Learning Japanese
Where to start, how to study and the building blocks of Japanese: kana, kanji, grammar and pronunciation.
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What’s the Best Way to Learn Japanese? A Plan for Your Goal
The best way to learn Japanese: start from your goal, combine a structured course, daily review, input and speaking practice, with a sample week and common mistakes to avoid.
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Casual vs Polite Japanese: When to Use Desu/Masu
Plain vs desu/masu Japanese: who gets which style, how to switch from polite to casual, common contractions like -teru and -chau, and where keigo fits.
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Free Japanese Trial Lesson: What Happens and How to Prepare
What happens in a free Japanese trial lesson, whether you need to prepare, what to look for in a tutor, and how to choose one-to-one or group lessons afterwards.
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Getting Back into Japanese After a Break: How to Restart Without Starting Over
Returning to Japanese after years away? What you keep and lose, how to check your level, where to restart and a four-week plan to get your Japanese back.
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How to Get the Most Out of Your Japanese Lessons
Practical tips to make Japanese lessons pay off: setting a concrete goal, what to bring, how to speak more in class, how to review between lessons and how to check your progress.
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Giving and Receiving in Japanese: Ageru, Kureru and Morau
When to use ageru, kureru and morau in Japanese, how direction and “your side” decide the verb, the polite forms (sashiageru, kudasaru, itadaku), favours with ~te kureru and ~te morau, and the most common mistakes.
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Handwriting a Japanese Letter When You Don’t Read Japanese Yet
How to handwrite a letter in Japanese: getting a copy-friendly text from a translator, choosing letter paper and pens, copying vertical writing neatly, signing, folding and sending.
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How Long Does It Take to Learn Japanese?
How long does Japanese really take to learn? Realistic stages from kana to working proficiency, and the study habits that speed you up or slow you down.
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How Many Japanese Words Do You Need? Vocabulary by Goal and JLPT Level
Roughly how many Japanese words you need for travel, daily life, conversation, work and each JLPT level, which words to learn first and how fast you can learn them.
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How Much Do Japanese Lessons Cost? What Affects the Price and How to Get Value
What drives the price of Japanese lessons: private vs group, tutor vs school, online vs in person and specialist lessons, plus our prices and how to judge value.
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How Many Japanese Lessons a Week Do You Need?
How often to take Japanese lessons for your goal, why spacing beats cramming, 30 vs 60-minute lessons, what to do between lessons and signs you need more or fewer.
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How to Become Fluent in Japanese: What It Takes and a Realistic Path
What fluency in Japanese means, how long it takes for English speakers, a three-stage path, the habits of learners who get there and whether you can do it outside Japan.
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How to Choose a Japanese Tutor: What to Look For and What to Ask
How to choose a Japanese tutor: start from your goal, what matters in a tutor, questions to ask before booking, getting the most from a trial lesson, and red flags to watch for.
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How to Improve Your Japanese Writing: Practice, Corrections and Style
How to improve your Japanese writing: choosing the kind of writing you need, writing little and often, getting corrections, model texts, linking words, style and typing vs handwriting.
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How to Learn Kanji Without Getting Overwhelmed
A calmer way to learn kanji: break characters into radicals, learn them inside real words, use spaced repetition wisely, and let reading do the heavy lifting.
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How to Say No in Japanese Politely: Soft Refusals for Friends and Work
Why a direct no sounds strong in Japanese, soft phrases like chotto and kekkō desu, declining invitations, saying no at work, and how to recognise a polite refusal.
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How to Start Reading in Japanese: A Path from Beginner to Novels
When and how to start reading in Japanese: a reading path by level, intensive and extensive reading, useful tools and tips for building reading speed and confidence.
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How to Think in Japanese Instead of Translating
Why translating in your head slows you down, six daily habits that build Japanese thinking, how to work around missing words, and how long it usually takes.
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How to Type in Japanese on Your Phone and Computer
How to set up a Japanese keyboard on Windows, Mac, iPhone and Android, the romaji typing rules that confuse beginners, choosing kanji, and the flick keyboard.
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How to Write a Letter in Japanese: Structure, Openings and Politeness
How a Japanese letter is structured: opening and closing word pairs like haikei and keigu, the seasonal greeting, the main text and sign-off, and how politeness changes with the reader.
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Intensive Japanese Lessons: What a Crash Course Can Achieve in a Few Weeks
What you can realistically learn in a few weeks of intensive Japanese lessons, who it suits, how to structure a crash course, and how to keep what you learn.
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Stuck at Intermediate Japanese? How to Break Through the Plateau
Why Japanese learners plateau at intermediate level and how to break through: more native input, using the grammar you know, concrete goals and how a tutor helps.
