How to Learn Japanese in 10 Steps

Have you decided to learn Japanese? The path ahead is long, but it doesn't have to be intimidating.

I've created a straightforward guide to help you get started and move forward with confidence. So if you're a beginner asking how to learn Japanese, you've come to the right place.

1. Start with Hiragana

Japanese uses three writing systems, and hiragana is the first one new students should master.

Hiragana is the most fundamental and frequently used writing system in Japan. It will form the base of your ability to read and write Japanese. Hiragana is also employed to make certain other text easier to read.

There are 46 characters in total, known for their distinctively curved and flowing style. Don't just learn by looking at a chart—the most effective way to remember hiragana is by writing each character repeatedly to fix it in your mind.

You can learn hiragana with this post. Then, once you've practiced your hiragana, you can…

2. Continue onto Katakana

Katakana is the second writing system you should learn. It has the same number of characters and sounds as hiragana, but it's an alphabet mainly used for writing foreign, non-Japanese words.

So, to write "toilet" in Japanese, you would use katakana, like this: トイレ.

Katakana characters are more angular than hiragana, which some find easier to write.

A katakana character might not look much like its hiragana version. For instance, the hiragana character は looks quite different from its katakana counterpart ハ (both are pronounced 'ha', by the way—more on pronunciation next).

However, some hiragana and katakana characters do look similar. Here are some hiragana characters followed by their katakana equivalents; the parentheses show their pronunciation:

• か and カ (ka)
• せ and セ (se)
• へ and ヘ (he)
• や and ヤ (ya)
• り and リ (ri)

While learning katakana, you should continue practicing your hiragana as well. I recommend that every time you practice writing a katakana character, you also write its hiragana equivalent to keep both fresh in your memory.

3. Practice Japanese Pronunciation

Japanese is a phonetic language. This is advantageous for learners because it means written characters correspond directly to their sounds. There are no irregularities or tricks in pronunciation, unlike in English.

As you learn hiragana and katakana (or immediately after), you should focus on pronouncing Japanese sounds correctly.

Once you know the basic characters, you should then learn about "modified sounds"—sound pronunciation can be altered by the addition of handakuon and dakuon marks.

Dakuon, meaning "murky sound," is shown by two dots or small slashes. Handakuon, meaning "half-murky sound," is shown by a small circle and applies to fewer characters than dakuon.

Here’s a quick example of how both work to change pronunciation; first is the hiragana, then the katakana, then the romanization:

• Normal: は and ハ are pronounced “ha”
• Dakuon: ば and バ are pronounced “ba”
• Handakuon: ぱ and パ are pronounced “pa”

Besides the dakuon marks, there are also "small" characters known as small kana or chiisai kana. They look like miniature versions of standard hiragana and katakana, and they also affect pronunciation.

Here’s an example: The Japanese word for "school" is がっこう. Notice that tiny hiragana tsu character, っ? It creates a double consonant sound, so school isn't pronounced gakou—it's gakkou, like so: がっこう.

Different small kana have different effects on pronunciation. They are essential to learn for both speaking and writing Japanese, so pay close attention to how they function.

A useful practice method is to transcribe short words using both hiragana and katakana. Sound out the word and determine how a Japanese speaker would write it.

For example, let's say you want to write the name "Diana." In Japanese, it would be pronounced dai-a-na, and so it would be written:

• Hiragana: だいあな
• Katakana: ダイアナ

This is an enjoyable and simple way to improve your Japanese writing and pronunciation. To check if your attempts are accurate, you can verify them online—Google Translate is generally reliable for this kind of basic exercise.

4. Study the Most Common Words in Japanese

Now that you are familiar with two main writing systems, you can confidently begin learning Japanese words!

Naturally, you'll want to start with the most fundamental vocabulary. These are the absolute basics, like greetings, numbers, days of the week, pronouns and similar terms.

At this stage, I highly recommend you begin looking through Japanese word frequency lists. These are focused lists containing the most often used Japanese words—in other words, they are the core terms you should learn immediately.

It will take time to go through these, so be patient. You'll probably notice repeating word parts that can help you guess the meanings of new vocabulary. Practice reading, writing, and saying each word you learn.

As you do, you will undoubtedly come across words written in the third, and most complex, Japanese writing system, which means you're ready for the next step!

5. Pick Up Basic Kanji

Depending on your existing knowledge of Japanese, you might wonder why studying kanji wasn't an earlier step. There are a few reasons for this.

Kanji is the Japanese writing system derived from Chinese characters. Technically, writing these characters involves many strokes that must be done in a specific order. Furthermore, a single kanji character can represent one or more sounds, as well as multiple meanings.

It's common for beginner Japanese learners to become overwhelmed by the details of kanji. Sometimes, they get so confused that it hinders other aspects of their learning. You don't need to worry about kanji before you're prepared—and at this point, you likely are ready for the basics.

