J-reading tip: Write down the readings of character names when they first appear with furigana so you don’t have to keep flipping back to those first appearances to figure out how to read their stupid names why isn’t everyone’s name katakana argh

Just found out that @bunprosrs.bsky.social has a community subscription pool, where you can both donate to gift someone a subscription, or apply to get a free subscription! Bunpro is an amazing app for learning Japanese grammar, 100% recommend. Go check it out! #langsky bunpro.jp/gifting#dona...

In addition to this, if you want to study Japanese but struggle to pin down what to study I suggest you; 1. Ask yourself why you want to study Japanese. If it's to read manga then focus on reading skills. If it's to speak, do think like listen to podcasts and practice speaking with a teacher.

Person who is learning japanese: I now have renounced the English language.... I will check out every single work in japanese to enlighten myself on the true meaning of the work Person who speaks japanese fluently +10yrs: imma read it in English I'm too lazy for this

I see lots of people want to study Japanese for their new years's resolution, but it helps to build habits so you can do it consistently for the whole year. Here are some tips on how to build those habits. jtalkonline.com/how-to-make-...

明けましておめでとうございます！！ 今年も宜しくお願いいたします！

Time for the last #Japanese slang review of 2025! Click the link below to learn about... 微浮気 今国民が削減すべきと感じているのは議員の定数ではなく ぬるぽ (ガッ) ジバ オンカジ チャッピー アウトオブ眼中 思い出補正 見なよ…オレの司を グエー死んだンゴ wesleycrobertson.wordpress.com/2025/12/31/j...

It begins.

Actually, while I'm here, I'm gonna keep a thread of all my favorite Japanese learning tools and resources I come across (separated by post to keep everything neat and tidy)

I only read 4 (plus 3 not on this list) out of the 22 Japanese books I wanted to read this year, but I feel the break has remotivated me to get back into reading Japanese.

What was your favourite book or manga you read in Japanese this year?

Steam'a end-of-year sale is poppin' off, so I treated myself to another (highly rated, well reviewed) Japanese language learning game. store.steampowered.com/app/2701720/...

One of the single best things you can do for yourself as an intermediate or above Japanese learner is to revisit pieces of media that you've enjoyed. You may not think you're making progress, but when you realise how much of it is just clicking this now, you'll realise how far you've come.

One fun thing about learning languages is the cultural differences that impact language, which make direct translation impossible. Like in Japanese you don't use "I" very often and almost never say "you". Or how you "drink" medicine, you don't "take" it. くすりをのみます - (I/you) drink (take) medicine.

And then, there's this... youtu.be/GiKHPLCtNPY?...

Thank you, everyone, for following me and liking/commenting/sharing my posts! If you want to support me even more, please get a copy of my book 'Reading Japanese for Beginners' (by Manuela Ito-Loidl) and leave a review. I work diligently on helping you with studying Japanese also next year 💪

メリークリスマス！！

I really recommend this game for anyone interested in learning japanese. It has great #AccessibkeDesign and big font. I am on a break due to other games but I have had more success with this game than traditional book methods. #Shujinkou #主人公

It's coming up to the end of the year. What did you achieve with Japanese studies this year and what do you hope to achieve next year?

New "Let's Study Japanese Through Shoujo Manga" post on my blog!! In this post, I break down the vocabulary and grammar from one of the Christmas scenes in 花野井くんと恋の病 canadianaujapan.ca/2025/12/17/j...

"Use an AI Chatbot to help study Japanese" M8, an AI from the richest companies on the planet don't even know how many letters are in words like 'Five' and will break if you ask it about Shrimp emojis. I'm not trusting that thing to do what an 明日 is.

Now that I mentioned language learning: If you’re learning/want to learn Japanese and like watching anime like I do (or any kind of original Japanese-language tv show really) try to watch with both audio and subtitles in Japanese. I myself have been doing this for a few days now and it helps!

One exercise I HIGHLY recommend for those learning to speak Japanese (or any language) is to say verb conjugations aloud. Get a list of core 20 verbs on paper or flashcards and go through them, saying the new grammar pattern you're learning out loud at about 2 seconds per word without any mistakes.

Going into 2026, a reminder for everyone who's fallen off the creative wagon, game dev, writing, art, music, whatever, no matter how long:

Merriam-Webster’s human editors have chosen ‘slop’ as the 2025 Word of the Year.

I keep seeing posts asking if there are any alternatives to Duolingo for Japanese that don't use AI, and yes there are!!! Also Mango languages might be free through libraries, but they use AI in course creation. jtalkonline.com/japanese-stu...

And shout out to the youtube channels that brighten my day and teach me Japanese. ⊳Nihongo con Teppei A podcast designed for learners with a fun host. ⊳YUYUの日本語Podcast (Yuyu's Japanese Podcast) Much the same, though tends to come prepared with more structure.

