15 Quick Tips to Learn Japanese Faster

No introduction today. I’m here to save you time.

1. Which should I start with, hiragana or katakana?
   • Start with hiragana. You’ll use it more! So it will get you to fluency faster.
2. Learn basic grammar: Japanese grammar is different from English, so take time to understand its basic structure.
   • After I took two semesters of college Japanese I still couldn’t build a sentence. Learn how the words fit together, and you’ll be able to make sense faster of all the Japanese you hear!
3. Watch Japanese media: Watch Japanese TV shows, movies, and anime to immerse yourself in the language and learn new words and expressions.
   • I know a guy who learned Japanese extremely fast mainly by watching Japanese soap operas. Why does that work? Because they’re talking about every-day things at a normal pace. I can’t personally recommend soaps, but I can say that the more true-to-life your media, the faster you’ll learn to speak Japanese.
4. Use flashcards: Use flashcards to memorize new vocabulary and kanji.
   • You’ve probably heard this before, but it’s true! The more ways you encounter a concept, the faster your brain will assimilate it. With flash cards, you see the words and concepts, and you touch them, and you can say them aloud. That’s three in one. Maybe you can even figure out more ways to interact with your flash cards. The language-learning card game Japanese: The Game is basically flash cards plus grammar patterns (in a card battle game format). I spent over a decade making Japanese: The Game, so you can see how much I believe in this tip!
5. Find a language exchange partner: Find a Japanese native speaker who wants to learn your native language, and practice speaking with them regularly.
   • We all need friends anyway. And when you like someone, you’re naturally motivated to work through the language barrier!
6. Use language learning apps: There are many language learning apps available that can help you practice Japanese.
   • I’m already fluent in Japanese, so I’m learning Scottish Gaelic with my wife (who is of Scottish ancestry) using an app. I can tell you, it’s very exciting to make progress together!!
7. Read Japanese news: Read Japanese news articles to improve your reading comprehension and learn new vocabulary.
   • Now, this is a tricky one because Japanese uses different characters. But even if you’re only advanced enough to read the headlines, and even with those you may have to look up most of the words on jisho.org, it’s still a great idea. Why? Because the news is something different every single day! And it usually teaches you something culturally relevant and often fascinating.
8. Listen to Japanese music: Listen to Japanese music and try to understand the lyrics.
   • This tip is listed in another recent blog post of mine because it’s a great idea and also I’m a huge music fan. Lyrics are usually short phrases and very often teach you a new language concept. And if you get a Japanese lyric stuck in your head, you’re going to learn it a hundred times better!
9. Use mnemonic devices: Use mnemonic devices to help you remember new vocabulary and kanji.
   • Okay, it’s confession time. I’m a purist. When I learn kanji, I like to know the ancient Chinese origin of a character, like that the kanji for cat (猫) literally means “quadruped that sounds like miao.” But if you want to learn kanji fast, you should probably take the saner route of memorizing with mnemonics. A friend of mine made a site that can help with this called NativShark which has a free trial.
10. Write Japanese: Practice writing Japanese characters and sentences to improve your writing skills.
    • I love writing the hiragana syllabary chart. It feels good. I do it during meetings as a doodle. Sometimes I’ll also sit down and write every kanji I can think of. I find it meditative, and it helps me remember.
11. Use social media: Follow Japanese people and Japanese language learners on social media to learn new words and expressions.
    • There are a million blogs and feeds and channels and handles to follow, which means you’re certain to find some that are ideal for your specific level and pace.
12. Learn kanji radicals: Kanji radicals are the building blocks of kanji, so understanding them will help you learn kanji faster.
    • The great thing is, there are a limited number of kanji radicals. These are the pieces you put together to make a kanji, and you’ll use 20-50 of these per day. Here are a few of them:
    ⼀ ⼁ ⼂ ⼃ ⼄ ⺃ ⼅ ⼆ ⼇ ⼈ ⺅ 𠆢 ⼉ ⼊ ⼋ ⼌ ⼍ ⼎ ⼏ ⼐ ⼑ ⺉ ⼒ ⼓ ⼔ ⼕ ⼗ ⼘ ⼙ ⼚ ⼛ ⼜
    If you just cringed because some are “missing” from my selection above, you obviously don’t need this tip. Technically there are 214 “historical radicals” but simplification, modernization, and standardization make it so that if you learn the radicals that have one, two, and three strokes, you’ll have a HUGE jump on your Japanese studies.
13. Use online resources: Use online resources like online dictionaries and language learning websites to supplement your learning.
    • I’ve already referred to jisho.org in this post, and you’re using an online resource right now. But I’m going to change t up on you. Use online resources OFFLINE! (Whoa.) Print out some hiragana or kanji practice paper. Print out some free flashcards from a PDF. You can even print out this blog post and check off the tips once you’ve used them. Here’s an extra checkbox for those of you who choose to do this: ▢
14. Speak out loud: Practice speaking Japanese out loud to improve your pronunciation and fluency.
    • This is especially fun to do while imitating your favorite characters from Japanese media. I don’t think I need to explain further.
15. Practice regularly: Practice Japanese regularly, even if it’s just for a few minutes each day. Consistency is key to learning a language.
    • This really is the key. I’ve had to re-learn SO MUCH JAPANESE because I wouldn’t just lock it in. All the best learning systems have you review the subject matter over and over. That’s because it works. So if you’re sincerely trying to learn Japanese, don’t let a weekday go by without some exposure to the language!

Good luck with your language learning journey!