Learn How to Write Japanese Alphabets:
1. The easiest way to learn Hiragana
1.a What are these things ” ゛, ゜ , ー” doing?!
1.b Why are these “ゃ ゅ ょ っ” so small?
2. The easiest way to learn Katakana
3. Kanji guide
4. How to build a sentence in Japanese
Japanese Free Lessons for Absolute Beginners :
1. Japanese particles 101
More in depth :
∟ Differences between が (ga) vs は (wa)
∟ Difference between で (de) vs に (ni) vs へ (e)
2. Japanese verb conjugation
∟ Masu form
(form used for formal speech – present simple, negation, past tense, past negative)
∟ TE form
(request, informal past tense, present continuous, past continuous)
Japanese Important Phrases :
1. How to THANK properly + you’re welcome
2. Japanese Slang すごい (sugoi) and かっこいい (kakkoii)
Hello Misa, I found your videos on YouTube and they are great. So I set up an iTalki account (Kirk), to learn more from you but it says I can’t book any of your sessions. Can you please let me know when/ how as I’m super keen. I have been taking lessons at a language school for 5 months already so have a basic knowledge but think you explain it really well too. Kirk from New Zealand =)
Thank you so much!! I’m very sorry but I’m currently very busy with other jobs but I’ll start accepting new students in the future. Hope you can find alternative options to learn Japanese! >.<
These videos are VERY helpful Thank You!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Im still pretty new at this but I have a question. when I have seen Japanese writing in anime and other things its a mix of hiragana and katakana. as someone learning to write these how do u know which characters to use??
Katakana is used for words borrowed from other languages
Please check my guide for Hiragana and Katakana :)
Konnichiwa Misa…I will be traveling to Shinjuku prefecture soon for my first trip to Japan. Which i believe is an “inner area” of the city of Tokyo. Please correct me if i’m wrong about that…? And i’m wondering how helpful the native people will be to me. Once i land at Haneda in terms of getting around the airport and finding my hotel etc…? Considering my Japanese is VERY limited. I will most likely be using an app on my Android cell phone that has speech to speech recognition. What that means is i can speak in English and it will come out in Japanese. And the Japanese speaker speaks in his/her native language and it automatically translates to English for me. I suppose that is “cheating” instead of learning the language myself. However, the thing is i want to communicate the best i possibly can and think that this app will help my 2 week stay in Shinjuku be much more enjoyable. Also, i wanted to know is Shinjuku considered the”homosekushuaru district “of Tokyo…? As I am an openly gei man and have specifically chosen this area for a reason. So that my visit is a bit more comfortable and convenient to bars/nightlife etc…Also i was wondering what is the taxi fare from Haneda airport to Shinjuku cost…? I have been reading online that it can be anywhere from 8-10,000 yen and that’s only one way…!!! That’s roughly $100-150 US dollars and realize that taxi/limo service in Tokyo is VERY expensive. But i find the Railway system VERY confusing after looking at maps online. And the last thing i want to do is get lost in a foreign country…!!! So if you could help me out with that information and any other information i mentioned above i would GREATLY appreciate it. Arigatou gozaimasu…!!! :)
Sorry my website was down for a few weeks and had too many spams and didn’t realise your message.
You are probably already in Tokyo! I hope you enjoy your trip!
As for the “homosekushuaru” district, you wanna go to “Shinjuku Ni-choume”. Shinjuku is huge and normally it’s considered to be the businessmen district.
And yes, taxi costs a fortune! From Haneda to Shinjuku you should take a buss or train. I’d recommend using a buss as it’s pretty comfortable and you don’t have to change the lines and stuff.
I trust your system of blogs and i appreciate them! I find you articles interesting ,especially when you talk about Japan! I want to be fluent one day and you help a lot so thank you!
I just discovered this blog and wish I found is sooner. Thank you so much
Hi Misa Just starting out learning Japanese and came across your Youtube channel. I found it really useful and your way of explaining things was interesting. I will keep watching hopefully some of it will sink in and will be able to read and write and speak a bit. I find Japan a interesting people and culture with a lot of history so i hope to go visit sometime.
Thanks for your very useful and helpful website/Youtube, Keep up the good work.
はじめまして。I’ve been a fan of anime/manga since I was in 7th grade, and I’ve seen gotten back into it a couple years ago. I watched some of your videos on YouTube, and I did not realize you had a website as well! I’m very pleased to find this out! ^_^ I’m hoping to learn all that I can about the Japanese language, and pleased to have a wonderful teacher such as yourself as a guide. I’ve since put the Japanese language into my computer so I can learn to type it more effectively, and also read it at the same time.. I’m not sure how much it will help. I am also using a language learning app that is separated into subject chapters, and I have learned how to speak many sentences, and learned so many words I did not know before! I just wanted to say thank you for your work, and I hope to learn much more from a native speaker than I would just from an app and my own personal studies. ありがとうございます。
Misa Sensei,
You are a remarkable communicator. Your own experience in learning other languages (Russian, German, English) has obviously made you particularly aware of the needs of people who are trying to learn Japanese. It comes through in the way you express yourself in your videos. They are clear and to the point with good examples and no extraneous material. I also really appreciate that you focus on teaching real, everyday, Japanese rather than more textbook Japanese. And your English is amazing! Moreover, you are very personable and inspiring in the way you present the material.
After many years of ‘playing’ at trying to learn Japanese you have inspired me to get serious about becoming fluent. You have created an incredible body of work that you should be very proud of. Thank you for sharing it with all of us.
Hontou ni, arigatou!!
I learned a lot from your post. Thank you very muc. More power to you!
みさ先生、
There are a lot of Japanese learning resources on the web nowadays, many are very good. But honestly, for English speakers who are beginning to intermediate level, I have never found another resource as good as your website and YouTube channel. The way you explain grammar, vocab usage and culture, and the way you make your subtitles (kanji, kana & romaji) with color coding, is outstanding. It really helps English speakers to ease into Japanese and take it to a fairly high level in a very enjoyable way. Your enthusiasm for the work and positive attitude toward life in general really shows in your lessons. You are a truly remarkable teacher. Thank you for sharing your talents with the world.
本当に いつも、いつも、教えてくれて どもありがとうごさいます
This is really good
This is really helpful for us arigatenkyu hehe
Just found out your website. your explanations are so easy to understand for beginner like me. Thank you so much!
Hello Misa!
I really want to thank you for what you are doing. It is so helpful. Your videos are so well structured and easy to follow.
Thank you and keep up the amazing work.
Hello! First of all thank you so much for all your videos <333
I have troubles with passive form and went here to read about it, but sadly I can't find part I of an article about it. Both links in part III for example lead to part II. Or am I doing something wrong? f(._.)
thank you so much
I wish I found this blog more early because I have never got the chance to learn Japanese easily! Thank you for this blog (o^▽^o)
hi! thank you for your helpful videos + articles! its helped me learn a lot :) i just wanted to let you know that your ga vs wa link is broken on the absolute beginners page! apologies if you were already aware