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.
Isn't it super interesting how you can understand things when you hear them, but it's harder when you read? I think having the context of bodily gestures, eye contact, and natural rhythm of speaking helps. Reading is always going to be slower when learning so that makes it more difficult. But you'll get there! I hope some of these ideas can help!
@@ToKiniAndy It certainly is strange. Once, she showed me a video of her dad speaking, they are from Osaka, and her dad speaks in a very heavy Kansai dialect. She asked me what he was saying after, and on a whim I said "he's talking about flavours?" And I was right, he was discussing the taste of beer and why he didn't like it. I barely understood a word, yet I somehow was correct in guessing the context!
That's actually quite a common problem Chris. I definitely hear you, as in the beginning I was the same. The trick is surprisingly counter-intuitive. Instead of trying to catch each word or piece of grammar, the trick is actually to physically try to relax, and sort of catch the overall idea. It sounds silly, but this works really really well. You probably won't pick up a TON of new words this way, but you WILL actually be able to have a conversation more comfortably. If you notice there was something you didn't understand, you just ignore it, and see if you can pick up the overall idea around it. If, after listening to everything being said to you, you think that that single word has tripped you up, asking someone to repeat themselves, or asking what X means will get you there the rest of the time. =) It takes a while to get used to accepting that you're not going to understand every word, but it's worth struggling through that!
I am a Chinese and have been learning Japanese for 1 month already. There is a super friendly Chinese app called 小语大师 which is the most useful Japanese-learning app for me!! So addictive
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!
I started learn Japanese from zero 4 months ago. Lately, I practice speaking Japanese with local Japanese teacher, And my teacher recommended me this channel which I found very helpful! I feel that my Japanese language ability will be very promising haha
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 ^^
“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?”
You just keep studying, hit walls, improve as you go and eventually you will find out what is a waste of time and what isn't for you. That's it. Good luck!
Instead of thinking about learning a language you should just do it! Do you think a baby worries about these things when they first start using their mother tongue? No! They just try and fail, take small steps every day and after some months both you and the baby will be able to create basic sentences. I never really advise people to use language apps like Duolingo or Babbel, but it's better than nothing, so at least invest 15 minutes a day into that and after a while you'll start to notice how much progress you've made.
Pick a good method and stick with. You need to get a foundation of the vocab and the kanji. For my part I use the Anki flashcard deck made from Japanese core 2k and I removed all the individual words and only kept the phrases. Phrases are easier to learn and give you context with words. 2k words is equivalent to B1 in a European language. It's a solid foundation that allows you to get into native content, then it's just a question of making flashcards with unknown words or just checking the dictionary when you don't get something. When you reach around 5k vocab words you know enough to consistently learn from context, at this point studying becomes just an option to speed things up or to polish your skills
Your struggle speaks to me. lol I've tried to learn japanese several times and I'm just now starting to feel like I understand how to learn and how to use the tools I have to achieve some results. ^^;; I'm also learning to not push myself to the point where I stop absorbing.. I honestly feel like that point hit's faster than it does for most people, but if I learn 10 words a day using anki, 5 days a week even, that's thousands of vocab words in a year.. so that's what I'm doing. It FEELS slow, but I'm steadily learning more and more. But yes, I empathize with the massive amount of time spent just figuring out how to start/learn. One skill I need more work on is figuring out how to change what I'm doing without feeling like I'm starting over in some way. lol
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
Do you use WaniKani? If not then i can just recommend it. I followed the tofugu guides and started learning kanji with WaniKani immediately after finishing Hiragana and it's a lot of fun and i can actually recognize about 70 Kanjis in just under 2 weeks. And i've only studied 30-60 minutes per day
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.
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!
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.
Where would you suggest to learn Japanese? I've been trying Duolingo and Busuu but the only other alternative I can think of is to just google phrases I want to know, but google translate is often wrong
Do U still need suggestions on Japanese learning I can give u some idea that will help U grasping the whole thing. First suggestion would be follow this guy and search playlist videos of this guy If U need Reply
Tips to learn Japanese more efficiently: - Do NOT attempt to learn more than one language at once. If in doubt, learn the one that you're most interested in. - Repeat every letter/word/sentence out loud to get a closer pronunciation (tip from Teuida). - Avoid trying to learn everything at one sitting to prevent yourself from forgetting words. - Try to memorize kana/kanji stroke order for more efficient writing. - If you feel unmotivated and/or tired, take a break and proceed your learning after a while and remember: you can do it! - Watch anime and practice singing in Japanese. They will help you to increase your vocabulary. - Try not to skip the difficult parts of learning. They may be essential. - Get yourself a partner conversation or use Teuida! - Use your Japanese knowledge in daily occasions (Example: whenever you're going upstairs, count every step in Japanese). - After finishing your studying session, write out everything you have learned so far, physically (pencil and paper) or virtually (note pad app on phone/computer) - Keep watching this video as many times as possible for days or weeks. It is not possible to learn everything in a few moments. Now, I wish you, the reader, a very happy learning, do not give up and give it your all! がんばってください! 💪✌️
In my opinion, do we really need to learn things like stroke order nowadays? Unless you're going to work at a Japanese company that requires you to write things with pen and paper, computers and phones will do the job as long as you can read the kanji.
Learning stroke order is natural, we learn it in English too. However you end up writing will develop as a byproduct of that plus your natural style. I find it good to learn at least. I suppose if you plan to never handwrite anything then it won't matter sure.
@@fluttzkrieg4392 it's not that hard to learn as it is systemized, but if you still don't feel like learning that, it's okay. It really depends on your reasons and goals for learning Japanese, you might as well never need it
Idk what to do bcs I’m currently attending an after school club that teaches Korean and I’ve already attended it for a year and I’ve gotten many certificates etc however I’m moving as an exchange to japan next year so I’m not sure what to do because I can’t cancel my exchange and I can’t leave the club
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.
