How to learn japanese 1. Learn hiragana -avoid romaji 1.5. learn katakana 2. Learn vocabulary 3. Learn grammar -discard english grammar 4. Apply and practice 5. Repeat steps 2-4
I've been researching into teaching yourself to talk Japanese quickly and discovered a great resource at Fergs magic blueprint (google it if you are interested)
A little tip I wanna give for language learning in general is to think your thoughts in that language. Somehow it became second nature to me to think in English and that's actually really helped me with learning English.
@@atmoak7063 I don't think that's true as I was learning Norwegian a while back. I got kind of far, but not really. I've mostly forgotten the language except "Jeg er brød." Which just means I am bread. I had a dream in Norwegian, but I couldn't understand it. I recognized the words, though.
I wouldn't say Roumaji is completely useless. It helped me get started associating the sound with the Kana, but now I can look at them and "see" the sound they make. Now I'm using the Kana to associate the word with Kanji.
Sabre Exe It's not useless, of course. I use it to teach Hiragana for example. After all, what else are you going to use to show the pronunciation without audio? (I have audio too now but I digress) It is however extremely bad for learning the rest of Japanese though.
I never used romaji, even when learning kana. xD I just wrote down the kana and said the pronunciation out loud as many times necessary for me to remember. I never wanted to create a link between roman letters and kana ^^
Learning Vocabulary: don't learn kanji by themselves here he means 気(ki) individually means energy and , but 元気(genki) means well, so it's better to learn them together as he said as u will know when and how to use them unlike hinagara and katakana
Once you're done learning Hiragana and Katakana, learning the vocabs and the whole language, set your phone language to Japanese. It can help you to train your Japanese skill daily if you use your phone everyday. Wish you luck!~
@@cyh1470 he said do not study kanji by themselves but i remember spending half of my day practivcing just writings and meanings of kanji that when i was supposed to read i was always dumbfounded however i still have the advabntage of a few onyomis due to the phonetic component list to figure out a bit of the readings
I've always viewed Japanese Grammarical structure like listening to Yoda talk. The way he speaks seems pretty similar to Japanese in my opinion. If you can understand how Yoda talks, shouldn't be too far of a leap to understand Japanese.
Fun Fact! Lucas was fairly heavily influenced by old Japanese Samurai movies, and Yoda's speech pattern is actually based off of Japanese sentence structure. That's why it sounds a bit off to English speakers.
Eduardo Hernández There's actually a lot of Japanese influence in Star Wars. Jedi and lightsaber combat are pretty heavily influenced by Samurai and Japanese sword fighting, which I believe was directly stated by Lucas at one point. The word Jedi is supposedly derived from a Japanese word. The Aurebesh lettering looks a lot like Katakana.
Actually I learn the vocabulary with cards where on one side theres only the kanji and on the other the reading in hiragana and the meaning of the word. That works surprisingly well...
I would put ads but it would probably be pimsleur or some other product with the SECRETS to learning Japanese that the conspiracy doesn't want you to know about. Start speaking in only 10 days, 30 minutes a day! So like literally, in 5 hours, you'll be "speaking" a new language. Yeah right.
LynxDaftPunk . If that works better for you, go for it. My first most important piece of advise is always do what is enjoyable and satisfying unless it's counter productive of course like using romaji.
hey um thank you so much I am going to be beginning today Ill be updating everyday and practicing 5-20 mins a day and ill see if i know it by the end of summer OK Thank You So Much :) Arigatōgozaimashita
I'm glad to see this video getting good views, but it should get more! As a teacher of English, I can say with confidence that this video hits on a lot of important, but sadly not discussed points about learning a new language. It also stresses a realistic time-frame, which is very important. All in all, a GREAT primer for learning any language. Be realistic, be dedicated, and practice! Rock on, Tae Kim.
i learned a little bit of japanese during 10th grade, we were able to finish learning hiragana and how to count and tell the time, but we never got to katakana and kanji because of covid. i tried to retain my japanese skills during the pandemic but soon lost interest. now, i downloaded fortnite on my switch and realized that i was getting teamed up with japanese people. they didn't talk much so neither did i, but then i met these three nice people who sounded nice and were very understanding when i hesitantly told them that i couldn't speak or understand japanese (i did it all with google translate cause i really liked playing and hearing their banter) and they said that it was okay. sadly, as there was a huge wall of language barrier between us, conversing was hard but we tried our best. i want to play with them again but i don't want to feel like a burden, so i'm deciding to pick up where i left off so i can speak to them. thanks for the tips, dude. i'll use em well.
You're a great sensei. These are truly high quality videos, and the fact that they're available for free here on RUclips is absolutely amazing. Thank you so much! I purchased your book yesterday, and I'm currently learning a lot from these video lectures. It's regrettable that you're no longer producing new content, but I'm still grateful for these invaluable gems.
+someamorplease interesting points ,if anyone else is searching for best way to learn japanese online try Pycanta Simple Japanese Protocol (Have a quick look on google cant remember the place now ) ? Ive heard some awesome things about it and my m8 got great results with it.
hi everyone ,if anyone else is searching for how to learn to speak japanese try Nevolly Fast Japanese Nerd (do a google search ) ? Ive heard some awesome things about it and my co-worker got amazing success with it.
Not certain about the points made but ,if anyone else wants to learn about how to speak japanese online try Jadonite Simple Japanese Buddy ( search on google ) ? Ive heard some unbelievable things about it and my work buddy got amazing success with it.
I'm 12 and have recently started learning Japanese, your videos and app have helped me a lot so far! So thank you. Luckily for me I have plenty of years ahead of me to learn and I also enjoy learning it as I plan to go to Japan when I'm older, and I enjoy anime and manga, and hope to be able to under stand both without subtitles or translations. I recommend anyone starts learning Japanese as soon as possible so that you'll be more confident when actually using the language on a daily basis.
The only language's I know are English, Spanish, and French. Right now, I am trying to learn Japanese language because mostly no one in my school knows Japanese and mostly know French which is very easy for some ppl. So now I want to learn Japanese. I like learning new language's so I was like why not? Anyway, if u read this comment, plz have a marvelous day. 😇
@@never97 if making any mistakes in a language means you're not fluent..then no one is fluent. We all make mistakes in our native tongue muchless adoptive tongues.
