Learn Japanese Online

What kind of people learn Japanese online? Those fascinated with Japanese culture, ESL teachers looking to study Japanese to prepare for teaching abroad, super busy college students who don't have time to go to an actual classroom. Cash strapped people who can't afford expensive courses and those who want to learn Japanese online because of the flexibility it affords.  Hey who can deny the freedom of audio books, downloadable lessons and vocabulary on your ipod?

Whether you are traveling to Japan and want to pick up some simple Japanese phrases for survival on your vacation or are planning a long term stay and need a heavy dose of Japanese grammar in all forms, reading, writing, hearing and pronunciation etc.

In these lessons we put together a pile of Japanese  tips,  to get you started speaking Japanese in the most convenient way possible -  learning Japanese online. Really it doesn't get much more convenient than that. Believe us when we tell you when the jet hits the tarmac in Narita  airport in Tokyo, you'll be thanking us.

Looking for Free Japanese Audio and Video Files and Lessons With Crystal Clear Explanations on Meaning & Usages From Native Japanese Speakers?

We've included a bunch of free goodies for you guys from our generous site sponsors at   Japanese Pod 101.

Some of the free study aids they offer are:

• Video lessons
• Audio lessons
• Detailed  grammar explanations
•  Learning tips and strategies  to help you master Japanese
• Hiragana practice
• Katakana practice
• Kanji practice  and best of all are the free daily podcasts offered at all levels for vocabulary and grammar etc. To get them:

Here's How to Get Them

Just click the big blue link below, put in your e-mail address and make a password (10 seconds max to do this. No credit card. No other info. whatsoever is required).

JapanesePod101.com - Learn Japanese with Free Daily Podcasts

But at the very least, definitely take advantage of our free e-book above. It can make a big difference in how fast you can get a handle on the language and may help deter you from making the grand daddy of all mistakes: giving up. It really is the biggest one you can make. One thing to take to heart is languages are big so it takes time to chop them down but they do come down if you chop enough.

Learn Japanese Online Lesson Index

We've put together a bunch of lessons on Japanese particles, sentence construction, adjective conjugation, basic Japanese used in the ESL classroom, study tips and videos that explain some sticky points  and helps you with pronunciation of Japanese along with a decent smattering of hiragana and katakana writing help. 

We have also included some simple tests on some of the lessons. Wait ...did I say "test"? ... uh... No. We mean... um.... opportunities to check how much stuff you remember.

We are constantly adding content, videos and things that we think will help you with your studies. Also don't forget to subscribe to our newsletter that will give you some "sayings" or "expressions and proverbs" in Japanese once a month. We also list sales on Japanese products when we come across them.

Lesson 1 Learn Japanese Online - Language Study Tips
Learn Japanese Online - Study tips. Tips for how to use flash cards most effectively. Strategies for using a text book. Practical advice for learning Japanese. Some cool memory tricks you can use to increase retention and a word of warning or two about use of slangs and borrowed words that made their way into Japanese. If you're serious about studying Japanese, shave some time off your learning curve in this section.

Lesson 1.1 Learn Japanese Online - Career Advantages
Why should you study Japanese?  Did you know that 10% of Japanese actually comes from English? It is termed "gailaigo" . We also look at some possible job advantages of being able to speak Japanese can afford you. Also we have  a nice video from our newest Japanese partners Japanese Pod 101.Com.     They offer a metric ton of  free podcasts, writing and reading practice videos and an introduction to writing Japanese as katakana as well as hiragana. 

Lesson 1.2 Learn Japanese Online - Pronunciation
Core pronunciation of Japanese. Audio, files and more. Starting with the  basic building blocks of the  sounds of Japanese - Aa, Ee, Ii, Oo,Uu. And then building into compound sounds - Ka, Ke, Ki,Ko,Ku. Plus we touch on how critical it is to pronounce Japanese correctly or at least as closely to a native speaker as you can get. And we top it all off with a very understandable and highly structured  video from Japanese Pod 101 for some extra pronunciation practice.

Lesson 1.3 Learn Japanese Online - Study Materials.
A meaty review of Amazon's top selling, most highly rated basic Japanese grammar texts that are currently on the market. The bulk of these recommendations are used throughout the  world both in private Japanese language schools as well as at the university level. If your looking to lock and load and take on the this monstrous language, here's a weapon you need to be packing. We pretty candidly write about the best and worst parts or perceived parts of the textbooks that we recommend from actutal users of the texts themselves.

Lesson 1.4 Learn Japanese Online - Hiragana Charts
In this section we'll  have a look at hiragana the written language. We have some study charts including stroke orders for writing all 46 hiragana characters and some nice and dirt cheap posters and high-gloss posters from Amazon. Some are even suitable for framing. You can use them to decorate your apartment or put over your study desk to keep you motivated in your studies of Japanese. Also we through in a little history of the development of hiragana that you might not know.

Lesson 1.5
Japanese -English electronic dictionaries from Amazon. If you are digging into kanji, a  paper dictionary just won't cut it so it'll be time to step up to the plate with an electronic one.

