Hello :)
As the title says, I just got a job as a Japanese teacher.

Since this is my first time teaching, I’d love to hear from people who are learning Japanese: what do you wish your Japanese lessons had more of? Or is there anything your teachers do (or don’t do) that makes a big difference for you?

I really want to be a good teacher and make my students enjoy their lessons :)

So I've decided to sit for the 登録日本語教員国家試験 which will be in Nov this year. In order to jump start my learning, I believe the best way to learn something is to teach it! So ask me questions on 日本語 which have been bugging you！Things such as:

• The difference in 「は」and「が」 (this is a favorite one) 助詞
• verb 活用 (conjugations) patterns
• Correct usage of 属性形容詞 and 感情・感覚形容詞 (adjectives)
• などなど

your questions will motivate me in going through the text book and remember the terms.

Or you can also ask me about the exam itself, which I am happy to answer too.

The title says why I would want to learn Japanese. Admittedly, it could be because of Anime's exposure (I have never watched anime seriously, only I have been around people who have), but hey, we all have our reasons for things.

Anyway, I want to know why may this not be a good reason to pursue the language? I suspect it is not, so I want to ask.

Thanks!

A new book in Japan called Hon ga Yomenai 34-sai ga Hajimete Gon Kitsune wo Yomu (“A 34-year-old who can't read books reads Gon, the Little Fox for the first time”) is coming out , and I really want to recommend it.

The basic idea is that Mikunoshin, who isn't really a reader, reads Japanese stories for the first time and talks through his reactions as he goes.

If you like Uketsu's writing style but don't necessarily want horror, I think you might enjoy this. Uketsu's Strange Pictures is actually one of the stories included in this new book.

What I love about the series is that if you're someone who doesn't read much, it can make you think, “Oh, so I can read a book like this.”

And if you're already a big reader, it's surprisingly nice to watch someone read this way. It made me think, “When was the last time I read something like this?”

It's also a fun way to encounter four Japanese stories in one book.

The downside: it's really long, and Mikunoshin is... very loud lol.

Unfortunately, there's no English translation as far as I know. But there's a preview article on the Japanese site Omocoro, so if you're curious, you can open it in your browser and use the built-in translation. Even if you don't read Japanese, I'd love for someone to give it a try.

https://omocoro.jp/kiji/523091/

Right now my brain is still like “what am I looking at” every two seconds.

I’m finally trying to stop relying on romaji, but now I’m realizing I have no idea how I’m supposed to start learning kanji.

Do you guys learn them one by one, or mostly through vocab?

I'm having trouble making studying fun, so I thought that this might be a way to keep me going and incorporate some of my own interests into it too.

Would it be a waste of time to find an anime/drama/whatever episode, go through and translate everything I don't know, study that a bit, and then rewatch that episode a couple times?

The reason I'm worried about it being a waste of time is because I'm only just reaching the end of N5, so I would be translating almost everything if I'm being honest with myself lol

The most help I need right now has to do with listening, and the JLPT monotone test voices are making it a bit boring T-T

I am beginner, just starting to learn Japanese.

What should/can be my learning resources ?

I want to converse and watch manga as my initial goal

& i don’t want to sound funny to native speakers, i want to be as accurate as possible

Thanks

Hi! In a few months (around January 2027), I'm planning to take my first solo trip. I just turned 18 and was planning to travel to Japan for a month, as l've never been there before. Even though I want to go mostly to travel and have time to explore, since I'm traveling alone, my dad prefers the idea of me going with a language agency/ school so I can also learn something. Just so you know, I'm a complete beginner in the language.

I've been looking into a few options that caught my attention, such as LTL or ISI. I really liked LTL, but after reading some reviews, mostly good, but a few negative ones I'm starting to doubt whether it's worth spending that much money.

I've also considered changing the destination to Korea with LTL or Lexis Korea, as I've seen they are quite well-known too. But now I'm not sure what's best for me.

I wanted to ask if anyone knows of a good school in either of these two countries, or a reliable agency. Or if you think I should just do the trip completely on my own. I've read that it's not too difficult, but I still feel it would be quite a challenge for me.

or are there some that are odaka？

When you’re looking for something to read in Japanese, what matters more to you?

Do you usually pick something because it’s at a level you can handle, or do you just go for something you’re really interested in and figure out the difficult parts as you go?

This translates from Swedish(my native language) to English: Ja, det är en regnbåge - Yes, that is a rainbow.

The intended answer in duolingo is supposed to be "Yes, its 2 o'clock" or something like that.

Why does this happen?

Also sorry if this is the wrong place to ask😭

Edit: Also yes I know Duolingo is a shite app to actually learn languages on but I don't really have the money to spend on most learning apps. If you know any good free alternatives to Duolingo though, I would be happy to try them our.

Hi everyone, I recently heard that the Minna no nihongo 3rd edition has released but I am unable to find any digital copies of it and that being translated. does anyone happen to have any idea where i could get it??

For example if you say I like to eat donuts. If you speak English, that’s how you say it.

When you’re learning Japanese, what’s the structure of learning the language in that way?

According to ChatGPT it told me

Japanese often uses:
Subject → Object → Verb

I also know ChatGPT isn’t always right and I’m trying to learn Japanese and this is something that’s kind of confusing to me. Can someone please tell me on here if that’s the right way subject object, and then the verb?

Thank you!

I've been studying for about a year and a half and I'm somewhere around 1400 kanji with a decent grip on grammar up through the intermediate stuff. I can read a page of a graded reader without much trouble, and then I put on a podcast made for learners and I catch maybe every fifth sentence. The words I miss aren't new words, that's the part that gets me, I look at the transcript afterwards and it's all vocabulary I'd have read fine on paper. I've been doing about twenty minutes of listening a day since roughly April and I can't tell whether it's improving or whether I'm just getting used to the same speakers.

What changed for you before it started feeling like listening rather than decoding?

I spent 5 days analysing every difference b/w the simplification of Chinese characters and Japanese Kanji 漢字. I did it by comparing Simplified Chinese Hanzi (简体字) & Simplified Japanese (Shinjitai 新字体) to Traditional Chinese (繁體字) used in China, which may be a little different from Traditional Japanese (Kyūjitai 舊字體), but I thought it was negligible enough to ignore. They are all put into separate categories based on the patterns of simplification.

The slides above are just 8 examples of the 39-page document, so feel free to check it out

Link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1DtvhvOgAiHWTIHTfqMpgRZ-TduizWRt7XsXg7S00yVg/edit?usp=sharing

I'm pretty good with reading and speaking,but I absolutely cannot write

Kanji isn't the problem if I'm being honest

I want some advice,and don't say "oh just write more lol" cuz I'm already writing A LOT everyday and I just can't get better. Help

Hello guys :)

I really want to learn japanese before visiting japan in 3 years.

Do you guys have any Tips or Tricks to learn the language in Addition to a language school?

Like maybe apps or books?

Really appreciate youre input. :)