Thank you sooo much Tae Kim, you changed my Life so much with this.My Japanese is significantly much better because of your advise, you're brilliant, JUST Brilliant. Thank you so much. I could never express the amount of gratitude i have for you. Thanks again. 本当にありがとうございました！
8/12/19 I started to learn Japanese. I'm gonna update this comment every week for the things I've learned. Update: Itʼs been 2 weeks lol I've been really busy in school so that's why. Now, I can finally read hiragana. Thanks to the apps and tutorial videos in yt. I wanna learn katakana next. I just need to find some time to learn those. :) happy learning 12/28/20 I memorized both katakana and hiragana. I'm currently studying basic Japanese grammar and some N5 kanji vocabs.
Put some ads on your youtube channel and your website, Tae Kim. I won't mind you getting some buck for a great job you are doing with your guides. Thank you.
I'm really, really happy I found your channel! I'm not, or, I wasn't interested in learning Japanese to speak, but rather I wanted to learn hiragana to be able to operate a program called "UTAU" that recognizes those characters in order to synthesize a voice out of prerecorded samples. As of right now, I have only been using romaji-encoded, or, voicebanks (voice recording sets) that could recognize romaji, but there are lots that are only able to recognize hiragana. Now, I might be considering learning a little bit more than that, such as grammer and such, so that I understand how to recreate a Japanese song properly and don't make any weird mistakes. Thank you so much for creating these resources.
Personally, I actually stumbled upon your guide around 2009 (if my memory is correct). I have already memorized Hiragana and Katakana that time. I have slowly learned through that process (and I didn't even finish it all), but let's say it was my basics. I had a long break in learning Japanese because Korean came to my interests. When I came back to Japanese it wasn't like it's back to square one, but rather I was like trying to recover my old learnings. I must say that because of the basics established in my mind, when I watched anime or JDrama (or listen to my music, which is 98% Japanese) I always put on my headphones to proper audible levels and I paid attention to the subs as I enjoy the show. I don't know if it's only me, but I learned what I hear and I read in the subs (as in word per word or new sentence patterns at a time, or the deepest one, how the entire grammatical structure got implanted to my brain thanks to the basics I had). Now I am in my 6th year of learning Japanese. I cannot fit in any of the JLPT levels because I may have the knowledge in grammar for all levels and at the same time have a lot of knowledge in jinmeiyou kanji. It's like learning Japanese in Japan without being in basic education. I feel like expressing gratitude because I've been successful in this learning 55% because of the grammar guide you freely distribute. The remaining would be 30% other sources and 15% my effort (to which it's very small because it was passive learning). My style of learning will have to differ from the rest given that I have a mind that of a linguist (I easily learn languages). So thank you very much for the grammar guide. Although I wouldn't even qualify in JLPT N5 I can even do amateur translation jobs. Hoping you could help a lot more of people out there.
Thanks for this video, I started learning Hiragana in February it took me like 2 months and a few weeks to learn it, same thing is happening for Katakana, at first the more wired combinations for katakana kind of look scary and feeling like i'm going no where but i keep trying to remember them, by the end of this month I would remember all my kana including wired combinations. I felt a little lost on what to do after. Studying kanji on or kun readings or don't, or just memorize 100's of kanji with their meaning without readings or jump into vocabulary first then study kanji? 🤔Then I discovered your channel I am definitely going to check out your videos on how to approach my road block. And, sadly I forgot to have fun while learning kana and almost turn my self learning into a classroom 😭where you are just stuck and feeling the pain of not knowing the right answer. So, im going to start over on how I study, for I love Japanese movies enough to learn the language the right way. Good luck to all those tackling a new language. 👏
William Donovan If you are interested in learning kanji too, I'm making 1 minute animations to remember them ヽ(´▽｀)/Every japanese learner is welcomed to join the club. がんばって！let me know if you find it useful :)
I've had two different substitute teachers that could speak about 6 different languages and they've traveled to different countries throughout their life. I really want to do this too and I think that Japanese will be one of the first languages I learn. It's hard to stick with learning a language though especially when learning it alone.
I've just learned about your wonderful site and promptly made a posting about it on my two edublogs and shared it on all the social media I've joined after leaving Facebook. I will also add the link to your RUclips channel on the postings. Although I only intend to learn the syllabaries (and not Kanji), I recognize that, for those who want to go deeper into the country´s literature it´s understandably necessary. However, this is not my case, fortunately for me, smile. You are a precious educator and your cultural activism is truly noble. Congratulations for your beautiful work and thank you so much for it!
Step 5 is so correct. It is the reason why I am in some cases more fluent with english than in my native language (finnish). I'm seeing similar effects as I talk in japanese by myself or make remarks to other people in it.
I started studying japanese a couple of months ago. I learned hiragana and katakana, very very few kanji, and basic grammar. Unfortunately I didn't have time to continue it, but now I'm definitely getting into it again. Thanks for this video, it's really helpful and makes a lot of sense.
Kim, thank you so much for the tips. They've really helped me in learning Japanese. Because when I was first learning the language, I was thinking that I'd never make it through Kanji, now I'm pretty much using Kanji whenever I write in Japanese. ありがとうございました！！！
Ok here's the deal. Im going to start learning japanese to the point where i can watch raw anime and perhaps read raw manga. When that's done i'll be posting a comment here regarding this amazing achievement xD (Ps: if i remember)
+Crash[Project] Hey if you don't mind me asking, how are you going 1 month in? I'm only 1 week in, but what surprised me was that I feel like I can already almost understand the general idea behind ~5-10% of some anime that I watch. All I did was learn as many words as I could, and some basic grammar rules (I still have no idea how to make a proper sentence with more than 4 words) and I'm starting to hear all these words pop out and I understand some things already.
freshly squeezed orange juice I started out learning with Memrise for the characters and some of the words. I did the beginner course and the next one after that (I think 200 "words" and 350 "words" in each respectively) and finished those in about 3 weeks. The rest of the time I've been listening hard to just heaps of anime, absolute brute force, picking up words gradually that way. Then at the same time I started figuring out the sentence structure and picking up different ways to say things like that. I think overall I'm not learning the best way, but the important factor is that it's at my own pace so I don't burn out and get sick of it. Not sure how to rate where I'm at though. I can probably have a very broken and slow conversation in japanese about extremely general topics now, but only if they use the words that I know, and I'd miss a lot of meaning still.
