This is interesting, I've learned Japanese for 14 years and I started teaching it last year. I now have several students who's attending basic Japanese class with me and I can compare your progress and their progress, you're doing pretty good if I have to say, the most important thing in learning Japanese is having constant motivation and enjoying the process. Good job, がんばってください！
ohh woaw 14 years is a long time! When I learnt how to say a basic phrase in japanese and a real japanese person understood me for the first time, that changed my life xd
that’s amazing!! would you mind sharing why you decided to learn japanese at first place? because me as a japanese, i don’t really feel like it’s the strongest language in the world..
@@JUSTINBUSH555ery easy to distinguish. Just immerse yourself into the media of these countries, which is also fun. I found my refuge in Anime, J-pop, j-rock, K-pop, k-dramas - within a week I could tell apart Japanese & Korean from other Asian languages.
Hey can you tell me how I can learn as much as possible in 30 days when I already know the minimal basics as well as Kana systems and some kanji? What would you recommend? Cuz I’m going to Japan this summer and need to learn as much as possible besides what I already know. It’s not enough to get by
I can also recommend renshuu. It's somehow like Anki. You can freely choose what you study, create your own sets of words, or take already prepared ones for your level. And you can track your own progress (how many kanji, and words you know) to show off to others or look at their vocabulary and cry. And a couple of games(shiritori for example) to add more diversity to your studying
Hey bro. If you ever get bored by textbooks or anki, do not forget you do not need them to learn Japanese. It's fine to use them If you enjoy using them, but just do not fell forced. If you just keep listening and reading, you will learn Japanese, even without studying grammar and vocab separately.
one thing I realized was that the bottleneck of my learning so far was learning grammar so I could understand what they say in, podcasts, videos and animes. But I get it, don't force your self if you have studying in textbooks and take breaks so you don't burnout. Have an awsome day:D
This video randomly popped onto my recommendations, and you earned a sub immediately. You give great energy, brotha. Keep us updated on your Japanese journey.
The farther along your study you go (consistency and bite sized chunks every day is key) the easier it becomes I feel. You get used to the flow of studying grammar, kanji and vocabulary - and the more you learn the more everything starts melding together. The dopamine of FINALLY learning a kanji that is used in a word you use or read so often starts stacking up and it is well worth pushing through the first few grueling months of not being able to comprehend anything, and fumbling over your hiragana and katakana scripts.
That's awesome man! I've been learning Japanese for almost 6 years now, on and off, about 2 years of serious study. On and off because I can already have pretty deep conversations, but the more I learn the more I want to get that n1 baby!! ToKuni Andy is a goldmine man, he describes complex grammar in an easy to understand way. Good luck on your Japanese learning! 頑張ってファイト！💪
I've been using Japanese most my life, but enjoy watching videos on how people study it (because I teach it as a hobby on occasions and want to expand my horizons). I can imagine you speaking quite fluently in the future, and you have a cool voice, so I look forward to watching a video of you speaking it in the future :)
yes the original kanji (chinese characters) had 50,000 characters but for you to become fluent and good in Japanese (nihongo jouzu), you just need to learn 2136 kanji characters, and yeah that's still a lots. there are a lot harder things about Japanese language other than kanji.. for example, "keigo"
Loved your video! Am gonna follow your journey - I started a few weeks back - I've just learnt Hiragana, next Katakana, then on to Genki and Kanji - I see it as a 3/4 year intensive journey - wanting to become fluent - working on it daily. I think I'm a slow learner - but I'm also good at not giving up... "Progress not perfection" as they say
I felt so lost on my journey because I didn’t know where to start. This video helped me a lot, I’ve already learned the basic hiragana. And feel like I know where I’m going now. Thank you!