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
Finding games with voice acting, and reading along with the audiobook are great ways to improve listening while doing what you’re already doing! =) But yeah, it definitely takes time!
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 :)
What a coincidence! I also use that kanji app as well. It is really helpful. I think the app is a great replacement for the Kanji 3ds game that he talked about in the video.
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
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!
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.
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. :)
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!
Congratulations on your call! I served my mission In Sapporo, Japan in 2015. It was a wonderful experience and the people are so wonderful. One thing I wished I’d known before was how little “non gospel” vocabulary would be emphasized in the MTC, so by the time I got to Japan it was very difficult being able to build relationships for a while with the people since I couldn’t speak about every topics yet. So if you have a bit more time before you leave, I recommend learning some everyday vocabulary so you don’t feel like you’re completely drowning when you first arrive in Japan. But even if you don’t, it’ll all come eventually through hard work, immersion, and the spirit. Good luck on your mission! I hope it’s a wonderful experience. I’m sure you’ll be an amazing missionary. :)
I now have my own kanji series here on TH-cam! 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.
@@callmejobson I wonder how many of the used versions can be shipped to the USA from Japan. I know it’s definitely possible to order from Japan in the USA, but not positive about used stuff. In the mean time, yes, 漢検トレーニング2 was a good time. =)
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.
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.
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.
Yeah, kanji is definitely a challenge unique to Japanese and Chinese. I can completely understand the difficulty. Speaking of scheduling, I completely forgot to mention combining RTK with Anki or some kind of SRS in this video. I better add that to the pinned comment! Thanks for reminding me (even if you’re talking about scheduling your time, hehe).
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!
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!
Your point on hiragana and katakana not being taught together is actually why I created my own flashcards, showing them side by side. To me, it seemed similar to how we learned the English alphabet as kids. Showing the differences between upper and lower case letters i.e Aa Bb Cc Dd...
This is true. When he mentioned that, our small and capital letters immediately came to mind, and I realised that I'd never seen Hiragana and Katakana being taught side by side. They should be taught that way.
Came here a year after watching this to say thank you. I'm definitely nowhere near fluent yet, but I can comfortably say that I'm N5 inching towards N4 level now. To everyone who is just starting, you can do it! It gets easier the more you learn.
As a begginer learner, i’m in my ~8th month of learning japanese and I still don’t even feel confident enough to do the JLPT N5 test yet. As I see other people on the internet saying “I passed N1 in just 6 months!” Really makes me feel like I’m just not made for it, and yes, from time to time I do get toughts of wanting to quit, but that’s completely normal! I know that a lot of people learning japanese might feel the same, and I just want to tell you that you’re not alone!
What if we practice together I’m pretty new to it so it would help me and probably u if we learn how to together we can push each other. If u would like to just put down your discord.
Ah I've been studying Japanese for just over a year now and there have been so many days where I doubt myself and feel like I haven't made any progress. I have one friend who lives in Japan and that helps me a lot, but even with only listening to Japanese music, podcasts,shows and playing all of my games in Japanese I still feel like I have barely scratched the surface 🥲 I dedicate a lot of my time to this because it's very important to me. I'm finally getting to a point where I can recognize patterns, hear/tell the difference between similar words and very basic sentences😅 I do have ADHD and learning disabilities so I try to be patient with myself, it takes me a very long time to really learn things🥲 the language makes me very happy and I appreciate studying it☺️ I'll focus more on these tips!😭
Japanese is very different from English, so it takes a longgg time, more time than most languages. It sounds like you are making some progress, though. Keep noticing what seems to work best for you and what you enjoy, and just keep it up
hey fellow adhd brain!! i, too, am trying to be patient as i learn, but i have merely just started my journey!! i have the mindset that im interested for life, and am trying to be kind to myself with the time involved, confident that eventually it's going to integrate into my daily living and hopefully in a decade or so, i'll be able to take a decent inventory of my growth! Keep moving forward, mate!!
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!
I wouldn’t go so far as to say that Memrise is the WRONG way to learn. It’s just that learning ONLY vocabulary leaves out so much of a language, so when you actually jump into real sentences, you realize that you don’t know what’s going. It’s still GREAT to have the vocabulary though! =) I hope this video can help when you decide to get back into it!
From my experience living in Japan for 15 years and speaking Japanese , my best tips would be , speak speak speak , learn substitute words and learn how to explain something rather than focus only on subjectives. Stuff like , if you don’t know what scissors are , you can explain it and people will fill in the blanks for you and over time your vocabulary will grow. A very useful word I recommend is やつ。 Explanations -> Insert やつ People will ohhh you mean scissors ? It’s tedious early on but it’s really helpful. Don’t feel discouraged when you sound like a 4 year old for the first half a year. Focus on listening Comprehension and speaking. Reading later unless it’s your prime focus. Find something you enjoy consuming but do it in Japanese . Game reviews , TH-cam , etc. Obviously you would need to start with regular basic grammar and than apply above. People who only sit through books studying kanji in my experience rarly excel later on when you actually get exposed to Japanese in real life
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
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.
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!
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!
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 😂
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.
playing Japanese mobile games can help with immersion and trick your brain into reading Japanese material. Many Japanese mobile games have a story mode, where it is essentially a visual novel. One game in particular, re:ステージ has a story that is word for word identical to the light novel, so you are essentially reading a light novel when "playing" the game. (If you pay really close attention, there are some minor differences, for example おっとりとした口調の関西弁 in the light novel, and おっとりとした速度の関西弁 in the game, but apart from minute things like this, they are essentially the same). You can find mobile games with varying levels of Japanese difficulty, which means once you learned the basics, you can practice reading Japanese and have fun at the same time!
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.
