Mastering Japanese for FREE
Do you want to master Japanese language? YES! For free? Why not?
Learning Japanese for free online is actually the first step for most Japanese learners, and one of most efficient way in mastering Japanese language these days. This article introduces methods of mastering Japanese for free by explaining how to utilize various materials widely available on the Internet.
If you are dedicated in learning Japanese language and ready to splash some cash, it is probably easier to get focus to achieve progress by enrolling to a paid Japanese-learning lesson. However, if you are just starting to explore Japanese language and not ready to spend any money on it yet, it cannot go wrong to search for sources which offer Japanese learning materials for free.
There is no such thing as the best learning method of anything which works for everyone, and Japanese language is no exception. It is very important to get the whole picture and select the learning method which suits you best! Getting the whole picture of all available options should be your first priority and this article provide helpful ideas about what and where to go for.
However, here is a secret: “There is no such thing as the best learning method”. Each learning method has its strengths and weaknesses. Thus, it is unfair to judge whether one learning method is definitely superior to others, as the result often mainly depends on the effort and dedication which each learner puts in the learning process.
Mastering Japanese for Free (Japanese Language)
General Materials
- Website of Japan Foundation
This website is one of the treasures of free Japanese learning material on the Internet. Many of its materials can be downloaded for free.- Apps of Learning Hiragana & Katakana
- Apps of Kanji 1,2,3
- E-learning Anime & Manga
- Free Japanese learning textbook and audio: Basic Japanese Irodori
- Website of NHK World (Starter -Beginner level)
This website provide materials on learning Japanese characters (Hiragana, Katakana and Kanji), key phrases, vocabulary, and related exercises while also give information on Japanese culture. Most material can be downloaded for free.- Learn Japanese letters: Hiragana, Katakana, and Kanji
- Travel Japanese: 8 free videos, in English, Chinese, Indonesian, Thai and Vietnamese
- Japan Easy lessons: 48 free videos of Easy Japanese
- Easy Japanese Basic grammar lessons: 48 free lessons with vocabulary list & quiz, in English and other 18 languages
- Easy Japanese Conversation lessons: 48 free lessons with vocabulary & key-phrases list, exercises, and culture introduction, in English and other 16 languages
- Website of NHK World (Elementary – Intermediate level)
- Easy Japanese for Work: 30 free video lessons
- Weekly News in Simple Japanese (audio)
- Other Japanese learning website and videos
- Meshclass Japanese
Study of Japanese grammar, idioms and proverb from a Japanese native teacher.
- Genki Japan.net and Richard Graham’s Youtube channel
Study Japanese in a fun way using while finding out some basic information about real life in Japan.
- Japanese JLPT N5 Tips and Tricks: about 50+ videos are available
- Meshclass Japanese
Listening
- Online streaming of Japanese Radio
Nothing is better than learning Japanese while getting latest information from real news and discussion directly from Japan. Radio program, due to its nature of absence of visual information, is generally easy to listen because speech and dialogs are pronounced more clearly than television program and video.- ListenRadio
- Nippon Hoso(ニッポン放送)
- Radiko : Radiko is the largest Japanese radio online streaming service in Japan. However, unfortunately Radiko cannot be listened from outside Japan.
- Japanese song (J-POP) videos and lyrics
Listening to Japanese songs and studying their lyrics can improve your Japanese language skills while also lighten your spirit up at the same time.- Japanese popular song list: J-Pop Popular Songs (2020 – 2021)
- Website of Japanese song lyrics:
- jpopasia: Original lyrics with their romaji readings and English translation.
- Japanese Song Lyrics: Orginal lyrics with their furigana (hiragana character) readings.
- Listening to Japanese kids songs and stories videos
Children songs or stories are also good materials to learn any new languages because they generally use simple grammar and words.
Reading
Reading comprehension naturally improves by exposing yourself to frequent and continuous readings. For starters/newbie, here is one of useful websites to help you to improve your reading skills efficiently.
- Easy Japanese : Easy Japanese provides daily news in easy Japanese sentences, in which you can select whether to display its furigana (hiragana spelling) characters or not. Short routine but continuous daily exercise of reading news on this website would improve reading speed and vocabulary strength at the same time.
- NHK News Web Easy: Read latest news in Japanese written in easy Japanese.
- Aozora Bunko (青空文庫): Aozora Bunko is a Japanese digital library with several thousands of works of Japanese-language, both fiction and non-fiction. Almost all of them are out-of-copyright books or works whose their authors wish to make freely available.