How I Would Learn Japanese (If I Could Start Over) 

I now have my own kanji series here on RU-vid! I'd recommend THIS (amzn.to/3AI21t7 ) game INSTEAD of 漢検トレーニング２ for Kanji now. I didn't have it when I filmed this video, but it's DEFINITELY better.

I started learning about a year ago, and haven't made much progress simply because it is very difficult to learn one language when you're surrounded by another. My girlfriend (who happens to be Japanese) also has this issue, she speaks great English, but it overwhelms her on occasions. She does communicate with me in Japanese, and I can more-or-less understand her, which personally I think is strange, as when she messages me in Japanese, I usually have to translate certain words. I'm on a very slow roll, but some of the options presented today may help me slide back into the learning process.

“I’m gonna learn Japanese!” “I have to learn how to learn Japanese!” “I have to learn how to learn a language!” “I have to learn how to look for language learning resources!” “so… when do I start?”

Im nearing the end of Genki 2 and can say that playing games and reading definitely improves your Japanese!! Seeing Japanese in context is just way more beneficial then drilling grammar. I do need waaaay more listening/speaking practice though which is the hard part so Im trying to listen more and write more so I can actually easily speak sentences. Sometimes I still struggle to get words out for basic sentences haha

Hey Andy, loving the direction you're taking the channel. Your early Genki guides helped me start my journey a year back, glad you're still making content!

Thanks for this. I'm about to start learning Japanese myself, and I appreciate anything helpful like this.

Thank you so much for this information and all the work you put in. Have a great 2023!

Thank you so much! I’m definitely incorporating the shadowing practice. Also I didn’t know about the other books except for GENKI 1 and 2. I’m going to look them up! Thank you for the video!

I bought Remebering the Kanji 1 and 2 this last month and i'm blasting through kanjis. Enjoyed a lot the way this book gives you directives on how to learn them as a foreigner. Seeing how i have seen recommended the other books from this videos in several other videos i will also get them. Just subscribed too!

The Organic Japanese youtube channel is absolutely mindblowing - I've been studying for five years and the textbooks did not tell us these logical tips to "conjugations". Great suggestions. Subscribed for more great resources!

Another awesome video! While I'm not looking to start over, I'm pretty early in my Japanese learning journey so it's good to hear what you would have changed if you were to start from the beginning. :)

It's interesting to see how different everyone approaches Japanese learning. Your Yomichan+Anki guide was the golden ticket for me a while back! Thanks for that ^^

This is so helpful! I've just started Genki 2 and I feel like I'm constantly changing up my study routine, I only recently started doing graded listening practice and its been a game changer for me. It's so hard to find effective ways of studying when you're a beginner. I did find a really good app for ipad called Kanji!. It teaches you the stroke order so you drill each kanji by writing it out correctly, and it includes words that contain the kanji you have learned so far. Would definitely recommend it :)

Thank you for the advice Andy! I've been enjoying your content for about a year and a half now and your content has helped me so much on my Japanese learning journey!! Tank you so much!!

Thanks for this video is helped me a lot. I only started studying Japanese at the end of last year and haven't made much progress, but after watching your video I felt like I might be able to get a bit further, more quickly.

I've been using Santori Reader for quite awhile now and it's been fantastic. All of the stories are written in a way that supplements their Japanese teaching apps Human Japanese, and Human Japanese Intermediate. These gave me an amazing base understanding of the Japanese language. Great recommendations, cheers!

Thank you for the video. I am grateful for your time and contribution. Kind regards, Akira.

GREAT VIDEO! There's the good content, which I appreciate.

I won’t be able to take full advantage of everything you laid out here but I’m really thankful for thIs video! I got my mission call three weeks ago and I’m going to tokyo next month so not a lot of time to familiarize myself with the language before I go to the mtc, but this has given me an idea of what I could/should be doing! Thanks again!

nah youre the goat. this is every bit of information i was looking for. Thank You 👑

This showed up on my recommendation. I feel like my phone heard me TT. I told my mother that I'm gonna enroll to some free japanese lesson in my country. Thank you so much for this! I'm now much motivated and know where to start.

This video is fantastic thank you -found it from Ritchi recommending - I'd never heard of Language Reactor extension and it is blowing my MIND! Thank you!

Some great advice here. Thanks!