+DeSinc First of all sorry for the delayed reply. For some reason youtube just notified me now so here i am. To sumarize i am not able to watch raw anime just yet but i can understand the general ideas and stuff that's going on. I can also read and understand most hiragana words i come across in the opening song subtitles and at the moment im working on kanji and katakana vocabulary. Besides that im trying to learn some grammar but ive got to admit that it's kind of hard xD. I'm probably moving slowly cause school is getting tighter and tighter and have been learning to programming at the same time, but overall it's been very interesting and i hope to get back here 4 months from now and to be able to say "I got it". Wish me luck :)
October 4th, 2024 I started commiting to the Japanese Duolingo course. Although this is not that impressive, I'll admit, I consider this the starting point of my Japanese learning journey. October 19th, 2024 I've learned all Hiragana characters to the point where I'm able to even handwrite them by memory (sometimes I get stuck but it mostly flows), and I'm also almost done with learning Katakana. I know how to formulate basic sentences, such as 「私の名前はグスタヴょです」(introducing myself), although I still lack a ton of knowledge grammar and vocabulary wise. I was using the Core 2k deck, but decided to reset it as I wasn't satisfied with my approach to learning it, and would rather wait until I have a bit more experience to start tackling it more easily. So far, I don't think my progress is impressive at all, but I'm definetly way more knowledgeable than when I started. I look forward to see what the future holds for me in this journey.
My goal is to speak/understand other languages like Spanish, Japanese, Thai and ect. As of now I have learn or mastered 3 languages and my next target is Japanese. Btw, thanks for the tips it helps me a lot.
Just want to take a moment to highlight and appreciate the fact that these videos don't have ads!!! Finally able to revise my hiragana in the quickest manner because of no ads and the difference is huge compared to other videos. This guy knows how and why ads should not be on education videos, an important need, depicted clearly by his skill, and technique he used to explain in the videos. I would very well share these videos on social media in the future, which I have put away now because of, ADs!!! Do share y'all...
can`t not wait to come back in like 5 months to understand what he just said in the beginning. Just started today, and learning to write the vowels has already proven to be a challenge (especially A and O), at least english characters didn`t have complex curves in them. I mean I can remember what they look like, but I can`t seem to write them perfectly by instinct, atm they look ok.
I'm so greatful for your videos. They are short but very informative. Thanks to your videos I learned the Hiragana alphabet and will shortly start with Katakana. Thank you!
What I do on translation is look up a word, think about the grammar,like,"I am..." To ,"私は…です" and if I want to add something else I just look back on the grammar....and I just started a month ago. Learned Hiragana. Not Worrying about Katakana at the moment. I can just look that up. And the Tae Kim's guide to learning Japanese app is awesome. Helps a lot. And I also have the pdf just in case I am not able to use the phone.
Thanks, this is super helpful. I can fluently read hiragana/katakana and can pick up some kanji at the moment. I have been learning on and off for awhile with kanji and I think I'll take your advice with learning vocabulary w/ kanji rather than the kanji by themselves. Then I'll be able to look at words objectively and know how to say them.
Currently, I only know hiragana and katakana. Now I think it's time to study kanji sooo see you in 100 years ;) I'll be updating my useless progress if I don't forget about this comment
If anyone's interested in learning 漢字 (Kanji) , there's a great app on the App store called 漢字忍者 which has 1006 漢字 for you to learn. It's basically just sentences and you write down the correct 漢字 for the sentece. I've been using it for 6 months now and it's helped me learn over 700 漢字 so I highly recommend this app!
It's really hard, especially in a state where the most taught languages are Romance. It's also hard to find a Japanese person in South Florida. I got burnt out, but I am going to go back in with a new mindset.
Tae Kim I haven't yet, looks like I will have to give it a go. I met a Spanish friend some days ago that knows Japanese and lived in Japan, but sadly they live far away.
Great video. I've only been learning Japanese for a couple of years now, and I'd still very well call myself an amateur, but your points really sum up a lot of my thoughts about learning the language, especially the one about not memorizing kanji by themselves. Learning jukugo and just paying attention to the kanji used in them really does go a long way, doesn't it?
@@onlyme9348 I've come a long way since I wrote that comment, that's for sure. Between being able to read untranslated books naturally without 'deciphering' the language, being able to understand Japanese youtubers, and doing my own creative writing in the language, I'd say I'm finally decent at least. I wouldn't dare say I mastered the language, but I wouldn't say that about my native language either. There's always room for improvement.
Thanks for this video. I have been wondering how to begin learning Japanese and now I know. Hiragana first, Kanji later. I had already started learning Kanji 1 to 10 lol.
Your videos and guides have been a huge help for me. Your grammar guide is extremely easy to understand and it even comes in PDF format. Thanks a lot man. This and commonjargon.com is some of the most useful resources for me.
I have no problems with romaji, I don't understand why some people are against it. Especially the Hepburn romaji is quite useful, since it was invented by an American and is based on the English language. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hepburn_romanization And the romaji is better than hiragana for long vowels. It is impossible to express long vowels in hiragana but with romaji it is easy. For example 東京 in hiragana is とうきょう, but there is no way to tell if the う is a long vowel or a separate syllable. とうきょう can also be pronounced as 4 syllables, と-う-きょ-う, where each う is a separate syllable. But in romaji it is clear that the う is a long vowel and not a separate syllabe: Tōkyō.
With all the resources and technology now, you can definitely teach yourself Japanese. I still have many more videos to make but make sure to check out my website for more advanced topics. www.guidetojapanese.org
I'm one month into my study. Currently learned all of Hiragana, Katakana, but no kanji. I will come back to this section to see my progress at times lol
Devin Geng I'm five months into learning korean and I have a really good understanding of grammar. BTW howtostudykorean.com is a very good website for grammar
20/9/21 this is today's date , i started learning japanese 9 days ago so the official starting point is that day , i will update this comment in 3 years from now to tell you guys if its possible to learn basic , conversational japanese in only those few years ,see yall again !!!
