This is some documentation that presents the basic steps for learning the Japanese language as an English speaker, specifically applying the methods that I have found to be extremely effective for self-teaching. The added challenge of learning Japanese, aside from the unfamiliar grammar and vocabulary, is that in order to make the best use of reading and writing as a learning strategy, you have to regularly work on increasing your comprehension of kanji (the Chinese-derived characters). Reading and writing result in rapid progress, but the extra stumbling block of kanji just means that becoming reading-ready takes more time when compared with other languages.

I will split up the process of self-teaching Japanese into five main practice areas which should be introduced in a certain order, but once they are, they can be practiced without any particular order. These components are:

• Learning Kana
• Learning Vocabulary
• Learning Kanji
• Reading
• Writing

This is the rough order in which practice should be undertaken, at least in terms of using them to improve most effectively. You may argue with this list and say, “where’s the anime??” or “where’s the J-Pop??” or even “I want to write cool things in Japanese as soon as I can! 指図しないで !” But listen, that’s not the point of this documentation; and in fact, you should always do whatever gets you motivated, because that is what will keep you engaged long-term. If listening to Frederic or Asian Kung-Fu Generation on your commute gets you motivated, then be my guest. The point of this documentation is to describe what will work as a backbone for making constant, rapid progress in the language. You may also notice that there is no listening or speaking on the list, and that is because the basic principles of reading and writing apply there, just at a faster pace, and by the time you’re actually able to take full advantage of listening and speaking you won’t need me anymore — Tokyo is your oyster.

In the pages linked below, I will talk about important context for each area of practice, how to get started, and how to avoid the numerous pitfalls while self-teaching. These pitfalls prevented me from making significant progress in my hobby-time for several years, but now I can see how to avoid them and save you the trouble of going through that yourself. Follow these links to learn how to set yourself up for success: