT N1 exam a few weeks ago (July 2015). This was the first time I’ve taken the exam. I took the N2 in July 2013 in Japan and managed to scrape by it. I felt like I was significantly better prepared for this exam compared to the N2 and yet felt like the N1 had decided to clean house and use my face as the mob. It was painful. Whether I failed or managed to skim a pass I won’t know until September. But either way I plan on re-taking the… Read More…

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JLPT – Hitting the Wall

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With only two and a half weeks before the JLPT for July 2015 some of you may be feeling a number of things. Stress, anxiety, boredom. Keeping yourself motivated is something I’ve written about in the past but I feel like at this point it would help to go over some points, and bring forth some new ones specifically for the JLPT.   First of all DON’T PANIC You’re probably behind schedule and have found another 100 things or more that you need to study, but first thing is not to panic. Panicking causes stress and anxiety which begins to interfere… Read More…

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Being “Fluent” In Japanese

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“What does it mean to be fluent in Japanese?”   When I tell people I speak Japanese they often ask “are you fluent?” to which I often reply “no, not yet”. Yet I’ve been thinking more about this question, and realised that what you define as “fluent” can vary from person to person.  According to Google the definition for “fluent” is: 1. able to express oneself easily and articulately. 2. smoothly graceful and effortless. I mentioned before on the Why Repetition is Important post, that to me getting to the point where you can do something without even thinking about it, is fluent.… Read More…

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How To Make a Memrise Course

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  [I have two translation exams coming up in the next few days so I had to put my originally planned post on hold while I whipped this up super quick. Sorry about this, but hope people find it useful anyway!] It’s amazing how well a lot of the J-Talk Online Memrise courses are doing. I’m thrilled to see so many people using it to learn Japanese. Since I started creating courses in March 2014 (over a year ago!) I’ve made 20 courses with the most popular courses being the Anime Japanese for Beginners, Beginners Japanese Grammar 1, Japanese Counters… Read More…

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