Master Japanese

The Beginner's Step-by-Step Guide to Learning Nihongo the Fun Way

John Fotheringham
Edition 7.1, PDF
Master Japanese
The Beginner's Step-by-Step Guide to Learning Nihongo the Fun Way
John Fotheringham
Edition 7.1, PDF
Copyright 2014 by John Fotheringham
Cover & book design by Ninjetic Designs
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means
including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author.
The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.
Dedication
Master Japanese would not have been possible without the help of these patient, supportive,
inspirational souls:
Vern & Beverly Fotheringham. Few parents would support their son changing majors
from Industrial Design (a degree that might actually lead to a job) to Linguistics (a degree
that usually just leads to more school), let alone in the 3rd year of college! You stood by
me then and have continued to support me in my language learning adventures across the
globe over the past decade.While I miss you both dearly when living abroad, knowing that
I am loved and supported makes all the difference.
Brooke, Graham & David Fotheringham. My three siblings are each far smarter
than I but were discouraged in foreign languages by bad teachers and an ineffective
education system. I wrote this guide with you in mind!
Kaizen Giraffe. The most dedicated language learner I have ever met! Thank you
dearly for your support, patience, and laughter.
Acknowledgements
I am honored that so many language learning all-stars agreed to chat with me for this project,
including world-renowned authors, linguists, psychologists, researchers, bloggers, and hyper-
polyglots. While I certainly have my opinions, these great minds have helped me provide you with
a much wider, holistic range of tips and tools than I alone could muster:
Simon Ager
Claude Cartaginese
Dr. Victor Ferreira
Dr. James Heisig
Randy Hunt, The Yearlyglot
Steve Kaufmann
Benny Lewis, The Irish Polyglot
Khatzumoto
Dr. Jay Rubin
Contributors
I would also like to offer my sincere thanks to the many dedicated readers who sent in
recommendations and pointed out my many embarrassing typos. Contributors are arranged in
alphabetical order by last name:
Majdi Alkhalaf
Stacey Lynne Civello
Nick Edner
Elohim Falcn
Jack Hattaway
Santiago Madrigal
Julie Pichon
Jeroen Vloothuis
Josiah Walton
Nick Winter
About the Author
My name is John Fotheringham and I'm a languaholic.
I love learning!and more importantly!using languages, traveling
the globe, making corny puns, and gaining a deeper understanding of
foreign cultures through their language, people, and history. The
deeper into languages I have got, the more I have come to believe that
languages cannot actually be taught. Rather, uency ultimately depends
on how much time you have spent actively listening, speaking, reading, and
writing. With this in mind, this guide focuses not on trying to teach you Japanese, but instead
on providing the tips, tools, and tech you need to maximize your exposure to!and practice
using!the Japanese language.
My positions on language learning have evolved organically over the past twenty years, as the
following timeline shows, and continue to evolve as I learn new languages and work to retain
others.
While wandering, you experience a mysteriously organic process. It's like a growing tree. It doesn't know where it's
going next. A branch may grow this way or the other way. When you look back, you'll see that this will have been
an organic development. ~ Joseph Campbell
1992: I travel to So Paulo, Brazil for a 2-week home stay. This is my rst time ever leaving the
U.S. or having any real exposure to foreign languages or the people who speak them. As a 12-
year-old unaccompanied minor, I have to be escorted by a ight attendant while changing planes.
With less than 10 minutes to run to the next plane during a connection in Rio de Janeiro, an
attractive female ight attendant grabs my hand and literally pulls me down the walkway. While
running, she enters into an angry diatribe for a few minutes, which I assume centers around her
frustrations about having to look after me. After a short while I chime in, Sorry, I don't speak
Portuguese. She looks at me with you-stupid-uncultured-American disgust, and says, Yah,
obviously. From that moment on, I vow to learn the language of every country I visit.
1997: I do a 2-week home stay in southern France, followed by a few days to run amok in Paris.
In addition to beginning a life-long addiction to pain au chocolat and quirky French lms, the
experience reveals two truths:
People don't hate the French; they hate Parisians. The folks I met in southern
France were some of the warmest people I have met anywhere in the world. In Paris,
however, I encountered many people on the frigid end of the French cultural spectrum.
To be fair though, I have experienced much the same in all major cities.
Formal classroom study falls short. Despite two years of French language study in
school, having a fantastic teacher, and being highly motivated, I was still wholly
unprepared to speak with native French speakers. This is when I realize the inherent
About the Author
weaknesses of formal classroom study, boring textbooks, and focusing more on reading
than listening and speaking.
