What to study after hiragana and katakana

Vocabulary and kanji: start together, not separately

Learn kanji through words from the beginning, and review those words with spaced repetition every day.

The temptation after the kana is to treat kanji as a separate project. There are decks, books, and whole systems built around memorizing 2,000 characters before you read a sentence. Some learners find that useful for recognizing shapes. Most find it a slow way to delay using the language. The more direct path is to learn vocabulary and let kanji come along.

Take 今日きょう. It means "today." The characters mean "now" and "day," but the reading kyō is irregular; you would not guess it from the parts. You learn it as a word. Once you know fifty words with 日にち・び・か in them, you recognize the character without drilling it. That is slow for the first hundred words and noticeably faster after that.

Spaced repetition: the engine behind vocabulary

Spaced repetition reviews each word just before you would forget it. Get a card right and the next review moves further out: a day, then three days, then a week, then a month. Get it wrong and it comes back tomorrow. Anki works this way by default. WaniKani and Kitsun build the same idea into a fixed course instead of a deck you choose. Kaishi 1.5k is the usual first deck: the 1,500 most frequent words, each with audio and an example sentence.

When to study kanji components separately

If you are three or more months in and similar kanji still look like noise, a short component deck helps. RRTK 450 is a free Anki deck that trains you to tell look-alike shapes apart, without readings or meanings. It is a fix for one problem, not a replacement for learning words.

If you want a set order for kanji that still keeps words first, Kanji Tower by My Senpai teaches the 1,026 kanji Japanese children learn in grades 1 to 6 through the words they appear in. WaniKani takes a similar structured route with mnemonics.

After the first deck

Once you finish Kaishi 1.5k, move to sentence mining: add the words you meet in your own reading and listening, with the sentence they came from. Tools like Yomitan and jpdb make that faster. Keep the daily reviews, and keep new cards at a number your review time can carry.

Grammar: choose one guide, and start reading before you finish it

Work through one beginner course from start to finish, and do not wait for it to end before you read and listen to real Japanese.

Japanese grammar does not follow English intuition. Guessing from what "sounds right" works for related languages like Spanish or German. It does not work here. Japanese marks how words relate with particles instead of word order: は marks the topic, を the direct object, に a destination or a point in time. That is why word order is more flexible than learners expect, and why dropping particles produces sentences that are understandable but wrong.

Textbooks and free guides

Genki is the most common university textbook series: two volumes from absolute beginner to early intermediate, each lesson pairing a dialogue with drills. It suits a class or a disciplined self-study routine. Tae Kim's guide covers similar grammar for free and suits solo learners. The table covers the usual choices after that.

Levels are approximate. Prices vary by edition and retailer, so check before you buy.

Listening and reading: start using real Japanese early

Spend some time every day with Japanese made for native speakers, at the easiest level you can enjoy, from the first weeks.

Grammar guides, decks, and lessons all prepare you for contact with natural Japanese. That contact is not a reward for finishing your studies. It is the method, and you can start earlier than you think. Native anime, manga, novels, and video use tens of thousands of words; textbooks teach several hundred. Real content is how that gap closes.

Vocabulary researcher Paul Nation's 2006 study found that reading without constant dictionary use needs about 98% of the words in a text, which for English meant about 8,000 to 9,000 word families. Japanese does not map one to one, but the principle holds: reading becomes self-sustaining only once you know a very large share of the words on the page, and sustained reading is how you get there.

You will not understand much at first. Start anyway: you pick up patterns before you can explain them, and waiting until you "feel ready" for native content never ends, because readiness comes from native content.

What to read and watch

Choose content you actually care about, or you will not stay with it. Slice-of-life anime tends to use simpler language than action or fantasy. Manga with furigana (small readings above the kanji), such as よつばと！ (Yotsubato!), is a common first reading choice: informal Japanese, simple words, and pictures that help you guess. For building a reading habit that lasts, see the guide to immersive reading.

On a computer, the Yomitan browser extension shows the reading and meaning of a word when you hover over it (hold Shift). With the asbplayer extension you can load Japanese subtitles onto streaming video and look words up mid-episode. On a phone, a dictionary app such as Shirabe Jisho or Akebi does the same job more slowly.

Active and passive listening

Active listening means full attention: watching, following what is said, and looking up words that repeat. That is where most of the progress comes from. Passive listening means Japanese audio in the background while you cook or commute. Its value is volume, not comprehension. It does not replace active study, but it costs nothing extra. Brain imaging research shows that actively engaging with language involves more brain areas, linked to attention and memory, than hearing it passively.

Aim for content slightly above your level: almost understandable stretches you, and completely opaque content gives you little to work with. A practical beginner split is about 70% listening and 30% reading, moving toward half and half as your reading improves.

