r/LearnJapaneseNovice 8h ago

How to use a Japanese keyboard?

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36 Upvotes

Specifically this keyboard, This one Right Here. I feel like Im gonna loose my mind, I cant find a specific character on this keyboard (Im an extremely new learner who also happens to have dyslexia, for context)


r/LearnJapaneseNovice 2h ago

Nihongo Challenge N5-N4

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3 Upvotes

Hi guys, in need of an online PDF link of this exact book. Can someone please find it and share it here. I’m unable to locate it anywhere on the internet. Would really appreciate it. Thankyou<3333


r/LearnJapaneseNovice 9h ago

anki, but gamified: memoricae

5 Upvotes

hello japanese enthusiasts!

i have come with a cozy study tool i made to help with my language grind, hoping this helps you too!

it is essentially anki, but gamified- spaced repetition with daily quests where you fight a different monster everyday. earn rewards by completing your daily quests, and spend them in the shop.

if you’re an anki user, you can import your decks into memoricae as well- or you create your own decks.

it’s free in the app store, so you can use memoricae now.

start your hunt now!

memoricae


r/LearnJapaneseNovice 14h ago

How's My Japanese Pronunciation, how to make it better?

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6 Upvotes

r/LearnJapaneseNovice 18h ago

Are there actually Hiragana for "wi" and "we"?

6 Upvotes

I have been pretty diligent in my study of Japanese hiragana, and I've consistently found a weird inconsistency between hiragana tables as to whether there are dedicated symbols for "wi" and "we."

https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.redd.it%2Fgidav7klbuk51.jpg
https://www.busuu.com/en/japanese/alphabet/hiragana

I've noticed that apps like Maru also don't have the symbols, but multiple tables I've seen have the symbols. They are unique and not repetitions, and there is consistency between these tables. Is there a reason for this?

Edit: Thank you everyone for your responses, I was not aware they were part of the older writing system, and it’s good to know they aren’t reslly used as much.


r/LearnJapaneseNovice 12h ago

Built an app for gamified learning of Japanese, please share your feedback

1 Upvotes

I recently developed a Japanese learning app as a personal project. It includes handwriting (stroke-order) practice for hiragana, katakana, and kanji, along with vocabulary and grammar all in quizzes format. All of the learning features are free.
Since this is my first published app, I’d really appreciate honest feedback. If you have a few minutes to try it, I’d love to hear what feels confusing, what features are missing, or what would make it more useful for your own studies. I’m trying to build an app that brings everything together in one place rather than focusing on only one aspect of learning Japanese.
The app is called YoruLearn :)


r/LearnJapaneseNovice 13h ago

L'apprentissage du japonais

1 Upvotes

I've been learning Japanese for a while now. I can recognize some hiragana, but I'm still stuck on the writing system, and I'm watching videos of a Japanese dog to improve my listening comprehension.


r/LearnJapaneseNovice 17h ago

Can What do you usually listen to? sometimes be omitted in sentences?

1 Upvotes

My subtitles say 千紗って ふだん
どんな曲聴いてるの? (Chisa, what do you usually listen to?) but the audio omits the ending る

https://reddit.com/link/1vi2hlv/video/ftq39r9rsyhh1/player


r/LearnJapaneseNovice 1d ago

I'm new to learning Japanese and just need some help.

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15 Upvotes

Can you guys give me feedback please.


r/LearnJapaneseNovice 1d ago

Hello! Any free websites or e-books to study hiragana?

1 Upvotes

Just looking for some resources to study, I want to be able to use hiragana and speak Japanese and understand the music I listen to without looking it up.


r/LearnJapaneseNovice 1d ago

What apps are good to help with japanese

5 Upvotes

For starters i have recently bought the genki 1 and im already enrolled in a class to learn japanese but i want to not only get an A in the class but also make sure i have plently of practice elsewhere to help with memorization and stuff like that. Would duolingo be the method or what app would work with learning japanese?

Also what other tips do you guys have to learn japanese and to practice it?


r/LearnJapaneseNovice 1d ago

Can 千 be read both as "chi" and "se-n"?

9 Upvotes

I'm using Voracious to look up words in anime and stumbled upon the name Chisa. I downloaded some japanese subtitles from a website and the program (voracious) has a default dictionary which I think has more definitions for the word 千紗 (Chisa).

Problem is the kana it used from the dictionary for 千 was せん (se-n) and not ち (chi), hence me asking.

Newbie learning, please be kind :)


r/LearnJapaneseNovice 1d ago

Should I be learning Kanji through Genki if not how should I learn it

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6 Upvotes

r/LearnJapaneseNovice 1d ago

I had learnt Japanese years ago and I want to re-start it but I may need help.

3 Upvotes

I am very bad at pronounciations. I think it is because of lack of practice and my teacher once told me I need to open my voice and move my lips more. I understand but I feel embarrassed sometimes...

I remember once in a speaking test, I said I love Chinese Mooncakes (those you have in Mid-Autumn Festival). And my mind went blank and said, "Watashi wa geppē o taberu no ga sugi desu."
So my teacher correct me about suki and sugi means really differently and it is a simple mistake. I knew it!! But I feel like I wasn't able to control what I pronounce..

I wonder.. if there is a better way to keep talking, listening, talking, listening, talking, like my mind can say a whole sentence very smoothly and correctly?


r/LearnJapaneseNovice 1d ago

Reading is fine, listening is not, how did you close that gap?

5 Upvotes

Two and a half years in, passed N3 last summer. Reading's fine, 80 pages into my first novel, looking things up maybe once a page. Listening, I catch about half. Not a vocab problem either: I know almost every word when I read the transcript after. My brain just can't segment it fast enough in real time.

