Why to learn Japanese, where to start, and how to build your pronunciation, hiragana, katakana, and kanji the right way.
Hi guys, it’s me, Fumito Emi! Today we’re going to talk about how to learn Japanese. Since I’m a native Japanese speaker, I will share my perspective as a native speaker, and I will talk about the mistakes that most foreigners make.
If you are just starting out, you can also read our JLPT N5 preparation checklist and visit reading-japanese.com for more beginner resources.
Table of Contents
- Why Learn Japanese?
- Where to Start
- Pronunciation
- Talk to Native Speakers (HelloTalk)
- Hiragana and Katakana
- Kanji
- Summary: 5 Steps
Why Learn Japanese?
Before talking about tips, let’s talk about why to learn Japanese.
1. To Enjoy Anime Without Subtitles
I think this is the most common one. When I look at English, Turkish, German, or other subtitles, most of them cannot really represent the anime itself. It kind of changes the meaning. I think watching anime without subtitles is the best thing you can ever do in your life.
Also, anime characters have certain ways of talking, and this really builds up their character. How they talk and how they say things really shows their personality.
For example, in JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, which is my all-time favorite anime (if you haven’t watched it, just watch it), the way the characters talk is really different from day-to-day life and from other anime as well. In JoJo, every character says “janaika”. In Japanese we normally say it in a different, more casual way, but in JoJo the characters use it on purpose, and it makes them so different from other anime.
If you are a native speaker or fluent in Japanese, you will understand JoJo 100%, even if you are reading subtitles. If you are a foreigner who doesn’t understand Japanese or Japanese culture, you will understand maybe 50% of it. Still, a lot of people enjoy JoJo and other anime with subtitles. If you enjoy anime with subtitles at, let’s say, 5 out of 10, you will enjoy it without subtitles at 10 out of 10. It is so different to watch anime with subtitles versus actually understanding Japanese. So if you love anime, I would highly, highly recommend learning Japanese, because it will change the whole experience.
2. To Visit or Travel to Japan
If you are planning to visit or travel to Japan after this whole situation ends, I recommend you learn a little bit of Japanese here and there, like some emergency phrases. Japanese people will appreciate your effort to speak Japanese, and they will help you 10 times better when you talk in Japanese. When you ask something in English, they will probably be scared. Not because they are ignorant, but because they are shy when it comes to English. So before visiting Japan, I recommend you learn a little bit of Japanese, because I’m sure it will help you.
3. For Work or Academic Purposes
If you are learning for work or academic purposes, you really have to make sure that you know keigo, the way you show respect when you talk in Japanese. It is very hard, and I think it will be really, really hard for you, but keep going. You have that!
Where to Start
When it comes to learning Japanese, it is really important to know hiragana, katakana, and kanji. So where to start?
I would highly, highly recommend you start from your pronunciation, and learn hiragana and katakana at the same time, because they show you how to pronounce things.
Don’t ever study Japanese in romaji (the Latin alphabet), because it will change your pronunciation.
I think pronunciation is the most, most, most important thing when it comes to learning a language. Don’t rush to learn kanji first, because even for Japanese people it takes years and years to learn kanji. Pronunciation, katakana, and hiragana are the really, really important things if you want to improve your Japanese pronunciation.
New to the writing system? Start with our 100 hiragana words and the complete katakana guide.
Pronunciation
As everybody knows, watching anime, YouTube videos, listening to Japanese songs, and watching Ghibli movies are pretty good ways to learn Japanese and make your pronunciation better. In anime and Ghibli movies you can hear the voice actors talking pretty clearly. Their pronunciation is 10 out of 10, so you can really learn from them.
But there is a problem with learning Japanese from anime and movies: most of the words they use are not the words we use daily as Japanese people. For example, not a lot of people say “nantoka” or things like that. These are words that were used in Japanese in the past. It really depends on what type of anime you watch, but most of the time the way they talk in anime is for making things fun, so most Japanese people, of course, don’t talk that way.
For vocabulary and pronunciation, watching movies and anime is very, very important in my opinion. But to learn Japanese in a proper way, it is really important to interact with native speakers.
Talk to Native Speakers
But how do you interact with Japanese native speakers? It is really hard these days to travel to Japan because of the whole situation. It is also really expensive, because Japan is a pretty expensive country in my opinion, especially if you are coming from a country like Turkey.
So what can you do instead? You can find native speakers online. The thing I like about my generation is that the internet is everywhere and everybody can use it. The best and most affordable way to talk with native speakers is to use a language app.