Speaking, tutors, and language exchange

You do not need a tutor to build a foundation; a tutor is most useful once you can form simple sentences and want feedback.

The self-study resources for Japanese are very good. Lessons earn their cost in speaking practice, specific feedback, and accountability. Early on, a lesson costs the same as a later one but covers far less than the same time with Anki and a grammar guide. Once you have some vocabulary and grammar, lessons become conversation practice instead of basics, and the value goes up.

Where to find tutors

italki is the largest online tutor marketplace, with professional teachers and less formal community tutors. Community tutors are fine for conversation once you have your footing; professional teachers are worth more when you want corrections and homework. Preply is a similar option. If you are aiming at a JLPT level, the JLPT grammar guides list the targets for each level. In Japan, language schools and university programs offer classroom structure at a higher price.

Language exchange

In a language exchange you meet a Japanese speaker who is learning English and split the time between the two languages. It is free and appealing, and harder to keep up than it sounds: sessions drift toward the language both people find easier, which is usually English. Exchanges that last tend to have structure, such as each person bringing a short text or a scene to work through. HelloTalk and Tandem are common places to find partners; expect to try several before one fits your schedule and level.

Discord servers for learners work best as communities: places to ask a specific question, find content, and get unstuck on a grammar point. WaniKani's forum keeps a list of Discord servers for Japanese learners if you want to find one that fits your interests.

Why another person helps you keep going

Lessons, exchanges, study groups, and conversation classes share one thing no app can copy: someone expects you to show up. You can skip a solo session without anyone noticing; canceling on a tutor or a partner feels different. Over a multi-year timeline that is one of the most reliable ways to stay consistent, especially in the middle stretch between N4 and N2, when the early excitement has faded and fluency still feels far away.

Pitch accent: be aware of it early

Japanese words have a pattern of high and low pitch; you do not need it to be understood, but awareness early is much easier than fixing habits later.

橋はし (bridge) and 箸はし (chopsticks) are written the same in kana and differ only in pitch. Context usually sorts it out, but getting pitch wrong marks you as a non-native speaker, and whether that matters depends on your goals. Dogen's free introduction on YouTube covers the basics, and his full course goes much deeper. Dictionaries such as Shirabe Jisho show each word's pattern. The pitch accent guide explains the patterns in more detail, and Pitch Accent Lab by My Senpai lets you hear and see them for free.

If natural pronunciation is not a goal, stay aware that the patterns exist and move on. If it is a goal, start early. It matters most for speaking and working in Japan; it does not matter for reading.

Goals and the JLPT: what it measures

The JLPT is a useful milestone that tests reading and listening only; it has no speaking or writing section.

The Japanese-Language Proficiency Test has five levels, N5 to N1. It is held twice a year in Japan (July and December), and once or twice a year elsewhere depending on the city. Passing N1 and holding a conversation are related but different skills.

Word counts are commonly cited estimates from the older test guidelines; the JLPT has not published official word lists since 2010.

The test works well as a forcing function: N5 in six months gives your vocabulary study direction, and N3 in eighteen months gives you a grammar list. N1 is required by some employers in Japan and earns points toward the Highly Skilled Professional visa. For most learners, though, it is a benchmark, not a destination. Someone who passed N1 from test-prep books alone may do worse in a conversation than someone who never took it but spent hundreds of hours watching Japanese shows. At N3, the N3 reading practice guide covers the reading section.

Goals that survive real life

The goals that last are attached to things you want to do. "Read this manga series in Japanese" beats "reach N2," because the manga exists and you can open it today. Some immersion guides suggest milestones such as ten series watched in Japanese, one novel finished, then five. They are rough, but more grounded than JLPT levels if you are not taking the test.

How to judge Japanese study methods and apps

Be skeptical of anything that promises a dramatic result in a short time, and trust the tools serious learners recommend to each other.

You will meet courses and channels built on "how I reached N1 in one year." Sometimes the claim is true. More often the timeline is compressed in hindsight, the starting level was higher than implied, or the test was passed without the speaking ability to match. Either way, their path is not yours. What makes particles click for one learner confuses the next, and the anime that made listening feel natural for one person is too fast or too dull for another. A one-size-fits-all system misunderstands how people learn languages.

A better model is nutrition. No single food gives you everything. You need vocabulary from flashcards, grammar from structured study, listening and reading from native content, and speaking practice, in a mix that changes as you progress. Only immersion produces learners who understand a lot and cannot build sentences under pressure; only textbooks produces learners who pass tests and stumble at the ticket machine. Your tools will change too. The deck that served your first 1,500 words may feel mechanical at 5,000. That is normal. Moving on from a tool you have outgrown is part of the process.

