Basic tools and methods I'm using to learn the Japanese language.
Goal: Be able to speak and understand basic Japanese conversations, recognize and write Hiragana, Katakana, and around 150 essential Kanji.
- Time commitment: ~1.5-2 hours/day, 5-6 days a week.
- Focus areas:
- Speaking & Listening (40%)
- Hiragana, Katakana, and Kanji (30%)
- Grammar & Vocabulary (30%)
Warm-up (5 min):
- Review common greetings using Anki.
Speaking & Listening (30 min):
- Listen to and shadow beginner dialogues from JapanesePod101 or NHK Easy Japanese focusing on greetings, self-introduction, and polite expressions.
- Record yourself introducing yourself in Japanese.
Vocabulary (20 min):
- Use Anki to review 10 new vocabulary words. Practice saying them out loud.
Hiragana Practice (30 min):
- Use your Hiragana Anki deck or worksheets to practice writing.
- Focus on 5-10 characters.
Warm-up (5 min):
- Quick Hiragana review.
Speaking & Listening (30 min):
- Watch/listen to dialogues related to shopping, asking for prices, directions, etc.
Grammar (20 min):
- Study basic sentence structure: Subject-Object-Verb.
Katakana Practice (30 min):
- Use the Katakana deck, focusing on 5-10 characters.
Warm-up (5 min):
- Review greetings.
Speaking & Listening (30 min):
- Continue with beginner listening exercises.
Kanji Practice (30 min):
- Learn 5 new Kanji from the Basic Kanji Anki deck.
Grammar (20 min):
- Study basic particles like "は" (wa), "の" (no), "を" (wo), "が" (ga).
Warm-up (5 min):
- Review Hiragana or Katakana using Anki.
Speaking & Listening (40 min):
- Watch a beginner-level episode from a Japanese drama or anime with English subtitles first, then Japanese subtitles or no subtitles.
Vocabulary (20 min):
- Review 10 new words and try to create sentences with them.
Warm-up (5 min):
- Review new Kanji using Anki.
Speaking & Listening (30 min):
- Go over all speaking exercises from earlier in the week.
Hiragana & Katakana Practice (30 min):
- Review all characters learned so far.
Quiz Yourself (20 min):
- Try to write simple sentences or phrases from memory.
Rest or light practice: You can casually listen to Japanese music, anime, or podcasts to keep the language flowing without a formal study session.
- Vocabulary: Learn 10-15 new words per week.
- Kanji: Learn 5 new Kanji per week (writing, pronunciation, and meaning).
- Hiragana & Katakana: Review characters regularly. Aim to master both within 2-3 weeks.
Month 1:
- Master Hiragana & Katakana. Start basic conversations and greetings.
Month 2:
- Continue speaking practice, focusing on polite speech and simple questions. Learn around 30 Kanji.
Month 3:
- Engage in short dialogues about daily life, shopping, and asking for directions. Focus on forming correct sentences using basic grammar.
Month 4:
- Build conversational fluency by practicing with native speakers or online partners. Learn ~20 more Kanji (totaling around 80).
1. Role-playing (Speaking practice)
- Choose different daily life scenarios (e.g., ordering food, asking for directions).
2. Grammar Practice
- Pick one grammar point per week (particles, verb conjugation, etc.). Write simple sentences and translate them into Japanese.
3. Conversation Partner
- Use apps like Tandem or HelloTalk to find a native speaker and schedule weekly conversations.
- Anki decks for daily review (Hiragana, Katakana, Kanji, and Vocabulary).
- JapanesePod101: For structured lessons and audio dialogues.
- NHK Easy Japanese: For simple, bite-sized conversation lessons.
- Jisho.org: For looking up words and kanji.
- Dakuten and Handakuten: These modify the sounds of certain syllables, changing “k” to “g”, “t” to “d”, etc.
- Combo Sounds (Yōon): Combined characters like きゃ (kya), しゅ (shu), etc., which produce new sounds.
- Long Vowels and Double Consonants: Focus on how sounds change when vowels are lengthened (おう, えい) or consonants are doubled (っ).