How to start speaking Japanese

Hello everyone!

My name is Reno, and I run Kind Japanese.

First of all, this article is not for people who want to learn how to read and write Japanese.

This is for people who want to speak Japanese, but don’t know where to start.

If that sounds like you, I really hope you read this.

Before getting into the main topic, I would like to explain why I decided to write this article.

If you want to jump straight to the main points, feel free to skip this part.

I am Japanese, born in a place called Yokohama City in Japan.

Thanks to my parents, I had many opportunities to travel abroad and study overseas from a young age, which naturally made me interested in foreign countries.

When I went abroad, Japanese didn’t work at all.

That’s how I naturally started studying English.

At that point, I hit a wall in language learning.

I didn’t know where to begin, so I desperately tried everything I could find on YouTube and TikTok that seemed helpful, through constant trial and error.

When I was in junior high school, I studied abroad in New Zealand.

This year, I spent ten months in the United States.

In the U.S., I met many people who were learning Japanese and many people who loved Japanese culture.

I was really surprised, and it made me want to share Japanese culture with the world even more.

While teaching Japanese, I realized that there are many similarities between my experience learning English and the struggles Japanese learners face.

Just like I once wondered how I should study English, many Japanese learners are wondering how they should study Japanese.

I hope this article can become a guidepost for those people.

This guide is for people who think:

“I want to speak Japanese, but I don’t know what I should do.”

Now, let’s talk about how to become able to speak Japanese.

I would like to introduce this in five main steps.

STEP 1: -Watch a lot of Japanese videos-

There are two main benefits to watching a lot of Japanese videos.

The first reason is that if you start by trying to memorize grammar and vocabulary, it becomes difficult and many people give up.

I personally experienced this many times while studying English.

At the beginning, everyone is highly motivated, but as time passes, motivation naturally decreases.

To avoid being controlled by motivation, studying needs to be fun.

That’s why watching content you like is the most important thing.

If you like anime, you should watch anime.

If you don’t know what to watch, I recommend reality shows.

Unlike anime or dramas, reality shows use real, natural Japanese, not scripted language.

One show I especially recommend is Terrace House.

Although the series has ended, it was extremely popular in Japan.

The show features people of different genders and occupations living together under one roof while looking for their destined partner.

You can watch it on platforms like Netflix, so please check it out.

The second reason is that your pronunciation improves.

If you speak too much before listening enough, you may develop unnatural habits in your Japanese.

By listening to a lot of native Japanese, you can develop clean and natural pronunciation.

As you listen more, you will gradually recognize more words and start to understand their meanings.

STEP 2: -Shadowing-

Shadowing means watching a video and imitating the speaker as if you were that person.

The most important point is to become that person.

This means paying attention to intonation, small sound details, and breathing.

A useful tool for shadowing is called Language Reactor.

You can find it by searching online on your computer.

This tool allows you to display both Japanese subtitles and subtitles in your native language on platforms like Netflix.

You can also click on unknown words to instantly see their meanings.

As I mentioned before, at the beginning, understanding every word is less important than getting used to the rhythm of Japanese.

STEP 3: -Learn Hiragana-

Japanese uses three writing systems: hiragana, katakana, and kanji.

Among them, hiragana is the most basic.

Japanese also has symbols, so I recommend starting by learning the 46 hiragana characters and symbols.

Once you know these, you can represent all Japanese sounds.

If you have extra time, I recommend studying katakana and kanji as well.

STEP 4: -Study vocabulary and grammar-

This step is often the most difficult part of learning Japanese.

Grammar involves memorizing many rules, and for many people, it is not very fun.

Many Japanese learners use textbooks to study vocabulary and grammar, but nowadays, you can also learn for free on YouTube.

Some people may wonder whether grammar study is really necessary to speak Japanese.

Personally, I believe it is important.

When speaking Japanese, we usually don’t think about grammar consciously.

However, when studying Japanese through movies or anime, knowing grammar helps you understand how sentences are structured.

As for vocabulary, memorizing words from a word list is one method.

However, if you do that, it can be hard to know how to use those words in real situations.

That’s why I recommend looking up words that appear in Japanese movies or anime and learning how they are actually used.

Another effective method is to put sticky notes with Japanese names on furniture in your house.

Since you see them every day, you will naturally remember them.

STEP 5: -Talk with Japanese people-

I placed speaking as the fifth step, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t speak until the end.

You can start speaking earlier, and that’s completely fine.

However, as mentioned in STEP 1, I strongly recommend focusing on listening first.

If you don’t have access to native Japanese speakers, learning online is also an option.

At Kind Japanese, we offer online lessons, and the first trial lesson is free, so please give it a try.

At Kind Japanese, we aim to provide lessons where students learn something new every time.

We try to teach Japanese in Japanese, rather than relying heavily on English, to provide high-quality lessons.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact us via Instagram or TikTok DM.

The final goal is to be able to speak Japanese, and talking with Japanese people is the fastest way to reach that goal.

How was it?

The five steps introduced here are what I believe to be the best based on my experience learning English and teaching Japanese.

Other people may suggest different methods, and that’s okay.

Please choose what works best for you.

Just like when I started learning English, many Japanese learners feel lost and don’t know where to begin.

If this guide can become a guidepost for those people, I would be very happy.

Finally, mastering a language takes a long time—not just Japanese, but any language.

There is a saying:

“A genius is a boy who chases butterflies and ends up climbing a mountain without realizing it.”

In the same way, people who enjoy learning will always go further.

So please don’t think of Japanese as something you have to study.

Enjoy the process.

If learning starts to feel unfun, please come back here again.

I look forward to meeting you somewhere in Japan someday.