This thread is for all simple questions, beginner questions, and comments that don't need their own post.

Welcome to /r/LearnJapanese!

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Please make sure if your post has been addressed by checking the wiki or searching the subreddit before posting or it might get removed.

If you have any simple questions, please comment them here instead of making a post.

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Seven Day Archive of previous threads. Consider browsing the previous day or two for unanswered questions.

So, I began "studying" Japanese two years ago. "Studying" is not quite the right word for it, as I never learned through a textbook or teacher but rather through immersion alone. I had found a local group doing meetups consisting of other Japanese learners and local Japanese university students, whom I would speak Japanese or my mother tongue with. Also, I made many friends in that group—many Japanese friends—whom I kept in contact with and met up with, which greatly helped my Japanese-speaking output.

Back then, I was kinda stuck in life, and in general, I never knew where I wanted to go with Japanese. Currently, I am able to hold a basic conversation and dive deeper into certain topics but lack a LOT in Japanese grammar and reading. I am currently in a position where I have the time, the comfort, and the dedicated time to study Japanese if I want to, but I don’t seem to use it. I have a lifetime Wanikani account, and my brother passed the N1, and if I did not understand a grammar point or anything, I could simply ask him if I wanted to, and he encourages me to study Japanese seriously.

Why can I simply not use my time for it? I seem to do anything but study Japanese... I got the Genki books, I got the Shinkanzen books, and many others my brother had bought for his own studies, which I could also learn with if I wanted. I have noticed that there is a wall of language barrier—that if you don’t learn more words and proper grammar, you are just stuck with Japanese. My Japanese improved to a degree through speaking alone, but after some time, it was always the same Japanese output, never something new, and I often got stuck not understanding what my Japanese friends were saying because I didn’t learn properly to begin with.

How can I improve this? Do I need to build a consistent routine? I am at a part of my life where I easily have the time for it and the comfort.

I've seen a few other posts do this and get flamed for not talking to real people, so I'd like to kindly request nobody try to talk me into biting the bullet and doing real human interaction. I have very very terrible social anxiety and do not like to talk to people.

Anyway, is there any good japanese AI chatbots that i could possibly use to practice conversation with? Im at a pretty low level and need a way to be able to practice without having to have a meaningful conversation. i need something i can drop randomly and come back days later without hurting someones feelings. character ai is unfortunately not built that well for anything but English. thank you.

The 好トイレ thread reminded me of this.

The protagonist of this anime is dispatched to a rural town for what she thinks is a small gig. Turns out the job wasn't what she thought it was, and she wasn't the person they wanted.

The elderly boss of the tourism association is a fan of an idol from his heyday named 椿 由乃 (つばき よしの).
The protag is called 木春 由乃 (こはる よしの) and the boss requested her, mistaking her for his idol (who happens to be already deceased!)

In the final episode (minor spoilers), >, signifying that he acknowledges her. Either that, or he's bad at making signs.
(Image taken from the internet)!<

There is some other wordplay as well: almost every episode title (and the anime's title) has a sort of fantasy theme, reminiscent of RPGs.
The first episode is "魔の山へ" which sounds like an RPG location and also sounds like the town that the story is situated in, 間野山 (まのやま).

Someone wrote an article here with some more info and a few more examples of wordplay in the anime.

The ones I found had words missing I think. I wanted to get the Genki vocab app, but google play blocked payments from my country :(

If anyone knows any other way to buy the official decks not through google play, or quality free decks with all vocabulary, that would be very helpful.

Hello all. I missed my JLPT by 3 points 🥲 but, listening was my worst section. So my solution, is to find someone to talk to (and listen to their responses). I had heard of Italki, but I was hoping that someone could talk about their experiences with this site or a similar one.

TIA

Just encountered this in Kaishi 1.5k and I understand it's meaning of "just" or "simply". I'm really struggling with why there is a seperate card that means "free" and I haven't found a straightforward, consistent answer on how it works, with some being "at no cost" or something like a place being free or "open" to use. Could someone explain?

