10 MUST-KNOW FACTS about Japanese before you start learning 

Mostly other people are like explaining Japanese to English translation but you explain like whole structure of it❤️ Arigatou 🤗

As a person learning Japanese here are some things I wish I knew before starting: 1) There is more than just informal and formal. There is also semi formal and SUPER formal. I really wish I knew this because getting into japanese, i was only aware of formal and informal and was confused when I heard waiters and store clerks speak in super formal. 2) A lot of japanese people who teach japanese on youtube tend to baby the English speaking audience. Often times they won't include the kanji for a particular word and just write hiragana(if the kanji isn't in the level they are teaching). For example the word かわいい. So many japanese teachers only taught the hiragana and i went many months thinking it was just that. Learning that it had a kanji was so frustrating because i had to essentially learn the word twice. 3) Don't be scared to learn from non native japanese people. People who went through the process of learning japanese might notice things that native japanese people don't notice. They'll be able to walk you through the logic of the grammar in a way you'll understand. 4) A lot of translations for japanese sentences aren't 100% accurate only modified in the English translation to make sense in English connotation. 5) The sentence structure is S-O-V however the verb isn't ALWAYS at the end. its depends on what you are trying to say. This might seem obvious for some but I was told that the verb is always at the end and was confused when it wouldn't be. 6) A lot of words taught to you will be taught in a incredibly slow matter. We aren't aware of this because we aren't native japanese speakers. But natural japanese is insanely hard and fast to follow when you are used to such slow teachings. Which is why immersion and hearing natural Japanese is so important. 7) Kanji IS important. Grammar IS important. A lot of japanese learners on youtube try to skip steps or come up with reasons not to learn kanji or grammar. They are important if you want to be fluent. Going half way really isn't as great as some people think. You'll have the understanding of japanese equivalent to that of a child. 8) Japanese is an INSANELY hard language. People say learning japanese is hard but you don't see the velocity of the statement until you are deep into it 9) The beginning stages are the hardest only because your brain is so unused to japanese. Someone once described learning a language like going for a swim in the ocean. The beginning, getting past all the waves, is the hardest part. Once you make it into the ocean you start to see the velocity of the what the language really is. 10) Language learning can be incredibly depressing. Hearing a sentence you cant understand might be like a punch in the gut. Sometimes seeing better Japanese learners can make you feel terrible about yourself. It all gets better though!

I love that you don't edit out your little mistakes, makes it more friendly and inviting, like actually talking to someone :)

you make Japanese sound so easy! no verb conjugation, no distinction between singular and plural, super easy question structure, (almost) no irregular verbs... that's very motivating to hear :)

It still helps me to this day to remember the words "cookie" and "sushi". For the two irregular verbs, you would change "ku" to "ki" and "su" to "shi".

I've been studying Japanese for a long time but still, whenever I learn something new, the old things I learned disappear even though I took notes about it and it's meaning and specially kanji is like killing me softly 😂 but I must go on and continue!!! Can't wait to visit Japan someday and walk around.

when she talks in english she sounds friendly but in japanese it gives you a strict teacher like vibes.

My native language is Arabic , and i can speak French and English fluently . I can't really expect learning Japanese to be so easy for me but i am surely so excited to start ! Thank you so much for your video

さやかちゃんの動画、分かりやすくて、楽しいです❤️さすが！You’re great!!!! 💕

Can we all just appreciate that if you're learning English, or if English is your second language, that you've worked hard, and studied greatly. English isn't an easy language. As English is my first language, I can confirm that. And I've known so many native English speakers who seem to not appreciate the amount of work people really do have to put into learning any language, including English.

To me it’s always so important to learn basic phonetics and grammar structure so you can put your own sentences together fairly early on

Bruh now I think Japanese would be easier to learn than Spanish 😭 AND NOW THAT I'VE BEEN TRYING TO LEARN HIRAGANA AND KATAKANA IT SEEMS LIKE THAT'S TRUE-

hearing people's experiences with languages is super fun. I learned French in school so Spanish came super easy for me, I picked up a lot of stuff from watching tv shows and I was able to talk to people with little issues, native speakers just don't care if you're using proper grammar or not.