Thanks for the tips! I need to get back into Japanese >.< But I'm not in school, and don't know a very good method for like classes and whatnot. I'm thinking of trying iTalkie.
after I memorized HIRAGANA alphabet I was looking for a path to walk.. this video is really helpful.. I have decided to improve my vocabulary.. than I will study grammar.. thanks :)
I kind of wish that I had a teacher to help me with this or at least all the materials needed. I do have a few like an online program, a text book, and apps to learn vocabulary. Do you think I should continue with what I have, or wait until I can take a class in college? I would take a class now, but my high school does not have any classes for Japanese.
I am in the same situation,I have no one to teach me and I want to learn the language.I started studing alone and it is fun and can be done .Try photocoping some thinks from the internet or get a book that students get and study it alone.You dont have to wait until you can go to a clash,learn what you can alone and then learn everything else .
I'm slowly going through the Tae Kim Grammar Guide. I really wish I could hurry up and finish it so I can start reading but I'm only halfway through essential grammar.
Translating Japanese from Hindi or Bengali works like charm. Thank God atleast these two along with English are my native language. I can make works by world translations to Japanese with Hindi or Bengali. Not always exactly but these work out better than English translations. 1 month in, I have already learnt so much grammar and can now frame proper sentences.
5:00 Probably a dumb question but how would one practice speaking specifically if you don't have anyone to talk to in Japanese? Like what would be a good way to go about it?
I am going at japanese the "wrong way". I can recognize more audible Japanese than I can read. But I could kinda understand that the 1st sentence had to do with studying japanese (and from context it is tips about studying the the language). That said I slowly gained hiragana and katakana by trying to read what came at me from anime and youtube focused on anime.
Thank you for the tips ^-^ I would've gotten my Kanji wrong because I was about to the learn it like what you said not too! Also I wasn't sure what to learn after Hiragana so thank you again!
There are a few things for how to learn Japanese Decide precisely why you want to speak it Try to speak japanese in your everyday life Decide which process works for you the best. (I read about these and more from Fergs Magic Blueprint website )
![BLACK BAG - Official Trailer [HD] - Only in Theaters March 14](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Du0Xp8WX_7I/mqdefault.jpg)
How to learn japanese
1. Learn hiragana
-avoid romaji
1.5. learn katakana
2. Learn vocabulary
3. Learn grammar
-discard english grammar
4. Apply and practice
5. Repeat steps 2-4
Thank you ☺️ 😊😭
Thanks a lot :D
Thanks
I've been researching into teaching yourself to talk Japanese quickly and discovered a great resource at Fergs magic blueprint (google it if you are interested)
World need ppl like u 😌
I was just about to turn on the translations in the beginning XD
same and i was like- wait- theres none
Well i think everyone did
Same lol
lol
Lol
A little tip I wanna give for language learning in general is to think your thoughts in that language. Somehow it became second nature to me to think in English and that's actually really helped me with learning English.
same
@@monah_art me too I'm 14 and English is my 3rd language, i like thinking in english as it is very natural
they say once you start having dreams in the language that’s when you’re truly fluent
@@atmoak7063 I don't think that's true as I was learning Norwegian a while back. I got kind of far, but not really. I've mostly forgotten the language except "Jeg er brød." Which just means I am bread. I had a dream in Norwegian, but I couldn't understand it. I recognized the words, though.
English is my second language and i always think in English, i'm not really comfortable with thinking in italian (my normal language)
I'm fed up of websites teaching japanese with romaji… I started learning japanese on yours and it gave me the very good habit never to use them! ^^
I wouldn't say Roumaji is completely useless. It helped me get started associating the sound with the Kana, but now I can look at them and "see" the sound they make. Now I'm using the Kana to associate the word with Kanji.
Sabre Exe It's not useless, of course. I use it to teach Hiragana for example. After all, what else are you going to use to show the pronunciation without audio? (I have audio too now but I digress) It is however extremely bad for learning the rest of Japanese though.
I never used romaji, even when learning kana. xD I just wrote down the kana and said the pronunciation out loud as many times necessary for me to remember. I never wanted to create a link between roman letters and kana ^^
Sissou Same here.
Hi, lovely lamb. What happened after a year studying Japanese? Tell me, please. :D
Learning Vocabulary: don't learn kanji by themselves here he means 気(ki) individually means energy and , but 元気(genki) means well, so it's better to learn them together as he said as u will know when and how to use them unlike hinagara and katakana
Once you're done learning Hiragana and Katakana, learning the vocabs and the whole language, set your phone language to Japanese. It can help you to train your Japanese skill daily if you use your phone everyday. Wish you luck!~
ありがとうございます
ありがとう（＾Ｏ＾）
im gonna try doin that ig
I try to use Japanese as language for my LINE. Unfortunately , it's contains kanji too. I can not read that 😭
@@cyh1470 he said do not study kanji by themselves but i remember spending half of my day practivcing just writings and meanings of kanji that when i was supposed to read i was always dumbfounded
however i still have the advabntage of a few onyomis due to the phonetic component list to figure out a bit of the readings
i might have a fear of forgetting the english language itself
Hikari Tsuyuri same
@Rinkan Tsuyuri ya the only thing is if that happen then i wont be able to talk to my English friends XD
Lmao Keen4 avatar
Rinkanです that's a terrible choice
Rinkanです That is like losing interactions with billions of people to speak to millions of people.
I've always viewed Japanese Grammarical structure like listening to Yoda talk. The way he speaks seems pretty similar to Japanese in my opinion. If you can understand how Yoda talks, shouldn't be too far of a leap to understand Japanese.
Fun Fact! Lucas was fairly heavily influenced by old Japanese Samurai movies, and Yoda's speech pattern is actually based off of Japanese sentence structure. That's why it sounds a bit off to English speakers.
Ah, forgot about that. Yeah, Jedi is supposedly derived from a Japanese word too if I remember correctly...
Fun fact of the day :D
I find it very similar to German, but i guess his talking pattern could have been taken from the Japanese. And also sounds weird to spanish speakers.