Been learning it for 2 years now, and the best i can do is memorize common kanji (ex 行 ), write in fluent hiragana/katakana, and understand very very simple phrases. Its been difficult but also fun! Tofugo has been SO helpful for me

Respect for not underestimating what you did do as a beginner. Many people say they would have just skipped RTK because, imo, they don't know how badly off they'd be without it.

Thanks a million! I just started learning Japanese, since I will visit Japan in about 1½ year from now. This was great!

I agree with these tips! One thing I want to emphasize is shadowing! My goal in learning Japanese was to be able to read and listen so I didn't really much pay attention to speaking. But if I were to start again, I definitely would, because right now, after two years of learning, I began to appreciate how speaking dramatically improves reading and listening. So yeah, speak speak speak, rinse and repeat. Your Japanese brain will thank you. Don't make the same mistakes like I did.

I appreciate the videos coming out! Your video games, manga, and this one are solid gold!

Thanks this video helped me a lot!

The kanji are pretty time consuming but very important to building vocabulary, since so much of Japanese is compound kanji from their Chinese readings. And you feel kinda stupid when you can't read words you know. Otherwise it just takes time and consistent interest. The kanji are really what make people learn on again off again over years and years, and without a scheduling program to help you review them gradually over an extended period of time, hard to just chip away at. Otherwise I think more people would succeed, given their strong interest.

This shadowing technique you speak of is what I’ve been trying to do, and it’s so hard at first. I was trying to learn a sentence from one of your other videos, and at first I had to rewind and slow down the video a lot. I would also get certain sounds wrong. Once I tried to listen and speak at the same time it was even harder. But after spending an afternoon practice while I did my chores, I was able to follow what you said while listening. Still hard

Great suggestions! Thanks Andy!

It's been almost 2 years since I personally started learning Japanese and I am looking to take the N2 this december (fingers crossed). And I can relate with many of your points in this video! Especially for me speaking has been a huge problem when learning languages (Chinese is my second language but I don't have confidence in speaking it). So in order to avoid that for Japanese, I started making it a point to take conversation lessons this year during summer break.

Really helpful video thanks. I’ve been learning Japanese for a year and honestly was afraid to watch this video in case I’d missed something huge 😂 as you say I’ve also found the key is to get used to being a continual learner cos it’s one of the hardest languages I’ve studied, there really isn’t a ‘quick fix’. I have an online tutor and that has helped me to keep moving forward. Hoping in another year things will be a bit clearer 😂

Thks for the recommendations 🤝🇯🇵

thank you so much for this, I took to studying Hiragana last week, just so I can play blue protocol which is region locked in Japan until next year. the guides on youtube helped me understand some of the characters to where I can make out full sentences without having to look up a dictionary or photo translator. but I am glad you reccomended the tofugu book, as I feel I would be able to understand it.

Very enjoyable to watch Andy, well done! When I first started, I used an audio course called Total Japanese by Michelle Thomas, which I liked and think might have benefited my pronunciation since it encourages some mild shadowing. I also used Remembering the Kana by James Heisig, which helped me verify if I liked the method. I did and went with Heisig for the Kanji as well. Today, I’m not sure if I wouldn’t go with Wani Kani instead though.

such a great resource

Thanks for the video!

Been self studying for 2.5 years. I definitely have weak points because I’ve often switched my method/materials to keep myself engaged. Trust the process. I’m still years away from my desired level.

Great intro video for folks and awesome editing andy!

I am moving to Okinawa soon and this video really helped with my anxiety on how to start learning. I’d love to pick your brain

I just learned some of the greetings in Japanese and it was so satisfying, and surprisingly I’m having so much fun learning Japanese especially with my learning disability

Thank you very much for these videos ToKini Andy. I've started the journey to learn Japanese a month ago, and I've been immersed in the language ever since. I decided to change everything that I use for entertainment to the Japanese language, and I'm having fun with it. From navigating the menus of the Xbox console to even changing the language on both audio and text of a videogame or reading material when applicable. Your videos are an excellent tool for guidance so I appreciate the effort that you put into these. Spanish is my mother tongue, and I've learned English from watching cartoons in the 80's-90''s, and I noticed that the learning was seamless without me putting any effort since I only consumed North American media back then. Now than I'm starting to actually focus in learning a 3rd language, this is where I'm noticing that my growth will mostly depend of the effort that I put, and the motivation so thank you very much once again.

Moving the goal post was a comforting factoid. ありがとうございました。

Good video Andy. I’m feeling a bit stuck in my progress, but maybe it’s because I’m trying too many things. I think this video is gonna be helpful. Thank you.