I didn’t personally like Japanese for Busy People when I tried it out 9 or 10 years ago, but I do know that some people like it. It doesn’t hurt to give it a shot. I might have to do a full review of it again, regardless, because I don’t remember much from it. I think it’s great that your giving it another shot! I hope that, if you jump into the course I hope that you will find it useful in your journey! Thank you for watching. =)
@@ToKiniAndy see I really want to learn to READ Japanese. I'm not as concerned with learning to speak it because I'm American and I live in America. But I really want to learn how to read it because so many of the best classic novels and horror novels are written in Japanese with no English translation 😭😭 and I am obsessed with Asian horror I just think it's so much scarier and better than Western horror is. So I'm more concerned with learning to read it vs getting the pronunciation right
I’m glad I found this video! I started with Duolingo and I’m about 3 weeks in. I also subscribed to MochiKana and MochiKanji. I have weekly lessons which kind of overlap the material I’m working on which is great for repetition. I ordered the Genki book now and hoping it can help me progress. 😊 what also helps is to learn new words by using Google translate to express what you want to say. I can form simple sentences now. 😊
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
In just a couple months I’m going to meet with my Japanese grandparents and family. And I felt honestly a little embarrassed knowing I might not be able to connect with them as close as I could. So I’m just reading as many books as I can and playing learning games already having a basic understanding. Hoping this helps!
My mom's side of the family is Japanese, but I live in America and my dad is African, when my mom called her parents all I could say was "wakarenai" and "gomen" so now I'm trying my best, next time I talk to them I hope I can say a bit more
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!
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.
Thanks for watching! I'm glad you enjoyed it. =) I also used Remembering the Kana. I really liked it (although not for Katakana). WaniKani is a strong contender for sure. There are a few things I don't personally love about it though, which is why I think combining this NEW (old) DS game I found (AFTER filming this video) with RTK is a winner.
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.
I’m glad to hear that you found the video useful, Sean! Thank you for watching! I can understand how that would be disappointing, but hopefully you can make up for it now! =)
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.
I was wondering why five or so days ago a few dozen people started messaging for links to the Tango decks. Hope they help. Reminder that I have decks up to Tango N1 on top of Remembering the Kana deck, Remembering the Kanji Optimized decks, Tae Kim Grammar with native audio, and even Shinkanzen Master Grammar decks and spreadsheets for people that show modest proof of ownership.
How can we message you to try and get those? I use to have the Remembering Kanji but no longer have it unfortunately. I might be able to find it on my Amazon possibly....
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.
Like a lot of people, I started with anime. Then, as I progressed, I had a teacher and these Genki books became my best friends. They are great. I recommend them to anyone who wants to learn the language. Flash cards also helps.
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.
My biggest mistake when starting to learn Japanese was trying to memorize complicated kanji by simply looking at them in flash cards instead of learning to write them or studying the radicals. If you don't learn the radicals or the stroke order, a lot of similar looking kanji will start to blend together, which makes it much harder to memorize them. Also, kanji can look very different depending on if they're handwritten or typed. The style or font can make a kanji you've already learned look unfamiliar. Knowing the stroke order helps with this.
My best and simple tip to people seriously learning Japanese as a long term (10year+) goal is: Flood yourself in Japanese, and get used to it. Exams are irrelevant, but if you do want certification I understand getting everything inside your head asap could be your goal (don't recommend), then use anki. For life long learning, anki will likely demotivate you and in my case hurt your learning instead. (would you rather know 100 words on a superficial level or 10 words that you can use to express in a 100 different ways)
@@Sebastian-But-Not-That-One You're missing out tbh... But, I mean, I don't blame anyone for feeling uncomfortable lmao, I had a LOT of trouble with a scene in the film... 😭😭😭💀💀💀
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.
Thank you for another great video! I'm still trying to get over being in a depressive slump after studying Japanese for 2 years and not being even past N4 😞lol. Do you have any opinions on WaniKani to study Kanji? For the immersion technique, would you recommend using complete Japanese without any aid? I've been trying to watch "easy" anime with Japanese subtitles, but quickly get frustrated and give up because I need to pause every single scene to look up a word or grammar point, which can make finishing a 20-minute episode a multiple-day task.
You’re welcome! Sometimes, it takes time to find a method you enjoy, so don’t be too hard on yourself! WaniKani is great for a lot of people. I prefer the method I mention in this video, but it’s a personal preference. If you like WaniKani, more power to you! =) For immersion, I definitely recommend going all in on the Japanese. With that said, what you mention is EXACTLY why I would personally use anime as ‘relaxing/passive’ immersion. Where I just watch for fun, and don’t bother looking everything up, or only look up words that catch my interest. Games and reading are better for looking up every word, as it doesn’t feel like you’re interrupting the flow so much.
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.
Honestly, your saying "you just kind of get use to doing hard things" set you FAR apart from the rest of youtube's "I'm better than you" gang. It's an actual explanation. Thank you.
@@ToKiniAndy most advice boils down to "do better" and kills the entire desire to study. I've been studying for 30 years and never heard what you just said.
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.
Hi, Andy! I really love your videos, they’ve helped me a lot through my language learning journey. I wanted to ask, because I am also playing games and reading manga in Japanese, but I don’t know the most efficient way to record vocabulary and things like that. You have a great resource at 6:22, can I ask what it is? I might’ve missed it in the video.
Hi naia! Thanks for watching, and I’m glad the videos here have helped! That dictionary is just called “Japanese”. It is available on both iOS and Android, and is free. I was using the list feature there. It’s very helpful. With that said, when I’m going through a game or a manga, I don’t record every word I look up anywhere usually. I’ll usually only save or create a flash card for words I find really interesting. Otherwise, I look a word up and then keep going. =)
Absolutely loved this video! I have been holding off going deep on books/games until I finish Genki II, and I am glad that lines up with what you recommend. I am also SUPER glad you mentioned Dogen's pitch accent content because that's something that has really interested me, but I had no idea when I would have enough of a foundation to start. My main issue now is recently I have felt that the Anki deck of Genki vocabulary I was working through isn't really that useful, and I was probably better off finding something else to fill that role. Do you think it is worth picking up Tango N5 if I am halfway through Genki II, or should I just pickup with Tango N4?