1999: I begin studying Japanese in my second year of college. My Japanese teacher, a hilarious,
zany graduate student from Japan, shows his class just how fun languages can be, and encourages
me to study linguistics. My language addiction worsens...
2002: Moving on to 300-level Japanese, I am forced to take classes with the Japanese department
head. She shows the class just how horrible language learning can be when it focuses on accuracy
over uency, makes students feel stupid when they make mistakes, and grades students based
more on written tests than spoken performance and class participation. The best thing I get out
of the class is a new word: hanmen kyoushi (j}||"., a bad example from
which one can learn).
2003: After graduating with a degree in Linguistics (which tends to be on par with
Communications and Philosophy in terms of unemployability), I move to Japan to become a
ninja assassin... Oh sorry, that was just the fantasy. The reality is that I join the JET Programme,
and end up in a town of about 4,000 people, of which I am the only foreigner. While not exactly
an epicenter for night life, the rural location does offer me an unparalleled environment for
honing my language and chopstick skills. Within one year, I go from broken Japanese to good-
enough-for-government-work uency.
2004: I interview to be a kokusai kouryuu in (}|,
Coordinator of International Relations) for the hyougo kenchou (|N"{
, Hyogo Prefectural Government), land the job, and my lifestyle transforms from counting
reies over rice paddies to navigating the hustle and bustle of Kobe. My job involves translating
ofcial documents sent to and from the prefectural government, interpreting for bigwigs who visit
the prefecture, and acting as an advisor to the 250 plus JET Programme English teachers
working in the prefecture. The experience reveals another two truths:
I don't want to work as a translator or interpreter. It is a highly specialized,
highly stressful job that has little to do with speaking a language well. Case in point: a few
of my professional Japanese translator colleagues could translate from English to Japanese
extremely well, but could barely speak English.
Speaking the local language makes life far easier and more enjoyable. If you
don't speak Japanese, you will miss out on lots of interesting experiences and live a
limited, stressful life in Japan. The vast majority of I-can't-take-it-anymore-and-want-to-
go-home calls I received from frustrated English teachers related to loneliness and not
being able to communicate with locals. Had they learned Japanese, the number of
potential friends would quickly expand from a few fellow English teachers to 127 million
Japanese citizens.
2006: Wanting to try my hand in the business world, I spend 6 months working for a
Bangladeshi start-up telecom company. Working long days in an all-English environment, I have
little time to learn Bangla, but do at least learn the script and pick up enough of the language to
About the Author
get around and build rapport with my wonderful colleagues. In addition to building a love for
telecom and technology, the experience reveals two additional truths:
Most expats never even bother learning to say Hello. I am continually
shocked at how little effort many foreigners put into learning the local language. I dont
expect all expats to become uent in Japanese, but for the love of Pete, at least spend part
of the plane ride learning to say a few basic phrases. You will be amazed how happy
people are when you at least start a conversation in their language, even if you quickly fall
back on English. Just think how crazy the crowd goes when a foreign rock band says
Hello Tokyo in Japanese.
Not everyone in the world speaks English. Other than my highly-educated
colleagues and the staff at nicer hotels and restaurants, a good portion of Bangladeshis I
met did not speak English well, if at all. Knowing even basic phrases like I want to go
to..., Turn right, etc., made all the difference. In Japan, despite having learned English
throughout junior high school, senior high school, and university, you will be hard pressed
to nd people who will feel condentlet alone comfortableusing English to
communicate with you.
2006 - 2009: Wanting to learn Mandarin Chinese and scratch my martial arts itch, I move to
Taipei, Taiwan. To make ends meet, I teach business English to overworked executives and do
seminars at multinationals like IBM, MediaTech, Philips, and ASUS. Two more truths come to
light:
Formal study fails. Just as in Japan, I see that the vast majority of English learners fail
to reach their uency goals after yearsand even decades!of formal language study.
The reason? They spend almost all their time memorizing information about English,
translating to and from their native language, and cramming for tests like TOEFL, IELTs,
etc.
No wonder so many learners hate languages. By studying languages in such an
inefcient way, it is only natural that few ever learn to speak their target tongue, let alone
enjoy the process.