It took me way to long to realize you were not talking about 'Japanese from zero' (the books and video series of George Trombley) but simply generally about 'learning Japanese from zero' 😄
Omg we started at the same time! I've been using duolingo which has been great for teaching me structure! I also use HelloTalk to talk to Japanese natives who have taught me so many new words!! Also thank you for the podcast recommendations. I'm still very new and probably won't understand much but that's okay! Baby steps, and I just need to get used to hearing it. Understand the rhythm!
i love nihongo con teppei :) but he's honestly more for intermediate learners IMO. I recommend starting with Japanese with Shun for total beginners. his recent vlog stuff might be too difficult though, but his oyasumi podcasts are really beginner friendly and even most of his vlogs are too.
@@issumatar maybe u saw one of Shun's less held back videos, because i would almost say its not even an opinion who's easier to understand but it's been a long time since I've seen the beginner con teppei so I could be wrong, maybe. definitely both should be checked out though
@@humanbean3 im going off of their spotify podcasts. I've listened to quite a bit of both, japanese with shun used to be my favorite before finding nihongo con teppei for beginners. teppei will repeat his sentences multiple times, and will use the same word multiple times in different sentences to help give you more context which allows you to deduce the meaning of the word without having to look it up, for these reasons i find his much better. this is just my opinion, coming from someone who is still quite early in their japanese learning journey, i found myself actually able to understand a lot more of what teppei says in an episode vs an episode of shun's
@@issumatar Oh I see. Well, perhaps it's a preference or maybe I didn't listen to both of them enough when I was more of a beginner. I used their youtube to listen to their podcast uploads, and youtube actually was very accurate with Shun adding japanese subtitles. I find his speech much easier to understand as well. That being said, I listen to teppei's regular podcast and I love it. He's hilarious.
This was a really cute video. I have been lurning japanese for like 6 months now. I use alot of different techniques witch is fun. I will not say im any good yet, but i have managed to make a japanese friend over youtube comments 🎉. I have absolutely fallen in love with this languige, i also think it sounds absolutly beautifull. Hope you have a good languige jurney 🎉
I'm a Japanese and learning English and Spanish now. Learning foreign languages make our life much better! I subscribed your channel, I can't wait when you become to speak Japanese!
Really great video man, it's heart-warming to see a fellow traveller on the same journey. Some advice from a fellow traveller: at some point in your journey you're going to get quite confused about japanese grammar and japanese logic. So when that happens I highly recommend that you check out Cure Dolly's structure course on japanese grammar. Essentially there is a big problem with japanese teaching in the western world: japanese grammar is taught with reference to european grammar concepts but Japanese is not structurally designed like a european language and so a lot of inconsistencies pop up. You need to understand the logic of japanese from its own perspective and that's what Cure Dolly teaches.
Thank you man! yeah I think I saw her the VR lady talking about Japanese grammar! Like the word 入れる which means: put in ,others moving. Like I don't understand why they have "others moving" as a meaning to the word haha. I'll have to look up her more, thank you!
i've been learning for almost three months now with my best friend. we've mastered hiragana/katakana and know about all the first grade kanji, though we dont remember readings. i feel like we're gonna give up soon, but somehow we're still going.
yoo big probs that you still continue learning the language! A strong goal in mind definately helps. When I'm in motivation slumps I think to myself "If I stop studying" the next time I go to Japan I won't be able to talk to natives in Japanese.
I recommend video "You Don’t Have to Study Kanji" by Kaname Naito. It shows that you should not learn readings separately, you should learn the kanji words in context so you actually learn to recognize them in sentences rather than kanji alone. This should help mitigate the struggle of learning Kanji.
Hey I also came to Japan for the 1st time this January. And same like you I was impressed and I get motivated to learn more and more about japan including the language. Your vid gave me more motivation to add structure to my learning process which I might say quite brutal 😂. Also it is hilarious how you explain things in this video I cant stop laughing. Good luck for your study!