Eduardo Hernández
There's actually a lot of Japanese influence in Star Wars. Jedi and lightsaber combat are pretty heavily influenced by Samurai and Japanese sword fighting, which I believe was directly stated by Lucas at one point. The word Jedi is supposedly derived from a Japanese word. The Aurebesh lettering looks a lot like Katakana.
Actually I learn the vocabulary with cards where on one side theres only the kanji and on the other the reading in hiragana and the meaning of the word. That works surprisingly well...
I'm doing something similar! I made flash cards with the hiragana and katakana on one side split and on the back is the character in romanji!
What's the difference between Kanji and hiragana? 🤔
@@jacquelinedamian2423 Just read Tae Kim's Guide, he explains it quite well.
I would put ads but it would probably be pimsleur or some other product with the SECRETS to learning Japanese that the conspiracy doesn't want you to know about. Start speaking in only 10 days, 30 minutes a day! So like literally, in 5 hours, you'll be "speaking" a new language. Yeah right.
LynxDaftPunk . If that works better for you, go for it. My first most important piece of advise is always do what is enjoyable and satisfying unless it's counter productive of course like using romaji.
***** Just don't translate. Especially Google translate.
hey um thank you so much I am going to be beginning today Ill be updating everyday and practicing 5-20 mins a day and ill see if i know it by the end of summer OK Thank You So Much :) Arigatōgozaimashita
Thank you Tae Kim for dedicating so much time to learning languages. I look forward to learning from the materials you mention.
***** It looks like a scam for some reason.
I'm glad to see this video getting good views, but it should get more! As a teacher of English, I can say with confidence that this video hits on a lot of important, but sadly not discussed points about learning a new language. It also stresses a realistic time-frame, which is very important. All in all, a GREAT primer for learning any language. Be realistic, be dedicated, and practice! Rock on, Tae Kim.
i learned a little bit of japanese during 10th grade, we were able to finish learning hiragana and how to count and tell the time, but we never got to katakana and kanji because of covid. i tried to retain my japanese skills during the pandemic but soon lost interest.
now, i downloaded fortnite on my switch and realized that i was getting teamed up with japanese people. they didn't talk much so neither did i, but then i met these three nice people who sounded nice and were very understanding when i hesitantly told them that i couldn't speak or understand japanese (i did it all with google translate cause i really liked playing and hearing their banter) and they said that it was okay. sadly, as there was a huge wall of language barrier between us, conversing was hard but we tried our best.
i want to play with them again but i don't want to feel like a burden, so i'm deciding to pick up where i left off so i can speak to them.
thanks for the tips, dude. i'll use em well.
Change "Japanese" into ANY subject or skill and you have excellent advice for Every subject or skill.
You're a great sensei. These are truly high quality videos, and the fact that they're available for free here on RUclips is absolutely amazing. Thank you so much! I purchased your book yesterday, and I'm currently learning a lot from these video lectures. It's regrettable that you're no longer producing new content, but I'm still grateful for these invaluable gems.
I'm pretty damn sure you were sent from heaven. You made this whole thing seem so much more achievable and far less daunting. Thanks for all the tips.
And I love the "bonus slide" info. Every time.
+someamorplease interesting points ,if anyone else is searching for best way to learn japanese online try Pycanta Simple Japanese Protocol (Have a quick look on google cant remember the place now ) ? Ive heard some awesome things about it and my m8 got great results with it.
hi everyone ,if anyone else is searching for how to learn to speak japanese try Nevolly Fast Japanese Nerd (do a google search ) ? Ive heard some awesome things about it and my co-worker got amazing success with it.
It "seems" but still it is really hard
Not certain about the points made but ,if anyone else wants to learn about how to speak japanese online try Jadonite Simple Japanese Buddy ( search on google ) ? Ive heard some unbelievable things about it and my work buddy got amazing success with it.
I'm 12 and have recently started learning Japanese, your videos and app have helped me a lot so far! So thank you.
Luckily for me I have plenty of years ahead of me to learn and I also enjoy learning it as I plan to go to Japan when I'm older, and I enjoy anime and manga, and hope to be able to under stand both without subtitles or translations. I recommend anyone starts learning Japanese as soon as possible so that you'll be more confident when actually using the language on a daily basis.
Yo its been 5 years hows your progress on japanese? Did you drop it or are you fluent at this point?
@Sreeto imagine if he already dropped it 7 years ago-
Hey! How’s ur Japanese doing? If u dropped it, don’t worry it’s not too late to start!
bro died💀
The only language's I know are English, Spanish, and French. Right now, I am trying to learn Japanese language because mostly no one in my school knows Japanese and mostly know French which is very easy for some ppl. So now I want to learn Japanese. I like learning new language's so I was like why not? Anyway, if u read this comment, plz have a marvelous day. 😇
Ashanti Mizrahi You said you know english but you still type it as "language's". 😂
“Only languages”
I can barely even speak English 😂
OK, I mean what you expect us to say.
Tsui That's the one mistake they made in an entire paragraph.
@@never97 if making any mistakes in a language means you're not fluent..then no one is fluent. We all make mistakes in our native tongue muchless adoptive tongues.
Thank you sooo much Tae Kim, you changed my Life so much with this.My Japanese is significantly much better because of your advise, you're brilliant, JUST Brilliant. Thank you so much. I could never express the amount of gratitude i have for you. Thanks again.
本当にありがとうございました！
8/12/19
I started to learn Japanese.
I'm gonna update this comment every week for the things I've learned.
Update: Itʼs been 2 weeks lol
I've been really busy in school so that's why. Now, I can finally read hiragana. Thanks to the apps and tutorial videos in yt. I wanna learn katakana next. I just need to find some time to learn those. :) happy learning
12/28/20
I memorized both katakana and hiragana. I'm currently studying basic Japanese grammar and some N5 kanji vocabs.
I wish you luck on learning Japanese!! :D
how are you going now?
>I'll update every week
>comment is 8 months old
@@gamermapper I've been really busy lol
@@dawnn2004 have you learned anything new?
Oh my god thank you your the only video that made sense thank you
Bill!