Today: I spend my time pursuing various entrepreneurial endeavors, learning languages,
blogging about my addiction, and trying to be the best son, brother, and uncle I can be. Youll
have to ask my parents, siblings, and nephews how well I do
About the Author
Contents
Start Here
................................................................................................... How to Use This Guide 2
................................................................................................................... Guide Format 3
......................................................................................... Complete Package Bonuses 5
.................................................................................................................................. FAQs 14
.................................................................................... The Master Japanese Road Map 19
Fundamentals
................................................................................................................... Kill the Myths 27
............................................................... How to Create Good Goals & Stick to Them 37
................................................................................... How to Make Time For Japanese 43
............................................................................. How to Make the Most of Your Time 46
................................................ How to Immerse in Japanese Anywhere in the World 49
Recommended Methods
................................................................................................... Learn the Natural Way 62
..................................................................................................... Learn Through Action 71
.......................................................................................... Use the Shadowing Method 80
Table of Contents
.................................................................................. Use Spaced Repetition Systems 84
.............................................................................................................. Use Timeboxing 91
....................................................................... Master High-Frequency Language First 94
............................................................................................ Take All Notes in Japanese 96
Recommended Materials & Tools
............................................................................. How to Choose The Right Materials 102
......................................................................... Recommended Japanese Dictionaries 106
.................................................. Recommended Grammar & Vocabulary Resources 111
Listening & Speaking
......................................................... How to Improve Your Japanese Listening Skills 117
......................................................... How to Improve Your Japanese Speaking Skills 118
................................................................... How to Find & Work with Japanese Tutors 123
.................................................................... Recommended Japanese Audio Courses 129
.............................................................................. Recommended Japanese Podcasts 132
....................................................................... Recommended Japanese Video Games 149
.............................................................................. Recommended Video Tools & Sites 158
................................................................................... Recommended Japanese Anime 163
............................................................................. Recommended Japanese TV Shows 167
................................................................................. Recommended Japanese Movies 170
......................................................................... Recommended Japanese Audiobooks 179
Table of Contents
............................................................................. Recommended Music Tools & Sites 181
................................................................................... Recommended Japanese Music 183
Reading & Writing
............................................................................. How to Learn Hiragana & Katakana 190
.................................................................................................... How to Conquer Kanji 191
......................................................................................... Getting the Most Out of RTK 198
.................................................................................................... How to Type Japanese 200
........................................................... How to Improve Your Japanese Reading Skills 204
............................................................ How to Improve Your Japanese Writing Skills 206
.......................................................................... Recommended Online Reading Tools 209
.................................................................................. Recommended Japanese Manga 213
........................................................................ Recommended Japanese Newspapers 219
........................................................................... Recommended Japanese Magazines 223
............................................................. Recommended Japanese Books & Literature 226
Japanese 101
......................................................................................................... Japanese Overview 231
............................................................................................................ Japanese Sounds 233
............................................................................................................ Japanese Writing 245
...................................................................................................... Japanese Vocabulary 248
....................................................................................................... Japanese Honorifics 250
Table of Contents
................................................................................................................ Japanese Verbs 254
....................................................................................................... Japanese Adjectives 274
............................................................................................................ Japanese Adverbs 277
................................................................................. Japanese Sound Symbolic Words 278
......................................................................................................... Japanese Pronouns 280
................................................................................................. Japanese Proper Names 284
.......................................................................................................... Japanese Particles 302
..................................................................................... Japanese Numbers & Counters 331
................................................................................................. Japanese Dates & Times 339
Appendix
........................................................................................................ My S.M.A.R.T. Goals 352
......................................................................................................... Sample Study Plan 353
................................................................................................................. My Study Plan 354
............................................................................................................ Japanese Sounds 355
.................................................................................................... RTK & MOE Kanji Lists 356
.............................................................................................. Conjugation Cheat Sheet 472
.................................................................................................... Note Taking Template 474
Table of Contents
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Start Here
1
Start Here
Master Japanese was created to provide independent language learners with the tips, tools, and tech
they need to reach their Japanese uency goals as quickly, cheaply, and enjoyably as possible.
Learning any language is of course going to take lots of time and effort, but if you employ the
methods and materials I recommend, I guarantee that the process will be a hell of a lot more fun,
and you will end up saving a signicant amount of time, energy, and money compared with
traditional textbook and classroom-based approaches.
And speaking of textbooks, this guide is not intended to be one. While I do go over the basics of
Japanese in the Japanese 101 chapter, the real learning only happens when you get sufcient
exposure to the language through listening and reading, and adequate practice using the
language through speaking and writing. Studying about Japanese will give you very little such
exposure or practice, so please use this guide as a road map for action, not as a Japanese
encyclopedia.
One last thing before you get underway: I highly recommend that you take a moment to reect
on why you are learning Japanese. If youre not properly motivated, it matters little what
methods or materials you use or how much time you spend with the language. And on the ip
side of this axiom, you can still learn despite poor methods, materials, or tools if you have the
drive.
Okay, ready to conquer Japanese? Lets go! Ganbatte ne! ()!/!, Good
luck).