Lesson 1.6 Learn Japanese Online -  Japanese Pod 101.Com
How their online Japanese learning platform is organized. The levels they offer from absolute beginner up to advanced. What benefits it offers, prices for bare-bones access to their premium package which includes live tutors. Also a fairly big video to show you step by step how to get the most out of this wicked powerful learning tool. (There is only so much you can do with words until you have to switch to a video format for a more exhaustive explanation.) The platform is complete with downloadable apps so  you can study on the go.

Lesson 1.7 Learn Japanese Online - Audio Books
Japanese Audio books. The advantages gained by using audio books over other methods of study. Plus a selection of audio books on survival Japanese for first time travelers, beginning and intermediate level audio books for more advanced learners. Plus we lay to rest the question of,  Do "readers" of audio books retain as much information as those who read from the regular paper style books? 

Lesson 2 Learn Japanese Online - Greetings
15 of the most common Japanese greetings. After all every conversation in Japanese that you'll ever have will begin with a greeting. Also included is a selection of books from Amazon on typical and useful greetings.

Lesson 3 Learn Japanese Online - Nouns
Basic nouns explained. How to use them, sentence order for simple noun sentences. For example "She is a student" and other basic b-verb sentence structures. Also question form sentences like, "Is she a student? " Get  to the bottom line and real meaning of the particle "wa". Plus vocabulary pumper section on your basic colors.

Lesson 4 Learn Japanese Online - Adjectives
Japanese Adjectives. 20 adjectives listed. All 'ii' ending type. There are 2 types of Japanese adjectives and we'll touch on the other type in later lessons. Also included are examples of how to use adjectives in a sentence.  Negative conjugations are also covered.  Plus an explanation on how to use "ne" with adjectives. "ne" is often used to court a sense of agreement in conversational use. We also threw in a link to some adjective phrases that come in handy when you ask someone out for a drink or a date.

Lesson 5 Learn Japanese Online - Japanese Nouns
Explanations of this and that. Clear explanations on how to use "kono" and "kore". How their uses differ from the grammatical perspective. Spatial differences of "kono", "sono" "ano" and "dono" are also clearly covered. Plus an explanation on the often misused  particle "ga" and how it differs in its use from the topic marker "wa". Often a real bear for beginning speakers of Japanese to wrap their heads around.

Lesson 6 Learn Japanese Online - Japanese Numbers
In this lesson you'll learn about counting with Japanese numbers to include the irregular uses that so often occur in the counting process.  Also included in this lesson is how to modify nouns and say things like "she's a cute girl," or it's a difficult book. Also we will get into an explanation on the attention grabbing particle "Yo" and how it is quite different from the earlier explained particle "ne". In this lesson we will contrast their uses.

Lesson 7 Learn Japanese Online - Verbs
In this meaty lesson, we'll learn Japanese verbs ending in "eru" , "iru". and "i"  'We will show you the fastest way to master multiple patterns by showing the verbs stem - which once mastered speeds up conjugations of hundreds of patterns that you will run into during your studies.  Also a solid explanation on the hard to understand particle "O" Plus we'll get into conjugation forms and how to say "Please do (x)".  Which should be understood as a direct request when speaking or asking something of others. And we'll cover days of the week with the particle "ni".

Lesson 8 Learn Japanese Online - Japanese Sentences
Here, we'll cover negative sentences like "It's not a dictionary". We look at the differences of "ja nai" and "dewa arimasen". Also tips on how to use "san", "chan" and "kun". And how you can't  refer to yourself while using these terms. We will also cover some common mistakes such as when both negative forms are used together.

Lesson 9 Learn Japanese Online -Japanese Adjectives
In this lesson we'll attack more Japanese adjectives - all na types. We'll also look at how to use desho and to top it all off we'll take a look at the differences between using "mono" and "koto".

Lesson 10 Learn Japanese Online - Japanese Grammar
Here, we'll look at irregular Japanese verbs (all 'u' ending types) and show you conjugations for these verbs. We'll also show how to use them in sentences. Also we'll show more uses of the particle 'ni'. Plus we'll cover months of the year with the particle 'ni' and seasons. Actually counting or remembering the months of the year is a snap as it follows the regular counting pattern in Japanese.

Lesson 11 Learn Japanese Online - Basic Japanese Phrases
In this lesson we'll focus on 41 common Japanese phrases English teachers use in the classroom. We'll focus on phrases used in playing games, doing lessons and giving tests for children. 

Lesson 12 Learn Japanese Online -Learn Japanese Language
Japanese grammar videos. Here we have a ever growing collection of simple Japanese language videos with some added explanations on some of the more sticky grammatical points. The teacher is a native Japanese teacher.  The video host Mr. Takanori, takes the visitor through some basic Japanese points of interest like the difference between "o" as it is used as something to make a noun polite like "O"kane or money. Vs. the particle "o" which indicates what the verb is acting upon as in "gohan o tabemasu". In addition to many other basic nuts and bolts type basic grammar.