My favourite tool for practicing Japanese is drill books. 日本語パワードリル (Nihongo Power Drill) is one book full of useful practice exercises for the JLPT. There are lots of drill books for all levels. The key with drill books is to write answers in a notepad so you can go through them multiple times.

行き変えた！！ The Japanese Talk website is back online!!! jtalkonline.com

Really great study on the rather troubling online discourse around Japanese language learning in certain portions of the web, focused on "techno-solutionism", consumption, and native bias just got published by a good buddy of mine. Open access too! Check it out @ academic.oup.com/applij/advan...

If you struggle to see progress in your language studies, chances are it's not because you're not studying, it's probably because you're tracking the wrong things. Let me show you a better way to get fluent in multiple languages without stressing yourself out: youtu.be/XRM39f3moG0 #langsky

At the recommendation of @japanesetalk.bsky.social, I decided to purchase the 日本語文型辞典. With just a precursory glance, I can already tell this handbook is going to be a much better study materials than the Dictionaries of Japanese Grammar.

My work offers Japanese classes to foreign employees but their teachers aren't great. My Italian coworker is constantly frustrated that his teacher doesn't reach him anything. She mostly acts as conversation practice and says she feels more like a hostess than a teacher.

Update on the website - I hope for it to be back online next week!!! This break has actually been good. It's got me thinking a lot about potential articles and useful stuff for Japanese learners.

Another excellent video about AI and the broader problems beyond just "it sounds bad lol." youtu.be/tl4mAIBA8jc

Fuwamoco's stream playing 漢字でGO and then their Japanese quiz with Sakura Miko reminded me I really, really need to review kanji. But it also felt humbling to see that even Japanese native speakers get kanji wrong. m.youtube.com/watch?v=9T5-...

Good luck to everyone taking the JLPT this weekend!!!

My method for studying for the JLPT caused me to burnout and not touch Japanese for 9 months. Up until 2015 my method of studying for the JLPT was "cram everything and hope it sticks". This meant hours and hours of drilling to the point I got sick. Needless to say, it didn't work.

One of the best places to start learning Japanese is with its two syllabic scripts, hiragana and katakana. Most people start with hiragana, then katakana. And then they move on to kanji. Doesn't sound too bad, right? But why do we need three (actually, four) different writing systems?

A NEW QUIZ HAS DROPPED! ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY of our Japanese Quiz! 🎉 「12月」に関する知識や日本語の理解を試そう！ Test your knowledge about "December" & your Japanese understanding! Discordメンバーは18日までに挑戦して賞状をもらおう！ 5 questions. Take the challenge by the 18th for a certificate in Discord! ❄️ forms.gle/PMSebcojpJmL... ❄️

that Kinokuniya sale is still on for a few hours! united-states.kinokuniya.com/bw/978487424...

コロケーションが身につく日本語表現練習帳 is a vocabulary and grammar book for advanced learners that focuses on similar words and how they're used. I picked this up because I needed to practice particles at an advanced level and this book was perfect.

AI is NOT inevitable. Keep not using it. Uninstall Copilot from your computer. Refuse to use programs bogged down with it. Complain loudly about it when they shove it into the programs you use. We can starve the slop machines.

It's been two months and italki still hasn't fixed their UI and removed the AI slop (and that stupid fish), so I'm officially quitting italki. Going to work with teachers directly and see if I can find some local lessons.

2006 - started studying Japanese 2008 - year abroad in Japan and passed JLPT 4 2010 - year abroad 2011 - passed N3 2012 - 6 months in Japan and passed N2 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 - failed N1 nine times (also moved in Japan in 2018) 2022 - passed N1 🥳

It's time for the November #Japanese slang review! Click the link below to learn about: サナ活 アッシー・メッシー 全ア らりる 全肯定bot 半ドン スキマバイト ドロンする 鬼ムシャ ~ドリュ wesleycrobertson.wordpress.com/2025/11/30/j...

The 教師と学習者のための日本語文型辞典 is a grammar dictionary for teachers and linguists that every intermediate and advanced learner of Japanese should get. The explanations and examples are written for native Japanese speakers, which (I think) makes some complex grammar patterns easier to understand.

While I'm fighting with my previous website host so I can move the hosting to someone less hostile and more reasonably priced, I've decided to do some random reviews on BlueSky of Japanese study resources I've collected over the years. I have a lot...

Ask yourself this: Do you want this to be the future of your anime watching experience, forever? If your answer is no, then act on it! If you are a journalist or anyone with a platform, talk about this! If you know such people, urge them to do so! Use my article as base! Now, before it's too late!

Study burnout is a real issue, but you shouldn't beat yourself up either if you're struggling with it. I've been studying Japanese for over 19 years but there were many times I didn't do any studying for months on end, sometimes even six months to a year.