== THE BASICS ==

Kana and introductory grammar — Beginners start here.

Kana

Tofugu’s mnemonics system and study sheets are amazing. There are study sheets for every vowel set in the following articles and the way they're broken down into sections makes it easy to study a few hiragana at a time then come back to study another set later. I did them with my tablet in an art program, but they can be printed out too.

The hiragana writing system is the one you’ll end up seeing the most (and needing the most) while learning Japanese. It’s used for native Japanese words, in most dictionaries, and the furigana (small hiragana over a kanji character). I highly recommend learning hiragana before katakana.

tofugu.com/japanese/learn-hiragana/

Katakana are used for foreign/loan words, manga sound effects, and to add emphasis to Japanese words in printed text (like italicizing/bolding words in English). You'll see these the most in manga because, even if it’s been translated into English, a lot of the time the sound effects are left in katakana. Katakana shares some characters with hiragana so you’ll already know a few characters if you study all of the hiragana beforehand.

tofugu.com/japanese/learn-katakana/

Additional Kana Study Tools

• Hiragana + katakana study quiz game - Hosted on Tofugu and includes tools for choosing which kana set, or even individual characters, to study.
• Ringotan - An Android/iOS mobile game that teaches the stroke order of kana and kanji by making you draw them using your finger or a stylus on your mobile device. It's free while it's still in beta, and will remain free for those that download it during this period. As of Sept. 5, 2023 it's still free. I'm a very visual learner and this app has been very helpful to me for memorization.
• Honestly just writing the kana out helps with memorization a lot. I recommend getting a small notebook with grid or lined pages, printing out a guide (that includes the stroke order) for both kana sets, and practicing writing them whenever you have a chance to. Instead of writing out rows and rows of the same kana, try practicing writing out your favorite characters' names, the kana spelling of a series, food, animal, etc. that you enjoy; or maybe even writing your own name. It's ok if you find out you were spelling it wrong later, it's all about getting that stroke order practice and character memorization at this point in learning.

Grammar + Vocabulary

Studying from a book outside of a classroom setting is very hard for me, I get distracted too easily and had to find a way to gameify learning grammar and vocabulary. While these following websites are very helpful, you'll still need some sort of guide at least for grammar to supplement the information on these sites/apps. Duolingo should be avoided for Japanese study. The way their app teaches does not work well for a language as complex as this and the general quality of the site itself has nosedived in recent years. Using it will only waste your time.

• Lingodeer - This site is only free up to a certain level before you have to subscribe or buy a lifetime membership, but the way it teaches and the addition of study tools to practice vocab, grammar, or kanji/kana specifically make it worth at least trying out the free stuff. I've made a lot of progress with Lingodeer specifically. A quick way to describe it is like if Duolingo was actually good. Has mobile apps and desktop versions
• Renshuu - My daily study tool. Doesn't teach grammar quite as well as Lingodeer, in my opinion, but it's wonderful and very motivating. The dev team is only two people and they have poured an incredible amount of love into it. There are a lot of different games to keep studying fresh and engaging, as well as incredibly rich tools for customizing quizzes to fit how you like to study. Renshuu has a paid version that adds more games and study options that feel more like a meaningful upgrade instead of features that were cut specifically to include them in a subscription service. You get a lot with a free account. Has both mobile apps and a desktop version. The site also offers printout sheets for analog/offline study. If you decide to join, feel free to send me a friend request!! My friend code is: ひやくめ.
• Japanese From Zero - I haven't used this site as much as Renshuu or Lingodeer, but I like how it teaches. From Zero started out as a book series and then expanded into a website that supplements the books. It eases you into Japanese much slower than the other two sites above, so if it's hard for you to learn a language or have memory difficulties, then this option may be the best one to start with. The site only offers the first three lessons of each primary course for free while the books offer the entire lesson, if you can find or otherwise "acquire" a copy.
• Marshall's Site - I have only just barely dipped my toes into this site and can't really comment on its quality or anything. Including it anyway because it's another entirely free learning tool that may be helpful to someone.

Grammar + Vocab Supplements

• Tae Kim’s Guide to Japanese - Fully free Japanese grammar guide. Tae Kim breaks things down into very digestible bits while also providing some study practice at the end of the lesson. However, you’ll need to know a few kanji as well as the kana for the practice stuff. There is also a smartphone app that makes a nice pocket guide and a printed book version.
• IMABI - Free Japanese grammar guide. It approaches Japanese in a manner I saw someone compare to how a programmer might write a guide for a computer language, and it clicks with my brain VERY well. It might be a little heavy and, as much as I love this site, most people might benefit coming back to it after learning some Japanese basics elsewhere first. If you enjoy programming, then by all means start with your grammar studies here.
• Barron’s Japanese Grammar (2nd E.) by Carl and Nobuo Akiyama - This book is so tiny but I would be so lost without it. Explains everything plainly, with examples, and has plenty of charts and guides within it. Saved my ass many times while working on Begin’s translation. Highly recommend. Only flaw is that it doesn’t use kana or kanji. Used copies are cheap, about $4.
• Japanese Verbs & Essentials of Grammar by Rita L. Lampkin - Not a bad little grammar reference guide. It’s very much a book for beginners and contains no kana or kanji. Good-ish as a reference material or for opening and reading a section when bored. Barron’s Grammar is better, but this version may be more accessible for casual study reference and less so for heavy translating. Used copies are cheap, about $4.
• Genki I: An Integrated Course in Elementary Japanese (+workbook) - This book starts off from the very beginning of learning Japanese and ending with advanced grammar with a bunch of kanji along the way. A lot of people swear by this series but I feel like it’s missing a classroom/teacher component. The physical books are a bit expensive ($20+) so my workbook copy is digital. I ended up not getting much use from my book after trying several times. Hesitant about recommending this one, to be honest, unless you're using it in a classroom or other group setting.