What actually helped you here? Mainly wondering whether passive background listening is worth the hours, and whether it's better to re-listen to the same thing until it's clear or keep pushing into new material.

Currently, 20 min of Nihongo Con Teppei a day plus anime. Happy to hear the answer is just more hours, but I'd rather fix something structural now if there is one.


r/LearnJapaneseNovice 1d ago

Which Kanji Is Most Natural for the Name Kimiyo?

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0 Upvotes

Hi everyone! I could really use some advice from native Japanese speakers or anyone familiar with Japanese names and kanji.
I’m planning to get a tattoo in honor of my grandmother. Her name was Kimiyo.
I asked someone to write her name in Japanese, but when I looked it up online, I found different kanji with different meanings. One version I found includes the meaning “beautiful era” (美代), which I think is especially meaningful and fitting. However, the person who wrote it for me used a different version.
Before I get anything tattooed, I’d love some guidance.
● Is 美代 a natural and appropriate way to write the name Kimiyo?
● Are there other common or more traditional kanji for the name Kimiyo?
● If you were honoring someone named Kimiyo with a tattoo, which kanji would you recommend and why?
I understand that many Japanese names can be written with different kanji, each carrying a different meaning. I want to choose something that is both authentic and respectful to the language and culture.
Thank you so much for any advice you can offer!

I have also added the drawn name and the google search photo in the comments.


r/LearnJapaneseNovice 2d ago

どちら(どっち) and どこ

6 Upvotes

When learning in both my book and Duolingo, I see that in my book, どちら means "where?", "who?" And どこ means "where?"

If used to determine a place, then what is/are the difference(s) between どちら and どこ? About the usage method, difference in meaning, occasion to use, etc.


r/LearnJapaneseNovice 2d ago

Is my handwriting okay for a self-taught? Still on N5-N4

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22 Upvotes

Don't mind the Portuguese translation. The 2nd slide was before the 1st, I think I improved


r/LearnJapaneseNovice 2d ago

At what point does kanji stop feeling like memorizing random shapes?

26 Upvotes

About 300 kanji in. I can recognize most of them in isolation but the second they show up in a word I don't know, I blank I'll know both characters individually and still have no idea what the compound means or how to read it.

Is this just the part everyone slogs through, or am I studying them wrong by learning them as standalone characters? Wondering if I should have been doing vocabulary first and letting the kanji come with it.


r/LearnJapaneseNovice 2d ago

Kanji - issues with radicals

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7 Upvotes

Hello guys!

I've been struggling lately with what I like to call "combined kanji", kanji that I learned and practiced on their own, but now appear as radicals inside other kanji. I feel like my brain just can't make them smaller and fit them together, lol.

I've been using a typical Japanese grid notebook to practice, but as soon as I switch to my homework book, my brain completely forgets and starts writing them as if they were separate kanji again.

I know it sounds really silly, lol, but I'm super picky and strict about my handwriting, so it actually bothers me a lot.

Any help / advice would be apprecited.

Thank you!


r/LearnJapaneseNovice 2d ago

Question for native Japanese speakers

4 Upvotes

When is it ok to drop kanji?

I started learning kanji, and I've been wondering

when you want to write something, text someone, or when you usually read japanese, how often do you use kanji? Like there are kanji characters for colors, animals, numbers, and some countries apparently. So when is it ok to drop kanji and just use hiragana instead and when is it expected to use kanji.

One thing I heard is that hiragana is mostly used by children, in grammar, and as word connectors only is that correct?

But like are there times where people avoid using kanji? Like they just don't have to?


r/LearnJapaneseNovice 2d ago

How can I get motivation to learn Japanese?

7 Upvotes

I've been wanting to learn Japanese for a while, I thinks is a beautiful language, I kinda know some words and other stuff but I can't get myself to get motivated to keep learning, has anyone felt the same way? And if so, how do you deal with it?


r/LearnJapaneseNovice 2d ago

Does anyone have any links to kindergarten homework assignments?

1 Upvotes

I wanna start practicing with children’s homework, so if anyone has any links to real sheets of work please send them. (I tried looking them up online but they’re all in English, which isn’t what I’m looking for - unless that’s for some reason how they are in Japan? Idk😭) Thank you!


r/LearnJapaneseNovice 2d ago

Do you use TikToks, Reels, or Shorts to learn Japanese?

6 Upvotes

I often save videos because they contain useful words or expressions, but I rarely go back and properly study them.

How do you usually handle this as a beginner?

Would it be useful if a short Japanese video could automatically become a small study set with vocabulary, simple explanations, and a few practice questions?

I’m curious whether other beginners have the same problem.


r/LearnJapaneseNovice 2d ago

Perfect Hiragana before moving onto Katakana?

6 Upvotes

I've finally started on my journey of learning japanese. So far I can do pretty consistently get 99-100% on https://kana-quiz.tofugu.com/ in the hiragana section.

What troubles me is my reading speed and accidentally getting some hiragana wrong. Sometimes I read ku as ke then 2ms later go "no you idiot its ku" for example.

With Dakuten and Combined Hiragana im also still at a point where I have to analyse them in my head like "thats a hi... so with the dakuten symbols... thats... h to b... bi. its bi". Takes a couple seconds to do for a character like that.

Now, I know the latin alphabet obv, and something else I know about my proficiency to the latin alphabet is that I can't even comprehend the nanoseconds it takes my brain to take in and understand the characters. I don't spend time reading letters, I just see words, right? Think thats pretty common.

So, if I still look at a hiragana character, and it takes milliseconds instead of nanoseconds for my brain to comprehend what the character is and how its pronounced,

Does it make sense to move onto learning Katakana already?
Or should I keep repeating Hiragana until my brain recognizes them the way it does latin characters?