Guides to everyday Japanese
Choose a starting point, study an example and continue with practice or an everyday situation.
Beginner guides
Where to start learning Japanese
Choose the 14-session beginner course, a skills check or N5 practice according to what you can already do.
Learn hiragana and katakana by reading and typing
Distinguish small っ・ゃ and long vowels, then move from the kana chart to words.
Choose は・が・に・で・を from the sentence
Identify the topic, focused subject, location of existence, location of an action and object in complete sentences.
Japanese verbs: ます・ない・て・た
Identify the verb group before practising polite forms, plain negatives, the te form and the plain past.
A study-and-review route through N5 basics
Study the foundations, take a check, complete seven review stages and check again with a different question set.
Use Japanese in a situation
Order at a café
Order a drink, confirm the quantity, and say whether you will drink it here or take it away.
Confirm a school plan
Distinguish a meeting time from a study location and confirm the latest plan.
Ask about returning an item
Explain when you bought an item, ask permission to return it, and answer a question about the receipt.
Make classroom requests
Distinguish requests to do something from requests not to do it, and ask for repetition when needed.
Arrange a meeting
Read a changed meeting time and distinguish where you will meet from where you are now.
Introduce yourself
Introduce your name and background, then ask the other person a polite question.