Hello all. I’ve found this lovely community page and am having a bit of trouble starting off my journey with learning a new language. I have always wanted to learn a different language other than my own fluent language. Decided and got a small boost of motivation to learn Japanese when I was 17 and shortly after dropped it due to other more important obstacles. Shortly after, till the 1st September 2025, I’m desperately wanting to learn and become fluent with Japanese. Hoping to learn Japanese within 3-4 years. Being able to read and write, and understanding the symbols and what they mean without needing a translator. Have no prior knowledge and don’t have a solid footing on where to start. (I’m a visual learner and need to physically write stuff down to remember.)
One thought was to take this like I was in school/kindergarten learning how to read and write and to understand what the English alphabet was and going over that and pronouncing words like ‘car’ and ‘dog’. stuff like that. But I don’t know where to get books, writing material, and pens, and where to start. was hoping to be able to learn and remember katakana and hiragana comfortably, writing, reading, and pronouncing within 2-3 years.
Any other information that I’m missing will be greatly appreciated, as I don’t have any recollection of prior knowledge. All helps.
I think if you’re truly starting from zero- the unanimous first step you need to take is familiarization with Hiragana and Katakana, as you need that to learn any vocabulary, any Kanji, and any grammar points. It may sound daunting to learn a new writing system, letalone two of them, but believe me when I say it’s quite simple and intuitive. If you put in a consistent and modest effort, you can become functionally familiar with them in ~one week each.
Duolingo has many flaws for extended learning in my opinion, but as a tool to learn Hiragana and Katakana I find it pretty brilliant. It’ll guide you fully with practice/examples writing, typing, pronunciation, and stringing together in example words. If you want an accesible place to start- that is my suggestion, though you can find plenty of resources/charts/etc all over the internet too.
If you want some time with the most basic of basics in terms of vocabulary and grammar, Duolingo can still carry you a bit further if you want to get a grip on expectations for learning. Before long, though, here at WaniKani is a wonderful place to learn Kanji and some attached vocabulary- and this list of mine might serve you well for resource exploration. Definitely want to shoutout jisho.org in terms of dictionaries since it’s so thorough and if you want to practice physical writing when you learn Kanji it’s a huge help. I would be happy to answer more questions if you have them, too.
You shouldn’t need anything special in terms of pens or writing materials, either. I use bulk-bought notecards I got on amazon, regular notebook paper, and standard pens for everything I do physically, and I am also a pretty visual/tangible learner like yourself.
Take it slow and enjoy the process, you got a long road ahead of you but it’s a very rewarding one. Happy to have you here with us.
Welcome!! Japanese is such a fun language to unlock, I’m sure you’ll enjoy the next few years as you build your skills.
For a place to start, you should begin with learning hiragana and katakana letters. These are two basic alphabets that will make it possible for you to take your next steps in any direction. I learned these the old fashioned way, writing the letter on one side of a flashcard and the pronounciation on the back, flipping through them maybe 10 at a time. There seems like a lot to learn, but you’ll get the hang of them quickly. It took me about two weeks to learn all of hiragana and katakana.
Something that also helped me learn, other than flashcards, was spending a few minutes per day dropping the Google Maps streetview pin on random places in Japan and identifying the hiragana/katakana on business signs “Wow, I recognize that one as す! And that one is め!”
Once you are comfortably familiar with these two alphabets, kanji and grammar will start to become accessible. You’ll even have an easier time identifying the individual syllables of the spoken language when watching anime or videos. It’s okay that you don’t know what anything means yet, that’s for later. Start simple and the complex things will show up naturally.
Have fun with it! And don’t be afraid to ask questions
I’ve done some looking around and found some resources on japanesepod101. and managed to print some practice worksheets that have some Hira and kata on then with some flash study cards that I can use to my advantage.
The thing is Duolingo has a good and bad reputation. most of the time you get ads and none of it sticks and I end up reading how to pronounce it but wouldn’t for the life of me know what the symbol would be when it comes to pronouncing it.
I’m very excited to go along this journey and plan to stick to it!!!
Just earlier today I went and bough some math grid and normal writing books to allow me to trace the symbols countless times. Thousands if need be, to allow my self to understand and remember.
jisho.org and your list will be of great use to me thank you
Learning the old fashioned way takes me back, its still very effective and I’m greatly considering doing it this way to help me remember every detail.
To be honest it’s overwhelming with seeing how there really is 0_0. just giving it time and trying not to stress over it. The google maps idea sounds pretty fun, that’ll keep me focused and give me motivation when needed.
So I need to remember the symbols for both and what each one represents then move onto Kanji and grammar to start reading, writing and speaking.
Learn Hirigana and Katakana
Familiarise and Remember the stroked and symbols that represent the sounds.
