Learn Japanese like the Japanese do - From Zero to Native

Have you ever thought about exactly how we acquire language and what the difference is between effective speakers and those who can only speak brokenly? Here I explain it!

I briefly mentioned it at the very beginning: The best way to learn Japanese is by reading, listening to, or watching Japanese works. Of course, you will encounter many unknown vocabulary words. That's the whole point. But that's exactly why you need to know how to deal with it. I'll explain that to you in this section!

Not every dictionary is equally good for learning. Here I present the best ones to you and also show you how you can gradually use monolingual dictionaries!

Jidoujisho is probably the most powerful app to effectively practice Japanese. Here I will present to you in detail how to use it.

Learning vocabulary is the core of language acquisition. But how should you go about it? In which direction should you learn? Do you need vocabulary cards and what should they look like? I answer all these questions in this lesson.

My course follows a somewhat different idea than most: I focus on teaching structure and explaining how to create an immersive environment for yourself. As a result, I see only limited benefit in isolated exercises. That's why I want to clarify upfront how you can find them yourself!

How and, above all, when should you start speaking and writing Japanese yourself? I will discuss this in this chapter!

Even if you're not actively forming sentences yet, you can still get used to Japanese pronunciation. And there's one peculiarity you should be aware of!

How do you actually practice speaking and writing Japanese if you can't go directly to Japan? And how do you meet Japanese people for a conversation if you can? I'll explain all of that here!

When I explain how to learn languages, I often notice some disbelief and also a certain unwillingness to use my method. ‘Learning Japanese by reading books and watching TV-shows straight away? That's the goal, not the way!’ Many aspiring learners think they need to build a foundation or base before they can read Japanese. But that's not the case. And here I'll show you why.

I'll explain how Japanese sentences are constructed and how you make simple statements of the form "A does B" and "A is B".

Unfortunately, most textbooks common in the West don't even teach this properly, as they try to equate Japanese grammar with English grammar. That's why I'll first cover some basics here!

In the first chapter, you learned the basic sentence structure, which always consists of a locomotive and a wagon. However, more complex sentences have even more components. Here you will get to know more.

In the last chapter, you learned the basic sentence structure, which always consists of a locomotive and a wagon. However, more complex sentences have even more components. Here you will learn about additional ones.

The particle は causes confusion among learners of Japanese very early on. It is almost always explained incorrectly, but is very easy to understand.

The differences between the two particles は (ha) and が (ga) probably cause the greatest frustrations for most Japanese learners. Because many explanations always present it as a subject. But that is wrong. Here I explain what's really behind it!

After only four minutes, you will know the difference between は and が and know when exactly to use which of the particles and when not to use either of them.

The particles Ga, Ha and Null-Ga seem to have the same meaning at first glance. And even if you understand sentences in which they occur, the question still remains as to which particle you have to use when forming a statement. I'll explain what you need to know about this!

In textbooks, the very first sentence you'll ever read is the Japanese greeting: "私はNameです" And you should forget it as quickly as possible! Because it's unnatural. You don't actually say the 私は part. Here, I'll explain why and how you really introduce yourself in Japanese.

In textbooks, the very first sentence you will ever read is the Japanese greeting: "私はNameです" (Watashi wa Name desu). And you should forget it as soon as possible! Because it's unnatural. You don't actually say 私は (watashi wa). Here I'll explain why and how you really introduce yourself in Japanese.

Here you will learn about the て (te)-form, the most important verb form in Japanese. But in order to form it, you first need to understand the different verb groups!

So far in this guide to Japanese grammar, you have only seen a single tense. But in order to speak and write completely natural Japanese, you actually need a total of three. And I will introduce them to you here!

The particles に and へ cause a lot of problems for many Japanese learners due to their numerous areas of application and overlaps. Here, you will find out exactly what you use them for.

Perhaps you've heard of い- and な-adjectives before. In reality, however, Japanese only has one type of adjective. You can use many words in an adjectival function that you might not expect.

The conjugation of the Japanese language is a story full of misunderstandings. In Japanese lessons, it is always equated with the conjugation we know from English. However, it works quite differently!

Although the stereotype suggests that Japanese people are always polite and never reject anything, there is also the possibility to negate in Japanese. And here you will learn everything you need to know about it!

Many textbooks don't explain one of the most important points of Japanese extensively enough: The particles! Understanding their meaning and how they work is the core point of the entire language. And here you'll find out how simple it is!

Particles have a clear meaning, but there are words where you never know exactly which particle is the right one. And the fact that the object marker を also works can be quite confusing. That's why I'm explaining here when you should use which particle!

When it comes to expressing desires, you must understand how perspective works in Japanese. And it's again a point that textbooks omit by trying to equate the language with English. Here, I'll show you how it really works.

This chapter is about how you can express potential. In other words, how you can say that you are capable of doing something.

By now, you are proficient enough to understand not only single sentences in Japanese but even natural texts, albeit initially only in a simplified form. To progress further, you need to learn, above all, how Japanese grammar handles sentence structure and how to express "giving."

While you need quotes in English mostly for narratives, they are much more important in Japanese. This is because not only statements are quoted here. I'll explain to you exactly how it works, why, and to what extent you quote in Japanese.

