Ive just recently started learning Japanese and I've got hiragana and katakana memorised but I dont know where to go from here.

My goal is the pass the n5 then make my way upto n2 within the next 4 years

Any advice would be apreciated

I'm currently putting together a teaching resource for primary school pupils about different scripts/orthographies around the world. The task has 18 translations of 'languages are amazing/incredible' in various languages which have differing scripts. I've checked the translations with multiple online translation tools, but I'm well aware that these do not always catch the nuanced points that native speakers can, hence why I wanted to post here for advice.

Would this be a suitable translation for Japanese, or is there a better alternative?

言語は素晴らしい

Thank you in advance for any help you lovely r/japaneselanguage Redditors can offer!

It's written in hiragana because I haven't mastered katakana or kanji yet.

Aqui está a letra toda em hiragana:

[Verse 1]

ながいことまっていた

だれかがぼくをあいしてくれるひを

じぶんはきたなくて

うんもなくて

かちのないにんげんだとおもっていた

[Aru hi]

あるひすべてがかわった

とつぜんで

なんのまえぶれもなく

とまどいながらも

ふかいたーるのぬまにとびこんだ

[Pre-Chorus]

こどくのさけびが

こわさをおしながして

かれたさくらをはくかぜのように

しあわせをゆるした

[Chorus]

それがほしかったぜんぶだったのに

どこかまちがっているきがした

しあわせなはずなのにおもにになった

それでもしずみつづけた

[Verse 2]

ぬけだせなくなって

じぶんもあいてもきずつけた

そしてきめた

たーるのぬまはないてきえたがろうとした

でもどうじょうすることはできなかった

ぼくがとびこんで

ぬまがのみこんだだけだ

[Chorus]

ながいことまっていた

だれかがぼくをあいしてくれるひを

いまはぬまのそとで

じぶんじしんにもみえなくなった

ときのながれもきにならなくなり

またこどくにいきている

[Outro]

もうにどとたーるのぬまをまたずに

ただしずかにむかう

つめたいしがくるそのひまで

やすめるばしょへ

Hello Everyone,

First, It's really sad that the founder Yoshimura Sensei passed away. My deepest condolences to his family.

CosCom for me, is the best resource I have ever found for learning the basics of Japanese, especially the Building-Up Conversations series, which covers the basics of grammar and includes audio recordings.

I was wondering whether its educational materials are still available anywhere on the internet, or whether there are any plans to restore the website in the future ?

Since the website was such a useful resource for people learning Japanese, I would really hate to see its content disappear permanently.

I even paid for the full package to get unlimited access to all the materials.

I honestly don’t understand why the Japanese government didn’t support the website or do anything when it was shut down, because it was such a valuable resource for foreigners learning Japanese.

Thanks a lot.

I’m asking because, even though I just ordered my Genki 1 book, I noticed it mentioned that it has exercises where you’re meant to be in a group and try to talk to other people. My problem though is I won’t be in a classroom. I’ll be learning by myself for myself until I can afford and have time for an in person tutor. But can I still use the book on my own? Or should I consider getting a different learning resource?

I’m fairly new to Japanese I’ve already got hiragana fully memorised and only a little katakana but I was wondering when I learn basic sentences like greetings for example should I try to remember that Japanese sentence as what I would say in English like sumimasen** **should I translate that in my head as ‘excuse me’ in English or should I think differently it’s hard to explain this is all very confusing.

Crossposting this here to get some advice from this community

Genkiみたいなダイアログがたくさんある教科書を他に知りませんか？

So last year I took the JLPT N1 and i didn't pass (got 86 points, which is 14 points away from the pass line). My sectional scores are: reading: 20, listening: 33, language knowledge: 33. To prepare last year, the only textbook I used is the Shin Kanzen Reading book, the rest was online on japanesetest4you.

I want to take it again this coming December. Since that time, I have been working on strengthening my weakest section (reading) by reading threads + doing reading practice online. A strategy that worked for me is explaining why the other options are wrong.

It's really difficult to know what to prioritize at this point, and which resources I should add, and if it's realistic to pass given I have 3 months. Please let me know given your experience.

It's either "That's right" "I see" "let me see" "is that so" and on and on. I really find it hard to wrap my head around it

I’m just starting to learn Japanese, and I’m doing pretty well so far! I’ve already learned hiragana and just started learning katakana.

Can you guys tell me what the best steps are from here? What should I focus on next? Kanji? Vocabulary? Grammar? Phrases?

I’d really appreciate any advice on how to structure my learning! 😊

or have any design critics, happy to hear it!

Looking for a little confidence booster. I have been struggling to learn Japanese for the past 4 years, and I’m finally getting serious about it. I started learning for fun, then I got the chance to go to Japan in 2024, and started getting more serious 6 months before, and got an instructor online for about 15 lessons. I got so much anxiety about speaking incorrectly I ended up quitting, then wished I could speak more when I actually went to Japan. Got a bit scared when I messed up what I said to someone and embarrassed myself.