Marketing is not the same as quality

Duolingo, the best-known language app, reported $125.7 million in sales and marketing expenses for 2025 in its annual report. Its Japanese course is a gentle start, but on its own it does not cover the vocabulary or grammar needed for real fluency. Anki, by contrast, has almost no marketing and a plain interface, and it is the flashcard tool learner communities recommend most often. Yomitan has no ad budget either. Tools like these spread because they solve a real problem well.

When you judge a resource, ask who recommends it and what level they reached. A recommendation from someone who reached conversational Japanese means something; a product's own marketing page means less. Communities such as Reddit's r/LearnJapanese and the TheMoeWay guide have spent years filtering what works, often bluntly. If a product spends more effort on streaks and push notifications than on the Japanese it teaches, that tells you something.

Free versus paid

You can learn Japanese with free tools: Anki, Tae Kim's guide, Nihongo no Mori on YouTube, Yomitan, Jisho.org, NHK News Web Easy, and Tadoku's free stories cover vocabulary, grammar, listening, and reading from beginner to intermediate. Textbooks are where spending tends to pay off, because the structure of Genki, Quartet, or Shin Kanzen Master is hard to rebuild from free pieces. Most learners who get past N4 own at least one.

Beyond textbooks, the case for paying is mostly about you, not the features. Many learners find that paying for a tool they use daily makes them show up more. If a free tool already has you studying every day, stay free. If you keep starting and stopping, a paid tool you commit to can be the anchor. Tutors are worth paying for once you can hold a simple conversation, and official JLPT practice tests are worth buying before an exam.

The habits that matter on any path

Successful learners, whatever their method, do something every day, move on from beginner materials early, and mix all the skills.

1. They do something every day. Not necessarily for long. Ten minutes of reviews on a bad day keeps more than a three-hour session after a two-week break.
2. They leave beginner materials before they feel ready. The discomfort of not understanding everything in native content is not a sign you need more preparation. It is the preparation.
3. They learn vocabulary, grammar, and real content at the same time. Grammar without vocabulary has nothing to attach to; vocabulary without grammar has no structure.
4. They stop translating everything. Reading Japanese by translating each sentence into English is slow and does not produce fluency. Direct understanding comes with exposure, and it comes sooner if you work against the translation habit early.
5. They have a real reason to use the language. Not "it would be cool to know Japanese," but something specific. More on that below.

A daily routine that survives real life

A full beginner day might be 20 minutes of Anki, 30 minutes of grammar, and an hour of listening and reading: about two hours. That is realistic for some days, not all of them. The minimum version is your reviews. Reviews take about 15 minutes on a normal day. On a day when everything else falls apart, do those and skip new cards. Skipped reviews pile up, and a stack of 300 overdue cards is a common reason people quit.

On bad days, reviews only. If reviews start piling up, lower your new cards.

Create real reasons to use Japanese

Motivation based on the idea of fluency fades; learners who keep going have a concrete use for the language.

If you want to read a manga that was never translated, you read Japanese because you want to know what happens next, not because you scheduled it. If your pen pal's English is limited, you write in Japanese because there is no other way. Stakes like these are more reliable than discipline over several years.

Ways to create real stakes

• Book a trip. A date on the calendar makes menus, directions, and trains feel immediate.
• Keep a standing exchange or lesson. Skipping study is abstract; standing someone up is not.
• Use it at work. If your work involves Japanese clients or colleagues, offer to handle a little correspondence.
• Find untranslated content you want. A game never localized, a manga series, a creator who only posts in Japanese.
• Register for the JLPT. A paid exam with a date turns a vague goal into a schedule.
• Use Japanese customer support. Chat support is real written practice with a real problem to solve, and in Japan phone support is the real thing.

If you already live in Japan, the language is on every sign, menu, and announcement, but passive exposure is not enough on its own. You still have to choose to speak Japanese when someone offers English.

Further reading

• Japanese learning roadmap: every stage from kana to N1, with the tools for each
• Hiragana and katakana guide
• How to build Japanese vocabulary
• Immersive reading in Japanese
• Reading apps for beginners
• How to get better at speaking Japanese
• Japanese pitch accent explained
• Why people quit Anki, and how not to
• JLPT grammar guides

About this guide

This guide is written and maintained by the My Senpai team. Tools are named because learners at that stage commonly use them, and free options come first where a good one exists. This page has no affiliate links, and no tool pays to be mentioned. Facts and links were last checked on October 28, 2026; prices change, so check a tool's own site before you pay. Spotted something out of date? Tell us on X.

My Senpai also makes learning apps. Where one fits a step, this guide mentions it next to the independent options and marks it "by My Senpai". You can follow every step here without them. The apps are Kana Challenge (kana), Fluency Tool (shadowing and speaking), YoMoo (reading), and JLPT Crossword (vocabulary).