After this knowledge I'm really motivated to learn Japanese because I realize how easy the structure of the words and sentences are in japanese especially in comparison with other languages. So the biggest struggle in learning Japanese is probably learning all the hiragana and katagana (and some Kanji) characters and memoriesing the words.

This actually made me feel a lot less stressed about learning Japanese, yes it will be difficult but I think after this video it will be a bit easier/less stressful that I was making it out to be. I am going to rewatch and take notes, it was very helpful, thank you!

Trying to give myself a crash course to learn the basics in the next four months. I have a feeling you and your channel will be my best friend this Spring.

As a former university tutor of Japanese who hold Master of Japanese Applied Linguistics, I highly recommend this video for those who are thinking of learning Japanese. This video is encouraging.

It’s so interesting seeing other people’s perspective, I learnt Spanish in school and it was super easy because it has many similarities to English

I just found this channel while searching for resources to learn Japanese and I'm very impressed with how clear and concise your videos are. You also deliver the information in an engaging way and in digestible portions for a beginner (not too much, not too little). I think it helps that your English is very strong and you understand how to properly relate Japanese words and concepts to their equivalents in English. Your courses also look rather interesting! Keep up the great work!

the entire thing about verbs is really encouraging because that’s where i struggle the most with learning spanish

As I saw on instagram that you’re starting a RU-vid Channel i was really happy 😍 I love your content. It’s really helpful 😃❣️

Thank you for this great video! I'm learning Japanese for 3 months and I found your explanations really useful and delighting! 💕💕💕 日本語が大好きです。

I just started my learning Japanese language journey and am even more excited after watching this video. Thank you Sayaka, I love your enthusiasm!

After watching this video, I am starting to understand why english is so difficult to learn for the majority of Japanese. Having them to to deal with singular/plural and masculine/feminine, a lot irregular verbs and other “complicated” things, I can understand why it is such a chore for them. Very good video.

I'm an English major secondary teacher course student. I had feelings that I regretted taking this major (originally I was supposed to take BSIT-computer programming but because of my mental health and my parents convincing me to take my college here in my home town because they worry about me, I agreed).I wanted to learn Japanese and want to go to Japan someday, I started to take it serious learning it and I noticed it was easier for me to understand unlike back then. I just remembered one of my subjects "Structure of English" that subject is hard and a lot of branches of information in the smallest detail that you can't forget. Because of that subject and being in an English education major, I think I don't regret it anymore.I'm able to study Japanese langauge easier and if I am able to talk, read, and understand Japanese,I will become qualified if I ever thought of becoming an English teacher in Japan ^^.

I loved how you focused on the positive side of learning japanese. I started learning just a few months ago, It’s hard but one of the things that I love about it is that since my first language is Spanish, I can understand almost all the sounds.

I like how clearly she speaks so its easier for me to pick up on the sounds of how some of the words are suppose to sound

This gave me hope in learning Japanese again. Ive been struggling a lot and kept questioning myself whether I could learn it and now i feel encouraged to keep going. Thank you.

Impressive!👍 I used to ask my colleagues (Japanese) about Nihonggo, but, they just didn't bother answering and, simply, gave up. I somehow felt some sort of their stress just by hearing me ask some questions.😅 You, on the other hand, seemed to enjoy helping and sharing your language and culture. I love your enthusiasm. Thank you for your time and stay safe.👍

And I have some really, really, REALLY good news for Japanese students! The MEANING of the kanji actually can be the easiest thing you learn about Japanese! I happen to have had the greatest kanji teacher in the history of the language and he made it so easy that in the two-year intensive language course in Tokyo we would graduate with the ability to pass the JPLT2 (that’s the official Japanese language proficiency test), and in my class sitting next to me, she passed a JPLT1 and got accepted straight into TODAI UNIVERSITY, the #1 university in Japan!