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How to Use This Guide
I have received a great deal of positive feedback from readers since releasing the rst edition of
Master Japanese in 2010, with many readers praising the guides unconventional approach to
language learning, and the detailed, step-by-step tips on learning Japanese using a fun,
immersion-based approach. However, one piece of constructive criticism has surfaced many
times: There is a lot of great stuff in this guide, but I dont know how to use it! I have heard
your voices. Here are some quick tips to help you get the most out of Master Japanese:
The learning happens out there, not in this guide
As I said above, Master Japanese is NOT a textbook. You are not going to nd a series of lessons
that aim to teach you a given grammar point or drill you on a specic set of vocabulary. This is
by design. The problem with most language textbooks, courses, and classes is that they aim to
force feed the language into you through conscious study. This seems like a logical way to go on
the surface of things, but it ignores how the brain actually acquires languages. Master Japanese is
centered around how to maximize your exposure to the language, thus providing your brain the
optimal environment it needs to perform its amazing feat of evolution: decode, encode, retrieve,
and utilize amazingly complex linguistic information at the speed of electricity. Just remember
that the only way to make progress is to actually take action.
You dont need to read the entire guide
While I think you will get the most benet from completing the guide cover to cover, it is certainly
not necessary. Some people only want to learn how to speak Japanese, for example, while others
want to focus more on reading and writing. I have therefore separated these skills into two
different chapters, Listening & Speaking and Reading & Writing, allowing you to more easily
focus on the particular skills you are interested in. For those who have experience learning other
languages but have yet to tackle Japanese, you can probably skip much of the beginning content
that covers how to learn languages, and get right to the Japanese-specic content.
You dont need to read the guide in order
I have added hyperlinked bookmarks throughout the guide to make it easier for you to quickly
jump between related sections without having to go back to the table of contents. This also makes
it easier to read out of order, which many learners seem to prefer.
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Guide Format
I have done my best to make this guide as user-friendly as possible. Since time is the most
precious resource we have, many of this guides features center around ways to shave off seconds,
minutes, and hours that can be used for actually learning Japanese instead of searching for tools
and materials. To that end:
All web links are clickable
All online resources listed in the guide include a clickable link to their location on the big ole
world wide web so you dont have to waste any time searching for them or entering ridiculously
long URLs.
Cross-referenced sections are hyperlinked
In an effort to save you even more time, I have created hyperlinks that take you right to any cross-
references in the guide. That way you dont have wade through the Table of Contents or scan
through the document to nd the section youre looking for.
All Japanese terms are presented in roumaji, kanji, and kana
I hate when Japanese books or materials indicate Japanese terms solely in roumaji (`
|), Romanized Japanese written using only English letters. While this is supposed to make
things easier for new learners who might not yet be able to read a words corresponding kanji (,
/|) or kana ({(//), why do these publishers miss an opportunity to provide you
with meaningful exposure as I just did in this sentence?
All Japanese words and names will be presented with the word in italicized roumaji, the words
corresponding kanji and hiragana in parentheses, and an English translation if relevant. For
example:
nihongo ('], the Japanese language)
nama biiru ("'/U, draft beer)
Furthermore, words written in katakana (){(///) will be rewritten in hiragana ({
(//) to help you get used to both systems more quickly.
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In both cases, the actual Japanese word will be separated from the hiragana reading guide with
thesymbol, which is equivalent to the slash / in English.
Japanese names are presented in Japanese order
As you probably know, Japanese family names are written rst, followed by a persons given
name; the opposite of English. To help you get used to this and minimize confusion, I have
written all Japanese names in this guide using the Japanese order (family names followed by given
names). You will also notice that I write the roumaji version of last names in all capital letters to
help reduce ambiguity. For example:
SOUSEKI Natsume (@|}'./")
Gender-specific words are marked
Some words are used chiey by either men or women in Japanese. Keep a look out for the
symbol o, which indicates terms used by men, and the symbol for words used by women.
Zero subjects and objects are shown in brackets
Japanese frequently leaves off the subject and object of a sentence if it is obvious from the
context. In such cases, I include the missing words in the English translation within [brackets].
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FAQs
Here are some of the most common questions I get about Master Japanese and my attempted
answers. By the way, I borrowed the Attempted Answers part from one of my favorite writers,
Chris Guillabeau, author of The $100 Startup and The Art of Non-Conformity.
If any of your questions are not answered here, please email me.
Who is Master Japanese For?
If you try to make a product that ts everyones needs, it probably wont t anyones. This guide,
therefore, is not designed to make every single learner happy. Master Japanese was written for those
who can nod their heads in agreement to the following statements:
I want to learn to speak, read, and write Japanese really well. Master Japanese
provides you with detailed tips, tools, and tech on how to speak, read and write Japanese
like a pro.
