Beginner Japanese Resources
I’ve seen quite a lot of these going around, and have definitely taken quite a few pages out of their books, but I thought I had some bookmarks I’d like everyone to know more about, even if they already did. ^^ If you think something is wrong, or know something is wrong, then please tell me!
g r a m m a r
Tae Kim’s Guide to Japanese Grammar (easy acquaintance with grammar, but not much in-depth)
IMABI (best free grammar resource but too much information for beginners, or so it’s said. still very helpful.)
Tim’s Takamatsu/ Tim Sensei’s Corner (also good. i heard of someone who printed out the older website and got fluent in Japanese with this, so it’s probably worth checking out)
Dictionaries of Japanese Grammar (hands down the best grammar resource, bit pricey or you could just download these PDFs).
Bunpro (good for interactive grammar studies, free until may 10 and there’s a one month free trial for subscription after that)
g r a m m a r / b l o g s
Japanese Ammo (native speaker and tutor’s blog, she also has a Youtube channel here)
Maggie-Sensei (grammar articles are a bit mismatched but good for little references)
Tofugu (probably the best culture and resources blog I’ve come across. a must.)
Romy-sensei (Japanese teacher, blog is VERY helpful)
DJT Guide (for a beginner outlook on how to start and where, named because of the daily japanese thread that I don’t have too much information on but it’s a daily thread where people learning japanese shared resources/ progress/ motivational whatevers)
i n t e r a c t i v e l e a r n i n g
Delvin Language (shows clips and asks you to identify what’s spoken. Very good for listening and you can slow them down, though use that sparingly. kinda spammy tho.)
Japanese Class (found this a few years ago, but it’s a gamified site that helps you learn vocabulary with regular exposure. recommended.)
Japanese in Anime and Manga (for fellow otakus. a bit hard for me to navigate, but it’s along a similar vein as the above site. offered in spanish, chinese, korean and french, besides english.)
Erin’s Challenge (recommended for upper beginners, or lower intermediates, but there’s a lot to do now as well! very good for listening and reading- with transcripts and subtitles- in the form of a school life role-play. offered in quite a few other languages.)
Duolingo (not a lot of information, nor is it very in-depth. good for dabbling in, maybe. try the website, not the app, if you really want to use it.)
LingoDeer (BEST app for learning the language. You could do a lot on it alone, and it can probably take you up to a little above N5, but don’t keep using it standalone for long! also offers chinese, korean and now vietnamese!)
t e x t b o o k s
TextFugu (tofugu’s online textbook, made specifically for self-study, though it works good in conjunction with classes and tuition)
Genki (widely used, most recommended by people)
Minna no Nihongo (also very popular. some consider it better than genki.)
Japanese for Busy People (especially if you’re a little short on time)
Japanese for Everyone (generally good reviews, with a lot of vocabulary - an estimated 2500 maybe? convert djvu to pdf to use.)
k a n j i (course books)
Kodansha Kanji Learner’s Course aka KKLC (a kanji learning course with vocabulary in it.)
Remembering the Kanji (aka the acclaimed ‘Japanese learner’s beginning holy grail’. but it totally depends upon what you’d prefer tbh. can make you recognise kanji and what they could stand for, but that’s about it.)
Kanji Damage (aka remember 1700 Kanji with offensive yo mama jokes. ridiculous? hilariously, it does work for some.)
WaniKani (people swear by this. you can try out the first three levels to see the magic, even if you don’t think it’s your style.)
l i s t e n i n g
mykikitori (for Genki 1 apparently)
Japanese Pod 101 (a good online course in itself, but the podcasts are the most helpful of the lot. @lovelybluepanda has made them available here.)
o t h e r s
DJT Resources (sub-link of DJT Guide but probably has all the Japanese resources you could ever want!)
Nihongo e Na (more resources, probably worth checking out)
Nihongo Resources (along a similar vein with the purpose in its name)
Jakka (the site is entirely in Japanese, but it has kanji for grade school, broken up appropriately)
Happy Lilac (kind of the same as above with kanji stroke order practice material, meant for Japanese children)
This may be repeated, because similar, if not the exact same, resources in DJT are categorised neatly here. @lovelybluepanda again.
check more masterposts, some of which have been compiled here by @languagesandshootingstars
日本語の森 (Nihongo no Mori) (Good Youtube videos for beginners and advanced learners alike! They even have their lessons separated by JLPT levels!)
While that’s it for all the Japanese resources I feel do not go around a lot now, I did compile some points Japanese beginners might be doubtful in and what I had found from my own research.
Genki or Minna no Nihongo?
Minna no Nihongo has more vocabulary (2100-2200 for 初級 levels i.e. the beginner books) while Genki boasts a little lesser (1700 for genki 1+2). Minna no Nihongo has allegedly more grammar coverage ( 〜ように、〜ために- used in native speech). However, the book is entirely in Japanese (there is a separate book for English explanations) and there is a separate book for Kanji too. The Answer Key is at the back of the book, unlike Genki which has a separate Answer Key.
Genki is said to be more beginner-friendly than Minna no Nihongo, but if you put your mind to it, you can do either tbh. Just choose any book and stick with it!
** If you’re planning to study in Japan anytime, remember that Japanese teachers usually use Minna no Nihongo. But better do your research as well.
Kanji?
Everyone can put in all the work they like in Kanji, but at the end of the day, Kanji is not the only thing about Japanese. You can totally use Anki or Quizlet or Memrise to drill it in, maybe even make your own flashcards and put in extra work! But to really get fluent in the language, talking to native speakers (helpful guide by @jibunstudies) is very important. Even if you don’t fully understand what they’re saying, you acquire more vocabulary and will get the nuance of basic sentences! And you get friends too, if you’re lucky!
Just for reference and no pressure, here’s the general requirement to pass JLPT levels, if you’re ever planning to take them!
Level Kanji Vocabulary Listening Hours of Study N5 ~100 ~800 Beginner 150 (estimated) N4 ~300 ~1,500 Basic 300 (estimated) N3 ~650 ~3,750 Lower Intermediate 450 (estimated) N2 ~1000 ~6,000 Intermediate 600 (estimated) N1 ~2000 ~10,000 Advanced 900 (estimated)
(… yeah, that looks way better on a computer ok.) Remember, estimated doesn’t mean it will take you that much time exactly. Everyone learns differently! And ‘talent’ can be overcome by enough hard work so ファイト!
頑張れ !