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Is Japanese Hard to Learn? An Honest Guide for English Speakers
Is Japanese hard for English speakers? What's easier than you think, what's genuinely hard (kanji, word order, keigo, listening) and what makes learning Japanese easier.
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Japanese Adjectives: I-Adjectives and Na-Adjectives Explained
How Japanese i-adjectives and na-adjectives work, with conjugation tables for negative and past forms, the irregular いい, joining adjectives and common mistakes.
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Japanese Conditionals Explained: To, Ba, Tara and Nara
When to use と, ば, たら and なら for “if” in Japanese, how to form each one, the mistakes learners make most and how to practise until the right one comes naturally.
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Japanese Conversation Practice: How to Improve Your Speaking Outside Japan
How to practise Japanese conversation online when you don't live in Japan: tutors, language exchange, shadowing, self-talk, structuring lessons and how to stop freezing.
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Getting Your Japanese Writing Corrected: Essays, Diaries and Exam Answers
How to get Japanese essays and writing corrected by a native speaker so you actually improve: what correction covers, what to send, coursework rules, AI tools and proofreading.
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Japanese Family Words: Haha or Okāsan? Talking About Your Family and Theirs
Humble and polite Japanese family words, what families call each other at home, words for husband and wife, in-laws, and the mistakes learners make most often.
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Japanese Flashcards and Spaced Repetition: How to Use Them Well
How spaced repetition (SRS) works for Japanese vocabulary and kanji, how to make good flashcards, how many new cards to add a day and the mistakes that make learners quit.
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Learning Japanese as a Chinese Speaker: What’s Easy, What’s Hard
How Mandarin and Cantonese speakers can use their kanji head start, the grammar, readings and false friends that still trip them up, and how to study so speaking keeps up with reading.
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Japanese for YouTubers, Streamers and Content Creators
Japanese for creators who want a Japanese audience: channel greetings and sign-offs, talking to viewers in live chat, titles and tags Japanese viewers search for, subtitles, collaborations and cultural points.
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Japanese for French Speakers: What’s Easier and What to Watch
What French speakers find easier in Japanese (tu/vous and politeness, pure vowels, French loanwords) and what takes practice: the h sound, the Japanese r, long vowels, word order and kanji.
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Japanese for German Speakers: What’s Easier and What to Watch
Learning Japanese as a German speaker: why verb-final clauses, case-like particles, compound words and vowel length give you a head start, and the sounds, pitch and politeness levels to practise.
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Japanese for Heritage Learners: Lessons for People Who Grew Up with Japanese
Why standard courses rarely fit heritage speakers of Japanese, what heritage-focused lessons cover, common goals, and tips for parents raising children with Japanese.
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Japanese for Homeschoolers: A Practical Plan for Families
How homeschool families can teach Japanese without speaking it at home: a sample first year, tips for parents, credit and the JLPT, and how online lessons with a native tutor fit in.
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Learning Japanese as a Korean Speaker: Head Starts and Traps
Why Japanese is easier for Korean speakers (word order, particles, shared vocabulary), the sounds, kanji and false friends that still cause trouble, and how to study efficiently.
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Japanese for Martial Arts Students: Dojo Words, Phrases and Training in Japan
Japanese for karate, judo, aikido and kendo students: what dojo words really mean, how to pronounce them, phrases for every session, counting and how to prepare for training in Japan.
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Japanese for Spanish Speakers: What’s Easier and What to Watch
Is Japanese easier for Spanish speakers? The sounds are: five similar vowels and clear syllables. What transfers from Spanish, what doesn’t (word order, the r sound, long vowels, politeness) and how to study.
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Japanese for Tea Ceremony, Ikebana and Calligraphy Students
The Japanese you need to study a traditional art: polite phrases for lessons, tea ceremony greetings, ikebana and calligraphy vocabulary, and how lessons with a Japanese teacher work.
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Japanese Greetings: Hello, Good Morning and the Phrases You’ll Use Every Day
Essential Japanese greetings by time of day, meeting someone new, everyday set phrases like itadakimasu and otsukaresama, saying goodbye and bowing.
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How to Improve Your Japanese Handwriting: Stroke Order, Balance and Practice
The basic stroke order rules, the three stroke endings (tome, hane, harai), common handwriting problems with fixes, a ten-minute daily routine and how to get feedback online.
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Japanese Homework Help for School and University Students
How a Japanese tutor helps with homework without doing it for the student: particles, verb forms, kanji, essays and speaking tasks, for school and university courses.
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Japanese Honorifics Explained: San, Sama, Kun, Chan, Sensei and Senpai
How to use Japanese honorifics: -san as the safe default, -sama for customers and letters, -kun and -chan, titles like sensei and senpai, and the rules learners often miss.
