For a bit of backstory, I’ve actually been studying Japanese on and off since I was a kid. I taught myself hiragana ひらがな and katakana カタカナ when I was in grade school, but unfortunately I’m still terrible with kanji 漢字 recall as well as actually knowing what I’m reading. If you don’t know what any of this means, I’ll make other posts about these topics in the future. In short, these are the three main writing systems in the Japanese language; there’s also romaji ローマ字, a.k.a. the same alphabet we use in English, but in my experience focusing on romaji just makes things harder most of the time. That’s a topic for another post, though.

Everything I’ve learned about Japanese is through independent study. Surprisingly, despite being in a major metropolitan area (Chicago), Japanese is rarely taught in schools here. The only college in the area I’m aware of that offers a full education in Japanese (you can even take a Japanese major!) is North Central College, and even if you have financial aid, are local, and living at home, they’re not cheap. I do have a friend who went there, though, and from what I hear it’s a great school if you can afford it. They offer a study-abroad program, and he got to live in Japan for quite some time. Can’t beat that level of immersion.

NCC aside, it’s pretty tough to find Japanese classes near me. I’m somewhat limited to online/remote courses now anyway, which effectively cuts off the other options I’m aware of, such as through the Japan America Society of Chicago or the Japanese Culture Center, both of which I’d need transportation to even if I could afford them. Another important factor to consider is that these classes are not accredited like NCC’s are. Though language fluency isn’t necessarily something you need accreditation to prove, it certainly doesn’t hurt to have. The real reason this is important, however, is because it also means the FAFSA doesn’t cover it. You have to pay out of pocket. Even though it’s far less than NCC is asking, I’m not in a position where I can do that right now.

Something else to take into account is that, as far as I’m aware, I already have all the books they use in these formal Japanese courses and then some. JAS of Chicago uses Japanese for Busy People, and I believe NCC uses Genki. What they use for these particular Japanese classes in Chicago probably makes no difference to most of you since you’re likely not local, but what I’m trying to say is that both of these are popular and reputable in Japanese courses across the country, as far as traditional textbooks go (though I’d say Genki has a better reputation overall).

I already own Genki I and II, and I want to say I have Japanese for Busy People I (also available in a romaji edition, but I recommend the kana edition; if you need help with learning kana, they make a kana workbook, too), II, and III as well, along with the supplementary audio and workbooks (workbook links: Genki I – II, Japanese for Busy People I – II – III). In the case of JfBP, I’m pretty sure I even have multiple variants of the first book; like, both the romaji and kana versions, because I found the romaji one first in a used bookstore. I also have their kana workbook, even though I didn’t need it… I think I mistook it for the level I workbook. I have a couple Japanese from Zero! books too, but I think it’s only the first two. I also own a lot of kanji reference guides / practice books, as well as things like dictionaries and particle guides. Like… a lot.

I think a lot of my problem is that I tend to buy books with the abstract hope that merely owning them will somehow give me the knowledge contained within.

Getting back on topic, though, I’ve studied a bit from textbooks like these, but never managed to progress to the intermediate level. I’ve actually heard it’s extremely common in learning Japanese to hit the “intermediate wall”; textbooks like Genki, though very good in a classroom context, were probably not written with independent study in mind. As a Japanese learner, this is a massive barrier between me and my fluency goals. It’s super easy to burn out, in other words, which is where I’m at, and where I no longer wish to be.

That’s not to say I’ve studied exclusively from Japanese textbooks, though. I read a lot of online resources as well, and there’s a wealth of very useful information out there that you typically don’t find in a book. I hope to write about a lot of the concepts I’ve found particularly interesting in the future. I feel like the internet makes it much easier to target the subjects I’m struggling most with; I can Google a specific question without having to read an entire textbook only to find my question is still unanswered.

A few sites I’ve found especially useful are Tofugu (along with its sister site, WaniKani) and Japanese with Anime (I just found this one very recently, but it’s answered several obscure questions I’ve had!), as well as JapanesePod101, who are also on YouTube. Jisho and whatever the hell you wanna call this site are both pretty solid online Japanese dictionaries. WaniKani is also available as an app with the convenience of daily practice reminders — it guides you along one of the easiest paths up the intimidating mountain that is memorizing kanji. Around New Years’-ish they tend to put their subscriptions on mega-sale, but while you wait for that to roll around, go ahead and try out their first few levels for free and see whether you think it’ll work for you. They use mnemonics to help you retain the readings and meanings of essential kanji. Rumor has it, they do have a (less major) discount code floating around year-round, though…

I also have several Japanese learning apps on my phone, which is currently very dead so I will have to tell you in another post, lol. Nearly every non-book resource I have is totally free (and to be perfectly honest, you can find a couple of the book resources online for free too, if you know where to look).

Another nice thing is if you can find yourself a Japanese buddy. I don’t necessarily just mean a friend who’s also learning Japanese, though of course that’s helpful too! There are several sites/apps where you can find and connect with native Japanese speakers who are often also trying to learn English. This is a really good idea if you’re looking for immersion. I’ve recently started looking for a Japanese speaking partner myself, but unfortunately I’m a bit shy (read: horribly socially anxious) and I feel like I might only embarrass myself at my current level, haha…

tl;dr: my existing knowledge of Japanese is very scattered and disorganized, having come from many different sources over the years. It is my hope that using this blog can help me to finally organize the concepts I do know, as well as document and share my progress towards understanding new ones.

So, how about you guys? If you’ve read this far, I imagine it’s likely that you’re also trying to learn Japanese. What would you say your proficiency level is? Are you self-taught, or did you find a school that offers Japanese? What are your favorite independent study aids? Let me know!