Just created a new account in order to access the Japanese app store, but i don’t know any good games/apps to download. Do you guys have any suggestions for someone who is around N3? Thanks!

Happy Friday!

Every Friday, share your memes! Your funny videos! Have some Fun! Posts don't need to be so academic while this is in effect. It's recommended you put [Weekend Meme] in the title of your post though. Enjoy your weekend!

(rules applying to hostility, slurs etc. are still in effect... keep it light hearted)

Weekly Thread changes daily at 9:00 EST:

Mondays - Writing Practice

Tuesdays - Study Buddy and Self-Intros

Wednesdays - Materials and Self-Promotions

Thursdays - Victory day, Share your achievements

Fridays - Memes, videos, free talk

I came across this sentence in a doujin

社長が死んだら仏壇も墓も偶には掃除位するし

But I don't understand why 位 is used in this sentence

It was used again in another sentence

菊の花位ちゃんと選んで手向けられる

Please let me know what meaning 位 in these sentences gives, and why was there any need to add it to the sentences, thank you

December 2024 JLPT results are out!

How’d everyone do? Better than expected? More work to do for next time? Any tips for future participants?

Let’s hear it.

I'm a software engineer nearing 30. My first language is Italian and I moved to the USA for university and eventually work, where I stayed for almost a decade. I officially started studying Japanese in April 2023 because an opportunity came up to transfer to the Tokyo branch of my company.

Thought I'd share my study journey, since I thought it was a totally doable even for a ordinary person like myself!

April - August 2023:

Started anki, and made a deck for vocab (10-20 words per weekday). M-F, for about an hour after work I'd spend reviewing and adding new cards. Weekends, I'd double the vocab I'd add, and go through at least one chapter of Imabi's grammar per day. Sometimes I slowed my pace, sometimes I sped up, but I didn't skip a day.

In my free time I started rewatching all the favorite anime in my top 10 multiple times. By the end of July I could recite many scenes perfectly from memory, that's how much I rewatched them lol.

By June, I started to read Yotsuba and One Punch Man in Japanese, mining words as I went along. But I got lazy with reading after that, and that'd bite me later on.

September 2023:

Officially relocated to Japan. Work was entirely in English and even outside work I found myself in an english-speaking bubble. I think I overestimated how beneficial being in Japan would be to my study. There's a limit to what you learn through passive osmosis if you're aiming for N1/N2.

So I started Italki for speaking practice, initially 1 hour per week. Got lucky with a great teacher who'd guide my output. Having memorized dialogue from anime greatly boosted my listening and speaking.

December 2023:

Reached ~5600 words on my Anki and roughly N3 for grammar. Started taking online N3 grammar quizzes.

April 2024:

Reached ~7900 words in my Anki deck and halfway through N1 for grammar. I could speak/listen comfortably at a N2 level with some N1, but I finally hit a brick wall with how bad my reading was.

Studying flashcards in isolation isn't the same as reading, and I was lazy about reading. Got some advice from this sub and I switched to using Twitter exclusively in Japanese w/ a new account. Also played White Album 2.

My vocab review also started to take an unreasonably long time, so I slowed down adding new cards from here on.

I set a goal to take N2 in December.

December 2024:

Reached 10,122 words in my Anki deck and felt comfortable stopping adding new vocab as well as pausing my Italki lessons by this point.

Greatly improved my reading compared to April but it still hurt my time management on N2 practice tests where I'd barely finish the reading section. Listening was consistently my best section, near perfect every time.

Took the N2, and passed with a 153/180! Felt like I could've taken the N1 but my reading is still not where I want it 100%, and my vocab needs improvement. My N1 practice test results were borderline because of those sections.

