/awesome-japanese

Awesome Japanese learning resource

Awesome Japanese Awesome

A curated list of Japanese language learning resources. 99% of the work for this was done by yudataguy, so literally all credit to him.

Contents

Emoji Description

๐Ÿ‘ถ beginner ๐Ÿ‘จ intermediate ๐Ÿ‘ด advanced
๐Ÿ“ฑ mobile app ๐Ÿ’ป computer software ๐Ÿ“ก browser extension
๐Ÿ‡ฏ๐Ÿ‡ต Japanese UI only ๐Ÿ—พ Japan IP restricted ๐Ÿ’ฐ costs money
โš ๏ธ warning ๐Ÿ“– book ๐Ÿ“‡ Anki deck

Beginner Guide

New to Japanese? Start here!

  1. All beginners should read one of the below guides (one of the top two are the best in my personal opinion).

  2. A summary of the guides is basically this: first, learn hiragana and katakana using the links in the section further down this page. The Tofugu links are good.

  3. Next is grammar/vocabulary. You can either use a structured textbook or a more free-form online grammar guide like Tae-Kim. Either one works, try one or both and stick with the one you like the best.

    For vocabulary, three nice options are Wanikani, Memrise, or Anki. If you go with the Anki route, consider using this deck, which is the same as the deck in the above link, but with the front and back flipped around to display sentences on the front rather than single words, as this will force you to learn words in context.

    For translating, avoid using Google Translate. Instead, one of these websites: Jisho.org: Japanese Dictionary or Tangorin Japanese Dictionary

  4. That's it. There are many, many paths to learning Japanese. The most important thing is to choose the one you enjoy. If you don't enjoy your study, you won't succeed, so keep searching until you find the resource or study method that you enjoy. Look through all the resources below, ask someone if you need help, and good luck.

Textbook

Textbooks provides you with a structured learning material.

Genki:baby:

Everyone's favorite Japanese textbook. Recommended for beginners. Description: The second edition of the most highly regarded teaching textbook on the Japanese language, covering speaking, listening, reading, and writing to cultivate overall language ability. Each lesson in the revised edition features a new section dubbed "Culture Notes", and now includes the audio CD companion which is in mp3 format ready to install on any music player. In Japanese/English.

Tobira:man:

The "Tobira" textbook combines the practice of all four language skills (reading, listening, writing, speaking) and is designed for use by students who have completed a beginner level Japanese textbook or, in terms of classroom time, has completed somewhere between 250 to 300 hours of Japanese study. The primary goals of this textbook are to solidify the grammar, vocabulary and kanji foundation studied during the beginner level and to develop all 4 language skills. What makes this book unique is that you can learn Japanese using multimedia besides the textbook.

  • Official - Unlock multimedia content and Anki deck with special code in the textbook.
  • Amazon:moneybag:

Other textbooks

Click here to view the server's Google Drive folder, which has download links to Genki, Tobira, and other textbooks such as Japanese for Busy People, Japanese - The Manga Way, and An Integrated Approach to Intermediate Japanese. Additionally, there's some reading resources such as Yotsubato, and some listening material.

Course

  • Easy Japanese - Made by NHK in multiple languages:baby:
  • Erin's Challenge - Video based Japanese lessons:man:
  • LingoDeer - A new learning app for Japanese very similar to Duolingo, but made with a focus on East Asian languages, so it is much better than Duolingo.:iphone:

Hiragana and Katakana

Alphabet of Japanese language.

Kanji

Vocabulary

Grammar

Reading

  • NHK Easy News - News for elementary, middle school, and foreigners with audio and video.:baby:
  • Japanese Folktales - Japanese folktales with drawings and audio.:jp:
  • Hukumusume Fairy Tale Collection - A website where you can read and hear traditional folk tales, legends and fairy tales - from Japan and all around the world - read aloud for you in Japanese.:jp:
  • Kyoko Shinbun - Fake Japanese News(similar to The Onion), podcast available.:iphone::jp::older_man:
  • ็”จไพ‹.jp - Search engine for Japanese sample sentences:jp:
  • Japanese in Anime & Manga - Learn Japanese from anime and manga.
  • Keio University Reading Materials Bank - The site is mostly in Japanese, but follow the 1-stars for the easiest reading materials. It's great because there is an English glossary integrated into the articles.
  • Satori Reader - Japanese reading and listening practice ๐Ÿ’ฐ

Listening

Community

Video

  • YouTube
    • Nihongo no Mori - JLPT test-oriented YouTube channel.
    • Dogen A course that covers many different aspects of Japanese phonetics, like pitch accent and vowel placement ๐Ÿ’ฐ
    • Game Grammar - Teach you Japanese by playing video games YouTube channel.
    • JapanesePod101 - Popular Japanese podcast's YouTube channel.
  • News
  • Stream
    • QVC Japan - QVC Japan Shopping Channel Live stream. โš ๏ธFlash required.
    • Keylabo - Free Japanese TV Live stream.:warning:some channels may not work
    • Abema TV - Live Japanese TV stream.:iphone::japan:
    • GYAO! - Japanese TV programs on demand.:iphone::japan:
    • FRESH! - Japanese streamer platform.:iphone:
    • NicoNico - Japanese streamer platform.:iphone:
    • ARTV Japan - Android Japan TV stream app.:iphone:
    • La Taverne de Moe - Japanese TV Live stream website. โš ๏ธFlash required.

Dictionary

  • Web
    • Jisho
    • Weblio - ๐Ÿ‡ฏ๐Ÿ‡ต
    • Google Translate - Supports voice and image translation, mobile app supports offline translation ๐Ÿ“ฑ
  • Software
    • Houhou - the dictionary doubles as a learning tool.:computer:
    • Takoboto - Android Japanese dictionary app, also has web and computer based version.:iphone::computer:
    • imiwa? - iOS Japanese dictionary app:iphone:

Software

  • Computer
  • Browser Extension:satellite:
    • Firefox
      • rikaichan - Japanese to English/German/French/Russian dictionary. Just hover the mouse on top of a word, and a popup appears.
      • Furigana Inserter - Allows you to insert furigana into a Japanese text.
    • Chrome
      • Yomichan - Yomichan turns your browser into a tool for building Japanese language literacy by helping you to decipher texts which would be otherwise too difficult tackle.
      • rikaigu - Rikaikun enhanced. Translate Japanese by hovering over words.
      • IPA furigana - Looks up the readings for kanji words and inserts them as furigana.
    • Safari
      • Safarikai - Rikaichan's Safari extension version.

Contribute

Contributions welcome! Read the contribution guidelines first.

License

CC4

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.