I think you're probably safe to move on to Tango N4 if you're interested in continuing with Anki. =) I'm happy to hear you found the video helpful! Thank you for watching!
I've been trying to learn Japanese, and although I immediately got stuck after learning the kanas and VERY basic grammar (because Kanji was so confusing and honestly a bit annyoing) I found that playing games that I already play, but in Japanese helped, as I knew what the text or characters were usually saying, but would only have the Japanese pronunciation/subtitles, which would force me to adapt whilst not being completely clueless. I'm doing this in Apex Legends currently and it's fun. But I also do want to get more acquainted with Japanese, so I'm considering buying the books you mentioned, or watching/reading children's anime/manga. Thanks for this helpful video!
I went through a traumatic experience with the adjunct teacher at my college who was teaching Japanese (not being overdramatic, he was immediately fired and prohibited from school grounds, it was bad) and it robbed me of any joy I had for learning the language. I had begun self-study when I was only 13 and loved the language and culture for over a decade before that experience. Anytime I think about Japanese I feel like I'm grieving, I don't know how to get my joy back for it. I don't know how to think about it or study it again without reliving the trauma. 😟 Sorry for the depressing comment, I've never spoken about this on a public platform, but it's been almost 2 years now and I'm starting to fear I'll never be able to go back to it so I wanted to comment in hopes of finding if anyone at all can relate to me and give me advice. 🙏
hi! first of all im really sorry that you had to go through that and i hope you’re doing ok. i have not experienced what you did but when i was studying english i found myself in a situation where the course was draining me and my classmates were not the nicest (they even made ill intentioned comments about my body) so i dropped out of that class. i contacted a new teacher and together we thought of a not-so-formal scheme for me to keep studying english in a more relaxed way. and this worked! i fell in love with the language again and started reading books written in english. my vocabulary and my and pronunciation improved greatly. i dont know if this will help but maybe starting a more relaxed course outside of traditional schools is the solution to your problem. also im here if you dont have anybody to talk to :) and i wish you luck in your japanese journey!
I personally love anime the most, I don't know what your trauma was but anime tends to be cute and fun if you find the right ones and it may even inspire you!
I made that hiragana and katakana COMBINED Video/website! th-cam.com/video/PGJ7JWSgst0/w-d-xo.htmlsi=tp45FlrktCCcty1n
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.
Isn't it super interesting how you can understand things when you hear them, but it's harder when you read? I think having the context of bodily gestures, eye contact, and natural rhythm of speaking helps. Reading is always going to be slower when learning so that makes it more difficult. But you'll get there!
I hope some of these ideas can help!
@@ToKiniAndy It certainly is strange. Once, she showed me a video of her dad speaking, they are from Osaka, and her dad speaks in a very heavy Kansai dialect. She asked me what he was saying after, and on a whim I said "he's talking about flavours?"
And I was right, he was discussing the taste of beer and why he didn't like it. I barely understood a word, yet I somehow was correct in guessing the context!
?
@spaceace1288時間_日本語学生 ?
That's actually quite a common problem Chris. I definitely hear you, as in the beginning I was the same.
The trick is surprisingly counter-intuitive. Instead of trying to catch each word or piece of grammar, the trick is actually to physically try to relax, and sort of catch the overall idea. It sounds silly, but this works really really well. You probably won't pick up a TON of new words this way, but you WILL actually be able to have a conversation more comfortably.
If you notice there was something you didn't understand, you just ignore it, and see if you can pick up the overall idea around it. If, after listening to everything being said to you, you think that that single word has tripped you up, asking someone to repeat themselves, or asking what X means will get you there the rest of the time. =)
It takes a while to get used to accepting that you're not going to understand every word, but it's worth struggling through that!
I am a Chinese and have been learning Japanese for 1 month already. There is a super friendly Chinese app called 小语大师 which is the most useful Japanese-learning app for me!! So addictive
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!
Really lulled me in with that Made in Abyss in the thumbnail
lol I was actually waiting for a comment like this.
I started learn Japanese from zero 4 months ago. Lately, I practice speaking Japanese with local Japanese teacher, And my teacher recommended me this channel which I found very helpful! I feel that my Japanese language ability will be very promising haha
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 ^^
Yomichan+Anki is a beast. =)
“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?”
You just keep studying, hit walls, improve as you go and eventually you will find out what is a waste of time and what isn't for you. That's it. Good luck!
Instead of thinking about learning a language you should just do it! Do you think a baby worries about these things when they first start using their mother tongue? No! They just try and fail, take small steps every day and after some months both you and the baby will be able to create basic sentences.
I never really advise people to use language apps like Duolingo or Babbel, but it's better than nothing, so at least invest 15 minutes a day into that and after a while you'll start to notice how much progress you've made.
Pick a good method and stick with.
You need to get a foundation of the vocab and the kanji.
For my part I use the Anki flashcard deck made from Japanese core 2k and I removed all the individual words and only kept the phrases.
Phrases are easier to learn and give you context with words.
2k words is equivalent to B1 in a European language. It's a solid foundation that allows you to get into native content, then it's just a question of making flashcards with unknown words or just checking the dictionary when you don't get something.
When you reach around 5k vocab words you know enough to consistently learn from context, at this point studying becomes just an option to speed things up or to polish your skills
Your struggle speaks to me. lol I've tried to learn japanese several times and I'm just now starting to feel like I understand how to learn and how to use the tools I have to achieve some results. ^^;; I'm also learning to not push myself to the point where I stop absorbing.. I honestly feel like that point hit's faster than it does for most people, but if I learn 10 words a day using anki, 5 days a week even, that's thousands of vocab words in a year.. so that's what I'm doing. It FEELS slow, but I'm steadily learning more and more.
