Self-Study Links
These resources are arranged in two parts. The first part lists general useful websites for self-study. The second part has links for beginner students that are listed in the logical order of studying, starting with the simplest building blocks and moving up to more complex subjects.
This list is a work in progress, and if you have suggestions for new resources, please let me know.
This list is a work in progress, and if you have suggestions for new resources, please let me know.
General Links
Blogs and Personal Websites
Nippoem: Read real Japanese poetry (mainly haiku and senryū) in bilingual Japanese/English format.
Self Taught Japanese: A great blog and resource for serious learners. Has useful articles on grammar and vocabulary, media reviews, and translations of Japanese reading passages. You can find articles that suit your level through the categories menu.
Japanese Reader: Articles focusing on written Japanese and strategies for developing reading comprehension. Useful to anyone who aims to achieve advanced literacy and struggles with the multidimensional difficulties of Japanese.
Nippoem: Read real Japanese poetry (mainly haiku and senryū) in bilingual Japanese/English format.
Self Taught Japanese: A great blog and resource for serious learners. Has useful articles on grammar and vocabulary, media reviews, and translations of Japanese reading passages. You can find articles that suit your level through the categories menu.
Japanese Reader: Articles focusing on written Japanese and strategies for developing reading comprehension. Useful to anyone who aims to achieve advanced literacy and struggles with the multidimensional difficulties of Japanese.
Routine Resources
(1)
Readings of personal names. Enter the kanji and get the likely reading/s (not 100% accurate but worth a shot).
(2)
Bilingual example sentences. Enter Japanese word/s and get sentences with human-translated English equivalents.
(1)
Readings of personal names. Enter the kanji and get the likely reading/s (not 100% accurate but worth a shot).
(2)
Bilingual example sentences. Enter Japanese word/s and get sentences with human-translated English equivalents.
Beginner Materials
Sounds
(1)
All the basic sounds in audio, hiragana, and romaji.
(2)
Sounds in words: listen to how the different sounds are realized in complete words and a recited passage.
(3)
More words with audio, by category.
(4)
Online dictionary of accents, with audio in male and female voice for each word
(1)
All the basic sounds in audio, hiragana, and romaji.
(2)
Sounds in words: listen to how the different sounds are realized in complete words and a recited passage.
(3)
More words with audio, by category.
(4)
Online dictionary of accents, with audio in male and female voice for each word
Kana
(1)
Learn to write hiragana and katakana with animations and audio.
(2)
Another, more conveniently arranged resource with hiragana and katakana animations.
(3)
A short explanation of romaji and the different methods of writing Japanese in latin alphabet.
(4)
An overview of how alphabetical order works in Japanese.
(1)
Learn to write hiragana and katakana with animations and audio.
(2)
Another, more conveniently arranged resource with hiragana and katakana animations.
(3)
A short explanation of romaji and the different methods of writing Japanese in latin alphabet.
(4)
An overview of how alphabetical order works in Japanese.
Kanji
(1)
Introduction on kanji and radicals. With a useful diagram of the 48 most frequent radicals.
(2)
A list of all 214 radicals with their names in hiragana. If you click on any of the images you'll see the characters associated with that radical, with stroke order animations. (Japanese website, but easy to figure out)
(3)
Wikipedia's list of radicals. This one also has the meaning of each radical in English, and smoother stroke order animations.
(4)
A reference list in a simpler format to navigate. Radicals, associated characters, and English meanings.
(5)
Joy o' Kanji, a premium resource with articles and mnemonics that help you learn all the characters on the Joyo list. Free materials are also available.
(6)
The 2,500 most common characters, by descending order of frequency. This is the best and most useful order for studying kanji.
(1)
Introduction on kanji and radicals. With a useful diagram of the 48 most frequent radicals.
(2)
A list of all 214 radicals with their names in hiragana. If you click on any of the images you'll see the characters associated with that radical, with stroke order animations. (Japanese website, but easy to figure out)
(3)
Wikipedia's list of radicals. This one also has the meaning of each radical in English, and smoother stroke order animations.
(4)
A reference list in a simpler format to navigate. Radicals, associated characters, and English meanings.
(5)
Joy o' Kanji, a premium resource with articles and mnemonics that help you learn all the characters on the Joyo list. Free materials are also available.
(6)
The 2,500 most common characters, by descending order of frequency. This is the best and most useful order for studying kanji.
Grammar and Verbs
> Important note: there is a lot of conflicting and confusing terminology surrounding Japanese grammar. You many want to read my introductory ebook Step Zero to get an accurate picture before using any online resources or textbooks to learn about this subject.
(1)
An efficient verb conjugator. Enter any verb in its dictionary form (that is, the imperfective aspect) and see the root and all the forms, in romaji, hiragana and kanji. A list of the verbs in the conjugator appears here.
(2)
A concise visual chart of some of the main verb conjugations.
(3)
A comprehensive database of grammatical expressions.
> Important note: there is a lot of conflicting and confusing terminology surrounding Japanese grammar. You many want to read my introductory ebook Step Zero to get an accurate picture before using any online resources or textbooks to learn about this subject.
(1)
An efficient verb conjugator. Enter any verb in its dictionary form (that is, the imperfective aspect) and see the root and all the forms, in romaji, hiragana and kanji. A list of the verbs in the conjugator appears here.
(2)
A concise visual chart of some of the main verb conjugations.
(3)
A comprehensive database of grammatical expressions.
Numbers and Counters
(1)
Number conversion: go from standard numerals to kanji, or the other way around.
(2)
A dictionary of counter words by category.
(1)
Number conversion: go from standard numerals to kanji, or the other way around.
(2)
A dictionary of counter words by category.