Today’s Sponsor: HelloTalk
Today’s sponsor is HelloTalk. I’m thanking them for sponsoring my video. So what is HelloTalk? HelloTalk is a free app with more than 150 languages. You can find Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Turkish, German, English, Arabic, whatever language you want to learn.
With HelloTalk you can:
- Chat with native speakers
- Have phone calls
- Send voice messages
- Get AI checking of your pronunciation and grammar in the chat, so when you talk with a native speaker, the AI automatically shows the right way to say the sentence
- Post on the timeline, for example a voice recording to ask “is my pronunciation right?”, and somebody will comment and help you
- Get private lessons from native speaker teachers
I’m thanking HelloTalk for sponsoring this video. Go and check it out, it’s a free app. I think it’s awesome, I think it’s amazing!
I realized that I haven’t talked in Japanese in this video, so let me talk a little bit in Japanese so I can prove that I’m a native speaker. π
Hiragana and Katakana
So how do you learn hiragana and katakana? I think you can learn them in just one day. It doesn’t take that much time. The only thing you have to do is really to practice, practice, and practice. They are not that hard.
What is the difference between hiragana and katakana?
Hiragana is the basic alphabet that we use. We don’t only use hiragana. We combine it with kanji and with katakana. Hiragana and katakana are actually the same kind of thing (they both represent the same sounds), but katakana is the alphabet used for foreign words.
For example, coffee in Japanese is γ³γΌγγΌ (kohi). In the video, I wrote it in both hiragana and katakana: the upper one is hiragana and the lower one is katakana.
Don’t rush with kanji. We will get there, but first learn hiragana and katakana and make your pronunciation better.
Kanji
I got a lot of questions asking, “Do I really need to learn kanji?” My answer is: it really depends on your purpose for learning Japanese.
- For fun, or for understanding anime and movies: you don’t necessarily need to learn kanji.
- To read something in Japanese, or to use Japanese in Japan: then you really have to learn kanji.
But you don’t have to rush. First, improve your pronunciation, hiragana, and katakana, communicate with native speakers, and make Japanese a habit in your daily life. Daily practice is really important. Do that first, and after that, worry about kanji.
Even for Japanese people, it takes years and years to learn kanji. I searched it real quick: to read a newspaper, you have to know about 1,800 kanji. It doesn’t mean you will be able to read every single piece of news, but you will understand most of the newspaper. So you need around a thousand and eight hundred kanji to get there.
When it comes to kanji, practice is really important. There are a lot of kanji with the same pronunciation but different meanings. The way to understand this is to use kanji in daily life, which you can do with HelloTalk. When you chat with a native speaker, you will automatically pick kanji, and it will improve your ability to select the right one.
It is also important to write, write, write, and write, and use them daily. Even me, I’m not really good at kanji. I can read kanji, but I cannot really write them, because I don’t use them daily. I just type. When I type, of course I can choose the right kanji, but I cannot remember the kanji itself. Do I have any difficulties in Japan? Absolutely not. Your phone will help you. I type in Japanese, look for the kanji, and write the same thing.
If you are learning for work or academic purposes, I would highly recommend that you learn kanji, practice them, and use them daily. There are no shortcuts to learn kanji. But as I said, if you are learning for anime or movies, you don’t really need them.
I can make a whole video about learning kanji better, how to read in Japanese, and how to watch anime or movies and listen to songs effectively. If you guys want it, let me know in the comments below!
For more kanji help, see our guides on kanji radicals, the Joyo kanji list, and the best kanji learning apps.
Summary: 5 Steps
So let’s summarize this post.
- Screw romaji. Skip the Latin alphabet and learn hiragana and katakana instead.
- Focus on your pronunciation. While you focus on it, learn hiragana and katakana at the same time. Never use romaji, learn like Japanese people.
- Watch anime, movies, and J-dramas, and listen to songs while you practice pronunciation and vocabulary. J-dramas are pretty good, they’re pretty sweet.
- Interact with native speakers. Use HelloTalk to chat, make phone calls, and post on the timeline, and use a translator. Focus on your grammar and your kanji too.
- Learn kanji. Practice, write, write, write, and use them daily. Type in Japanese, read in Japanese, write in Japanese. Just make Japanese a part of your life.
That’s the summary! As I said, if you want a post or video about how to read in Japanese or how to watch anime effectively, let me know in the comments below. I’ll probably make one about that. I hope you find this helpful, and see you in my next one. Bye for now, bye!
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