In the end, this was just ~1.5 hours of dedicated studying on a weekday, ~4 hours on a weekend, and slowly replacing parts of my life from Italian/English to Japanese. I slowed down halfway through in order to better absorb the material I'd learned up to that point. I also wasn't the best about reading, focusing initially instead on speaking/listening.

But even if it wasn't optimal, I got lazy and slowed down at times, it was still perfectly doable under 2 years for someone working a regular fulltime job. Don't be intimidated by the entire road in front of you, take it bit by bit. Speed up when you feel motivated, but don't be ashamed about slowing down when you have to. The key is just to never skip a day!

hello I'm a current undergraduate student looking to do a masters in Japan in Japanese and I just failed N1 for the second time. honestly it's heart breaking. for background to this I passed N2 with a very high score around 3 years ago and have lived in Japan for one year since then as well (I currently live abroad now however) and my hobby and my passion is Japanese literature particularly classical literature so anything written in the 平安時代 as well as 近代文学 like 夏目漱石、谷崎潤一郎、芥川龍之介賞 etc. I study extremely hard as well every day consistently especially when going for JLPT. I go through all the source material books try to remember the vocab and the grammar to the best of my ability and I can reasonably say that my Japanese is good enough to pass the test. Whether it be uni work or when I take a practice test I pass. but not just pass, pass convincingly. Moreover although not being from a background where I was brought up with 漢字 I have a great passion for it as one of my goals is to some day (a very long time into the future) is to pass 漢検1級. yet I found although it's only been twice, every time I take N1 I fail. by no means am I failing by huge margins but I just feel so defeated by it. If I didn't need N1 for my masters application which I want to do so so badly as well as social pressures such as everyone around me goes if anyone can do it you can I wouldn't take it. even my teachers are like I'll help you with the application because you'll breeze through N1 and I just don't know how to feel. I'm just so disappointed, so tired but I love Japanese so much. final anecdote I'll add that I am very very bad at test taking, to the point where this time I looked up test techniques but even those kinda didn't work. also I have very severe anxiety so test taking and waiting for the test results (that month) is like torture. I'm trying really hard to find a positive mindset and try and fix something that's probably just evidently wrong but it's like I just don't want to take the test again it's so restricting to my Japanese but at the same time I want to go and do a masters so so much. if anyone has some tips for me it would be most definitely appreciated. I would apply for the next round but that'll make it 3 in a row with I don't know if I can handle mentally.

tldr: ISO N2 prep online class

I tried to search posts already but couldnt find anything. So i apologize if this has already been asked.

I would like to take an online class to prepare for N2. I know theres online schools but its very hard to not which ones are not scams/etc. I absolutely want to pass in December and I think it would be helpful to have a more structured plan, study with others, and get opportunities to speak.

I am currently N3 and got there theough self study.

This thread is for all simple questions, beginner questions, and comments that don't need their own post.

Welcome to /r/LearnJapanese!

• New to Japanese? Read our Starter's Guide and FAQ

• New to the subreddit? Read the rules!

Please make sure if your post has been addressed by checking the wiki or searching the subreddit before posting or it might get removed.

If you have any simple questions, please comment them here instead of making a post.

This does not include translation requests, which belong in /r/translator.

If you are looking for a study buddy or would just like to introduce yourself, please join and use the # introductions channel in the Discord here!

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Seven Day Archive of previous threads. Consider browsing the previous day or two for unanswered questions.

I’m returning to my Japanese studies after taking several breaks over the past few years due to grad school.

I’m feeling overwhelmed at the amount of material I’ve learned but have mostly forgotten. I feel like there’s a lot to review, but just going through my notes is miserable. I think i can at least review most of the grammar in my notes because it feels more interesting, but I almost immediately lose interest from reviewing vocabulary.

Getting back my momentum with vocab feels daunting. I want to retain the words I learn as well as the motivation required to learn thousands of words. But when I was using Anki or WaniKani before, I lost my motivation because of how dry it felt. I’ve been researching better ways to learn but there are so many opinions online that it’s difficult to sort through what might be useful.

