675 Posts Found

Who didn’t love watching this iconic and endearing TV program as a kid? Believe it or not, they’re still making new episodes. They’re also translating segments into Japanese and releasing them weekly! Now’s your chance to watch your old favorite in Japanese. Learning and enjoying your study time is the best combination.

These shortened episodes include some characters you may remember, like Elmo and Cookie Monster. … [ Read more ]

Source: YouTube | Subject: Video / Audio

Marshall’s Blog is a not-for-profit website to help people learn Japanese. It was created by Marshall Yin, a student living in Tokyo who has himself been learning Japanese as a second language for ten years. The site is packed with vocabulary lists, grammar explanations, and quizzes, all organized according to JLPT level. While the lessons and forum are accessible to everyone, you’ll need to create … [ Read more ]

Author: Marshall Yin | Subjects: Blogs, Grammar, Language Study, Vocabulary / Phrases

Komei’s Channel is a YouTube channel about the Japanese language by Japanese native speaker Komei. This channel not only teaches Japanese grammar, like が vs. は, but also covers things like how to complain at a restaurant in Japanese and hidden texts in Attack on Titan. Out of all the interesting videos, we’d like to introduce this one: … [ Read more ]

Author: Komei | Source: YouTube | Subject: Video / Audio

This delightful podcast is hosted by three bilingual speakers of Japanese and English—My, Dan, and Yurie. They cover a wide range of topics, including culture, current events, and travel, mixed in with anecdotes from their own lives. If you’re looking for some Japanese listening practice that is both fun and accessible, this podcast is definitely worth a listen.

The podcast is decidedly bilingual, and this is … [ Read more ]

Subjects: Language Study, Multimedia, Vocabulary / Phrases

This is a YouTube tutorial series by professional anime and game translator Sarah K. She is also a big fan of Sailor Moon and wants to help people learn Japanese through the anime.

Each episode is around 30 minutes long. Sarah plays snippets of the anime and explains each sentence used, one scene at a time. In her explanation, she breaks down every sentence word by … [ Read more ]

Source: YouTube | Subjects: Language Study, Video / Audio

Have you ever heard of 青空文庫あおぞらぶんこ? Established in 1997, this online library hosts several thousand Japanese literary works, completely for free. If you’re not too confident in your kanji readings however, trying to read a Japanese text can be quite tricky. Rather than focusing on overall reading comprehension, you end up zeroing in on just the kanji. Sound like you? Then … [ Read more ]

Source: 青空朗読 | Subjects: Reading Material, Video / Audio

Need a break from Japanese textbooks and vocabulary flashcards? Then it’s time to chill with some Japanese dramas!

J-dramas are easy to get sucked into, especially because they’re so different in format from most Western shows. And they’re a fantastic way to gain some insight into Japanese culture, language, and locales in Japan.

One nice thing about Japanese dramas? They’re usually only one season long and about … [ Read more ]

Author: Caitlin Sacasas | Source: Fluent in 3 Months | Subjects: Multimedia, Video / Audio

This is the more advanced podcast to complement Teppei’s beginner episodes.

Author: Teppei | Subject: Video / Audio

Nihongo Con Teppei For Beginners is a Japanese language podcast. Each episode is about four minutes long, and the content is in Japanese only. This is because the host, Teppei, believes in improving language comprehension skills through listening to podcasts spoken in the original language.

Teppei focuses on one topic in each episode, and tries to use the key word or related vocabulary repeatedly so that … [ Read more ]

Author: Teppei | Subject: Video / Audio

This is a tool that’s meant to help you study Japanese counters. You’ll be given a random item and a random number, and then you tell us how you’d count that in Japanese. Current study packs include common counters, essential counters, and counters for JLPT N4 and N5.

Subject: Vocabulary / Phrases

If you’re an independent soul and would like your time in Japan to be flexible and adventurous, a working holiday could be your best option. What follows is the full guide—from applying for your visa, to work and housing options, and even how to convert to a standard working visa if you want to stay in Japan—all from someone who has done it. I’m British, … [ Read more ]

Author: Julia Mascetti | Source: Tofugu | Subject: Employment / Career

Bunpo is a Japanese grammar study app covering JLPT N5 to N1, it’s seriously packed with content—and the polished illustrations and UI are a nice touch too!

When you launch the app, choose a JLPT level or basic kana lesson (the app also teaches hiragana/katakana if you’re a beginner). You’ll see a collection of cards containing grammar lessons you can study and review in any order.

First, … [ Read more ]

Subjects: Apps, Grammar

This new online onomatopoeia encyclopedia aims to teach Japanese onomatopoeia using illustrations, videos, and English equivalents.

Each onomatopoeic word is categorized into one of more than twenty-five different categories. Clicking on a word brings up a detailed page that includes pronunciation with audio, a short explanation, tags, example sentences, and images. These images either directly use the term or represent what it’s used for (or … [ Read more ]

Source: Imaginary Sound Creations | Subject: Vocabulary / Phrases

JLPT Stories is a new podcast and companion site based in Shinjuku that provides stories in Japanese, labeled with their intended JLPT (Japanese Language Proficiency Test) level. Each three to four minute story is written and read by a native Japanese speaker at normal speed.

On the website, JLPT Stories provides Japanese transcripts for the stories, with grammar points relating to each story’s JLPT level highlighted … [ Read more ]

Subjects: Grammar, JLPT Exam, Video / Audio

Jishonari is an online Japanese dictionary divided into three panels:

1. Japanese reader: Browse the newsfeed from either Aozora Bunko or Reddit, or paste in your own text. Once you’re reading, click on any word to bring up definitions and info galore.
2. Definitions: Whenever you search for a word or click one in the reader, the definitions appear here. You can get JMDict definitions, as well

… [ Read more ]

Subjects: Language Study, Translate

Japan has released some legendary, heartfelt, strange, fantastical, and horrifying films over the decades. They’re also a great learning tool! So, here are the very best Japanese films to watch and learn Japanese from movies.

Author: Caitlin Sacasas | Source: Fluent in 3 Months | Subjects: Arts & Entertainment, Japan, Video / Audio

Manga Sensei offers multiple free options for learning Japanese, including a daily grammar podcast, a daily Kanji video on YouTube, a 30 day basic grammar challenge, and an original manga strip that teaches different grammar and cultural lessons. The latter follows the Yamaguchi Family as they travel Japan and meet interesting characters and grow up. Each weekly theme is written by Japanese natives for all … [ Read more ]

Subjects: General, Grammar, Kanji, Language Study

Manga Club is a site that posts officially licensed manga free with ads. But we’re not telling you about it because free manga is great; they recently added the ability to easily switch between Japanese and English with the press of a button!

Now you can read free manga without needing to choose whether to buy Japanese, English, or both, if you want to use them … [ Read more ]

Subject: Reading Material

This forty minute video by YouTuber Misa from Japanese Ammo might be one of the only resources titled “ultimate” and “the only lesson you need” that I actually believe. Misa breaks down the particles は and が and explains the differences in depth with multiple examples and on-screen text and translations.

は and が can be a major struggle for English … [ Read more ]

Sources: Japanese Ammo, YouTube | Subjects: Grammar, Video / Audio

Tofugu Review:

There are tons of Japanese reference and learning apps out there, so if this one looks familiar to you, don’t worry. That’s because it isn’t new at all. It’s been around on iOS since 2008.

But Japanese has undergone some major changes recently and is now the shiny, new version 4!

This app has a ton of new content:

• Built-in Japanese-English dictionary with

… [ Read more ]

Sources: Renzo Inc., Tofugu | Subjects: Apps, Language Study, Miscellaneous | Other, Translate