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Japanese Katakana Loanwords: Sound Rules, False Friends and Wasei Eigo
Why English words sound different in Japanese, the sound rules behind katakana loanwords, shortened words, false friends like mansion and claim, and made-in-Japan English.
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Online Japanese Lessons from the US, UK, Europe or Australia: Time Zones and Scheduling
Time differences between Japan and North America, the UK, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Asia, the lesson times that usually work, and how to set up a schedule you can keep.
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Japanese Lessons for Beginners: Your First Lessons and First Month
What Japanese lessons for complete beginners look like: what you learn first, a sample first month, how to prepare, what to ask a tutor and common beginner worries.
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Japanese Lessons for Couples: Learning Together or Separately
How couples can learn Japanese together: shared lessons for two vs separate one-to-one lessons, what a lesson for two looks like, practising at home and what to do when you learn at different speeds.
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Learning Japanese as a Family: Lessons for Parents and Children
How families can learn Japanese together: shared or separate lessons for parents and children, daily Japanese habits at home, keeping everyone motivated, and planning around a move, a trip or Japanese grandparents.
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Online Japanese Lessons for Kids and Teens: What Works at Each Age
How children and teenagers learn Japanese online with a native tutor: lesson length and focus by age, heritage learners, school exams and how parents can help.
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Learning Japanese with Dyslexia or ADHD: How Lessons Can Fit You
Can you learn Japanese with dyslexia or ADHD? Yes. Why spoken Japanese and kana can be easier than you expect, how to approach kanji, and how one-to-one lessons can be shaped around the way you focus and read.
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Japanese Numbers and Counters: A Practical Guide
Learn Japanese numbers, man (10,000) and the counters you need first: tsu, nin, mai, hon, ko and hiki, plus how to say prices, tell the time and read dates.
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Japanese Onomatopoeia: Giongo and Gitaigo You’ll Hear Every Day
What Japanese onomatopoeia are, the everyday words to learn first, food textures, describing pain at the doctor, how to use them in a sentence and how to learn them.
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Japanese Particles Explained: は, が, を, に, で and More
What Japanese particles do, with a table of the common ones and examples, plus simple ways to tell は from が and に from で so your sentences sound natural.
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Japanese Passive and Causative Forms: Rareru, Saseru and Saserareru
How to form and use the Japanese passive (rareru), the causative (saseru) and the causative-passive (saserareru), with the suffering passive, work phrases like omatase shimashita, and common mistakes.
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Japanese Pitch Accent: What It Is and How to Learn It
What Japanese pitch accent is, the four basic patterns with examples like hashi (chopsticks, bridge, edge), how much it matters and how to train your ear and get feedback.
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Japanese Pronunciation Guide: Vowels, Rhythm and Pitch
Learn Japanese pronunciation: the five vowels, long vowels, small っ, ん and pitch accent, with minimal pairs that show why rhythm matters more than accent.
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Japanese Seasonal Greetings for Letters: Month-by-Month Phrases
The seasonal greeting (jikō no aisatsu) that opens a Japanese letter, with formal and warm phrases for every month, letters that skip it, and seasonal cards like nengajō and shochū mimai.
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How to Introduce Yourself in Japanese (Jikoshōkai)
How to give a Japanese self-introduction: hajimemashite, yoroshiku onegai shimasu, useful phrases, casual and business versions, and sample introductions.
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Japanese Sentence Structure: Word Order, Particles and Leaving Things Out
How Japanese sentences work: the verb comes last, particles mark each word’s role, descriptions go before the noun, obvious words are dropped and questions just add ka.
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Japanese Shadowing: How to Do It and Why It Works
What shadowing is, why it improves Japanese listening, pronunciation and speaking speed, a seven-step method, how to choose audio and the mistakes that stop it working.
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A Weekly Japanese Study Routine for Busy Adults
A simple weekly routine for learning Japanese around work and family: short daily sessions, a sample week, using small gaps, measurable goals and getting back on track.
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Japanese Tattoo Translation: Check It Before You Ink It
How to get a Japanese tattoo right: the most common translation mistakes, kanji vs hiragana vs katakana, fonts and strokes, what to ask a native checker and tattoos in Japan.
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The Japanese Te-Form: How to Make It and 8 Ways to Use It
How to make the Japanese te-form for every verb group (the って, んで, いて and して rules, plus 行く), and the eight everyday patterns it unlocks: requests, -ing, linking actions, permission, rules, trying, after and regret.
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Japanese Transitive and Intransitive Verbs: Akeru vs Aku and Other Pairs
How Japanese transitive and intransitive verb pairs work (akeru/aku, shimeru/shimaru, kesu/kieru), the を and が rule, patterns that help you guess, ~te iru vs ~te aru, and why Japanese describes accidents with intransitive verbs.
