Introduction

Things you should know

Don't get lost or demotivated

Set up your goal.

Not everybody wants to study japanase for the same reasons. Find some goals that works for you.

Then set up smaller goals to keep track of progress.

Learning a language is a long road. Divide it with some small goals. It will give you a sense a progression. When feeling demotivated, look back and see some of that road is already behind you.

Track your progress.

Don't compare yourself to others.

You don't fail because others are going faster than you. You still going faster than anyone who didn't even try or gave up. Either way, nobody can study for you anyway. Focus on your progress.

Terms that will be used in this guide

Frequency

Frequency refers to how often something happenens over a delimited time. Usually how often do you see a word / kanji by episode or book...

A frequency list will make sure you focus on the most important words instead of learning vocabulary that will appear only once.

SRS

Space repetition system. Newly introduced and more difficult flashcards are shown more frequently, while older and less difficult flashcards are shown less frequently.

This way you can make your study sessions more efficient.

Anki

Free SRS software. Basically a flashcards software, but it can do so much more when you install addon, especially Morphman. Check the tutorials page to see how to set it up. It's crucial you understand the learning steps in the settings.

I+1

Sentence with only one word that you don't know. Anki and morphman can reorganize sentences in that order, optimizing your time to study only material within your grasp.

Solve some of your problem right now

Web plugins to translate every words.

Rikaichamp (mozilla) or Rikaikun (Chrome) are web plugins allowing you to have a pop up dictionnary by hovering over words or kanjis.

Don't forget that you can open any text file (like subtiltes) in a browser, making it easier to read japanese.

Jp / Eng dictionary.

Jisho is the most commonly used.

Take 2 minutes to read the instructions on the website. You can set up your searches in a lot of ways.

Website to translate whole sentences with conjugations.

Instead of looking up words one by one, translate the whole sentence at once with ichi.moe.

Every word will be given the kanji, kana, romaji and definition. Works with conjugation way better than jisho.

Frequency list from almost anything

Japanese Text Analysis. A bit old but still the best option to create frequency list on the fly. Otherwise, use Morphman's Analyzer.

Before you start

General Tips

Grammar or Kanji or voca or conjugation or ...

At the start, try to mix them up. You'll remember a kanji better if it's used in a word. You'll learn vocabulary and grammar better in a context of a sentence.

You can focus more on a specific field, but don't put any of them on the side until you "finished" one.

Use the resssources tabs.

I've compiled ressources on a page or a spreadsheet tab that you can filter depending on what you want to focus and, and your level. The list is small. You can always search on reddit for more.

Search before you ask.

If you're looking for something or have a question, chances are it's been asked and answered on reddit before. Just look for it before asking.It's faster to find an answer than waiting for one.

Get an overview

Take 5 minutes to learn about the basics

Check the introduction on Imgur taken from my grammar deck.

It will give you an overview of how japanese works. Kana, conjugation, grammar, kanji. You don't have to memorize anything yet, just read it to get familiar with the concepts.