Fun Lessons for Learning Japanese

Learning to count in Japanese isn't too difficult, but being able to process numbers in practical situations quickly and naturally takes a bit of practice. With these lessons you will learn the different numbering systems in Japanese, as well as how to count all sorts of different items. And by playing the practice games you will feel confident dealing with numbers when paying for items in shops, scheduling appointments, hearing phone numbers, or any other situation where you use numbers.

The first step in learning the Japanese language is to learn the character sets that are used. The two phonetic character sets that you need to learn first are the hiragana and the katakana. Both these character sets describe how a word sounds, so they are used in the same way that we use the Roman letters in the English alphabet. Note, in general the hiragana is used to describe words of Japanese origin, while the katakana is used to describe words of foreign origin.

Once you have learned the hiragana and katakana you should start learning the kanji. Most kanji can be pronounced in several different ways, and they can be used to convey either meaning or sound. This means that when reading a word written in kanji, it may not be possible to know how to pronounce the word without prior knowledge of how the word sounds. There are around 1,945 kanji in the Japanese government's list of recommended characters (the Jouyou Kanji), though around 3,000 kanji are in common use in newspapers. Learning to read and write kanji should be an ongoing task while you learn the Japanese language.

The key to learning a new language is to learn the vocabulary that you need to communicate in everyday situations. As you progress through your studies, keep increasing your word knowledge and keep practising until you can instantly recognise and use the vocabulary you have learnt.

Conjugations are small variations to a word that change the meaning of the word slightly, such as changing the tense of a verb (ie, drink, drinking, drank). Compared to English, Japanese has a lot more conjugations that you will need to learn. In these lessons you will learn the rules on how to form each of the different conjugations in Japanese, which situations to use them in, and have fun mastering them by playing practice games.

Picking up a novel in Japanese and reading seems like a daunting challenge even for students who have studied Japanese for a number of years. But there is no better way to expand your vocabulary, tidy up your grammar and improve your comprehension skills than by reading. We've selected a wide range of fun, easy to read novels to get you started. The lessons cover the vocabulary you will encounter in each chapter of the novel, as well as explanations of any difficult sentences, so you can concentrate on your learning, and have lots of fun in the process!

Learn Japanese by analysing famous quotes from anime, games and 5channel. This is a great channel for both beginners and advanced learners. Easy Peasy Japanesey will teach you both basic and advanced grammar and vocabulary, help you improve your listening skills as well as teach you some of the nuances of the Japanese language that you won't find in any textbook, all in an easy and fun way!

Take your learning in any direction that you want by browsing these custom made lists by users of this site. Or make your own custom lists and share them with your friends.