But yes, I empathize with the massive amount of time spent just figuring out how to start/learn. One skill I need more work on is figuring out how to change what I'm doing without feeling like I'm starting over in some way. lol
@Marky on the Go: what would you recommended then for the start learning basics?
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
same honestly, I blame it on my lack of consistency and actual method of learning.
Do you use WaniKani? If not then i can just recommend it. I followed the tofugu guides and started learning kanji with WaniKani immediately after finishing Hiragana and it's a lot of fun and i can actually recognize about 70 Kanjis in just under 2 weeks. And i've only studied 30-60 minutes per day
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.
How is it going so far?
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!
Thank you phak! Lots more to come! I hope that the new stuff can help as well. =)
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.
Where would you suggest to learn Japanese? I've been trying Duolingo and Busuu but the only other alternative I can think of is to just google phrases I want to know, but google translate is often wrong
Do U still need suggestions on Japanese learning
I can give u some idea that will help U grasping the whole thing.
First suggestion would be follow this guy and search playlist videos of this guy
If U need
Reply
@@TheGhost-mf1rbI don't know about the person above, but please guide me
Tips to learn Japanese more efficiently:
- Do NOT attempt to learn more than one language at once. If in doubt, learn the one that you're most interested in.
- Repeat every letter/word/sentence out loud to get a closer pronunciation (tip from Teuida).
- Avoid trying to learn everything at one sitting to prevent yourself from forgetting words.
- Try to memorize kana/kanji stroke order for more efficient writing.
- If you feel unmotivated and/or tired, take a break and proceed your learning after a while and remember: you can do it!
- Watch anime and practice singing in Japanese. They will help you to increase your vocabulary.
- Try not to skip the difficult parts of learning. They may be essential.
- Get yourself a partner conversation or use Teuida!
- Use your Japanese knowledge in daily occasions (Example: whenever you're going upstairs, count every step in Japanese).
- After finishing your studying session, write out everything you have learned so far, physically (pencil and paper) or virtually (note pad app on phone/computer)
- Keep watching this video as many times as possible for days or weeks. It is not possible to learn everything in a few moments.
Now, I wish you, the reader, a very happy learning, do not give up and give it your all! がんばってください! 💪✌️
In my opinion, do we really need to learn things like stroke order nowadays? Unless you're going to work at a Japanese company that requires you to write things with pen and paper, computers and phones will do the job as long as you can read the kanji.
Teuida!!!!!! YES
Learning stroke order is natural, we learn it in English too. However you end up writing will develop as a byproduct of that plus your natural style. I find it good to learn at least. I suppose if you plan to never handwrite anything then it won't matter sure.
@@fluttzkrieg4392 it's not that hard to learn as it is systemized, but if you still don't feel like learning that, it's okay. It really depends on your reasons and goals for learning Japanese, you might as well never need it
Idk what to do bcs I’m currently attending an after school club that teaches Korean and I’ve already attended it for a year and I’ve gotten many certificates etc however I’m moving as an exchange to japan next year so I’m not sure what to do because I can’t cancel my exchange and I can’t leave the club
Thanks for this. I'm about to start learning Japanese myself, and I appreciate anything helpful like this.
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.
Thank you so much for this information and all the work you put in. Have a great 2023!
I see, I shall now start using duolingo
That’s what Im Doing! How’s it going???
That’s what I’m doing too 🤪
@@larry3969I have a friend who is a native and he corrects Duolingo all the time when I do it around him so I don’t recommend it
Duolingo is shit tho-
@@giuseppeagresta1425Duplingo is as good as you make it.
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
Finding games with voice acting, and reading along with the audiobook are great ways to improve listening while doing what you’re already doing! =)
But yeah, it definitely takes time!
Try 二ノ国 If you have finished Genki 2 .
Ghost of Tsushima as a Japanese voice acting from the actors@@ToKiniAndy
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 :)
What a coincidence! I also use that kanji app as well. It is really helpful. I think the app is a great replacement for the Kanji 3ds game that he talked about in the video.
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
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!
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.
Glad to hear you can relate! Good luck on N2!!!
how do u take a N5, N4, N3, N2 or a N1 test? like is there some webbsite to test your self because i am so confused 😅
@@ToKiniAndy how do u take a N5, N4, N3, N2 or a N1 test? like is there some webbsite to test your self because i am so confused 😅
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. :)
Thank you Llourn! I'm glad to hear it's interesting for you even though your a little ways into learning Japanese! =)
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。
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!
Congratulations on your call! I served my mission In Sapporo, Japan in 2015. It was a wonderful experience and the people are so wonderful. One thing I wished I’d known before was how little “non gospel” vocabulary would be emphasized in the MTC, so by the time I got to Japan it was very difficult being able to build relationships for a while with the people since I couldn’t speak about every topics yet. So if you have a bit more time before you leave, I recommend learning some everyday vocabulary so you don’t feel like you’re completely drowning when you first arrive in Japan. But even if you don’t, it’ll all come eventually through hard work, immersion, and the spirit. Good luck on your mission! I hope it’s a wonderful experience. I’m sure you’ll be an amazing missionary. :)
Thanks a million! I just started learning Japanese, since I will visit Japan in about 1½ year from now. This was great!
I now have my own kanji series here on TH-cam!
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.
Its just hard to get that 250万人の漢検プレミアム outside of Japan. Would you still recommend the 漢検トレーニング２ in the mean time?
@@callmejobson I wonder how many of the used versions can be shipped to the USA from Japan. I know it’s definitely possible to order from Japan in the USA, but not positive about used stuff.