Bill Cipher :-3
Put some ads on your youtube channel and your website, Tae Kim. I won't mind you getting some buck for a great job you are doing with your guides. Thank you.
I just wanna thank you so much, Tae Kim!
Your guide, your way of teaching Japanese is the real deal; big time!
You're the man!
I'm really, really happy I found your channel! I'm not, or, I wasn't interested in learning Japanese to speak, but rather I wanted to learn hiragana to be able to operate a program called "UTAU" that recognizes those characters in order to synthesize a voice out of prerecorded samples. As of right now, I have only been using romaji-encoded, or, voicebanks (voice recording sets) that could recognize romaji, but there are lots that are only able to recognize hiragana. Now, I might be considering learning a little bit more than that, such as grammer and such, so that I understand how to recreate a Japanese song properly and don't make any weird mistakes. Thank you so much for creating these resources.
Personally, I actually stumbled upon your guide around 2009 (if my memory is correct). I have already memorized Hiragana and Katakana that time. I have slowly learned through that process (and I didn't even finish it all), but let's say it was my basics. I had a long break in learning Japanese because Korean came to my interests. When I came back to Japanese it wasn't like it's back to square one, but rather I was like trying to recover my old learnings.
I must say that because of the basics established in my mind, when I watched anime or JDrama (or listen to my music, which is 98% Japanese) I always put on my headphones to proper audible levels and I paid attention to the subs as I enjoy the show. I don't know if it's only me, but I learned what I hear and I read in the subs (as in word per word or new sentence patterns at a time, or the deepest one, how the entire grammatical structure got implanted to my brain thanks to the basics I had). Now I am in my 6th year of learning Japanese. I cannot fit in any of the JLPT levels because I may have the knowledge in grammar for all levels and at the same time have a lot of knowledge in jinmeiyou kanji. It's like learning Japanese in Japan without being in basic education.
I feel like expressing gratitude because I've been successful in this learning 55% because of the grammar guide you freely distribute. The remaining would be 30% other sources and 15% my effort (to which it's very small because it was passive learning). My style of learning will have to differ from the rest given that I have a mind that of a linguist (I easily learn languages). So thank you very much for the grammar guide. Although I wouldn't even qualify in JLPT N5 I can even do amateur translation jobs. Hoping you could help a lot more of people out there.
Thanks for this video, I started learning Hiragana in February it took me like 2 months and a few weeks to learn it, same thing is happening for Katakana, at first the more wired combinations for katakana kind of look scary and feeling like i'm going no where but i keep trying to remember them, by the end of this month I would remember all my kana including wired combinations. I felt a little lost on what to do after. Studying kanji on or kun readings or don't, or just memorize 100's of kanji with their meaning without readings or jump into vocabulary first then study kanji? 🤔Then I discovered your channel I am definitely going to check out your videos on how to approach my road block. And, sadly I forgot to have fun while learning kana and almost turn my self learning into a classroom 😭where you are just stuck and feeling the pain of not knowing the right answer. So, im going to start over on how I study, for I love Japanese movies enough to learn the language the right way. Good luck to all those tackling a new language. 👏
It's all about motivation i learned Hiragana in only 2 days next step Katakana
William Donovan If you are interested in learning kanji too, I'm making 1 minute animations to remember them ヽ(´▽｀)/Every japanese learner is welcomed to join the club. がんばって！let me know if you find it useful :)
William Donovan WHAT?!?!? Teach me ur magic!
That´s easy. I've just learnt all Kana in 4 hours. This magic is called Anki. You can find it on the web ;)
AbknickerMuzik teach me ur magic
Minute Kanji that’s so cute! I’m subbing.
I've had two different substitute teachers that could speak about 6 different languages and they've traveled to different countries throughout their life. I really want to do this too and I think that Japanese will be one of the first languages I learn. It's hard to stick with learning a language though especially when learning it alone.
I've just learned about your wonderful site and promptly made a posting about it on my two edublogs and shared it on all the social media I've joined after leaving Facebook. I will also add the link to your RUclips channel on the postings.
Although I only intend to learn the syllabaries (and not Kanji), I recognize that, for those who want to go deeper into the country´s literature it´s understandably necessary. However, this is not my case, fortunately for me, smile.
You are a precious educator and your cultural activism is truly noble. Congratulations for your beautiful work and thank you so much for it!
Step 5 is so correct. It is the reason why I am in some cases more fluent with english than in my native language (finnish). I'm seeing similar effects as I talk in japanese by myself or make remarks to other people in it.
I started studying japanese a couple of months ago. I learned hiragana and katakana, very very few kanji, and basic grammar. Unfortunately I didn't have time to continue it, but now I'm definitely getting into it again. Thanks for this video, it's really helpful and makes a lot of sense.
I want to be able to watch anime with no subtitles, the ultimate achievement.
how's it going so far?
@@naomibot9760 omg i legit gave up in like a day omg i forgot lmaoooo i dont have patience
Just learn till alphabets u wouldn't stop after it
Kim, thank you so much for the tips. They've really helped me in learning Japanese. Because when I was first learning the language, I was thinking that I'd never make it through Kanji, now I'm pretty much using Kanji whenever I write in Japanese.
ありがとうございました！！！
Ok here's the deal. Im going to start learning japanese to the point where i can watch raw anime and perhaps read raw manga. When that's done i'll be posting a comment here regarding this amazing achievement xD (Ps: if i remember)
+Crash[Project] Hey if you don't mind me asking, how are you going 1 month in?
I'm only 1 week in, but what surprised me was that I feel like I can already almost understand the general idea behind ~5-10% of some anime that I watch. All I did was learn as many words as I could, and some basic grammar rules (I still have no idea how to make a proper sentence with more than 4 words) and I'm starting to hear all these words pop out and I understand some things already.
+DeSinc Mind telling me how you've learned? What sources did you use? How far are you now after 2 months?
freshly squeezed orange juice
I started out learning with Memrise for the characters and some of the words. I did the beginner course and the next one after that (I think 200 "words" and 350 "words" in each respectively) and finished those in about 3 weeks. The rest of the time I've been listening hard to just heaps of anime, absolute brute force, picking up words gradually that way. Then at the same time I started figuring out the sentence structure and picking up different ways to say things like that.