== KANJI ==

There is no easy way to study these, I'm sorry.

Kanji are the next step. There are a LOT of kanji (2,200+ are needed to read a newspaper) but, thankfully, with computers it’s not too bad if you can at least read the kana. I’ve had the best luck studying with Wanikani but it is only free up until level 3. Those 3 levels are good at giving an idea of how kanji work and teach a good chunk of some of the most common kanji. You will need to know at least hiragana for everything from this point and onward.

• Wanikani - Teaches kanji and radicals— thecomponents that make up kanji—with mnemonics. Free up until level 3. There's a subscription option as well as a lifetime permanent license for a one-time purchase. If you decide to get the lifetime license, wait until Black Friday (USA: the day after Thanksgiving) when it goes on sale for something like 50% off. Alternatively, there is an Anki deck that includes all 60 levels of Wanikani. Using this is... ethically dubious... but in this economy? I won't judge.
• Anki - Lets you make your own study decks and works on a spaced repetition system (SRS) that remembers which kanji/words you need to study more and which you have already mastered. You can make your own study deck (or import one someone else has made). There are plenty of Japanese decks, some of which even have audio. There is a smartphone app for Anki that can synchronize with the desktop version. Both versions of Anki are 100% free.
• JPDB.io - A free alternative to Wanikani with unlimited levels/free tools. Not as good as Wanikani, in my opinion, but for free it’s not bad! Also uses a SRS system like Anki and uses mnemonics to help with kanji memorization. I prefer JPDB over Anki.
• Ringotan - An Android/iOS mobile game that teaches the stroke order of kana and kanji by making you draw them using your finger or a stylus on your mobile device. It's free while it's still in beta, and will remain free for those that download it during this period. As of Sept. 5, 2023 it's still free. I'm a very visual learner and this app has been very helpful to me for memorization.

Kanji Supplements/Resources

• Yomichan - A browser plug-in that shows you the reading and definition for kanji when you hover over them. I'm ride or die for Yomichan. It's an incredible resource I highly recommend installing if you browse Japanese webpages on desktop often.
• Kanji & Kana: Handbook and Dictionary of the Japanese Writing System by Wolfgang Hadamitzky and Mark Spahn - It was about $4 total off Thriftbooks.com. Pretty straightforward dictionary that includes stroke orders, a little history of the Japanese writing systems, and some useful tips for guessing stroke order, radicals, and general memorization/study tips. I really like this book, even if I don't use it very often.

== WEBSITES/MISC. RESOURCES ==

Random study tools and advanced materials that didn't fit in the above sections.

• Tadoku - A website with free books in Japanese of varying difficulty levels. The site is mostly in Japanese with very little English but most of the kanji have furigana and it teaches Japanese through an immersive method. I really liked this book about a puppy. You’ll need to know at least hiragana for these.
• Study Yoji Jukugo - Various articles fully in Japanese, yet still a little on the easier side as they're meant for novice Japanese students. More advanced than Tadoku. You will need to know quite a bit of Japanese before diving into this site.
• Japanese Short Stories for Beginners by LingoMastery (I have volume 2 but volume 1 is also good) - More reading practice like Todoku. It presents the story in full Japanese (with furigana) then breaks it down with an English translation, vocabulary guide, and study questions. Really nice to have a physical copy of. My copy, new, was about $14. Volume 1 is a bit cheaper, ~$12.
• HappyLilac - Has a variety of different worksheets meant for Japanese elementary students. Site’s in Japanese and might be hard to navigate at first.
• Jisho - Japanese-English dictionary with an English interface. The readings for the kanji are all in kana but the definitions for them are in English. Also has a search option for looking up kanji by radicals.
• JPDB.io - Also a dictionary. I use this in conjunction with Jisho since it’s better at detecting grammatical forms of words but sometimes it goofs and I have to double-check with Jisho.
• BOOK*WALKER.jp - Japanese ebook website. I got Guilty Gear Begin (and the other two Guilty Gear light novels) from here. This site is entirely in Japanese (with prices in yen) but you may be able to navigate it without advanced Japanese knowledge based on familiarity of UI icons. Their books have friggin Pentagon-level DRM protection though and can only be read on their app or site, which is a massive annoyance, but they are the biggest Japanese ebook service. Here are direct links to the 3 Guilty Gear novels:
- Begin - Covers Sol's (Frederick's) early lore, including his betrayal by Asuka and being turned into a Gear. Has kind of a cheesy B movie horror vibe that I really enjoyed.
- Lightning the Argent - This book features Ky (with some Sol, Raven, That Man, and Faust). Gear shenanigans happen.
- The Butterfly & Her Gale - A Chipp-focused novel. Covers the early part of his lore, including the death of his sensei, and, I'm pretty sure, recovery from addiction. Erica is in this book too, which is particularly interesting because she doesn't come back again in the lore until Strive's release almost a decade later!