I’ve been doing self study off and on since, then got an opportunity to sit in a college course in person for one semester for no credit. I did well with writing and reading, but I struggled to speak still.

I’ve finally gotten brave enough to get another tutor. She’s very kind and has been great for 3 lessons so far. Thing is, I am so nervous about speaking and get so much anxiety about how I have been learning for 4 years and have little to show, I’m embarrassed.

I don’t want to quit! I think I just need a bit of a confidence booster hearing others experiences learning Japanese or making mistakes.

Thank you for anyone who shares!

Hi everyone!

I’ve been studying Japanese for a while and recently passed the N4 level. I'm currently working towards N3, but I've realized that my reading and grammar are way ahead of my speaking ability. I can understand a decent amount, but when it comes to producing natural spoken Japanese in real time, I freeze up.

I’m looking for a study buddy (around the N4–N3 range) who also wants to improve their speaking and listening skills. Ideally, we could practice together via voice chat on Discord or Skype a couple of times a week.

A bit about me:

• Timezone:  GMT+7
• Available: Evenings or weekends (we can work out a schedule)
• Topics: Daily life, hobbies, news, or using a textbook like Genki / Tobira for conversation prompts.

What I'm looking for in a partner:

• Around the same level (N4~N3) so we can grow together.
• Serious about practicing regularly, but low-pressure and supportive.
• We can split the time .

If you're interested, please reply to this post or send me a Reddit DM, and we can exchange Discord info there.

よろしくお願いします！

​

ついに最後の日だ。

Finally, it's the last day.

ついにさいごのひだ。

この日記を書くことができて、本当にとても楽しかった。

It was a great pleasure to be able to keep these diaries.

このにっきをかくことができて、ほんとうにとてもたのしかった。

そして、今日、最後の日は初音ミクの誕生日だった。

And just today, the last day, was Hatsune Miku's birthday.

そして、きょう、さいごのひははつねミクのたんじょうびだった。

それに、今日は日本語の試験もあった。

In addition, I also took my Japanese exam today.

それに、きょうはにほんごのしけんもあった。

試験では自分のベストを出したけど、一つの表を終わらせることができなかった。

In that test, I gave it my best shot, but I couldn't finish one of the tables.

しけんではじぶんのベストをだしたけど、ひとつのひょうをおわらせることができなかった。

でも、試験の半分ぐらいはできたと思う。

But I think I managed to get about half of the test right.

でも、しけんのはんぶんぐらいはできたとおもう。

試験が終わったとき、とてもつかれていた。

I finished the test very tired.

しけんがおわったとき、とてもつかれていた。

でも、今日が日記の最後の日だ。

But today is the last day of the diary.

でも、きょうがにっきのさいごのひだ。

この日記を書くことができて、本当にうれしかった。

It was a great pleasure to keep these diaries.

このにっきをかくことができて、ほんとうにうれしかった。

そして、レディットでみんなとこの日記を共有したのは、私にとって一番よかったことだった。

And sharing this diary with everyone on Reddit was one of the best choices I made. compartilhar esse diário com todos no Reddit foi uma das melhores escolhas que fiz.

そして、レディットでみんなとこのにっきをきょうゆうしたのは、わたしにとっていちばんよかったことだった。

この一か月、私といっしょにこの日記を読んでくれたレディットのみんな、本当にありがとうございました。

I am immensely grateful to everyone on Reddit who followed me and read my journal during this journey.

このいっかげつ、わたしといっしょにこのにっきをよんでくれたレディットのみんな、ほんとうにありがとうございました。

じゃあ、最後にもう一度。

So, one last time.

じゃあ、さいごにもういちど。

おやすみなさい。またね。

Good night and see you later.

You would not believe how hard this was

こんにちはー！エミだよ。
将来、日本の大学に留学したいから、六ヶ月前から日本語の勉強を始めたんだ。
僕はベースを弾いたり、泣きゲーをやったりするのが大好きなんだ。（そう言えば、男だ笑）
まぁ、良ければ、友達になろう！
ありがとうー。

Hello everyone,

While Forvo is great for many/most Japanese words, I'm having trouble finding audio for the verb conjugations. Specifically, audio for the テー form that I can download and add to Anki. The closest thing I've found is the OJAD site, but unfortunately, I cannot download the audio. Any help would be appreciated.

P.S. Native audio would be ideal, but I realize this is a hard ask. I might have to rely on text-to-audio or something.