This is my third time trying to learn hirigana. Tofugu has absolutely changed the game and I'm more comfortable now with it then I've ever been. Thank you so much!

This video is very timely for me considering I am basically starting my Japanese language learning over again. I had studied Japanese many moons ago while I was on Okinawa for a year but got overwhelmed and dropped it once I was back in the states. Recently I became interested in learning Japanese language again to understand the lyrics in Japanese music and possibly attending a Robotic convention in Kyoto in October. I did purchase the Genki 3rd edition book and am finding the Genki Lesson videos and material on ToKini Andy with Andy, Yuki and now Mami very helpful. I will certainly be signing up for the ToKini Andy course which I believe will help greatly in my learning. Also, it looks like I have more books to buy and an another reason to break out the DS again. Any thoughts on the Japanese for Busy People series by AJALT? Thanks for sharing this video.

ahh tofugu is great. My daughter started learning Japanese as a grade school language and was struggling so I found that website to try and learn it on my own. Now it is a language I want to learn as well. I would say I am about 85% comfortable with katakana and hiragana with the occasional mess ups in regards to the "silent" characters. Thanks for the vid. I will go pick up these books as well

Thanks for you great tips. Something else worth noting is that you can use Japanese dictionary app or other furigana apps to scan in Japanese characters and text and then you can easily add to your various lists. Quite helpful and saves lots of look up time when compared to looking up via radical etc. Thanks to your video I have decided to play all of my games in Japanese going forward and also will watch my favorite tv series in Japanese if option is there. I have been studying Japanese on and off for 5 years and now is a good as time as any to switch over. Quick edit: you can also open a picture with Google Lens from your phone and select the copy text option and paste into the Japanese dictionary.

Thank you for this video. I have very on and off relationship with learning Japanese as thanks to the Kanji I am really struggling to apply immersion concepts I used when learning English and German ( just picking up a novel in target language and enjoying the content, watching movie with target language subs)

I would like to throw in the idea of the Kodansha Kanji Learner's Course. The book uses mneomics and radicals, but it also gives you vocab. Each kanji has about 2 vocab words that have an O so you know which one is one of the more important ones to learn. RTK teaches you basically meanings and recognition, but you literally gain no vocab. The KKLC though is supported with the fantastic kanji study app and it has all the graded reading sets in one convenient place. Not only that, but learning about 5 kanji a day will be tremendously helpful so long as you can keep up with it.

ive been trying to passively learn the basics (and i mean basics-starting to learn kana on my phone on the way to school) and this has been really helpful and motovational.

I see, I shall now start using duolingo

I started a few years ago and was using Memrise as the main source of learning. Although I did take on board a fair bit of vocab I didn’t learn much sentence structure. I then realised that my method of learning was wrong and my motivation took a hit. Problem was I was just doing it for fun and with no clear reason. I still want to get back into it but may have to start from scratch even though I remember a decent amount. I’ve saved this video in my Japanese playlist for when I’m ready. Thanks for the info!

Thanks for your advise, Andy sensei. Greetings from Perú.

Thank you again for this video Andy. I have been studying Japanese for about a month with another book and such and decided things just were working as well as I feel like they should/could. I decided I would start over and use Genki for Grammar/Overall language learning, Anki for vocab, that I wouldn't learn words that aren't very useful to me like Secretary, and Remembering the Kanji. I have Anki but just feel like I've finally figured out how I should rate words that I am learning for my purposes. Overall, I think I'm landing on things that work for me and that I really need more repetition on the things I'm learning. In particular, with vocabulary I'm finding that the neural plasticity I had when I tried learning Japanese 10 years ago just isn't there. ^,^;; Regardless though, I think that I'm on a good path now with the recommendations your videos make. :D I've looked at a ton of language learning videos and such over the last decade and I think that your video recommendations work the best for the way my brain functions. lol Note: The reason I am not properly learning some of the business related words right now is because my current goal is to just be able to survive in Japan for a week in about 4 months. In terms of usefulness, business terms aren't that useful for me right now.. I figure I can learn those later. My profession has so many terms that me interacting in a professional sense is going to require months of studying just industry terms. It also seems odd to me to learn how to say Newspaper before I learn a word I use, like Latte. lol

Ahh, some good tips on how to start, and since I have a Japanese 3ds, I’m already 1/5th of the way there!! Might try these someday as how I learn Japanese depends on what I feel like on said day. Sometimes I learn from videos, and sometimes I learn phrases that are related to what I want to do in Japan.

