Get Fluent and Confident in JAPANESE

Explore how the Japanese writing system differs from the alphabet, featuring katakana as a unique script and kanji borrowed from Chinese, with strong connections and similar meanings.

Learn hiragana and katakana, not romaji, to build a solid foundation for accurate pronunciation and reading in Japanese, avoiding shortcuts that rely on English alphabets.

Explore the fundamentals of Japanese hiragana, learning the five vowel sounds, how consonants pair with vowels to form characters, and how to read aloud by pronouncing each character individually.

Explore Japanese vowel sounds and their similarities to English, focusing on pronouncing the first vowel in pairs of examples like ice, ugly, iPhone, eat, use, it, and action.

Explore fundamental hiragana by pairing consonant and vowel sounds, starting with the k column and practicing around 30 combinations, then move through additional columns and note special pronunciation cases.

Explore fundamental hiragana part 2 by mastering the h consonant sounds, vowel patterns, and a special middle character, with practical pronunciation guidance using English-like examples.

Master the correct pronunciation of し (shi) and ち (chi) by distinguishing them from English sounds like chip and cheap, and follow the shown mouth shapes to avoid common errors.

Learn how dakuten and handakuten diacritics modify the basic hiragana consonants, producing ga, da, ba, and pa while preserving vowel sounds, with only certain characters eligible.

Learn how the small tsu marks a glottal stop and stopping articulation between sounds, and why you must pronounce it fully in Japanese words, past-tense forms, and exclamations.

Katakana is a Japanese writing system for foreign words, with 46 basic sounds and diacritics like dakuten, used to transcribe loanwords such as America and coffee.

Master Japanese handwriting by practicing horizontal and curved vertical strokes, circular motions, and parallel lines within a grid, focusing on stroke order and varying lengths.

Learn stroke-by-stroke writing of the sa and ta column in katakana, mastering horizontal and vertical strokes, curvature, and one-stroke formations to produce clear kana shapes.

Master stroke-by-stroke writing for the な and ま column, following diagonal, horizontal, vertical, curved strokes, circles, and fishlike shapes with clear, stepwise guidance.

Learn step-by-step stroke orders for the last three columns of characters, mastering horizontal, diagonal, curved strokes, and finishing with circles to write simple Japanese characters by hand.

Learn to write katakana by hand using the 46 basic characters and their diacritics. Distinguish katakana by its flatter, less round shapes and compare it to other scripts by texture.

Master the third column stroke order for Japanese kana, practicing ha and he with two to four strokes, including horizontal, diagonal, and curved lines to ensure proper alignment.

Practice the マ and ヤ column strokes, mastering two- and three-stroke kana with horizontal, diagonal, and perpendicular lines, ensuring strokes end within the shape and cross at the midpoint.

Practice the last two columns by mastering stroke order for kanji and katakana, including two-stroke rules, horizontal and diagonal curves, and precise square-box shapes with sharp edges.

Learn how to pronounce the phrase 'I am a student' in Japanese, explore its casual form, and hear variations using boku and gakusei desu for natural everyday speech.

Explore how Japanese handles formality and negation, switching between formal 'da' and casual 'ja' to say 'not a student' in different social contexts.

Explore Japanese pronouns and the wa particle by analyzing the sentence Kore wa boku no chichi desu. Practice pronouncing each word with equal stress to avoid common mistakes.

Explore how Japanese pronouns are used, omitted, and changed with formality and context to switch between first, second, and third person.

Learn how the Japanese particle no marks possession by connecting a person and an object. Practice forming phrases with first, second, and third person pronouns or names using no.

Learn how Japanese demonstrative pronouns function as nouns and adjectives, compare kono, sore, and are, and use topic sentences to clarify referents.

Identify how to convert present tense statements about identity into past state of being by changing sentence endings, memorize the rules, and compare informal and formal forms.

Combine past tense and negative forms to express 'this was not my room' by mastering sentence-ending changes, then practice pronunciation with guided repeats.

Practice writing and speaking in Japanese by translating short sentences, pronouncing your Japanese aloud, and selecting first and second person pronouns across two exercises per section.

Practice listening and understanding Japanese by hearing five clearly pronounced sentences, writing them down, and replaying the video to reinforce listening accuracy.

Practice pronouncing the sentence 'tennis was fun' and explore how the Japanese i-adjective for 'fun' is used, with upcoming lectures continuing this topic.

Learn how Japanese adjectives conjugate like verbs, applying endings to express present, past, and negative forms, and distinguish two adjective groups with rules different from verbs.

Explore the topic sentence 'their performance was good' through pronunciation practice and clarify two particles, no and la, as position indicators and topic markers.

Explore the unique Japanese adjective for good, its negative tense, and how its conjugation deviates from standard rules as an exception you must memorize.

Practice topic sentences in Japanese with a focus on a loud voice, repetition, and pronunciation cues. Learn how to add new elements and use a formal sentence ending.

Master formal and informal state-of-being sentence endings in Japanese, convert adjectives and i-adjectives to formal forms, and apply past tense rules using dictionary forms and table examples.

Explore how Japanese adverbs describe adjectives (and sometimes other adverbs) and their placement before adjectives. Learn the three adverb types—adjective-derived, regular, and non-derived—and keep grammar practical for speaking.

Practice translating and speaking aloud Japanese sentences, compare informal versions with the correct answers on video, and restart after feedback to build fluency and confidence.

Learn to form 'I drink coffee every day' in present tense, using particles, and compare casual and polite forms with guided pronunciation of boku and nanda.

Practice pronouncing the sentence 'I am coming tomorrow' and learn how boku and the topic marker wa set the topic in a Japanese sentence, with a preview of upcoming concepts.

Learn how adverbial nouns function in Japanese, treating time nouns as adverbs and placing them before the verb to describe timing, with examples like tomorrow.

This lecture explains how Japanese adverbs come from adjectives, outlining two paths for i- and na-adjectives and showing that adverbs precede verbs in action descriptions.

Practice Japanese pronunciation and speaking in exercise 1 by translating aloud, posting a video, and reviewing the provided answers for boku sentences.

Practice listening to three sentences in this section 5 exercise, understand what is said, and translate them into English. Build core listening comprehension and translation skills for learning Japanese.

Explore Japanese pronunciation and question intonation, focusing on topic sentences like 'Is that your house?' and raising pitch to signal questions.

Practice translating each sentence aloud to reinforce writing and speaking in Japanese. Review the provided answers as you go and complete exercise one for section six.