In the mean time, yes, 漢検トレーニング2 was a good time. =)
Sorry spaceace1288, I'm not sure what you mean?
Does that game work on NA 3DSs or do I need to buy a JP 3DS?
@@majibento Regular DS games will work on any 3ds! ☺️ Only 3ds games are region locked.
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.
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.
I know a lot of people really enjoy KKLC. It’s personally not my style, but I agree that it will be great for some people! =)
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.
Yeah, kanji is definitely a challenge unique to Japanese and Chinese. I can completely understand the difficulty.
Speaking of scheduling, I completely forgot to mention combining RTK with Anki or some kind of SRS in this video. I better add that to the pinned comment! Thanks for reminding me (even if you’re talking about scheduling your time, hehe).
CaptainWumbo? From iFunny? On a random Japanese video? ありえない…
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!
My 2nd video of his & idk, I get this very genuine, helpful vibe from Andy.
I'll def start again with this approach, thanks for making this 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!
Moving the goal post was a comforting factoid. ありがとうございました。
Your point on hiragana and katakana not being taught together is actually why I created my own flashcards, showing them side by side.
To me, it seemed similar to how we learned the English alphabet as kids. Showing the differences between upper and lower case letters i.e Aa Bb Cc Dd...
This is true. When he mentioned that, our small and capital letters immediately came to mind, and I realised that I'd never seen Hiragana and Katakana being taught side by side. They should be taught that way.
You got me on a roll. I ordered Genki text/workbook level 1 and Tango n5 last night. Will be subbing to your classes on your site to follow along
Came here a year after watching this to say thank you. I'm definitely nowhere near fluent yet, but I can comfortably say that I'm N5 inching towards N4 level now. To everyone who is just starting, you can do it! It gets easier the more you learn.
As a begginer learner, i’m in my ~8th month of learning japanese and I still don’t even feel confident enough to do the JLPT N5 test yet. As I see other people on the internet saying “I passed N1 in just 6 months!” Really makes me feel like I’m just not made for it, and yes, from time to time I do get toughts of wanting to quit, but that’s completely normal! I know that a lot of people learning japanese might feel the same, and I just want to tell you that you’re not alone!
What if we practice together I’m pretty new to it so it would help me and probably u if we learn how to together we can push each other. If u would like to just put down your discord.
@@Suicune-o3f Hey are you still looking for someone to practice - do language updates with?
@@poxalmazro3e734 yeah
@@Yeetedaway yeah
Adding a DS game to the mix is legendary! Turning my 2ds on now to get that!
Ah I've been studying Japanese for just over a year now and there have been so many days where I doubt myself and feel like I haven't made any progress. I have one friend who lives in Japan and that helps me a lot, but even with only listening to Japanese music, podcasts,shows and playing all of my games in Japanese I still feel like I have barely scratched the surface 🥲 I dedicate a lot of my time to this because it's very important to me. I'm finally getting to a point where I can recognize patterns, hear/tell the difference between similar words and very basic sentences😅 I do have ADHD and learning disabilities so I try to be patient with myself, it takes me a very long time to really learn things🥲 the language makes me very happy and I appreciate studying it☺️ I'll focus more on these tips!😭
Japanese is very different from English, so it takes a longgg time, more time than most languages. It sounds like you are making some progress, though. Keep noticing what seems to work best for you and what you enjoy, and just keep it up
hey fellow adhd brain!! i, too, am trying to be patient as i learn, but i have merely just started my journey!! i have the mindset that im interested for life, and am trying to be kind to myself with the time involved, confident that eventually it's going to integrate into my daily living and hopefully in a decade or so, i'll be able to take a decent inventory of my growth! Keep moving forward, mate!!
Anki is sick, it seems like it's been getting more love recently too. Glad to see people using this amazing tool.
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!
I wouldn’t go so far as to say that Memrise is the WRONG way to learn. It’s just that learning ONLY vocabulary leaves out so much of a language, so when you actually jump into real sentences, you realize that you don’t know what’s going. It’s still GREAT to have the vocabulary though! =)
I hope this video can help when you decide to get back into it!
Thank you for the video. I am grateful for your time and contribution. Kind regards, Akira.
From my experience living in Japan for 15 years and speaking Japanese , my best tips would be , speak speak speak , learn substitute words and learn how to explain something rather than focus only on subjectives.
Stuff like , if you don’t know what scissors are , you can explain it and people will fill in the blanks for you and over time your vocabulary will grow.
A very useful word I recommend is やつ。
Explanations -> Insert やつ
People will ohhh you mean scissors ? It’s tedious early on but it’s really helpful.
Don’t feel discouraged when you sound like a 4 year old for the first half a year.
Focus on listening Comprehension and speaking.
Reading later unless it’s your prime focus.
Find something you enjoy consuming but do it in Japanese . Game reviews , TH-cam , etc.
Obviously you would need to start with regular basic grammar and than apply above.
People who only sit through books studying kanji in my experience rarly excel later on when you actually get exposed to Japanese in real life
@youknowkbbaby would not recommend google translate , it’s heavily flawed unless your doing hi my name is type of stuff
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
I too can vouch for them. =)
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 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
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!
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!
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 😂
@8bg I use Preply.
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.
playing Japanese mobile games can help with immersion and trick your brain into reading Japanese material. Many Japanese mobile games have a story mode, where it is essentially a visual novel. One game in particular, re:ステージ has a story that is word for word identical to the light novel, so you are essentially reading a light novel when "playing" the game. (If you pay really close attention, there are some minor differences, for example おっとりとした口調の関西弁 in the light novel, and おっとりとした速度の関西弁 in the game, but apart from minute things like this, they are essentially the same). You can find mobile games with varying levels of Japanese difficulty, which means once you learned the basics, you can practice reading Japanese and have fun at the same time!