I have never learned any Japanese. This guide does not assume any previous
Japanese study, providing step-by-step instructions from the very beginning. Consider
yourself lucky as you will be able to bypass the years most of usincluding this author
have wasted using traditional but highly ineffective methods.
I have tried and failed to learn Japanese before. If you have studied Japanese in
the past but failed to ever reach even a modicum of uency, this guide is for you, too. You
are not stupid or lazy; you have just been using the wrong methods and materials.
I want to live and work in Japan. There are countless materials and courses available
for travel Japanese, but they suffer from a serious problem: while they may show you
how to say a few things, they dont equip you with the level of uency needed to actually
understand what is said back to you. Follow the tips in this guide, and you will be able to
engage in real two-way communication, not just shouting phrases youve memorized at
the taxi driver.
I want to really get to know the Japanese people and culture. Most foreigners
who visit Japan, or even live in the country for many years, only see the tip of the cultural
iceberg. Being able to speak and read Japanese gives you the scuba gear you need to go
below the surface and see, understand, and interact with the real Japan.
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Why did I create Master Japanese?
As LingQ.com founder Steve Kaufmann points out:
We do not need more language courses. We need courses on how to learn languages.
This guide is designed to be just that: a course on how to learn Japanese. While teachers and
tutors can help answer questions and help select materials for you, it is important to understand
that nobody can teach you a language. Languages are acquired only if you get enough
exposure toand enough practicing usingthe language in meaningful contexts. The incorrect
belief that a teacher, course, or textbook will get a language into your head is one of the major
reasons why traditional language courses and materials dont work. Well, that and the fact they
tend to bore the heck out of learners, convince them they arent good at languages, and
completely ignore how our brains evolved to learn, process, and produce language. Like many of
my fellow language learners, including both of my brothers to whom this guide is dedicated, I
have tried and failed using more traditional methods. This led me to investigate alternatives to
the tried and not-so-true sit in a classroom, memorize grammar rules and vocabulary
approach, a journey that led me to uency instead of frustration.
You dont have a PhD after your name. Why should I trust your
advice?
When it comes to whether or not to trust my advice, I think my early failures with Japanese are
just as important as my later successes. As is usually the case with most endeavors I undertake, I
made just about every mistake possible when I started out in Japanese. I used terribly inefcient
methods, boring materials, and didnt have a good attitude toward the process. On the bright
side, taking so many missteps but later correcting course makes me the ideal language learning
coach. You never want to learn from someone who picks up the material easily, for they will not
know how to explain what they didand more importantly, whyand will not understand, nor
have any empathy for, people who are struggling along in the dark.
I have been there, too, and can help show you the way forward.
Why learn Japanese at all?
There are countless reasons to learn Japanese. In fact, now that I think about it, I cant come up
with any good reasons not to learn the language.
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It boosts brain power. As shown in a study conducted at the Swedish Armed Forces
Interpreter Academy, learning a new language can actually increase the size of the
hippocampus, the area that controls memory creation, and various parts of the cerebral
cortex.
Check out this Science Daily article for more about the Swedish Armed Forces Interpreter Academy study.
It can help you land a kick-ass job. Foreign language skills are in high demand, and
uency in Japanese is a highly sought-after skill. And since so few Westerners speak or
write Japanese well, you will have a serious leg up over the competition if you do.
Read Want a Dream Resume? Learn a New Language! and see the Work in Japan section.
It allows you to better enjoy Japanese art forms. Japan is home to some of the
greatest authors, artists, animators, actors, directors, and producers of all time. There is
no better way to enjoy their work than in the language it was created.
See the Learn a Japanese Art Form section.
Its sexy. What is the surere way to make a lms lead character look suave and
sophisticated? You show them speaking one or more foreign languages. This effect has
been used in numerous Bond lms, as well as the movie Limitless in which they used
foreign languages skills to demonstrate the lead characters newfound superhuman brain
power. While we cant simply pop a pill like Bradley Coopers character to learn Japanese,
we can acquire enough of the language to start a relationship in a fairly short amount
time.
What do I mean by mastery?
First of all, mastery does not mean perfection, as such a thing does not exist when it comes
to languages. And even if it did, perfection would not be a S.M.A.R.T. (specic, measurable,
attainable, relevant, and time-bound) language learning goal.
See How to Create Good Goals & Stick to Them for more info.
At the risk of getting into the sticky realm of sociolinguistics, here are some reasons why
perfection cannot exist in language learning:
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Even native speakers sometimes struggle. We stumble over our words. We have a
hard time remembering that word hiding on the tip of our tongue. We confuse the
meaning of certain similar, uncommon terms. We forget how to spell things. All normal.