Hi I'm actually aiming to take n5 test on July and started learning hiragana just yesterday tho I consumed alot of Japanese in my life (listened jpop, watched jdorama religiously and watched anime as long as I can remember) but just motivated to learn it coz of work (my bosses were 4 japanese) I want to understand them and just having a hard time understanding their English words with Japanese accent. And maybe someday move to Japan and work or live there. this motivates me alot thanks
i just found your channel through this video and I feel motivated knowing I know of someone about the same level in Japanese as me, not to mention that I plan to learn swedish one day too, fate brought me here
I love this video so much! I just have one question, if you were to restart learning Japanese would you change anything? Or do you have any tips for beginner?
Keep grinding man. I been studying Japanese everyday for almost a year straight. But only like an hour a day of grammar study, plus lots of input from anime, podcast, and music. I'm only at the N5-N4 level, a slow journey for sure. haha
I have been keeping up every day to some extend but not as much as I want. I'm on a 606 day duo lingo streak, and combined with my other apps and study, I have improved quite a bit. Still N4 level though. It's kinda a bottleneck in learning Japanese. @@clockedfre
I passed the N5 test in December. You should be fine if you practice for around 3 to 4 months a bit intensively. Learn verb conjugations as that could throw you off if you don't know then well and practice a lot of listening, trust me.
I think I've been studying seriously for ABOUT as long as you just maybe a bit more hours in practice a week and I also use italki to learn with a tutor. I started like pre-2023 but it was so on an off. I am for sure going to check out the beginner podcast that sounds great. I'm not sure how much of Genki I've gone through since I have the textbook but I don't look at it too often tbh since my teacher goes through it. I've been having a lot of fun and would spend more time if I didn't have to work.
I think it's great that you take time outside of your work and try to learn something. I think the most fullfilling thing about learning japanese is to be able to understand more of Japanese from e.g. a podcast :D
Best thing to do is talk with a native in Japanese about things important in your life -- in Japanese. I've been lucky enough to do this in Japan and it feels easier I think because the native person is doing some of the hard work for you and helping you along faster.
Man, I started learning last year and was following Andy's lessons. But I got super burned out because I was studying every single day for HOURS for like 3months. So I ended up taking like 4 months off 😅. Just started over last week, but taking a more relaxed approach this time. Listening to podcasts daily for immersion, some vocabulary maybe 20min a day, and will pick up grammar again later Also been writing out the kana since I forgot most it 👀 lol
@@wedb4876 definitely still beginner 😂. I don't know how people become "fluent" in any language in 6 months. I can recognize some kanji and words and write super simple sentences but it takes me time, so I'd say I probably have the combined comprehension of a 1 year old 😅
Tbh like to even get to a point where you can even barely read manga comfortably took me ab a year and some months of just grinding 10k words in Anki I still had to look stuff up but it was 99% not common words like 天網恢恢
@@kanak_attack I definitely suspect this to take at least a year to get some basics. I was super ambitious in the beginning but melted my brain lol. Now that that's done, I'm being more realistic about my goals.
You are so funny and expressive. You might be an Anime soul. xD Inspiring experience but, would like to see more of the story than just a quick summary. It sounds a bit like a solo mission but, this is how most inspirations feel like until we make it to the other side. I really like this docu tv program NHK Cycle around Japan. It shows the islands and low populated, beautiful areas and very sweet people who live there.
Yes more time on the individual time segments. Your attitude is great and that's the most important thing. No need to get limited in your interests. But, If the segments are too fast, there is no time for immersion. If you are feeling very critical about what you do (perfection-chauvinism) it's important to write down the good parts and acknowledge them because some of us really filter out our good qualities and only look for things to fix. PS I find direct learning creates a lot of resistance. push too hard and you loose the good feeling. indirect learning like watching things in the background works better for me. ;) @@ritchiart
@@lerandersh8821 Hmm I quite don't understand but I think you mean that give more time for immersion and don't rush through the basics? Or more of embrace my own personality and show more of who I am? Anyways hope your studies goes well ma boi!
I am Japanese and speak a little English, but the English subtitles for Japanese anime only represent about 70% of the highly sophisticated and complex dialogue in Japanese. Please learn Japanese and enjoy 120% of lots of Japanese otaku culture. I support you.