This is great !!

When I started learning I took a course at school that went through the first Genki textbook without teaching any kanji at all. I picked up Japanese learning again recently after 5 years and while I'm working through Genki II it feels super rough that I never learned any kanji so now I'm super motivated to cover that blind spot.

I’m thinking about starting finally…. Subbed :)))

One of my 2023 resolution is to learn Japanese and this video will greatly help me! Being fluent in English (because I'm French) already helps to reads Japanese to English book and then translate to French and it can even better my English, I guess it's a win win!

Thanks so much! This is amazing. I lived in Tokyo for 3 years but didn't embrace learning the language (super disappointed in myself). So now I'm determined to learn. Taking classes and studying a lot more. This is breaks it down into bite sized pieces and helps the daunting task ahead.

Great video! I started Japanese a little over a month ago on Duolingo just to see if it would stick with me, which it certainly has. It's also good to hear that it might take years to start becoming fluent in the language, makes it easier to have realistic goals and expectations. Also love that just consuming media in Japanese is also a tip. The main reason why I started to learn is because I got super into the video game Elden Ring and the Yakuza series games, I also had started reading my first manga, Inuyasha, and started the anime as well. Once I realized that almost all of the media I was consuming was coming from Japan I felt like I should try to learn the language and more about the culture and history of Japan too.

Aweso tutorial bro! I like how you gets down to bus

It worked love you!

I wish you made this two years ago lol. Love your videos, thanks for your hard work!

I would also use anki, but I would recommend always making your own anki deck, even if you are basically copying an existing one, the mental process of creating the cards themselves is a pretty important overlooked aspect for anchoring memory

Awesome stuff

Anki is sick, it seems like it's been getting more love recently too. Glad to see people using this amazing tool.

Wtf this is the best intro the Japanese video I’ve come across after 1.5yrs of studying, I’m gonna get back to the basics ✊

I just started abt a month ago and this has helped a ton so far

I have a language tutor. And he is pretty much taking this approach. I’m only 3 weeks but this is making me so happy.

Superb recommendations. Thank you!

Taking a trip to Japan next month, hopefully whatever I learn sticks!

Such a great video

Wanikani is also amazing for learning to read Kanji. And for listening/shadowing I'd recommend the Nihongo con Teppei podcasts.

i started learning japanese 4 days ago, i've been watching some jdramas - animes and i did really enjoy the language. i can understand some characters from hiragana & katakana. now i do wanna focus on pronunciation because i think i'm doing some mistakes with sounds "r" and "tsu" feels like i'm saying wrong 😅. at the same time i do study some basic things, "yes, no, thank you, meeting & greeting" etc. after learning these subjects i feel like i'm gonna go with grammar & vocabulary. but i'm in no rush to go with kanji, because ik that when i start to study kanji i'm gonna feel pressure. so whenever i feel ready i'll do that. as you said i'm trying to stay fun while learning, thank you so much for this video! i'm definitely gonna keep an eye on your channel.

Hey Andy! I just embarked on the mission of learning Japanese. The reason is merely for the sake of a beautiful Japanese girl I am in touch with. I am at day 7 so I am an absolute novice but i already spent several hours collecting useful material/vocabulary/resources on the web and I love this language, so I feel I won't give up on Japanese even if things would go south with her (hopefully not ^-^). I loved your video and really appreciate you try to help us avoiding mistakes. I just discover thanks to you the book GENKI. I immediately purchased through amazon. Please come again down hear in a while, hopefully i can show you some improvement. As you say, the is no finish line, it is just a ride I want to enjoy while learning. So, 'arigatou gosaimasu' Andy .🙏 Mata ne!

I just started to learn japanese a few months ago, thats how i found this channel. I recomend using memrise to memorize hiragana, katakana and vocabulary. At least i found it really helpfull until now and with other language learning

Really lulled me in with that Made in Abyss in the thumbnail

I am about to subscribe to your program, your content has been super helpful for me already! Just getting started (only just finished learning kana). Regarding your Genki playlist - would it be a sensible approach to just disregard the book for now and follow your grammar videos? I am not much of a "book guy" and have had much better success doing as much as I can on my computer 😀 Thanks a lot!

Thank you!

こんにちは！Hi I'm learning Japanese and I'm looking for awesome youtubers that helps me out! you got a new subscriber and I look forward to your videos! Amazing tips! ありがとうございます! Thank you!

