When it comes to learning kanji, the two most important parts are the meanings and the readings. Each one is such a large topic that I thought I would handle them separately. Today I want to cover how to learn kanji readings. There are a couple of normal methods that almost all books teach, but I personally found them to be of limited effect. On the other hand, people have come up with some creative systems that you can use to memorize the correct pronunciation of both individual kanji, and also compound words. Some of these inventive methods are pretty useful, while others left me shaking my head before I…

Let me ask you something, how are your speaking skills with Japanese? Are they strong, or are they a little weak? Today I’m giving you a 5-Step process to use, so you can learn how to speak Japanese. No matter where you are currently at (beginner, intermediate, advanced) there will be valuable information in this walk-through that you can start using right away in order to take your game to the next level. Let’s start off right at the beginning as if today were the first day of your Japanese speaking journey, and then ramp it up from there to the point where you sound like a native speaker. 1.…

Sometimes learning Japanese feels like it’s the hardest thing in the world to do. Since it’s structured so differently from English, and uses an entirely different writing system, it can end up taking a lot of time and energy to learn. One thing you don’t want to struggle over too much is learning new Japanese words. That’s why I’d like to share my top five tips for learning new Japanese words with you, so that you can learn any new thing quickly, and painlessly as well! Tip 1 – Look It Up In A Dictionary This is the obvious thing to do when you encounter something new, so I wanted…

One of the oldest and best techniques for learning Japanese is through the use of immersion. But just because you’re completely surrounded by Japanese doesn’t mean that you have to put up with not understanding it. That’s where Focused Immersion (FI) comes into play. Today I’m going to explain exactly what FI is, how it is different from Regular Immersion (RI), and finally, how to use Focused Immersion to learn Japanese. First let’s start off with a small section on RI so that we’re all on the same page, and then let’s move on to FI. What Is Regular Immersion? Basically speaking, Regular Immersion is when you surround yourself completely…

At some point in your journey, you will most likely need to use English less and less, and begin making the transition to Japanese only flash cards, TV shows, books and more. Even though you can take any part of your life and make it 100% Japanese, it’s probably the easiest to do with your flash cards (using things like Anki and SRS) which is exactly what I’m going to cover in this post. Let me show you exactly how I make a single Japanese-only flash card, and then once you’ve learned how to do it yourself, you can make as many of your own as you’d like. Step 1:…

One of the common themes you hear from language teachers is that the process of acquiring a new language should be fun. Today I want to talk about how to have fun while learning Japanese. There are actually some scientific reasons why this is a good idea for learning the language. But besides that, there is also some common sense that can be applied as well. Once I’ve explained both of those reasons for incorporating fun into the process, I’ll talk about how you can do it immediately, even with the same materials you already have! The secret has to do with something inside yourself that’s not necessarily dependent on…

People often get stuck at predictable points along their linguistic journey. This is usually because they are at one of the comfort zones of learning a new language. A comfort zone is simply an area that you feel at ease in and familiar with. On the other hand, when you move outside of your comfort zone you feel awkward and generally perform poorly in this new area. But going outside your comfort zones regularly is actually a necessary part of the process because it is the only time that you grow in the language. What happens is you start working on newer and harder things, and you usually have a tough time…

When it comes to learning a language, it can be hard to know what level you’re at. Fortunately there is actually a rather simple way to test it, just as long as you know what the three levels of comprehension are. I’m going to talk a little bit about each one, starting from the lowest and ending on the highest. After that I will show you how to “test” yourself at each stage of the game. Let’s begin! Level Zero – You Know Nothing This first level isn’t really a level at all, but is actually the absence of any kind of comprehension. This would be any time you hear…

Today I want to talk about the importance of habits when it comes to language learning. I also want to talk about how to develop good study habits for Japanese so that you can apply this information in an impactful way. Most people buy a book on Japanese when they want to learn the language, but nobody buys a book on the non-language things that also play an important role in their overall success. There are quite a few non-language things that can accelerate your results beyond belief when you know about them and harness them for yourself. Some of these things are your attitude, your beliefs, your goals, and…