Languages are constantly changing. Every generation that learns a language
changes it in small ways. What is considered correct or proper in one generation,
might sound old-fashioned, racist, or even ungrammatical in the next.
So if mastery does not equal perfection, what does it mean? I dene mastery as follows:
The ability to use a language well for your communicative purposes.
Thats it. It is completely relative to your personal and professional needs.
If you are learning Japanese to work in Japan, then mastery would mean being able to
easily communicate with your boss, colleagues, and customers.
If you want a meaningful social life in Japan, then mastery will mean being able to
understand and contribute to casual conversations at an izakaya (f@[./`).
If you are an anime (") addict, then mastery for you might mean being
able to understand an episode of your favorite show without relying on English or even
Japanese subtitles.
If you are a hitherto monolingual Japanese-American, perhaps mastery entails nally
being able to talk with Japanese relatives in their native language.
If you want to work as a Japanese translator, mastery means amassing a wide
vocabulary in both Japanese and English, with specialized knowledge of one or more
specic elds like automotive engineering, video games, medicine, etc.
If you want to be an interpreter, mastery means the same as that for translation, but
with the added need to know Japanese-English equivalents at lightning speed, and
developing the ability to speak one language while simultaneously thinking in another.
What mastery does not entail is learning every last word you may hear or read. Even native
Japanese speakers come across words they dont know the meaning of, or encounter kanji that
they forget how to write or pronounce. The key is to know enough Japanese that you can ask
about the meaning of an unfamiliar word and then actually understand the answer.
You should of course strive to constantly expand your vocabulary, but your focus should always
be on quality over quantity. Just as in martial arts, having lots of moves is not as important as
mastering a small set of techniques.
I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000
times. ~Bruce Lee
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How long will it take to learn Japanese?
This is one of the most common questions I hear, and happens to
be one of the most difcult to answer. How long it takes you to
get there will ultimately depend on where there is, not to
mention how badly you want to get there, and what mode of
transportation you use. Obviously, learning how to speak, read,
and write uently on a wide range of topics is going to take
longer than just being able to have casual conversations on a
small set of topics. The former will likely take a few years or
more, while the latter can be attained in a few months if you bust
your ass.
But on this note, progress toward your goals should be measured
in how many hours you spend actively listening, speaking, reading
and writing, not months, years or school terms. Just as you can
spend many hours a day on Japanese and progress like an avalanche,
you can just as easily spend only a few hours a week (like most college or language school
students) and progress at a glaciers pace.
Unlike Japanese language schools, textbooks, or prociency tests like the nihongo nouryoku shiken (
']|7|v, Japanese Language Prociency Test), I will not
give you exact milestones of how far you should have progressed after a given numbers of hours.
Such milestones are bogus for a number of reasons:
They are designed by and for language schools. Having been a manager in a
language school, I can assure you that most administrators and teachers have no idea
what those vague prociency descriptions hanging on the wall actually mean. But this
does not stop them from quoting the levels in their largely meaningless and articial level
assessments, which are used more as a sales tool than actual assessments of your progress.
You really need to pay for another 10 units so you can progress to the next level on this nifty chart here.
They do not take into account individual goals. Every learner is unique. We each
prefer certain colors of underwear, and more importantly, we all have different paces,
preferences, and purposes for learning Japanese. One-size-ts-all prociency charts
ignore these differences.
They dont reect how the brain works. Linguists have spent a lot of time and
research grant money trying to gure out the order we acquire certain language
structures. Though they have nailed down some of the basics, there are still more
questions than answers. Even if its allegedly supported by research, attempts to order
various grammar structures on a syllabus usually entail more guesswork than actual
science.
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The Master Japanese Road Map
While I dont believe in formal milestones or prociency levels, I do think its useful to break the
language up into a few major phases with different tasks, tools, and materials for each.
However, only you will know when its time to move onto the next phase, not some teacher,
textbook, vague progress chart, standardized test, or language school motivated more by prots
than your progress.
PHASE 1 PHASE 2 PHASE 3
Master the Basics Sharpen Your Sword Get Your Black Belt
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Phase 1: Master the Basics
If you are just starting out in Japanese or have been studying for some
time without any real progress, I recommend that you follow the tasks in
Phase 1. No matter how long youve been learning something, its always
helpful to go back to the basics. Dont be in a rush to move on to more
advanced materials, but by the same token, feel free to get in over your
head if you still enjoy yourself. The key at this stage is to build a strong
foundation on which to place more advanced words and
structures. Just as Ive observed in martial arts training, new
learners are often too eager to skip what they perceive as
easy or simple and jump ahead to the ashy stuff. Dont
wait until you get kicked in the face to realize how important
the fundamentals are!
