I Want to Learn Japanese — Here’s How to Do It the Right Way

So you want to learn Japanese.

That’s exciting—and also a little dangerous. Not because Japanese is impossible, but because most people start with enthusiasm, get overwhelmed, hit a wall, and quietly give up.

Learning Japanese is not easy, and anyone who promises otherwise is either mistaken or selling shortcuts that don’t work. Progress slows after the honeymoon phase. Motivation dips. Life gets busy. This is normal.

The solution isn’t to look for an “easy” method.

The solution is to do things correctly from the start, in a way that’s efficient, realistic, and sustainable.

This guide walks you through a clear, step-by-step path from zero knowledge to confident intermediate Japanese—covering reading, typing, pronunciation, vocabulary, kanji, and grammar—so you spend your energy learning, not endlessly planning how to learn.

No classrooms. No arbitrary pacing. No wasted effort.

Just progress.

Start at Zero (Even If You Know a Little)

If you only know a few words—konnichiwa, arigatō, maybe a phrase or two—treat yourself as a beginner.

This isn’t humility. It’s strategy.

The first steps you take determine how hard everything later will feel. Sloppy foundations lead directly to burnout at the intermediate stage. Careful foundations feel slow now—but save enormous time later.

Your goal at this stage is clarity, not speed.

Step 1: Learn to Read Hiragana

Estimated time: 1 day to 1 week

Hiragana is the backbone of written Japanese. It’s one of the three writing systems (along with katakana and kanji), and it’s where everything begins.

You do not need to spend a month handwriting characters. That’s inefficient early on.

Instead, focus on:

Typing will come later. Handwriting can wait.

Once you can look at any hiragana character and know what sound it makes—without guessing—you’re ready to move on.

Step 2: Get Pronunciation Right (Early)

Pronunciation is easiest to fix at the beginning and hardest to fix later.

Japanese pronunciation is logical, consistent, and closely tied to hiragana. If you learn the sounds properly now, you’ll avoid years of fossilized mistakes.

Focus on:

Say things out loud. Mimic audio. Be deliberate.

You don’t need to sound native yet—but you do need to sound correct.

Step 3: Learn to Type Hiragana

Estimated time: 1–2 days

Modern Japanese is typed, not handwritten.

Install a Japanese keyboard (IME) on your computer or phone and learn how romaji input converts into hiragana.

This step unlocks everything that follows:

Once you can type hiragana comfortably—including small つ, contractions, and diacritics—you’re officially functional.

Step 4: Understand What Kanji Is (Before Memorizing It)

Kanji is often treated as the enemy. That mindset causes more harm than kanji itself.

Kanji isn’t optional. It’s everywhere.

The mistake most learners make is postponing kanji until “later,” which guarantees frustration when grammar study begins.

Instead, understand this early:

Kanji isn’t learned in isolation—it’s learned through words.

This perspective alone will make kanji feel manageable instead of terrifying.

Step 5: Begin Kanji and Vocabulary Together

Estimated time: 1–3 months (ongoing)

Learning kanji means:

You do not need to learn every possible reading upfront. Focus on what appears most often.

A realistic pace:

This may sound intense—but with mnemonics and spaced repetition, it’s very doable.

At this stage, tools that combine kanji, vocabulary, audio, and review timing are extremely helpful. Some learners use dedicated kanji systems; others prefer all-in-one platforms.

This is also where conversational tools like Chatty Sensei can quietly support you—letting you use newly learned vocabulary in real-life scenarios instead of leaving it trapped in flashcards.

Step 6: Learn Katakana (Alongside Kanji)

Estimated time: a few days to two weeks

Katakana represents foreign words, names, and emphasis. It appears less frequently at first—but ignoring it creates unnecessary friction later.

The goal here is simple:

Katakana often feels harder than hiragana. That’s normal.

Progress anyway.

Step 7: Learn to Type Katakana and Kanji

Typing katakana follows the same logic as hiragana.

Typing kanji works by:

Once you understand this, typing Japanese becomes surprisingly natural.

You do not need to know thousands of kanji to start typing—20–30 is enough.

Step 8: Reach “True Beginner” Level

At this point, you should roughly have:

This is where many learners wish they were—but few reach because they rush earlier steps.

Now, grammar becomes manageable.

Step 9: Learn Grammar Using the 80% Rule

When studying grammar, you should already understand most of the sentence.

If every sentence feels opaque, you’re not bad at grammar—you’re underprepared in vocabulary.

Grammar should feel like adding structure to things you mostly recognize, not decoding everything from scratch.

Whether you use a textbook, structured program, or guided conversation practice, prioritize:

This is where guided speaking environments—especially ones that simulate daily life, work, travel, and casual conversation—become invaluable. Practicing grammar inside realistic dialogue (instead of isolated drills) dramatically improves retention.

Step 10: Build a Vocabulary System You’ll Actually Use

You will encounter new words everywhere:

What matters isn’t where you write them down—it’s that you:

Flashcards, notes apps, spreadsheets—any system works if you actually use it.

Vocabulary learned without reuse disappears. Vocabulary reused in context sticks.

When You Get Stuck (You Will)

Everyone gets stuck.

Sometimes it’s confusion. Sometimes it’s motivation. Sometimes it’s the uncomfortable realization that progress feels slower than before.

This isn’t failure—it’s the transition from unaware beginner to aware learner.

You can push through this by:

Some learners add tutors here. Others use structured conversation tools. Either way, the key is active use, not passive consumption.

The Intermediate Wall (And How to Break It)

The intermediate stage is where most people quit.

Not because they’re incapable—but because resources thin out, progress becomes less visible, and confidence dips.

The good news?

If you built strong foundations—kanji, vocabulary, pronunciation—you are already ahead.

The wall exists. You’re supposed to feel it.

And on the other side is real fluency.

Final Advice: Do the Work

Planning feels productive. Learning is productive.

Sit down. Start. Continue.

A little every day beats heroic bursts followed by silence.

Whether you use textbooks, flashcards, tutors, or modern tools like Chatty Sensei to practice real conversations across hundreds of life scenarios, what matters most is this:

Consistency compounds.

Now—stop reading and start learning.