I think overall I'm not learning the best way, but the important factor is that it's at my own pace so I don't burn out and get sick of it. Not sure how to rate where I'm at though. I can probably have a very broken and slow conversation in japanese about extremely general topics now, but only if they use the words that I know, and I'd miss a lot of meaning still.
***** Ah, okay - interesting, it's worth a try. I watch a lot of anime already so that's not a problem for me. :P
+DeSinc First of all sorry for the delayed reply. For some reason youtube just notified me now so here i am.
To sumarize i am not able to watch raw anime just yet but i can understand the general ideas and stuff that's going on. I can also read and understand most hiragana words i come across in the opening song subtitles and at the moment im working on kanji and katakana vocabulary. Besides that im trying to learn some grammar but ive got to admit that it's kind of hard xD.
I'm probably moving slowly cause school is getting tighter and tighter and have been learning to programming at the same time, but overall it's been very interesting and i hope to get back here 4 months from now and to be able to say "I got it". Wish me luck :)
October 4th, 2024
I started commiting to the
Japanese Duolingo course. Although this is not that impressive, I'll admit, I consider this the starting point of my Japanese learning journey.
October 19th, 2024
I've learned all Hiragana characters to the point where I'm able to even handwrite them by memory (sometimes I get stuck but it mostly flows), and I'm also almost done with learning Katakana. I know how to formulate basic sentences, such as 「私の名前はグスタヴょです」(introducing myself), although I still lack a ton of knowledge grammar and vocabulary wise. I was using the Core 2k deck, but decided to reset it as I wasn't satisfied with my approach to learning it, and would rather wait until I have a bit more experience to start tackling it more easily. So far, I don't think my progress is impressive at all, but I'm definetly way more knowledgeable than when I started. I look forward to see what the future holds for me in this journey.
My goal is to speak/understand other languages like Spanish, Japanese, Thai and ect. As of now I have learn or mastered 3 languages and my next target is Japanese. Btw, thanks for the tips it helps me a lot.
Good luck! What languages have you learned so far?
How did it go?
Just want to take a moment to highlight and appreciate the fact that these videos don't have ads!!! Finally able to revise my hiragana in the quickest manner because of no ads and the difference is huge compared to other videos. This guy knows how and why ads should not be on education videos, an important need, depicted clearly by his skill, and technique he used to explain in the videos.
I would very well share these videos on social media in the future, which I have put away now because of, ADs!!!
Do share y'all...
can`t not wait to come back in like 5 months to understand what he just said in the beginning. Just started today, and learning to write the vowels has already proven to be a challenge (especially A and O), at least english characters didn`t have complex curves in them. I mean I can remember what they look like, but I can`t seem to write them perfectly by instinct, atm they look ok.
I'm so greatful for your videos. They are short but very informative. Thanks to your videos I learned the Hiragana alphabet and will shortly start with Katakana. Thank you!
Been learning for a year now since I commented here. Helped so much, thank you. Learned kana, grammar and some kanji
Really excited to learn! I've already got the app you made and everything!
Thanks, the apps were created by kind volunteers, I just wrote the content.
I started to learn at 01.01.2024. Almost learned hiragana, starting to learn vocab trough anki, maybe later I will write an update on my progress.
guys I had a panic attack at the beginning thinking he was seriously expecting me to catch that lol
The intro itself deserves a huge like and subscribe xD
What I do on translation is look up a word, think about the grammar,like,"I am..." To ,"私は…です" and if I want to add something else I just look back on the grammar....and I just started a month ago. Learned Hiragana. Not Worrying about Katakana at the moment. I can just look that up. And the Tae Kim's guide to learning Japanese app is awesome. Helps a lot. And I also have the pdf just in case I am not able to use the phone.
i'm so happy that the way that japanese works is somehow similar to portuguese(my native language), i'm almost learning the language
from ALL the videos and websites ive been too your website and video was the best help and tips to me, thanks
Thanks, this is super helpful. I can fluently read hiragana/katakana and can pick up some kanji at the moment. I have been learning on and off for awhile with kanji and I think I'll take your advice with learning vocabulary w/ kanji rather than the kanji by themselves. Then I'll be able to look at words objectively and know how to say them.
Currently learning hiragana and katakana, thank you for the video.
How is your learning? I hope you the best!
Currently, I only know hiragana and katakana. Now I think it's time to study kanji sooo see you in 100 years ;)
I'll be updating my useless progress if I don't forget about this comment
How are you doing 3 weeks in? :)
Are you using RTK, or are you using something else?
Im here to remind you to update us *
how are you doing?
Update please
If anyone's interested in learning 漢字 (Kanji) , there's a great app on the App store called 漢字忍者 which has 1006 漢字 for you to learn. It's basically just sentences and you write down the correct 漢字 for the sentece. I've been using it for 6 months now and it's helped me learn over 700 漢字 so I highly recommend this app!
Is it still up?
and if ur still active hows ur kanji now
It's really hard, especially in a state where the most taught languages are Romance. It's also hard to find a Japanese person in South Florida. I got burnt out, but I am going to go back in with a new mindset.
Have you tried Line or Skype or Lang-8?
Tae Kim I haven't yet, looks like I will have to give it a go. I met a Spanish friend some days ago that knows Japanese and lived in Japan, but sadly they live far away.
This is far the best video on that topic!
Great video. I've only been learning Japanese for a couple of years now, and I'd still very well call myself an amateur, but your points really sum up a lot of my thoughts about learning the language, especially the one about not memorizing kanji by themselves. Learning jukugo and just paying attention to the kanji used in them really does go a long way, doesn't it?
Yes, especially once you start being able to learn new words almost instantly with Kanji you already know!
did you manage to learn?
@@onlyme9348 I've come a long way since I wrote that comment, that's for sure. Between being able to read untranslated books naturally without 'deciphering' the language, being able to understand Japanese youtubers, and doing my own creative writing in the language, I'd say I'm finally decent at least. I wouldn't dare say I mastered the language, but I wouldn't say that about my native language either. There's always room for improvement.
Thanks for this video. I have been wondering how to begin learning Japanese and now I know. Hiragana first, Kanji later. I had already started learning Kanji 1 to 10 lol.
