I’m not a fan of guides that claim there’s only one “right” way to learn. People’s lifestyles, schedules, goals, and preferences are too different for a single universal method to work for everyone. Instead, this guide introduces the most popular tools and approaches available, along with their pros and cons. Which ones you use is entirely up to you.
I'm biased to some resources, of course, but I try to be honest in my subjectivity. I'm sure some would disagree with me when it comes to kanji and immersion, because they read different elsewhere. I'm fine with that. There's also a constant flow of new tools and apps created. I've used or tried the most popular ones, but not all of them.
I’ve been following Japanese learning communities for nearly a decade, and I’ve noticed they often move like fashion trends. A “groundbreaking” new method appears, and suddenly everything you were doing before is “wrong.” A few months later, the community shifts again and declares a different approach as the best way to learn. Rinse and repeat. My advice: take it all with a grain of salt. Some tools definitely make learning easier, but in the end, we’re not reinventing the wheel.
Let’s break things down. Like any language, you’ll need to learn vocabulary and grammar. But Japanese has a few unique aspects that make it both challenging and interesting.
Hiragana and Katakana are phonetic alphabets, each with 46 characters. Learning them is straightforward—similar to learning the Latin alphabet, except every character always has the same pronunciation.
Kanji, on the other hand, are Chinese characters that carry both meaning and sound. There are over 2,000 commonly used kanji, which can seem intimidating at first. The good news is that once you understand how kanji works, it actually makes vocabulary easier to learn.
Japanese grammar can feel very different from English or other Western languages. There’s no gender or plural, and word order often feels “backwards.” Sentences frequently leave out information that English would consider essential, with meaning instead carried by context. This is also why translating Japanese can be tricky.
Let’s say your native language is English and you’re learning Spanish or French. Those languages share Latin roots, which makes them easier to pick up—many words are even identical or very similar. With Japanese, you don’t get that advantage. The vocabulary is completely different.
However, because kanji carry both sound and meaning, knowing them allows you to recognize or even guess the meaning of new words you’ve never seen before, simply by understanding the characters they’re built from.
Here's what I know and a few tips that will help you if you keep them in mind.
You’ll see people saying they learned X kanji or passed the JLPT in record time. Good for them—but it doesn’t matter. Maybe they had more free time, or maybe languages come more easily to them. Focus on your own goals and progress. The only person you should compare yourself to is your past self.
Studies on polyglots show two common traits: they enjoy the process, and they build a routine. It doesn’t matter which method you use—if you enjoy it and stick with it, you’ll make progress.
Learning a language is a long journey. Break it down into smaller goals you can track. Seeing progress—even small milestones—keeps you motivated. And when you feel stuck, looking back reminds you how far you’ve already come.
If someone tried to speak your native language and made mistakes, you wouldn’t get angry—you’d probably appreciate the effort. The same goes for Japanese speakers. I've been to Japan multiple times and I’ve made lots of mistakes—wrong words, broken grammar, awful accent—and people were still kind and supportive. And when words fail, don’t forget: pointing and gestures are universal.