Hey there! How are you? Neat video, really enjoy seeing how other people have studied japanese so I can set a goal for myself. I have a question, what's the name of the page you used to see your Anki stats at 8:47? Thanks!
I'm feeling awsome! I think you mean how I can see the stats. It's an add on, here the video I learned from: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-DcY2Svs3h8M.html&t
@@ritchiart Thank you so much! I'll check it out. I'm also looking for any communities where I can interact with people in basic japanese (Discord, Telegram, etc). If you happen to know of any, please let me know! I'd love to be able to use the language daily.
I need to get on the ball like you did to be honest, lol I've been struggling to even get consistent due to life, lack of motivation, and my terrible ADHD 💀 Although I can recognize a good amount of words and characters, I feel like I could get the hang of the language easily if I just get past the first hurdle of staying on top of it daily.
I hope you'll get in the habit of it again, sometimes life strikes you and you can't study. I think I'm not doing enough :( but I just try to learn some words (3 new words in anki) every day, takes like 20-30min, and study in textbooks during the weekends. it feels like alot actually, maybe I have to turn it down.
I almost got into the grammar too soon. What I mean is when learning a language the first part is understanding, then speaking, reading and last writing. Remember how we learn our first language, we don’t read or write. But for some people might be ok depending on your mind, but if you feel overwhelmed just focus on learning to understand by listening and learning new vocabulary.
If you just care about being conversational, then aim for N3 level. N5 is SUPER basic Japanese, so you won’t understand, nor be able to read, much since you only learn around 100 kanji at N5. At N3, not only will you learn the most used grammar points and words, but you’ll have enough Kanji knowledge to read about 80% of the Japanese you see on social media. BTW, I’m not saying N2 and N1 are useless. However, they are the levels where you get diminishing returns when it comes to everyday Japanese. Anyway, that’s my advice. Totally agree on JFZ and Tokini Andy being great resources to start with. Used them both myself, and I would do so again if I was starting over. Wishing you the best in your Japanese learning journey!!
Woaw thanks for taking the time to write this comment! Yes N3 would probably be the better goal to strive towards for me. I just wanna be able to converse with people and when I travel back I'll get to experience Japan on a whole different level :D I wish you an awsome day! :DD
I started to learn Japanese since January this year and here's my current progress: - I remember hiragana, katakana, and all N5 kanji (some other kanji too but only a few) - I know basic grammar and some particles (は、を、も、に、へ) - I can speak a little bit and slowly 😅, reading and listening are quite decent - Writing is what I'm impressed the most, I can write on paper or on the internet without looking or using a translator to form a sentence 😄 It's very fun journey, I feel like a kid again when I tried to memorize hiragana and katakana. I did the old fashion way with writing, I will write some new Japanese words on my notebook everyday until I remember them. I didn't use Anki nor Genki textbook, my learning method is something else 😂 日本語を勉強はなんか楽しい笑、みんな頑張ってね！
I have the same idea as yours 😂 my first time in japan (about 2 day ago) was amazing🎉 make me want to learning Japanese, i hope that when i travel there next time, i will be able to speak some 😂
Speaking and Listening Japanese are not too hard and there is lots of material with fun to learn Japanese like anime or manga. The only problem is kanji… it’s hard even for Japanese. I’m Japanese but have lots of unknown kanjis so take a time😂
It is best to learn the kanji at the same time you learn the vocabulary. That way, you don't have to worry about learning characters and readings you don't need. Please see kanji as a kind of spelling. Thank you for choosing Japanese. I'm rooting for you!
@@_.lik._2172 I use vocabulary books and apps to learn English vocabulary. I think Japanese language learners know better than I do which ones are best.
I plan to study 5 hours a week or so my overall goal overtime is to be able to play Japanese video games on the Sega Saturn and Dreamcast especially, read manga that has not bee translated, and watch Japanese movies and anime. I can't believe I didn't think of podcasts though! I'm always listing to stuff on my phone at work so I might as well study while I'm cleaning! Good luck on your journey im gonna commit myself to mine.