Your videos and guides have been a huge help for me. Your grammar guide is extremely easy to understand and it even comes in PDF format. Thanks a lot man. This and commonjargon.com is some of the most useful resources for me.
I am so glad I found your channel! Thank you!
I have no problems with romaji, I don't understand why some people are against it.
Especially the Hepburn romaji is quite useful, since it was invented by an American and is based on the English language.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hepburn_romanization
And the romaji is better than hiragana for long vowels.
It is impossible to express long vowels in hiragana but with romaji it is easy.
For example 東京 in hiragana is とうきょう, but there is no way to tell if the う is a long vowel or a separate syllable. とうきょう can also be pronounced as 4 syllables, と-う-きょ-う, where each う is a separate syllable.
But in romaji it is clear that the う is a long vowel and not a separate syllabe: Tōkyō.
Anime brought me here
Lmao same
My goal is to wach anime without subtitles lol
me too 😂
I assume you accomplished nothing
@@eoekekwosksm ThEn WaTcH DuBBsS
I don't remember where I found this but here it is
"Failure is the Foundation Of Success"
THanks so much now that I found this channel I really wanted to learn Japanese and now I can
With all the resources and technology now, you can definitely teach yourself Japanese. I still have many more videos to make but make sure to check out my website for more advanced topics.
www.guidetojapanese.org
Hands down best video for beginners
0:57 ... it's not the English alphabet in particular, but ROMAn letters. That's why it's called ROMAji.
Thank you for the video, I just started my classes today!
Your videos are very simple to understand and educational too. Thanks!
I'm one month into my study. Currently learned all of Hiragana, Katakana, but no kanji. I will come back to this section to see my progress at times lol
Keep in mind that the japanese that anime uses is not the same used in conversation and it will sound weird in conversation
Best way
I really like this way to learn anything specially language
Vlogs are just entertainment
Great work Tae; Are you fluent in korean as well?
+Devin Geng Not so much.
+Tae Kim hoping you can do one for korean. lol
Devin Geng I'm five months into learning korean and I have a really good understanding of grammar. BTW howtostudykorean.com is a very good website for grammar
Thanks for the video, I'll put it into practice later, maybe I'll learn English. I've already signed up and liked it.
I definitely say this the most helpful tips ever
20/9/21
this is today's date , i started learning japanese 9 days ago so the official starting point is that day , i will update this comment in 3 years from now to tell you guys if its possible to learn basic , conversational japanese in only those few years ,see yall again !!!
How did it go
@@stillslaying REALLY well , 100% would recommend
Thanks for the tips! I need to get back into Japanese >.< But I'm not in school, and don't know a very good method for like classes and whatnot. I'm thinking of trying iTalkie.
As for me, japanese like a lot and study want.
Good joke that no one noticed
I want the world to feel more loved and lived in by its residents 😢
learning the vocabulary with the Kanji is just Genius!
Thankyou for this, I’m trying to learn Japanese due to the engineering potential so thankyou
kanji is hard but it's really fun, don't stress yourself, take a break.
after I memorized HIRAGANA alphabet I was looking for a path to walk.. this video is really helpful.. I have decided to improve my vocabulary.. than I will study grammar.. thanks :)
You have been studying for as long as I’ve been alive lol
When I first started the video I thought I was having a stroke and was going to turn on the subtitles.
You should use electronic dictionaries but I strongly recommend the Genki books and the latest edition of Heisig’s fun way of remembering Kanji.
I kind of wish that I had a teacher to help me with this or at least all the materials needed. I do have a few like an online program, a text book, and apps to learn vocabulary. Do you think I should continue with what I have, or wait until I can take a class in college? I would take a class now, but my high school does not have any classes for Japanese.
I don't recommend waiting, no. Have fun with it.
I am in the same situation,I have no one to teach me and I want to learn the language.I started studing alone and it is fun and can be done .Try photocoping some thinks from the internet or get a book that students get and study it alone.You dont have to wait until you can go to a clash,learn what you can alone and then learn everything else .
hinative is a good app for learning Japanese
What happened to youuuuu ;_;
Oh well, it's nice to see you back
I'm slowly going through the Tae Kim Grammar Guide. I really wish I could hurry up and finish it so I can start reading but I'm only halfway through essential grammar.
Translating Japanese from Hindi or Bengali works like charm. Thank God atleast these two along with English are my native language. I can make works by world translations to Japanese with Hindi or Bengali. Not always exactly but these work out better than English translations. 1 month in, I have already learnt so much grammar and can now frame proper sentences.
ググってみました。ヒンディ語もベンガル語も、日本語と同じＳＯＶ型なんですね。
5:00 Probably a dumb question but how would one practice speaking specifically if you don't have anyone to talk to in Japanese? Like what would be a good way to go about it?
Definitely not native speaker but love your videos. Thank you so much!!
Thak you so much. The best guide i found so far.
I am going at japanese the "wrong way". I can recognize more audible Japanese than I can read. But I could kinda understand that the 1st sentence had to do with studying japanese (and from context it is tips about studying the the language). That said I slowly gained hiragana and katakana by trying to read what came at me from anime and youtube focused on anime.
Awesome video man.
it was so helpful, thank you so much!!💜💜
Thank you for the tips ^-^ I would've gotten my Kanji wrong because I was about to the learn it like what you said not too! Also I wasn't sure what to learn after Hiragana so thank you again!
Well put, and good reminders, captain!
03/19/22
today I decided I would learn Japanese.
I’m beginning with Hiragana, I’ll update on my progress
Good luck man, don't pressure your self by giving your self a time limit
How did it go
@@stillslaying DUDE I GAVE UP AFTER A WHILE BUT I LEARNED SOME OF IT
thank you so much for this !
straight to the point
love it !
hiragana and katakana was easyto learn, did it in under a week. But now im struggling with kanji ;_; i don't know how to continue learning anymore...
There are a few things for how to learn Japanese
Decide precisely why you want to speak it
Try to speak japanese in your everyday life
Decide which process works for you the best.
(I read about these and more from Fergs Magic Blueprint website )
Ngl. He got me with that intro
Great intro!