I love listening to podcasts in Japanese. They’re such great tools for improving your listening! But if you’ve never used podcasts before then you might be a little overwhelmed by the number of podcasts out there. Here are my recommended
Podcasts are great for studying Japanese! You can find podcasts on pretty much any subject. From video games to knitting, from culture to novels, from the latest news, to ancient history. Of course you can find these in English, but
I love the Japanese Kanji Study app on Android. I’ve had it for so many years I can’t remember when I started using it! The UI is smooth, aesthetically pleasing, and easy to use. The information available is diverse—you can
Some people remember languages really easily, but I feel like most people (like myself) struggle to keep things we’ve learned in our brains. I’ve started learning another language from scratch and I’m reminded just how difficult it is to transfer
Having a goal for studying Japanese can be a help or a hinder. Some people swear by goal setting, and by telling the whole world about your goals. I used to be one of these people but found that eventually
Immersive learning is basically learning from Japanese materials made for native Japanese speakers. Some people will suggest you spend you daily life immersed in the language, which you can do, but there are techniques for learning from immersion without spending
The wonders of the internet means it’s incredibly easy to find a Japanese teacher online now. When I started I went to my teacher’s house, but in the last five years I have used numerous Japanese teachers online. (Mostly through
Sadly there’s no magical way to plug vocabulary into your brain and learn it instantly. (I really wish there was.) Some effort is still required, but it’s worth it in the long run because more vocabulary means it’s easier to
I love drilling Japanese. Personally, I find the “hands on” method of learning better than rote learning. In other words, I’m a kinesthetic learner. I like using Japanese, so when I study it I find speaking with a Japanese teacher
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
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
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
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
The majority of Japanese Talk articles focus on “Tips & Tricks” to study Japanese. These focus on study methods for improving speaking or reading, or studying in general if you’re busy, etc. Memrise is normally my go-to learning app for
When I started learning Japanese I drilled vocabulary, grammar and kanji. In my young mind language = words. For many years that was all I focused on, figuring that listening and reading was only achievable from learning this core information.
If you’re anything like me and you struggle to improve your reading then you want to get Tango Risto. I have always struggled with reading comprehension. It is the hardest part of the Japanese Language Proficiency Test and a must
I was at a convention the other day talking about how beginners can learn Japanese for anime and manga. At the end one person asked me. “I was thinking of starting Japanese with Rosetta Stone, but is it worth the
It’s incredibly easy to constantly think “I’ll do this later” and then not. Then the day ends and you haven’t studied. Then the week, then, if you’re not careful, the month! It’s incredibly easy to do. Sometimes you don’t even
This is a step-by-step guide from complete beginners who want to challenge themselves to speaking fluently within 1 year. This is aimed at beginners but these techniques can be picked up by anyone who wants to speak Japanese fluently. These
I have always been a firm believer of the importance of combining study and using Japanese. Actually, that’s a lie. I used to be very lazy when it came to using Japanese but enjoyed studying immensely. It’s only in recent
The JLPT is finally over! You’ve slogged for months and months (or at least weeks and weeks?) studying vocabulary, kanji, grammar. You challenged yourself and whether you pass or failed you did it! Now it’s the winter holidays, your life
Pronouncing is a huge part of speaking Japanese. You can speak Japanese but if you can’t say it with a clear accent then native people are going to have trouble understanding you. They can still understand you most of the
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
Speaking Japanese can be particularly frustrating for all levels if you don’t practice it. But it often feels like a catch 22. You don’t feel good enough to speak it, so you never practice, which means you don’t feel good
This is a great tool to help you teach yourself Japanese for free! I made this half for the Speak Japanese Fluently in Just 1 Year Challenge! (Part 1) and half for someone else. It lays out 14 weeks (3.5
Learning Japanese particles as a beginner is a MASSIVE pain in the butt! There are LOTS of guides online for how to use them, but they’re not very useful all the time. Sometimes the explanations are too complicated as they
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,
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
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
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