If you are reading this blog and thinking of learning Japanese, firstly I want to say welcome to the club!
Japanese is not the easiest language to learn for native English speakers, but here is a list of key resources to get you on your way:
Learning hiragana and katakana
If you want to learn to read Japanese, I would definitely start with learning two of the three major scripts in Japanese, hiragana and katakana. Hiragana is the script you should begin with learning as katakana is mostly used for foreign loanwords. The links below have guides to writing hiragana as well as audio to get you used to the sounds of the language.
- Japanese-Lesson.com writing guide and worksheets for hiragana and katakana
- MLC Japanese Worksheets and Audio guide
Basic Grammar
The Genki series is probably the most commonly used textbook for getting a grasp of basic Japanese grammar (but is unfortunately quite expensive to buy).
I have used the Japanese for Busy People series of textbooks before and enjoyed using their workbooks to practice grammar points.
If you are looking for an online resource, I highly recommend Tae Kim’s grammar guide which is a great introduction to Japanese grammar. I have a whole list of alternatives to mainstream textbooks in another post.
Introduction to kanji
Once you have hiragana and katakana down, you can start looking at Chinese characters, or kanji. There are almost 2000 kanji in common use (called jouyou kanji) which you should start learning to become literate in Japanese.
I really like Kanji Damage’s explanation on how kanji works – if you like the style of the article you should definitely check out their approach to mastering kanji.
Finding a kanji learning method that works for you is more than half the battle. Tofugu has a great series of articles on how to tackle kanji which may give you some ideas to try for yourself.
I personally used Basic Kanji Book I and II to learn the first 500 kanji.
If you are looking to master all of the common use kanji, you may find flashcard decks such as that on Memrise useful.
Building vocabulary
Japanese is a very vocabulary rich language, so building up your knowledge will give your progress a boost. I like to write down new words in a notebook which I try to review on a regular basis. You may find making your own flashcards helps new vocabulary to stick in your mind. Alternatively, you can find pre-made decks on the following websites/apps:
Anki – this online flashcard app is great for putting together your own flashcards, but there are a number of shared decks to choose from depending on what you want to study
Memrise – following their language courses will cover vocabulary across a few different topics
Iknow.jp (there is a free trial but a paid subscription is required – the Core 2000 series of decks on Anki is based on iknow’s course)
The above websites/apps will make you review words that you struggle with more often (known as Spaced Repetition Systems, or SRS for short). This will make your vocabulary learning much more efficient.
Where possible, focus on using vocabulary in the context of a sentence and jot these sentences down alongside new words you learn. NB: try to take example sentences from a textbook or dictionary, or make up your own (but get a native speaker to check them first!)
If you are a visual learner, I recommend checking out Pinterest for vocabulary lists with fun illustrations and lots of colour.
The above is an extremely quick overview of where to start with Japanese; there are of course plenty more resources out there, some of which you will find on my Japanese Resource Masterpost page which I am adding to all the time.
Kotobites Japanese 