You will often read about how to conjugate verbs to form the passive in Japanese. There are two problems with this: First, Japanese verbs are not conjugated, and second, there is no passive. In reality, it involves the receiving auxiliary verb られる (rareru) or れる (reru), and here I will explain the grammar behind it!

Here, you will learn how to use the particle も (mo), what こと (koto) is all about, and how the grammar behind Japanese adverbs works. And all of this is not based on an isolated example but on a story you might encounter in real life.

When learning Japanese, you will often hear about transitive and intransitive verbs. In reality, these refer to self-moving and other-moving verbs, which function a little differently. Here you will find out everything you need to know about them.

In this chapter, it's all about trying! Here, you'll learn how to express in Japanese that you are trying something. In addition, I will also explain three more particles to you.

The verb combination with "desu" and "masu" is one of the first that Japanese textbooks usually teach you. Even before they explain to you that it's a combination at all. I'm only explaining it to you now. For one simple reason: Starting with it ruins your understanding of the language.

In English, we are often too quick to find direct translations of Japanese words. As a result, けど is frequently translated as "but". However, there are many situations where this meaning cannot apply. So what do you really express with the word?

I have already explained in an earlier chapter how important quotations and the related particle "to" are in Japanese. Here, I will introduce you to further usage possibilities that you will encounter very frequently.

With the causative, you describe that you cause someone to perform an action. You will also frequently encounter this in combination with the auxiliary verb often incorrectly referred to as the "passive." However, if you understand how both really work, they lose much of their initial terror!

To indicate distances in Japanese, there are the so-called Ko-So-A-Do words. You can use them to mark not only physical locations, but also metaphorically. I'll explain everything you need to know about them here.

In Japanese, there are many different ways to command or request something. But each has its own level of severity. Here, I'll show you four different options, from the strongest command to the weakest request.

I once introduced the te-form as one of the most important forms in Japanese. And in this lesson, you will learn two more important uses of it, which express details in a simple way that you would have to describe in a cumbersome manner in English.

You already know that the て-form can connect sentences. However, it can also do this when it stands together with other particles as でも, ては, or ても. If you know the meaning of the て-form and that of the particles, you can already deduce what you're doing with such statements. Because here, too, what I always say is true: Particles never change their meaning. Also, the て doesn't suddenly mean something else. In this chapter, however, I'll break it down for you!

It's impressive how many problems だって causes. The translations in dictionaries range from "also" to "I heard". Well. The problem is that it's not a word and actually shouldn't appear in dictionaries at all. However, it reveals a whole bunch of problems with the established teaching methods. That's why there's a whole chapter dedicated to explaining it!

Assumptions and hearsay are very similar in Japanese. However, their usage follows slightly different rules. Here you will find out how exactly they differ and how to use them correctly!

In Japanese, there are two auxiliary adjectives that you can use to express subjective views. Namely, these are らしい and っぽい. They are similar to そう in this respect, but certainly have their own peculiarities in usage and meaning. I will explain everything about them here!

ようだ (you da) and みたい (mitai) are two additional methods for expressing comparisons in Japanese. However, they are much more subjective than そう (sou) and らしい (rashii) from the previous chapters. I will not only explain to you how they work but also how they differ from the other forms.

ばかり is one of those words that are actually very simple to understand but are always heavily inflated in textbooks for the sake of localization. However, as always, it becomes very simple when you think about the actual meaning of the word.

When introducing the particle に, I explained that you use it to specify goals. You also need this when you use よう or こと in combination with なる and する. I'll explain how to use them and all the meanings that can arise from them!

In Japanese grammar, there are a whole series of conditionals that you need to learn. And each of them has its own special meaning and areas of application. I'll explain how they work and when to use which one.

In Japanese, you will often see statements ending with てしまった. And perhaps you're wondering what exactly is behind it. Because, like with many statements, it's not entirely obvious. That's why I'll explain to you here where it comes from and what it means!

In the West, なの is often presented as a word. However, Japanese dictionaries don't recognize it. Because なの, like だって, is not a word. I'll solve the mystery for you here!

Japanese is known for often leaving out a lot. Sometimes it's whole words, sometimes just parts of them. Here I'll show you some of the most common omissions so you can still understand them.

I have already introduced ばかり. However, it's not the only limiting word in Japanese. This article is about だけ, しか, and のみ, as well as their specific areas of application.

In classic textbooks, より, のほう and いっぽう are introduced with statements like 猫より犬のほうが大きい and explained that you make comparisons with them. This is unfortunate because it's only one way to use the words and obscures their true meaning. But here I'll explain to you how they really work.

A place, in Japanese ところ (tokoro), can have many meanings. And they are often mixed up. I'll explain here how you can use them and what you need to keep in mind.

The question particle か is given far too little attention in most textbooks. It is simply presented as a method to mark a question. However, you use it in a much more extensive way. Here, I'll explain the secret tricks of the particle to you.

In the last chapter, I already introduced you to some situations in Japanese where Yes means No. But there is also the other direction, where No means Yes. In daily use, these are very common and can be confusing, especially in the beginning, which is why I'll go into more detail here.

To conclude the learning of Japanese grammar, I will explain in more detail how you can read Japanese sentences and understand complex constructions without any problems.