Learning Japanese is not easy, but the internet is a great place to find tips and tricks to help you out
Not only is the topic broad enough to write books about, there are already more than enough books about learning Japanese. Some are good, some not so much, but in the end it only matters what works for you. Most people don’t have the opportunity, time and money to learn Japanese in a classroom and for other it might even not be the right environment to learn. Fortunately the internet made it easy to discover new resources to help you learn.
And now, this weeks Friday Favorites:
Articles/Blog Posts
- Traveling to Japan on a budget – the best FREE places to visit in the country – The title says it all, doesn’t it? Japan can be very expensive, but that doesn’t mean, that you can’t travel on a budget. There are a lot of things to do and enjoy for free once you get here.
- German braumeister puts Otaru brewery on map – Beer is very popular here in Japan and since German beer was the first to be brought to Japan the German Beer Purity Law, which is nearly 500 years old, is still followed by many breweries. Even though I don’t drink beer as often as someone might expect when they hear I am from Germany I find it really interesting to read about how German beer came to Japan.
- No fear of Kanji – Learning Japanese is not easy and especially learning the Kanji can be a daunting task. But I have to agree with this tutorial, that being able to read Kanji makes it actually easier to read Japanese sentences.
- 30 Untranslatable Words From Other Languages – One of my favorite words is “Komorebi.” Not only because it has a nice ring to it, but because I love the sight of sunlight breaking through the trees while walking in a forest. So beautiful.
Photos/Comics
- The Meaning of Sayonara – Sometime it’s just not that easy to communicate if it’s not your mother tongue. Learning the nuances and when to use the words is just as important as their meaning. If your are leaving work you’ say “Otsukaresama desu” and “Douzo Yoroshiku Onegaishimasu” to clients, while friends might use “Mata ne” or “Ja ne.”
- Japanese on Pinterest – Even though it might not be the most obvious source, on Pinterest you can find many helpful and/or cute Japanese phrases and words.
The Meaning of Sayonara © Evacomics
Videos
- Top 5 Japanese Pronunciation Mistakes to Avoid – JapanesePod is one of the recourses for learning Japanese with the internet and their Youtube Channel has more than 490 videos so far. Especially the onces about pronunciation are helpful for new learners.
- 12 Tips for Learning Japanese (watch below) – Chris Broad shares Tips on learning Japanese and has also a short playlist on “How to learn Japanese” I really enjoyed. If you are in need of a few hint son how to make learning japanese easier, head over to his channel.
What was your favorite story/photo/video this week?
I lost my heart in Japan 
senseishokai.com is a great place to find private teachers. You can name your price too!
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I really enjoyed using the Heisig theory to learn kanji. I get that it’s not for everyone, and many others crumple under the “do or do not; there is no try” necessity of the system. But for me, it worked. It worked because I think in pictures. I liked the system of using a story to remember each symbol, and it intimidated me a lot less, especially in the beginning, than kana. Katakana, believe it or not, seemed impossible. Learning a bunch of squiggles and equating them to a sound isn’t actually that easy. Especially if you’ve already learned hiragana and get the two mixed up a lot. The simplicity of katakana strokes was actually their undoing, for there was no picture or story to each.
Of the resources you listed, my favorite was the cartoon about sayonara. In the three years I was there, no one ever explained it to me. I never used sayonara, but I was often perplexed. “Sayonara” is one of the few Japanese words many Americans know, and it was strange to arrive and realize that one of the few bits of the language I knew wasn’t in common use. Thanks for passing along the explanation!
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