I appreciate the videos coming out! Your video games, manga, and this one are solid gold!
Thank you! I'm glad to hear you are enjoying them! ☺️
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.
I didn’t personally like Japanese for Busy People when I tried it out 9 or 10 years ago, but I do know that some people like it. It doesn’t hurt to give it a shot. I might have to do a full review of it again, regardless, because I don’t remember much from it.
I think it’s great that your giving it another shot! I hope that, if you jump into the course I hope that you will find it useful in your journey! Thank you for watching. =)
@@ToKiniAndy see I really want to learn to READ Japanese. I'm not as concerned with learning to speak it because I'm American and I live in America. But I really want to learn how to read it because so many of the best classic novels and horror novels are written in Japanese with no English translation 😭😭 and I am obsessed with Asian horror I just think it's so much scarier and better than Western horror is. So I'm more concerned with learning to read it vs getting the pronunciation right
Example card:
Front:
彼女は読書が好きです。
Back:
(As for) her, reading like.
She likes reading.
彼女 【かの・じょ】- she; her
読書 【どく・しょ】- reading (book)
I’m glad I found this video! I started with Duolingo and I’m about 3 weeks in. I also subscribed to MochiKana and MochiKanji. I have weekly lessons which kind of overlap the material I’m working on which is great for repetition.
I ordered the Genki book now and hoping it can help me progress. 😊 what also helps is to learn new words by using Google translate to express what you want to say. I can form simple sentences now. 😊
How is it going now with all these materials??
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
Thanks this video helped me a lot!
0:39 Realkana let’s you learn Hiragana and Katakana at the same time.
nah youre the goat. this is every bit of information i was looking for. Thank You 👑
In just a couple months I’m going to meet with my Japanese grandparents and family. And I felt honestly a little embarrassed knowing I might not be able to connect with them as close as I could. So I’m just reading as many books as I can and playing learning games already having a basic understanding. Hoping this helps!
My mom's side of the family is Japanese, but I live in America and my dad is African, when my mom called her parents all I could say was "wakarenai" and "gomen" so now I'm trying my best, next time I talk to them I hope I can say a bit more
My grandparents are Russian and my Russian is gradually getting worse every day since I live in Germany. Relatable :c
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.
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!
Thks for the recommendations 🤝🇯🇵
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.
Thanks for watching! I'm glad you enjoyed it. =)
I also used Remembering the Kana. I really liked it (although not for Katakana).
WaniKani is a strong contender for sure. There are a few things I don't personally love about it though, which is why I think combining this NEW (old) DS game I found (AFTER filming this video) with RTK is a winner.
Taking a trip to Japan next month, hopefully whatever I learn sticks!
I saw made in abyss in the thumbnail and instantly clicked lol
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 tried the RTK book. I didn't like it. Something about it. I had an easier time learning Kanji through wanikani.
I just started abt a month ago and this has helped a ton so far
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.
I’m glad to hear that you found the video useful, Sean! Thank you for watching!
I can understand how that would be disappointing, but hopefully you can make up for it now! =)
Thanks for your advise, Andy sensei. Greetings from Perú.
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.
GREAT VIDEO! There's the good content, which I appreciate.
I was wondering why five or so days ago a few dozen people started messaging for links to the Tango decks. Hope they help.
Reminder that I have decks up to Tango N1 on top of Remembering the Kana deck, Remembering the Kanji Optimized decks, Tae Kim Grammar with native audio, and even Shinkanzen Master Grammar decks and spreadsheets for people that show modest proof of ownership.
I definitely should have mentioned to you that I'd be recommending your decks! I saw that there was a bit of an influx on the server. 😅😅
How can we message you to try and get those? I use to have the Remembering Kanji but no longer have it unfortunately. I might be able to find it on my Amazon possibly....
@@yuta5026 You can message me via my discord that he linked in the video description.
@@NukeMarine Awesome, thank you!
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.
Like a lot of people, I started with anime. Then, as I progressed, I had a teacher and these Genki books became my best friends. They are great. I recommend them to anyone who wants to learn the language. Flash cards also helps.
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.
It took me 5 years to learn English and in my classes i am considered a pro and some guys want to be fluent in Japanese in 3 months💀
me it took me 2 years to
My biggest mistake when starting to learn Japanese was trying to memorize complicated kanji by simply looking at them in flash cards instead of learning to write them or studying the radicals. If you don't learn the radicals or the stroke order, a lot of similar looking kanji will start to blend together, which makes it much harder to memorize them. Also, kanji can look very different depending on if they're handwritten or typed. The style or font can make a kanji you've already learned look unfamiliar. Knowing the stroke order helps with this.
My best and simple tip to people seriously learning Japanese as a long term (10year+) goal is:
Flood yourself in Japanese, and get used to it.
Exams are irrelevant, but if you do want certification I understand getting everything inside your head asap could be your goal (don't recommend), then use anki. For life long learning, anki will likely demotivate you and in my case hurt your learning instead. (would you rather know 100 words on a superficial level or 10 words that you can use to express in a 100 different ways)
Thanks for the video!
You're welcome! I hope you find it interesting!
NONONO you purposefully put that cursed terrifying anime in the thumbnail I'm sobbing
? It's good
Only anime that I've liked but also stopped watching halfway through never to return... Too dark 🥹😶🌫️🫥
@@Sebastian-But-Not-That-One You're missing out tbh... But, I mean, I don't blame anyone for feeling uncomfortable lmao, I had a LOT of trouble with a scene in the film... 😭😭😭💀💀💀
@@LunarMoth I bet you're right, the price was just to steep with this one 😅 berserk was fine, but this one made me nauseous for some reason 😵
@Sebastian-But-Not-That-One That's funny because, when I'd already watched MIA, I still stopped reading berserk as it felt too grim
Wanikani is also amazing for learning to read Kanji. And for listening/shadowing I'd recommend the Nihongo con Teppei podcasts.