Sorry for my ignorance, I’ve never learned or studied Japanese but this spring I vacationed in Japan and I noticed the use of the “T” pronunciation (in English words) was almost always followed by an “O” sound. So something like “Toe”. I have a couple examples: I went to Disney Japan and they had these sweet potato stick pastries and when I walked up to order they didn’t understand me, but after processing it they understood and repeated it back to me as “swee-toe” another example is this song in Japanese I really like, they say the word “moment” and again it’s pronounced as “momen-toe” I find the added pronunciation interesting because I’m Mexican-American and native Spanish speakers do a similar thing when a word starts with the letter “S” since in Spanish there are no words that start with “S” instead they start with “Es” so Spanish speakers impulsively pronounce English words that start with an “S” as “Es” like “Estrawberry” or “Esprite” (the soda).

Please suggest a good Jp online class
I failed JLPTn5 which i attempted this july
but i feel like i know shi
Its not like i dont know anything
should i go for n4 like start classes from october and revise n5 this september
or should i attempt n5 again??

My parents are very disappointed in me
(especially my mom)

Got 65
Vocab B Listening B and Reading C
please suggest

I just found out that

1. が used to act as a possessive marker in old Japanese much like の does now and this explains why we have phrases like 我が家 (my abode/house)

2. This use is present in わがまま and combines 我が (my) and まま. This まま is indeed the same one that is present in this sentence for example そのままでいい or 空いたまま

So literally it’s just “my way” which I thought was interesting and cool

I’ve only been learning Japanese for about a month, and I’m looking for something easy to watch.

Are there any anime that are good for complete beginners, with simple vocabulary and relatively easy dialogue?

Also, what kind of anime or cartoons do Japanese kids usually watch? I was thinking kids’ shows might be easier for me to understand

Would love some recommendations!

I’m a junior in highschool and I plan to study medicine in Japan. I’m at an n5-n4 level and need to get to n2-n1 in order to apply. I’m already aware that n2 in 2 years is kinda difficult. However, my main problem is if it is even possible to be academically fluent enough to study medicine in such a short period of time?

​

本当にこの日記の最後から二番目の日だ。

Indeed, today is the second-to-last day of this diary.

ほんとうにこのにっきのさいごからにばんめのひだ。

今日は何を書けばいいか、全然分からなかった。

Today I really had no idea what to write.

きょうはなにをかけばいいか、ぜんぜんわからなかった。

毎日日記を書くのは、思っていたより難しい。

Writing in a diary every day is harder than I imagined.

まいにちにっきをかくのは、おもっていたよりむずかしい。

一番難しいのは、何について話すかを考えることだと思う。

I think the hardest part is thinking about what to talk about.

いちばんむずかしいのは、なにについてはなすかをかんがえることだとおもう。

だから、今日は私がどうして日本語を勉強したいと思ったかについて話したい。

So today I'm going to talk about what motivated me to study Japanese.

だから、きょうはわたしがどうしてにほんごをべんきょうしたいとおもったかについてはなしたい。

私は小さいころから日本の文化が好きだった。でも、あまり調べなかった。

I've always liked Japanese culture since I was little, but I never really pursued it much.

わたしはちいさいころからにほんのぶんかがすきだった。でも、あまりしらべなかった。

学校の最後の年、私はいろいろな問題があって、何もしたくないような気持ちだった。

In my last year of school, I was having a lot of problems and felt kind of apathetic.

がっこうのさいごのとし、わたしはいろいろなもんだいがあって、なにもしたくないようなきもちだった。

でも、カウンセラーと話して、昔から好きだった日本への気持ちをまた見つけた。

But talking to my psychologist, I was able to rediscover that love for Japan that I've had since I was little.

でも、カウンセラーとはなして、むかしからすきだったにほんへのきもちをまたみつけた。

そして、カウンセラーは私が行きたい大学を探すのも手伝ってくれた。

And my psychologist also helped me look for a college that I wanted to try to get into.

そして、カウンセラーはわたしがいきたいだいがくをさがすのもてつだってくれた。

それから、私はずっと日本語を勉強している。

Since then, I have continued studying Japanese.

それから、わたしはずっとにほんごをべんきょうしている。

日本語は本当に私を助けてくれたと思う。

I think Japanese really helped me a lot.

にほんごはほんとうにわたしをたすけてくれたとおもう。

だから、これからもっと上手になりたい。

That's why I want to keep improving.

だから、これからもっとじょうずになりたい。

そして、子どものころの私が、今の私をもっと誇りに思ってくれたらいいな。

And I hope that the child I had can feel even more proud of me.

そして、こどものころのわたしが、いまのわたしをもっとほこりにおもってくれたらいいな。

これが私が日本語を勉強している理由だ。

That's why I study Japanese.

これがわたしがにほんごをべんきょうしているりゆうだ。

みんなはどうして日本語を勉強しているのか、知りたい。

I'd like to know why you study Japanese.

みんなはどうしてにほんごをべんきょうしているのか、しりたい。

まあ、今日はこれくらい。それじゃ、また明日。

Well, that's it for today. See you tomorrow.

まあ、きょうはこれくらい。それじゃ、またあした。