This was the old layout for /Japanese and I felt bad getting rid of this so I kept it because it is useful for learning the language👀... Credits to the original person who made this

this rentry tries to show free resources to learn japanese, however you cannot become fully fluent without spending some money. for starting out, these resources may help you. this rentry is meant for people who are just beginning or about n5-3. you are only as good as the effort you put in !

dr2w's or pocket's teaching rentry .
currently a wip but heres smth to keep y'all entertained:
i am a dxed person w/ DID, with a spinterest in video games and the japanese language. i am also autistic. i am writing this as a way to help other ND people who struggle with learning but want to learn japanese.
i have been studying japanese since i was 9. i used to study japanese completely free and just on the web for a really long time. as a note: i grew up around japanese all my life.
i will be putting resources on how to learn japanese from an english native here soon! sorta a starting guide if you're completely lost. yes i stole this url from some fucking weirdo who had this. if you remember who it was, sorry. i'm not the best at aesthetics either, sorry if its messy i'm trying my best.
last edited: 12/16/2024.

╼ DISCLAIMER ✰

yes, I know there's a disclaimer at the top but I wanted to put it here as well plus some more things. you are only as good as the effort you put in. without prior kanji knowledge (e.g speakers of Chinese) n1 level of fluency takes on average 3,000-4,800 hours. fluency with just n5 takes about 325-600 hours alone.
you should expect motivation issues. you're human. its highly likely you will have issues and become dismotived and think about giving up. that's fine. if you are aware and expect these things, you're gonna be more prepared for once this time comes! keep your expectations low, you will not learn japanese over night. the hardest part about japanese is not giving up and continue your learning journey. focus on consistency not efficiency.
its better to use methods or resources that you actually enjoy using if that's what you enjoy doing. making learning harder and doing stuff just because some random rentry told you too will just stunt your learning experience and you'll get burn out faster. i know a lot of people want to rush to the finish line or get things done fast, but with language learning you can't do that.
if you are better with goals in mind, try to set an hourly limit for you. i want to spend 100 hours this month learning japanese, something like that. time yourself when your studying and learning. or say you want to learn 10 kanji this month, and mark it down as a goal each time you learn more kanji to keep yourself more motivated.

╼ FIRST THINGS FIRST ✰

realize why do you want to learn japanese. do you want to listen more than write? do you want to be 100% fluent? do you want to read more than listen? the answer to this will change how you learn japanese and what you should focus on. people who want to focus more on listening than writing don't have to focus on kanji as much as someone who does want to write and read.

╼ JAPANESE GRADING SYSTEM ✰

if you are acustomed to learning languages, you probably know the "Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment" or CEFR guidelines used to describe how fluent you are in a language. This is mostly used around european languages, and doesn't apply to japanese.
Japan uses "Japanese-Language Proficienty Test" or JLPT. These are real tests that you can get certificates for things like jobs, schools, companies, even getting citizenship. N1 is the highest, and N5 is the lowest
The CEFR levels beside them are not official comparisons of the two tests, just several textbooks and language courses use these for comparison. Japan will start handing score reports with corresponding CEFR levels in 2025. JLPT was always based on CEFR so they decided to also add it on top of their test.


N5 (A1-2) - You're able to understand some basic Japanese.
You can read and understand somethings written in all three of the alphabets. (Hiragana, katakana, and basic level kanji.) You can pick up necessary information from short converstations if they are spoken slowly.
No Prior Kanji Knowledge - 325-600 hours
Kanji Knowledge (Eg. Speakers of Chinese) - 250-450 hours


N4 (A2) - Elementary level, you're able to understand basic japanese.
You can read and understand things on familiar daily topics with basic vocabulary and kanji. You can understand converations in daily life, but usually has to be spoken slowly.
No Prior Kanji Knowledge - 575-1000 hours
Kanji Knowledge (Eg. Speakers of Chinese) - 400-700 hours


N3 (B1) - Intermediate level, you can understand japanese used in everyday situtations to a certain degree.
No Prior Kanji Knowledge - 950-1700 hours
Kanji Knowledge (Eg. Speakers of Chinese) - 700-1100 hours


N2 (B1-2) - Pre-Advanced level, you can understand japanese used everyday and a variety of specific circumstances.
No Prior Kanji Knowledge - 1600-2800 hours
Kanji Knowledge (Eg. Speakers of Chinese) - 1150-1800 hours


N1 (B2-C1) - Advanced level, you're able to understand japanese in many different ways.
No Prior Kanji Knowledge - 3000-4800 hours
Kanji Knowledge (Eg. Speakers of Chinese) - 1700-2600 hours

╼ BUILD A HABIT ✰

you want to build a habit of learning japanese daily, it does not matter how you do this. whatever you do you get familar with hiragana and katagana. you want to focus on hiragana first. a lot of people start on duolingo. (and yes there is very strong opinions on duolingo.) as long as you are building a habit of making time in your daily life to learn japanese, you will be on your way to learning more. it doesn't matter how you start, you can start like how I did or start on duolingo, etc. do this for 1-2 weeks or until you become acustomed to the habit.
learning before bedtime (study linked) can improve the ability to recall things you learn, so if you want to save your learning before you head to bed, go ahead! it could be anywhere from 5 minutes to an hour or however long you want your study session to be. i usually save my journaling and learning at bedtime so i can get comfortable and ready for bed.

╼ HIRAGANA ✰

learn hiragana first. if you've been trying to learn japanese for a while you'll probably know this is what most people tell you when they ask how to start learning japanese. i will put multiple resources here to help you pick which one you want. if you are using something like duolingo, i recommend always doing it on a computer with an adblocker, it makes its SO much better.
duolingo - duolingo has its own hiragana course, but i have heard compliments that it's hard to remember and it doesn't have the best stroke patterns for hiragana.
lingodeer - i didn't hear about this until one of my friends told me, it doesn't have the same hiragana tests that duolingo have, so i can't recommend lingodeer for learning hiragana first, however i know that grammar is better taught on lingodeer if you want to start there. this does cost money though.
youtube - i recommend this video + anri (which is a resource we will talk about later) if you want to just sit down, listen to the hiragana, write it down and then say it back, and then use anri to memorize daily. this is what i did but a lot of people think this takes longer to learn.
tofugu - i love tofugu and will be recommending them throughout, but if you're better at learning with mnemonics i suggest this link. they also go more into detail of how to say the hiragana if you want to speak japanese fluently. the other resources here besides the youtube one don't make very clear room for that while this one does.
anki - see below for the entire thing
HAVE A NOTEBOOK. start learning stroke patterns while you are learning hiragana. it will save you time in the future if you plan to get fully fluent. you can skip this part if you're only learning japanese for audio media, but i do still recommend at least trying it. remember, you will want to quit at some point. you just gotta power through it, don't let this stop you. youtube usually shows stroke patterns with the hiragana so you can write it down with the sound. do this DAILY. EVERYDAY. you want this in your brain.

╼ ANKI ✰

anki is an app designed for flashcards. it uses an ai to use spaced repetition software so you're more likely to memorize the material. most of the people i know who learn non-latin languages use this for learning the alphabet. its completely free, and you can make ur own cards or look up decks to do. you can do it multiple times a day and only takes a few minutes. love this app.
there's multiple cards you can start with, but i suggest hiragana first and do this for 30 minutes a day.

Edit

Pub: 16 Dec 2025 11:22 UTC

Edit: 19 Dec 2025 03:20 UTC

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