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Japanese Tutor vs Language School: Which Is Right for You?
An honest comparison of Japanese language schools and private or online tutors: schedule, pace, speaking time, content, cost, and when to combine the two.
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Japanese Tutoring for University Students: Keeping Up, Oral Exams and a Year Abroad
How a Japanese tutor helps university students: keeping up with fast courses, oral exams, presentations, kanji tests and preparing for a year abroad, without crossing academic integrity lines.
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Japanese Verb Conjugation Basics: Masu Form, Plain Form and Te-Form
A beginner’s guide to Japanese verbs: masu vs plain form, the three verb groups, negative, past and the te-form, with a table of the key patterns.
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Kansai-ben and Japanese Dialects: What Learners Should Know
Should you learn a Japanese dialect? Kansai-ben essentials compared with standard Japanese, other dialects like Hakata-ben, and how to learn to understand them.
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Keeping a Japanese Diary: How to Start and Get It Corrected
Writing a short Japanese diary (nikki) every day is one of the easiest ways to improve your writing and grammar. How to start with three sentences, a simple template, plain or polite form, a sample entry and how to get corrections.
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Language Exchange vs Japanese Tutor: Which Is Better for You?
How a free language exchange compares with a paid Japanese tutor on structure, corrections and progress, when each one works best, and how to combine them.
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How to Learn Japanese with Anime, Dramas and Podcasts
Use anime, dramas, YouTube and podcasts to learn Japanese: choosing content for your level, a subtitle strategy, shadowing, and phrases to avoid in real life.
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Learning Japanese with Video Games: What Works and What to Watch Out For
How to learn Japanese from video games: why they work, which games suit each level, a simple play-and-learn routine, “game Japanese” to avoid copying and why you still need speaking practice.
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Is It Too Late to Learn Japanese? Learning in Your 40s, 50s, 60s and Beyond
Why it is never too late to learn Japanese: myths about age, the advantages adult learners have, methods that work, and tips for online lessons.
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Online Japanese Lessons: What to Expect and How to Get the Most from Them
What online Japanese lessons over video are like: whether they work as well as in person, what you need, a typical lesson plan, your first lesson, tips for progress and how often to take lessons.
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Afraid to Speak Japanese? How to Overcome Speaking Anxiety
Why speaking Japanese feels harder than reading, phrases that buy you time, a step-by-step way to build confidence and how one-to-one lessons help nervous learners start talking.
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Private vs Group Japanese Lessons: Which Is Right for You?
Private or group Japanese lessons? A side-by-side comparison of speaking time, pace, cost and scheduling, when each works best, options for companies, and how to combine both.
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How to Read Japanese News: Where to Start at Your Level
When you can start reading the news in Japanese, which news to read at N4, N3, N2 and N1, how headline Japanese works (〜へ, 〜か, 見通し), and a 20-minute routine that builds reading and speaking.
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Singing in Japanese: Pronunciation Tips for Singers and Choirs
How to sing a Japanese song convincingly: the five pure vowels, long vowels and small っ, tricky consonants, bidakuon, understanding the lyrics and a preparation plan for performers.
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When to Switch Japanese Tutors (and How to Do It Without Losing Progress)
Signs it’s time to change your Japanese tutor, how to tell your current tutor politely, what to tell a new one so you don’t start from zero, and how to use a trial lesson to choose well.
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Texting in Japanese: LINE Messages, Abbreviations and Stamps
How Japanese friends text: LINE, casual messages that sound natural, abbreviations like ryo and w, stamps and kaomoji, read receipts, and when to switch back to polite Japanese.
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How to Say Thank You and Sorry in Japanese: Arigatō, Sumimasen and More
When to use arigatō, arigatō gozaimasu, sumimasen, gomen nasai and mōshiwake arimasen, the many jobs of sumimasen, how to reply, and apologising at work.
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How to Understand Spoken Japanese at Natural Speed
Why spoken Japanese feels fast and how to train your listening: common contractions, a daily listening routine, learning vocabulary by sound and live conversation practice.
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How to Write Your Name in Japanese: Katakana Spellings Explained
How to write your name in Japanese katakana: common names with examples, the sound rules that change names, spelling by pronunciation, kanji names and using your name in Japan.
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How to learn hiragana and katakana in two weeks
A simple two-week plan for learning to read hiragana and katakana, with the small rules and look-alike characters that trip beginners up.
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Japanese lessons vs language apps: what each is good for
What language apps do well for learning Japanese, where they stop, what a tutor adds, and how to combine both to progress faster.