Learn kana. If you want to learn to read and write Japanese, it all
starts with kana ({(//), the Japanese alphabet system; technically called a
syllabary since its made up of syllables. Even if you only want to understand and speak
Japanese, it is still a good idea to learn the kana as they will help familiarize you with the
sounds of the language and make it easier to look words up in the dictionary. Each kana
symbol represents a distinct vowel a, i, u, e and o (, , , ,, 1) or a consonant-vowel
combination like ka, ki, ku, ke or ko (/, ., , , ). There are two separate sets of kana
symbols, hiragana ({(//) and katakana (){(///), but both
represent the same sounds. The difference is how they are written and when they are used.
Hiragana is used for verb and adjective endings, particles, words with rare characters
outside of jouyou kanji (;,|/|, standard use kanji), and for
denoting kanji pronunciations of Japanese origin in dictionaries. Katakana, on the other
hand, is used to represent foreign loan words like kouhi (!, coffee), foreign
names like jonson (.```, Johnson), sound effects in manga (@/), and
for denoting kanji readings of Chinese origin in dictionaries. Since you will encounter
hiragana more often, I suggest learning that set of symbols rst, but dont make the mistake
of taking a break after hiragana as many learners do and end up never mastering
katakana. You need both for full literacy in Japanese, so dont delay.
See the Japanese Sounds section for more about Japanese kana.
Begin learning standard use kanji. Although many teachers, schools, and
textbooks advise learners to hold off on kanji, I think this is bad recommendation. First of
all, learning Chinese characters can be quite easy if you follow the advice in this guide. It
will of course take time, but wont come with the nasty side effects faced by students
learning by rote memory alone. Secondly, the sooner you begin learning kanji, the sooner
you will be able to read and enjoy authentic Japanese materials, greatly expanding the
pool of potential learning tools and the enjoyment that goes with it.
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See the Recommended Kanji Learning Tools section for more info.
Learn basic structures and common greetings. Buy a good phrasebook and try to
complete at least a page a day. I suggest Lonely Planets Japanese Phrasebook &
Dictionary and The Ultimate Japanese Phrasebook.
Learn the most frequent 1,000 Japanese words. Mastering just the most frequent
100 words in Japanese accounts for over half of written materials, while 1,000 words
takes you to over 75%.
See the Master High-Frequency Vocabulary section for more info.
Get your brain and body used to the sounds of Japanese. Borrow, buy, or barter
for a copy of a basic Japanese audio program like Start Japanese with the Michel
Thomas, Pimsleur 1, or Shadowing: Lets Speak Japanese (Beginner to Intermediate
Edition). Aim to complete at at least one lesson a day. Dont worry about knowing the
meaning of every word you hear; your goal at this stage is to get your brain and body
used to the sounds and intonation of Japanese, all the while learning common words and
phrases you can use to strike up conversations with native Japanese speakers, and getting
used to the underlying structures of the language.
See Recommended Audio Courses for more about Michel Thomas, Pimsleur, and the Shadowing series.
Listen to basic, language-learner specic podcasts. Jumping right into authentic
content works for some, but is probably a bit overwhelming for most learners. As Yoda
would say (with surprisingly Japanese-like grammar), Frustration, a path to the Dark
Side it is. To avoid going Anakin, I suggest that you nd some good newbie level
programs that have a format and host you like.
See Recommended Japanese Podcasts for my recommended shows.
Watch Japanese anime, TV shows, and movies with English subtitles turned
on. Language learning Nazis will tell you that its sink or swim in a language, and that
English sub-titles are for sissies. Ignore them, they just have daddy issues they are playing
out in the form of mis-guided language learning advice. Remember: enjoyment trumps
all. And watching a Japanese movie with little to no Japanese ability is probably not a very
enjoyable experience for most. You will graduate to Japanese sub-titles soon enough,
followed soon thereafter with no subtitles at all.
See Recommended Japanese Anime, Recommended Japanese TV Shows, and Recommended Japanese Movies.
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Get a basic Japanese grammar book. As you have probably guessed by now, I am
not a big fan of formal grammar study. But I do think that some cursory review of
Japanese grammar can be helpful so long as it does not replace what really makes the
difference: spending enough time listening, speaking, reading and writing the language. If
you do enough of these four activities, even with no formal grammar study, you will
eventually internalize all key Japanese structures. Thinking about Japanese grammar
consciously is no substitute for this natural acquisition process, but it does seem to help
speed up the process a bit.
See Recommended Japanese Grammar Books, Sites & Apps for my recommended grammar books.
Phase 2: Sharpen Your Sword
Now that you have learned the basics, its time to sharpen your sword with lots of linguistic
sparring: using the words, phrases, and structures youve learned in heaps of oral and written
communication and eliciting feedback on the accuracy of your word usage, grammar, and
pronunciation.