I had this thought, too and enjoyed this site made for natives, where parents can download materials for their kindergarden/elementary school kids. Hope you’ll enjoy those materials, too
I’m not sure how much exposure you have with it, but for learning Hira/Kata specifically they have their own dedicated learning section that uses a completely different structure and is much more involved for that process (step by step writing, audio pronounciations and explanatory guides, matching in a list, typing, lots of repetition to nail it in, etc). I definitely understand not wanting to use Duolingo at large and of course I’ll never deny the flaws, but it was definitely my favorite and most effective resource when I was learning them so worth sharing testimony. Still recommend if you have a few minutes to kill and you have your phone with you at the very least for extra practice even if you primarily practice elsewhere. Good call on the resources you’ve picked so far, too.
I’m close to a year deep into study but I might have to check this out and play around myself haha. Thank you for the introduction to this even if not my thread. These forums are the best
Haha they’ll start to make a lot of logical sense soon. And you’ll even notice pretty quickly that some syllables are just combinations of other ones, making an entire third of the chart ultra easy to learn ^^
This is the trick! Whenever you see someone go full-speed from day one, you can almost guarantee their burnout is only a week or so away. Take your time, ask questions, find Japanese content to watch that you are actually interested in (!!), and scroll the WK forums for inspiration
For a few days now I’ve been greatly engrossed with leaning Japanese. From listening to music, watching YT, Anime. Also downloading a few apps such as Busuu, Memrise, Duolingo, Lingodeer, Pimsleur, kana, and benkyo. So far my favourite would be LingoDeer and Busuu. Unless you have a better recommendation, but I will be now adding to my studies Duolingo as per your recommendation.
After using these apps for a short while I can vaguely remember how to pronounce some words and what they mean but the symbols I’m dumb founded.
A funny thing that intrigued me was, the fact some of the syllables sound like the exact same and the others just how they a drawn different. and seeing it how two can can be the word of another give some ease and peace of mind.
That is pretty much the exact same thing that I did when I originally tried to start.
Lots of good advice here! If I could go back and fix one thing with how I learned hiragana, it would be to add listening and then repeating the sound for each character. When I first learned, I only used a book and so my pronunciation for many hiragana characters was very “American” sounding. For example, あ is pronounced like “ah” but I pronounced it like the a in “ant”. Good look on your studies!
I hope it ends up serving you well, just be sure to make sure you’re learning on the Kana tab within the Japanese section since that’s how access Hiragana / Katakana lessons if you aren’t already aware (pictured below plus a couple examples of lessons)
Can’t speak on everything else you mention but I like Busuu quite a bit. If you build a foundation of Hiragana and Katakana it’s an excellent place to jump into beginner grammar, sentences, vocabulary, and getting a feel for the language. I like it quite a bit and definitely would stick with it if it works with you.
Have you checked out comprehensive guides, like Tae Kim, Yokubi, A Year to Learn Japanese? I think there is another one transcribed into text, from Cure Dolly.
To learn Kana, Tofugu has mnemonic guides for those. Though, I learned those by writing-copying and taking time like 6 weeks. (imo, it doesn’t have to be slow, but it doesn’t have to be fast either.)
If you want to learn by writing with hands, write, open a dictionary if you must. But this isn’t exactly visual learning, but also motor. Many people, myself included, have no practical reason to write at all.
In any case, don’t fear learning more than needed, learning too much. Just take time when you aren’t in a hurry.
I also learned Hiragana and Katakana with Duolingo. Katakana was a more difficult than Hiragana because there are so many that are extremely similar. As a First book I would recommend Japanese from Zero. I started to use it before I was able to not mix up the Katakana. And you should already do some listening / shadowing to prevent your brain from making up it’s own wrong pronunciation. I used JapanesePod 101.
I was aware about the kana tab but didn’t know you could trace the letters in Duolingo.
I’ll be going through and switching between a few learning materials, to properly get the grasp of it. And plan on doing flash cards.
generally going off peoples knowledge with what’s best, especially with yours and taiyousea due to similar learnings styles based off of how I absorb info.
I have no prior knowledge of anything and don’t know much resources that I can use to my advantage. Therefore, any information I can get is much appreciated. The links you have shown I’ll go over them when I have the time.
Just a bit confused with this part. Not too sure what you mean? I’m assuming what you mean is use a dictionary to help me. And trace as much as possible to ingrain it into my memory with the pronunciations.
when you mean by listening / shadowing. to listen to all the pronunciations of hira and kata and side by side familiarise the writings of each character between the two!?!?
I have also had a quick look at Japanesepod101 and have printed out a few flash cards and writing materials. But unfamiliar with Japanese From Zero.
Japanese is such a fun language to unlock, I’m sure you’ll enjoy the next few years as you build your skills.
“Wow, I recognize that one as す! And that one is め!”