I'm certainly gonna have to get those books you mentioned, as I want to get going with my Japanese... as I want to visit Japan within 3 year or so, plus read some of my favourite manga (and watch anime without subs or dub) in Japanese too. :-)

I bought the Tango N5 book very early on too. it was amazing. I studied pretty hard for a year or so, but the past 2.5 years my Japanese has been on a slower burn. I just read manga for 30 minutes or more a day, I watch a lot of shows with JP subs, and I text/talk daily to my GF. though we do speak English 60-70% of the time, while more the opposite for texting. (my comprehension is leagues above my speaking.) I'm finally taking a JLPT test this December though, so I bought the N4 and N3 単語 books, as well as some practice exams, and finally finishing Genki 2's grammar, and I'm going to get into the Intermediate Genki book soon as well. The only thing I feel like I did right with Japanese is spend 10 years when I wasn't learning it, just immersing in the language, so when I did study, it unlocked that subconscious knowledge. I think Immersion is very underrated as a learning tool.

I started last year with Genki but i wasn’t that thrilled. So I gave up.This year i gave it a chance with Tobira this time and it works fine with me and has better structure and less English.Soon I’ll get the workbook which the publishers will release in less than a month. The only downside of Tobira is the lack of Answer Keys for self learners. But I’m in contact with publishers already seeking for a solution.

I can definitely vouch for Satori Reader. It's probably the best of all the resources I've used so far. Flashcards, stories, shadowing, grammar lessons… all on that platform! And their customer service is second to none

Andy your content is incredible, thank you so much for producing it! With regards to games, are you aware of any on iphone that can be purchased?

I've been studying for little over a year and my listening and reading for the most part has improved greatly. Even if I dont understand the majority, I can pick out key things that I know and kind of summarize. What has gotten me stuck is responding. Output has been the biggest hurdle for me. It has been severely frustrating and demoralizing even. I can listen to someone and know what they're saying, but it's like my brain completely empties any sort of Japanese I've heard or learned over the course of a year. I get easy grammar wrong. Particles kick my ass constantly. Remembering both Kunyomi and Onyomi is difficult. My brain still confuses English sentence structures with Japanese and somehow my English has declined since studying! It's so odd that it takes more thought to think of words in my native tongue but I can't even speak somewhat confidently even if it's basic in Japanese. I'm sure there's others who have felt this issue themselves, but it really has put a damper in my studies. Not only that, being surrounded by a language other than your target doesn't help aid in using it on a daily basis. I can't fathom the idea of doing immersion for hours a day as my brain would be fried and I'd come to resent the process.

I’m going to start learning (I just started today) and this video is useful

Tis the time of the year when the yt algorithm reminds me that i wanna learn the language but constantly get lost during the start and then drop it. Great video though!

About not rushing, that is true. I rushed for N3 last year and passed but, I still kinda not satisfied with the result. At the same time I was also learning Korean but at the slower pace. I got deeper understanding in Korean rather than Japanese and often understand Japanese grammar after going through Korean grammar with somewhat similar meaning and context. This year I will pursue N2 but, at a slower pace. Already finished the Kanji Master book and Shin Kanzen Goi. This level really pushes me to slow down this time, but I think that's necessary to just take the time and enjoy.

英語の勉強をするべくyoutubeを見ていたらこちらのチャンネルに辿り着きました。言語は違えど基本的な学習方法は同じということに改めて気付かされました。

This is so good, and it’s a new post and not a 12 year old vid

Thank you sir

I recall when learning Spanish and Polish a while ago to always repeat words and sentences out loud. And then to write if you can. I also used this trick when I was in engineering school and it works. Your brain isn't meant to read everything in your internal monologue to learn. Saying stuff over and over really helps solidify stuff into memory.

I've been "studying for 2 years" but in patches due to working long hours on projects that are in a hurry and taking care of a new child. Since my wife is Japanese and my daughter is almost 2 and she is speaking words. So now l read children's books and learn at the same time As using Genki and your videos. While I'm currently here in Japan I may as well go pick up some more reading material which you mentioned for vocabulary and reading.

My first video from your channel. Liked and Subscribed. My question to you, that I'm also asking others who have moved to Japan, is what affairs did you have to prepare when moving to Japan? A video on this would be lovely, and if there is one already, a link would be appreciated. Thanks again for the information.

No WaniKani recommendation? I’m surprised! I really like it for learning the kanji 🥰