Learning Japanese while watching Made in Abyss is most impossible thing ever
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.
Thank you for another great video! I'm still trying to get over being in a depressive slump after studying Japanese for 2 years and not being even past N4 😞lol.
Do you have any opinions on WaniKani to study Kanji? For the immersion technique, would you recommend using complete Japanese without any aid? I've been trying to watch "easy" anime with Japanese subtitles, but quickly get frustrated and give up because I need to pause every single scene to look up a word or grammar point, which can make finishing a 20-minute episode a multiple-day task.
You’re welcome! Sometimes, it takes time to find a method you enjoy, so don’t be too hard on yourself!
WaniKani is great for a lot of people. I prefer the method I mention in this video, but it’s a personal preference. If you like WaniKani, more power to you! =)
For immersion, I definitely recommend going all in on the Japanese. With that said, what you mention is EXACTLY why I would personally use anime as ‘relaxing/passive’ immersion. Where I just watch for fun, and don’t bother looking everything up, or only look up words that catch my interest.
Games and reading are better for looking up every word, as it doesn’t feel like you’re interrupting the flow so much.
N4 after 2 years sounds unrealistic to me, but maybe the new norm is different from the formal programs we had in college
@@theinktician If you have the time you can generally move much faster than college courses. I passed N3 in about a year, I believe.
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.
Honestly, your saying "you just kind of get use to doing hard things" set you FAR apart from the rest of youtube's "I'm better than you" gang. It's an actual explanation. Thank you.
Thanks!
A lot of times it really does seem that way. At least getting used to doing hard things is a useful skill to have! =)
@@ToKiniAndy most advice boils down to "do better" and kills the entire desire to study. I've been studying for 30 years and never heard what you just said.
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.
Hi, Andy! I really love your videos, they’ve helped me a lot through my language learning journey. I wanted to ask, because I am also playing games and reading manga in Japanese, but I don’t know the most efficient way to record vocabulary and things like that. You have a great resource at 6:22, can I ask what it is? I might’ve missed it in the video.
Hi naia! Thanks for watching, and I’m glad the videos here have helped!
That dictionary is just called “Japanese”. It is available on both iOS and Android, and is free. I was using the list feature there. It’s very helpful.
With that said, when I’m going through a game or a manga, I don’t record every word I look up anywhere usually. I’ll usually only save or create a flash card for words I find really interesting. Otherwise, I look a word up and then keep going. =)
@@ToKiniAndy Thank you so much!
Just like space travel, learning languages is a slow burn.
Thank you me from the past. I needed this one.
All that just to watch Made in Abyss without sub?
This is so good, and it’s a new post and not a 12 year old vid
I started learning about a week ago and I’m struggling with some of the pronunciations, what resources would you recommend to help?
@Mohammad Al-Shuwaiee ditto!
@Mohammad Al-Shuwaiee sorry it’s an English phrase which means “same”
such a great resource
Absolutely loved this video! I have been holding off going deep on books/games until I finish Genki II, and I am glad that lines up with what you recommend. I am also SUPER glad you mentioned Dogen's pitch accent content because that's something that has really interested me, but I had no idea when I would have enough of a foundation to start.
My main issue now is recently I have felt that the Anki deck of Genki vocabulary I was working through isn't really that useful, and I was probably better off finding something else to fill that role. Do you think it is worth picking up Tango N5 if I am halfway through Genki II, or should I just pickup with Tango N4?
I think you're probably safe to move on to Tango N4 if you're interested in continuing with Anki. =)
I'm happy to hear you found the video helpful! Thank you for watching!
@@ToKiniAndy Thank you, I appreciate the quick reply! I'll give Tango N4 a shot :)
I’m going to start learning (I just started today) and this video is useful
I've been trying to learn Japanese, and although I immediately got stuck after learning the kanas and VERY basic grammar (because Kanji was so confusing and honestly a bit annyoing) I found that playing games that I already play, but in Japanese helped, as I knew what the text or characters were usually saying, but would only have the Japanese pronunciation/subtitles, which would force me to adapt whilst not being completely clueless. I'm doing this in Apex Legends currently and it's fun. But I also do want to get more acquainted with Japanese, so I'm considering buying the books you mentioned, or watching/reading children's anime/manga. Thanks for this helpful video!
Great intro video for folks and awesome editing andy!
Thank you Slice! =)
I went through a traumatic experience with the adjunct teacher at my college who was teaching Japanese (not being overdramatic, he was immediately fired and prohibited from school grounds, it was bad) and it robbed me of any joy I had for learning the language. I had begun self-study when I was only 13 and loved the language and culture for over a decade before that experience. Anytime I think about Japanese I feel like I'm grieving, I don't know how to get my joy back for it. I don't know how to think about it or study it again without reliving the trauma. 😟 Sorry for the depressing comment, I've never spoken about this on a public platform, but it's been almost 2 years now and I'm starting to fear I'll never be able to go back to it so I wanted to comment in hopes of finding if anyone at all can relate to me and give me advice. 🙏
hi! first of all im really sorry that you had to go through that and i hope you’re doing ok.
i have not experienced what you did but when i was studying english i found myself in a situation where the course was draining me and my classmates were not the nicest (they even made ill intentioned comments about my body) so i dropped out of that class. i contacted a new teacher and together we thought of a not-so-formal scheme for me to keep studying english in a more relaxed way. and this worked! i fell in love with the language again and started reading books written in english. my vocabulary and my and pronunciation improved greatly.
i dont know if this will help but maybe starting a more relaxed course outside of traditional schools is the solution to your problem. also im here if you dont have anybody to talk to :) and i wish you luck in your japanese journey!
I personally love anime the most, I don't know what your trauma was but anime tends to be cute and fun if you find the right ones and it may even inspire you!