Become conversationally uent. Spend as much time as you can speaking with
native Japanese speakers via social language learning sites, Skype, local Meetup.com
conversation groups, or if you already live in Japan, just about anyone, anywhere. In
addition to furthering your motivation to keep learning, speaking also helps to show you
where your gaps are as Steve Kaufmann says. You probably wont realize you dont
know the word for rell until you try to get one at a caf.
See the How to Find & Work with JapaneseTutors section for more info.
Continue learning standard use kanji. By now, you have gotten the hang of
learning new characters, though you probably still have quite a few to go. Dont let
yourself get overwhelmed. Just keep laying one brick at a time and before you know it,
your kanji castle will be complete!
Learn the most frequent 3,000 Japanese words. Once youve mastered the most
frequent thousand words in Japanese, its time to make the next jump to 3,000 known
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words. When you accomplish this, you will be familiar with over 85% of the Japanese you
are most likely to encounter on a day to day basis.
See the Master High-Frequency Language First section.
Continue listening to language-learner specic podcasts. Learner specic
podcasts are probably still your best bet, though by now you will be able to move past the
newbie and elementary stuff to intermediate and upper-intermediate content.
Watch Japanese anime and movies with Japanese subtitles turned on. You
can choose new programs or re-watch lms you already watched in Phase 1. It might still
be a little difcult for you, but try to watch with Japanesenot Englishsubtitles. This
will accomplish 3 tasks at once: ! Reinforcing the kanji you have learned so far, "
Helping you to create a direct link between pronunciation and characters, and # Getting
you to think in Japanese instead of translating to and from English (e.g. turning off cross-
translation).
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Phase 3: Get Your Black Belt
In martial arts, getting a black belt means that you should be
able to both apply and defend against all the basic techniques
of your style and are now ready to move on to more advanced
material. Contrary to popular belief, it does not mean you are
now a master or expert. Phase 3 in your Japanese language
journey is much the same. By this stage, youll have assimilated the
basics and are now ready to really learn Japanese.
Enjoy podcasts intended for native speakers. Its time to
move past the learner-specic podcasts and begin listening to
programs intended for native speakers of Japanese. At this level, the
pool of potential listening content expands signicantly, with programs available for
nearly every possible interest. In the beginning stages of Japanese, you may have had to
compromise and listen to some less-than-thrilling content. At this stage, theres no excuse
to listen to shows you dont love.
See the Recommended Japanese Podcasts section for suggested programs.
Watch Japanese anime, TV shows, and movies with subtitles turned off. As in
Phase 2, you can repeat programs youve already watched so that there is a clear context
to stand on, or if youre feeling adventurous, dive head rst into new content and gure
things out as you go! If you are watching something new, I suggest watching it rst
without subtitles and then going back and watching it again with Japanese subtitles
turned on. This helps you get used to real-life communication where there are no subtitles
or speech bubbles, but still gives you the chance to conrm your understanding and
expand your vocabulary in a way not afforded in daily life.
See Recommended Japanese Anime, Recommended Japanese TV Shows, and Recommended Japanese Movies.
Begin learning upper-level characters. Once youve learned all the jouyou kanji (;
,|/|, standard use Chinese characters), its time to move on to
upper-level characters. These will come in handy if you study at a Japanese university,
work for a Japanese company, or read any technical or industry-specic materials.
Check out James Heisigs Remembering the Kanji: Writing and Reading Japanese Characters for Upper-Level
Prociency.
Read Japanese blogs, newspapers, magazines, and novels. You have probably
peeked at some of these materials in Phases 1 and 2 already, but now that you can
recognize the vast majority of the characters and words without reaching for the
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dictionary every 3 seconds, you can begin enjoying the writing for the writings sake and
forget that youre actually learning Japanese.
See Recommended Japanese Sites & Blogs, Recommended Japanese Newspapers, Recommended Japanese
Magazines, and Recommended Japanese Books & Literature.
Learn all levels of Japanese formality. Mastering keigo (@],
honorics) is the nal step in becoming a full-edged Japanese speaker, and will set you
apart from nearly all foreign language learners (few stick with Japanese long enough to
learn keigo) and even younger Japanese native speakers (who nowadays must often be
trained in proper keigo usage by their employers). This does not mean, however, that this
system of Japanese formality is difcult; it is just not used enough in daily speech to
become familiar as quickly as less formal language. You can see the same pattern in
English vocabulary: everyone knows the word dull but how many of you know
insipid without reaching for the dictionary?
See the Japanese Honorics section for more about keigo.
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