Your videos are so fun to watch, it's like speaking to a friend rather than listening to a lecture.

Your videos have restored my motivation to learn the beautiful language that is japanese! Thank you so much! Also I love the hapiness that comes out of your videos, it's a real pleasure to watch them :)

I am really happy to be able to learn with you from the start. It will help me a lot, thank you! 🙌❤️

Most of the complexity of Japanese is hidden in kanji. I feel like learning all the kanjis with all their different pronunciations and stroke orders is equivalent to learning the dozens of conjugations for every single verb in Spanish or most Romance languages, or learning the correct pronunciation for every single word in English. I'm so glad that at least Japanese and Spanish are phonetically consistent languages unlike English, at least up to some extent.

I am just starting to learn Japanese and thought to go through some basic intro. Thank god, I found this. Love the way she makes look learning Japanese so easy.

As someone who just started learning THIS GAVE ME SO MUCH MOTIVATION AND IT WAS SUPER USEFUL THANKS A LOT

It was realy great ! Interesting, clear, natural ! All we want after this is to learn japanese with you !

I love this. simple, with examples and fun to watch. Looking forward for next videos. BTW : i gotta step up my editing skills lol

She's so adorable ❤️😂 Her intro was so simple and wholesome with seasoning of giggling at the end😂

Wow this is so helpful! Thank you so much for sharing!

This video just gave me the confidence boost to try learning Japanese. I speak German, Bosnian and English pretty much fluently. I also learned French in school for 6 years (but I've forgotten the majority of what I learned, 12 years have passed pretty fast haha). And I really hate to differentiate masculine/feminine/neuter - To this day I mix them up because one word can be feminine in German, neuter in Bosnian and masculine in French ughhh. English is the most convenient out of those. Also no conjugation? Only two tenses? Sounds amazing :') Learning the characters will be hard though (I used to know how to read Cyrillic, but forgot that as well - it really takes practice and repeating it often to not forget it)

Thanks so much for the video, it motivated me to continue with my Japanese learning

Your style of explanation actually makes me want to learn Japanese

Just stumble on one short videos and now i am continuously watching every videos because it's helpful and she is adorable.

Great video! As a native Spanish speaker leaning Japanese I guess we're even when it comes to suffering from learning these languages lol. Looking forward to your next videos! +1 sub :)

I started learning Japanese by myself recently and I was kinda scared to start studying grammar since I'm really struggling with my English grammar but your video gave me the motivation I needed ; ;❤ and based on your words it seems like Japanese grammar is actually similar to my first language's grammar [which is Farsi btw] and that makes me relieved ^^ ありがとうございますさやか先生！！とてもたすかりました！！

Thank you for giving me motivation! I have been learning Japanese for about a few weeks and I really thank you for telling me this!

This is a great intro to Japanese. Very clear and concise. This video takes some of the overwhelm of starting out the learning process. Thank you!

You make learning so enjoyable, ありがとう!

This video is so helpful! 🤩 Also on another note, I volunteer as tribute to practice Spanish with you!

This is what someone who wants to learn proper japanese is looking for in youtube. Thanks ― ありがとう

Thank you for this breakdown Sayaka! 💋👑

Always wished to learn the Japanese language, thanks to you Sayaka for making it possible, arigatōgozaimashita Sensei ! ❤

