First steps

Beginning Japanese

日本語を始める

Eight short, hands-on lessons that give you the building blocks every later chapter relies on: the three scripts, the sounds, word order, particles and polite verbs.

  • 8 lessons
  • ≈ 30 minutes
  • Audio on every example
0 of 8 lessons done

One sentence, three scripts

私はパスタを食べました。

watashi wa pasuta o tabemashita.

I ate pasta.

Tap a script to see its characters.

  1. Lesson 1 of 8 · 文字

    Three scripts, one sentence

    Know what each writing system is for — and which one to learn first.

    Japanese mixes three scripts in the same sentence. Two of them, hiragana and katakana (together called kana), spell sounds; kanji carry meaning.

    • Hiragana

      ありがとう

      arigatou — Thank you

      Grammar endings, particles and native words. Learn it first — everything else is built on it.

      46 basic characters

    • Katakana

      カメラ

      kamera — Camera

      Words from other languages, foreign names, and emphasis — the way italics work in English.

      46 basic characters

    • Kanji

      日本

      nihon — Japan

      Characters that carry meaning, used for the core of nouns, verbs and adjectives. Most have more than one reading.

      About 2,000 in everyday use

    Most learners can read all of hiragana within one or two weeks of daily practice.

  2. Lesson 2 of 8 · 発音

    The sounds of Japanese

    Pronounce the five vowels and hear why length changes meaning.

    Five vowels

    Short and pure, close to Spanish or Italian. う is said with relaxed, unrounded lips.

    • あa
    • いi
    • うu
    • えe
    • おo

    Every kana is one beat

    Japanese keeps an even rhythm: each kana takes the same time, and ん counts as a full beat. にほん has three beats.

    にni
    ほho
    んn
    3 beats
    Listen

    Length changes meaning

    A long vowel or a small っ adds a beat — and turns one word into another.

    • Long vowel

      おばさんobasanaunt
      おばあさんobaasangrandmother

    • Small っ (a short pause)

      さかsakaslope
      さっかsakkaauthor

    • ー in katakana

      ビルbirubuilding
      ビールbiirubeer

  3. Lesson 3 of 8 · 語順

    The verb comes last

    Build sentences in subject–object–verb order and see why particles make them flexible.

    Japanese order

    私はwatashi wasubject
    水をmizu oobject
    飲みますnomimasuverb

    Subjects are often left out

    When it is clear from context, Japanese simply drops the subject: 水を飲みます on its own already means "(I) drink water".

  4. Lesson 4 of 8 · です

    The basic sentence: X は Y です

    Say what something is, what it is not, and ask about it.

    です works like "is / am / are" and makes a sentence polite. Change only the ending to change the meaning:

    The basic sentence: X は Y です

    私は学生です。

    watashi wa gakusei desu.

    I am a student.

    じゃありません is the everyday negative; ではありません is a more formal version of the same thing.

  5. Lesson 5 of 8 · 助詞

    Particles: little words, big jobs

    Recognise the ten particles you will meet first and what each one marks.

    A particle follows a word and marks its role in the sentence. Pick one to see it at work:

    TopicRead as “wa”

    What the sentence is about: “as for X…”. Written は but pronounced wa.

    私は学生です。

    watashi wa gakusei desu.

    I am a student.

  6. Lesson 6 of 8 · 動詞

    Polite verbs with ます

    Turn any verb polite, and make it past or negative by changing only the ending.

    Beginners start with the polite ます forms: the verb stem stays the same and only the ending changes. Pick a verb and a form:

    Verb

    Form

    eat · Group 2

    食べます

    tabemasu

    Group 1 verbs change their last sound before ます (飲む → 飲みます); Group 2 verbs drop る (食べる → 食べます); する and 来る are irregular.

  7. Lesson 7 of 8 · 特徴

    Four things that surprise beginners

    Stop looking for grammar that Japanese does not need.

    • No plural forms

      Nouns do not change for number. Context — or a counter — tells you how many.

      猫がいます。

      neko ga imasu.

      There is a cat. / There are cats.

    • Past and non-past

      There is no separate future tense. The same form covers habits and the future; a time word makes it clear.

      明日、行きます。

      ashita, ikimasu.

      I will go tomorrow.

    • Dropped subjects

      If everyone knows who you mean, leave it out. Saying 私は every time sounds unnatural.

      行きますか。— はい、行きます。

      ikimasu ka. — hai, ikimasu.

      “Are you going?” — “Yes, (I am) going.”

    • Politeness is built in

      Verbs have a plain form for friends and a polite form for everyone else. Start with polite です/ます — it is always safe.

      食べる → 食べます

      taberu → tabemasu

      eat (plain) → eat (polite)

  8. Lesson 8 of 8 · まとめ

    Put it all together

    Read a full sentence chunk by chunk, using everything above.

    私は友達とレストランで昼ご飯を食べます。

    watashi wa tomodachi to resutoran de hirugohan o tabemasu.

    I will eat lunch at a restaurant with a friend.

Quick check

Seven questions on the lessons above. No pressure — explanations appear after each answer.

Practice Quiz
1 / 7

Which script is mainly used for words borrowed from other languages?

After this page

Your first two weeks

A realistic plan at about 20 minutes a day. Finish kana before anything else — every other lesson gets easier.

  1. Days 1–5

    Hiragana

    Ten characters a day with the kana drills, reading them aloud.

    Open

  2. Days 6–10

    Katakana

    Same rhythm, plus the long-vowel mark ー and small ッ.

    Open

  3. Days 11–14

    Study Book, chapters 3–7

    Numbers, は and の, question words and your first です sentences.

    Open

  4. Every day

    Flashcards

    Review due cards first. Add the words from each chapter as you go.

    Open

Habits that make it stick

  • Kana before anything else

    Drop romaji as soon as you can read hiragana — it hides sounds you need to hear.

  • Do not translate word for word

    Read particles as roles, not as English words. Ask “what job does this do?”.

  • Read out loud

    Saying every example aloud trains rhythm and memory at the same time.

  • A little every day

    15–20 minutes daily beats a long session once a week.

Ready to practise?

Start with the kana drills, open the Study Book, or see the whole path from here to N1.

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