So, I figured making a post for personalized advice would be beneficial. I’ve considered using Umi to start learning vocab again, which uses a more fun method (clips of anime). Then maybe reinforcing what I learn with Umi by reading or watching something, but again, I’m not sure what to use for that because my vocab level is low and there’s not much that is comprehensible to me at this point.

Whatever advice people can give would be greatly appreciated.

Hello fellow learners. I am an N2 student of the Japanese language, yet I wouldn't place myself any higher than N3-N4 level, probably because my immersion has been very low. I started learning Japanese in 2022, and my progress has been slower than a handicapped snail.

I recently have been on a leave, and have been very motivated to dedicate 4 hours a day into immersion in Japanese, and anime seems to be the most enjoyable option that everyone recommends.

But the problem is, I cannot bring myself to sit through even one episode. Same goes for Manga, and most content on YouTube I find when I search for things to immerse myself in.

I'm having trouble finding something I actually enjoy, and don't feel like doing a chore. I like movies, and I've already watched every single Japanese movie I could pirate(maybe 100+) and you can only watch so many. Japanese music is another thing I find myself enjoying, but the songs I like are more without lyrics, and I dislike J-pop a lot. On YouTube, I listen to the easy japanese channels sometimes, but I find myself bored very quick. One channel I do enjoy watching is Kaname Naito, I look forward to his videos.

The main point is, Id like to ask your help to make me find something that I would enjoy watching.

Happy Thursday!

Every Thursday, come here to share your progress! Get to a high level in Wanikani? Complete a course? Finish Genki 1? Tell us about it here! Feel yourself falling off the wagon? Tell us about it here and let us lift you back up!

Weekly Thread changes daily at 9:00 EST:

Mondays - Writing Practice

Tuesdays - Study Buddy and Self-Intros

Wednesdays - Materials and Self-Promotions

Thursdays - Victory day, Share your achievements

Fridays - Memes, videos, free talk

I'm currently studying for the aviation 特定技能 exam but in the study material there's a lot of aviation words I haven't learned yet, so I'm wondering if anyone has a prebuilt deck out there of if I should make my own.

Hi everybody! I hope there's no problem in asking this. I tried looking for information or other advices, but I would like some specific advice, so let me explain my situation.

I've been studying Japanese sporadically over a lot of years. In 2023, I passed the N3, but I passed it barely. I tried to self-study, but because I had my work, I mostly used Anki for vocabulary and kanji and I briefly checked the Shin Kanzen Master N3 Grammar book. I'm still surprised I passed.

I'm still working, but right now I have less work (I'm freelance) so I wanted to take this chance to go back to study again and make a habit. My ideal goal would be reviewing all N4 and study N3 in the first half of the year, and then, try to prepare N2 in the second half of this year. My end goal would be reaching that N2 level so I could try working by translating Japanese texts (I currently translate from English into my native language). My problem is that I'm bad at making a studying schedule or how to organize what I'm going to study in what order. I know more or less I can dedicate two hours/day for studying, but I'm not sure how to properly study when I'm doing it by myself (for example, when I studied N4, I joined a course, but there are no courses for my level in my city).

So what can I do about organizing the content I'm studying from now on? I know this can be quite an open question, but any advice would be helpful.

This thread is for all simple questions, beginner questions, and comments that don't need their own post.

Welcome to /r/LearnJapanese!

• New to Japanese? Read our Starter's Guide and FAQ

• New to the subreddit? Read the rules!

Please make sure if your post has been addressed by checking the wiki or searching the subreddit before posting or it might get removed.

If you have any simple questions, please comment them here instead of making a post.

This does not include translation requests, which belong in /r/translator.

If you are looking for a study buddy or would just like to introduce yourself, please join and use the # introductions channel in the Discord here!

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Seven Day Archive of previous threads. Consider browsing the previous day or two for unanswered questions.