Thank you so much, I was getting overwhelmed trying to learn Japanese because duolingo is now introducing kanjis, and I've read someone saying "your first year of learning Japanese you should learn 2000 kanjis" and I think if I learn, as in be able to write them from memory correctly, 3 of them, it would already be a miracle. So I really needed this, and knowing the grammar is so much easier than English, which to me is the easiest language I've learned (my first languages are French and Italian, and a bit of German which I'm trying to re-learn, and damn is it hard, same for Italian but thankfully I grew up to it, but Latin, old Greek, and Finnish, all languages I tried at one point to learn, are so much worse than those 3, so I just abandoned them, cause I also like to learn languages, but not if I feel like I'm going insane!), the kanji thing will still always be an issue but you've reassured me so much! I'm also learning Norwegian at this time, and I'm surprised by how easy it is, yet grammar wise, Japanese seems even easier. The tough part will be when I'll have to learn kanjis and all the various degrees of formality. I imagine that if and when I'll be able to visit Japan, people will give me a pass if I'm being too formal or not enough, and will just appreciate the effort, but I really want to learn it well, sooo... yikes! But for now I'll just focus on learning katakana (hiragana I've already memorised, so that's good) and then we'll see!

I liked it that you included wrong pronunciations & mistakes in your explanation. Makes it more real comparing to other language blogs. Keep up the good work! Today I'm starting to seriously study Japanese again, I attempted in the past but changed mind due to life situations. Wish to work in Japan in the future and currently my bosses are 4 Japanese so I'm really motivated to learn Nihongo.

Thank you, it is very useful to me and I don’t want to miss any of your videos.

1) 3:33 2) 5:12 3) 5:38 4) 6:52 5) 8:03 These are the ones I found helpful :)

Now I'm motivated to learn Japanese again! Thanks for this video, you seem to be a really kind person :) I'm currently going through Hiragana and I've already learned 20 characters! 🇯🇵

Thank you. This was extremely informative. A lot of this I'd already picked up, but it was nice to have it confirmed by a native speaker.

I’m so glad to have found your channel. Tyvm ありがとございます　❤

Hi! Here a Spanish girl! Honestly even for me it's difficult, the grammar is really difficult not gonna lie, sometimes i can't talk correctly just because of the grammar but trust me, you can do it!

I like how there's 0 dislikes! You deserve it...

this is just so wholesome 😭😭 ❤️❤️

so glad i saw this before starting! thank you :)

Aaa you make learning so enjoyable & you’re giving me so much motivation!! Can’t wait to learn more from you >w

さやか様はとても良い先生です、ありがとうございます (i started learning Japanese about a year ago but the kanji seemed like some huge overwhelming labyrinth i could never conquer.... however i feel like i've finally broken the back of it, like i can see the light of at the end of the tunnel, thank you so so much for such an inspirational, educational video). Wish i could've seen your videos a year ago, then i would've been more inspired to learn Japanese :) Good luck with learning Spanish also, you remind me of my sister, she studies Spanish also, i'm sure you'll do great at it, you're so intelligent :D

I found this video super helpful! I used to be so confused about the order of speech and why it sounded weird to me, then you explained that the verb comes before the object in English and vice versa in Japanese and it all mad sense!

As a Spaniard living in Germany and preparing for a trip to Japan, I appreciate that you speak English and are learning Spanish 🙏🏻 Gambatte!

Muchas gracias! Mi primer idioma es español y inglés es mi segundo idioma. Espero aprender japonés y he comenzado en la app duolingo. Te deseo mucho éxito al aprender español que eatoy de acuerdo, es dificil aprenderlo y quiero darte las gracias por estos consejos que me han ayudado a mony se que a muchos en el futuro ^^

Great content as always teacher 👩🏼‍🏫 💯!

This has cleared lot of anxiety and streets with learning Japanese now I can jump back in with a lot of enthusiasm 🥰

I really needed this video Thank youuu💕💕💕

ありがとうござます I am trying to learn Japanese to boost up my vocabulary in languages. I find it a tiny bit similar to hindi with the SOV-oriented and "です" at the end which can be compared to "हैं". Kanji seems a huge barrier that I can never conquer, however I'll be trying my best to get past the barrier and be able to compose and understand words and sentences in japanese.