So, while you're learning the most essential Japanese vocabulary, you can start picking up some simple, fundamental kanji. These are classified as N5 kanji characters on the JLPT scale (N4 to N1 are more advanced levels).

Gradually introduce kanji into your studies. Again, there's no need to hurry and cause confusion.

Learn the most common meaning of each character and practice writing it stroke by stroke (I suggest keeping a dedicated kanji notebook just for this!). Repetition is crucial for memorizing kanji.

6. Learn the Japanese Verb Groups

Japanese verbs are broadly sorted into two main categories:

• Godan ("-u") verbs: Verbs that end in the う character
• Ichidan ("-ru") verbs: Verbs that end in the る character (with some exceptions)

(Note that there are also two irregular verbs that don't fit into either category—we don't need to cover them here.)

It's important to learn which verbs belong to which category, because that determines how they are conjugated. Fortunately, Japanese verb conjugation is generally quite regular and logical.

Again, at this stage, you should concentrate on N5-level Japanese verbs (there are about 100 in total). First, focus on their hiragana spellings and pronunciations. Once you have mastered those, you can study the kanji forms more deeply.

7. Learn the Present and Past Tenses in Japanese

I have good news for you: There are only two verb tenses to learn in Japanese—the present tense (which also covers the future tense) and the past tense.

Compare this to the 12 tenses in English, and that's a huge relief for any learner!

Japanese verbs are conjugated by taking the stem (essentially its first part) and changing its ending (the last part). There are three basic verb forms to concentrate on:

• Dictionary/plain form: The verb is in its base form (as you would find it in a dictionary), also used in informal situations
• Polite form: The formal conjugation of the verb, used when speaking respectfully
• Negative form: Used to indicate that the verb is not happening

There are differences in these forms depending on the tense, but they are fairly easy to recognize.

You might be a little curious about the "polite form"—one thing to understand about Japanese is that formality influences speech.

This system of respectful communication is called keigo. It is indeed a very important aspect of the Japanese language, but for now, you can start by learning only the basic polite forms (also known as masu/masen forms).

8. Get Familiar with Japanese Sentence Structure

With some understanding of verb conjugations, you can begin to learn fundamental Japanese grammar.

Basic Japanese sentences follow SOV (subject-object-verb) order. Let's compare this to the typical English SVO order by looking at an English sentence and its Japanese equivalent:

• English: I eat bread.
• Japanese: わたしはパンを食べる。

The Japanese sentence, if translated word for word, says "I bread eat." It may require some practice to become accustomed to this structural change, so take time to read (and listen to!) many very simple Japanese sentences.

Naturally, you'll sometimes come across other types of words, like adjectives and adverbs. These also have their own conjugation patterns. They will be easier to identify once you get used to the placement of the main three sentence components (subject, object, verb).

9. Learn and Study Basic Japanese Phrases

If you've followed these steps closely so far, you've primarily been learning Japanese words individually.

So now, you should begin with the most common everyday phrases, like "How are you?" and "I don't understand."

Don't just memorize them and store them away, though—really try to analyze how the sentences are constructed, what is being conjugated, where each part of the sentence is placed and so on.

That means when you're studying any Japanese sentence, you shouldn't only pick out the individual words you recognize. Concentrate on observing the sentence structure and how it functions as a complete unit.

This way, you'll notice patterns that make things more predictable. You'll also encounter some unique or unusual quirks, which you should explore further on your own using reliable learning sources.

10. Practice with Authentic Japanese Resources

This advice actually applies to every step in this list, though it becomes particularly important once you begin understanding full Japanese sentences.

Make the most of all the accessible learning tools available to you! There are many Japanese learning websites, apps, and books designed for beginner learners, and they can all guide you according to a specific plan and curriculum.

At the same time, you can and should also use native Japanese materials that aren't created for study. These include things like Japanese manga, anime, music, and films.

That's right—even media made purely for entertainment, like the content that may have inspired you to learn Japanese initially, can become excellent language study tools!

No, you won't understand all the Japanese being used, but that's not the goal. The goal is that you're actively immersing yourself in the Japanese language with content you genuinely enjoy, and your brain will process what you see, hear, and experience.

For extra support, you might use a Japanese learning program like Lingflix. Lingflix takes authentic videos—like music videos, movie trailers, news and inspiring talks—and turns them into personalized language learning lessons. You can try Lingflix for free for 2 weeks. Check out the website or download the iOS app or Android app. P.S. Click here to take advantage of our current sale! (Expires at the end of this month.)

By using the right kind of content, your exposure to Japanese will become more of an enjoyable, regular activity, creating many opportunities to learn and practice what you know!

With this 10-step guide, you can make consistent progress in the exciting adventure of learning Japanese.

Above all, stay curious and persistent! Don't be afraid to make mistakes and face challenges. You won't be a beginner forever, so trust in your progress!

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