As a Taiwanese, it is so wierd to learn Japanese in English, but I like your videos. So I think that being a Chinese user, I think it is easier for me to read cause I basically understand all the kanjis' meaning ,and even though I don't know what it means in Japanese I can still infer from the original meaning. This helped a lot in my Japanese learning. I'll keep going~~

This actually made me want to learn Japanese more! I came across your channel trying to learn to count (yes I'm a extreme beginner) and now knowing that it's easier than my first language in many subtle ways I'm super excited to dedicate myself to learning the Japanese language!!

She acts so friendly I love these videos it makes it look easy ❤❤😊 thank you!!

00:22 真夜中のドアをたたき 🎵

As someone whose native language is german, I love the fact that japanese has such a little amount of irregular verbs and also only two tenses. While my native language has a verb form for every person and...oh wait, we have six tenses. So a verb in german has over 30 versions and a whole lot of irregular verbs.

wow what a relief, apparently Japanese is a tad less complicated than I thought which is so encouraging, THANK YOU Sayaka

what I appreciate most about Japanese's two irregular verbs is that they are used often, which gives plenty of opportunity to learn them.

I am a Turkish and Japanese is very similar to Turkish and that makes me so happy because for two last years I have been learning Spanish and to learn all those masculine feminine words are so boring to me and verb conjugations are harder than Turkish and there are lots of stem changes,irregular verbs,etc. Because of that I really want to learn Japanese.I love your videos

You're smile just made my day! Super super useful video, ありがとうさやかさん💓 Out of context but can I ask you a thing? I have this doubt , when we say "4" we can say よん or し. What's the difference? We can use them as we want or there's a rules?? I always had this question 😹😹 Be ready, I'll ask you so many things in your videos' comments section . I'm so exited to improve my Japanese and by the way I love your teaching methods 💕

Thanks! This motivated me! ❤

It's like you tell only the pros, but it's good because it gives a lot of motivation and confidence to learn and tell us about what we gonna face.

I'm Spanish and struggling to learn Japanese by my own. Both share many things in common, like pronunciation or omitted subjects or questioning with pronunciation. Japanese grammar is a lot simpler than Spanish one, but learning kanji is very confusing. 頑張りましょう!

I think the hardest part of learning Japanese is memorizing the 3 literature specially kanji🤣. Japanese sentence structure isn't as complex as english. you just half to have more japanese words in your vocabulary.

Thank you so much. Ive added these to my notebook. This will be very helpful in the future. ありがとう

Thank you for posting this video. I learned a lot.

Sensei Sayaka, arigatou! ❤️ Matana 👋🏻

Thanks for this! Learning Japanese as a 3rd language was really tricky because of the way the sentences were formed, nothing like English or Chinese

Love your video! Thanks ❤

I've been trying to learn Japanese first couple years now, but I could never get my head wrapped around the grammar. The way you explain it, seems much more understandable.

Esse video totalmente recarregou minhas energias, pareceu até fácil aprender esse idioma persistência guerreiros 💪, nos conseguiremos.

I think mentioning pronunciatin is also great. In Japanese you always pronounce the letters the same, in syllables. Not like English where you change pronunciation of letter in every different word lol.

Thank you soo much I'm the beginner in studying Japanese, and discovering this video and your channel is the best thing that happen to me today ありがとうございます。😊

I started learning Japanese over a year ago and gave up. Returning to learning the language today using your videos and you've explained sooooo much to help me understand Japanese better. Arigatou

0:38 Types of Characters. 2:13 Speech Style. 2:53 Sentence Structure. 3:33 Question Sentence. 4:31 Omitted Nouns. 5:13 No Singular Plural. 5:39 No Feminine Masculine. 6:07 No Noun Verb , Noun adjective Agreements. 6:53 Verb Tense. 8:04 Irregular Verbs.

My teacher i never listen to my college than your teaching 😂. arigato ❤️❤️

I was soooo looking for a video like this to explain well how to use verbs and present tense words. Thanksssss! Really want to learn.

I'm currently learning Japanese...I love to watch your video maam....You explain everything that we can understand so easyly