Resources
This page is a work in progress. I have an untested unedited list of random Japanese resource cites [here] Including a list of [HIRAGANA GAMES!]. Eventually, I hope to flesh that out below with student reviews and short explanations of each link. Until then, I could really use your feedback!
If you know of a good Japanese resource that is not listed here, please contact me! Also, if you have any additional comments/reviews, send them and I will include them here!
If you know of a good Japanese resource that is not listed here, please contact me! Also, if you have any additional comments/reviews, send them and I will include them here!
TYPING IN JAPANESE [Back to Top]
Check out this [Google Doc] for instructions on how to type in Japanese when using Google Chrome, Chromebooks, or a windows PC. More device instructions will be added as people ask for them.
DICTIONARIES [Back to Top]
Straight Up Dictionaries
Example Sentence Dictionaries
Dictionary Web Addons/Extensions
Grammar Dictionaries
- [Jisho]―Zoe Sensei's personal favorite. Check out their [search options page] for how to get the most out of it, like using #romaji to see the romaji of a word or #sentences to search for examples. You can also copy a whole sentence and get word-by-word explanations!
- [Tofugu Article] about how the creator of Jisho.org uses dictionaries to learn Japanese.
- [Weblio]
- [JapanDict]
Example Sentence Dictionaries
- [ALC]―this site is for Japanese people studying English, so the quality and authenticity of the Japanese example sentences is pretty much unparalleled. However, you do have to search in kanji. This is what Sensei uses when she needs to research a word.
- [Jisho]―use #sentences to search for examples. Not as numerous or as native-sounding as ALC, but still very useful.
- [Kanshudo]
- [Tangorin]
Dictionary Web Addons/Extensions
- [Japanese.IO]―While it requires signing up for a free account (just use your ASD google and "sign up with google"), when you add this extension to chrome it will not only give you an English definition and example sentences when you choose a word on any webpage, but save it to a vocabulary list for later. Note: extensions may not be able to be installed on ASD chromebooks. Need to do some research. If you figure it out, please [contact me].
- [Google Input Tools]―if you are NOT using an ASD chromebook, and don't want to mess with your computer's language keyboard settings (or you can't access them due to permissions) then this Chrome extension lets you type in Japanese on any website, as long as you are using Chrome.
Grammar Dictionaries
- [Japanese Verb Conjugator] Will tell you ALL the possible configurations of any Japanese Verb. ALL.
AP RESOURCES [Back to Top]
If you are planning on sticking with Japanese and going for AP, here are some informational resources.
- "Ultimate Guide to the Japanese Language and Culture Exam" -- an article that explains the exam and provides some strategies for studying, as well as hyperlinks to multiple resource websites.
- College Board Site for Japanese Language and Culture -- lots of practice material as well as a just-launched "AP Classroom" with resources for AP students and pre-AP students.
KANA PRACTICE [Back to Top]
Here you will find websites dedicated to helping you learn Hiragana, Katakana, Kanji, and common early vocabulary. These sites are primarily filled with various games and quizzes.
All Kana
Hiragana & Katakana
Kanji
All Kana
- [Tanoshii Japanese]―Resources and games for studying kana and kanji, building vocab, and learning Japanese by analyzing anime scenes. Also fun blog links on Japanese culture. Log in to a free account to keep a vocabulary list. Based on the Genki textbooks.
- [Japanese Language and Practice Games]―like the title says, this page has links to a nice collection of basic introductory information on Japanese language, as well as beginner vocabulary games, writing practice sheets, and more. Recommended by Hailey-san.
- [Digital Dialects] has a selection of games for kana and beginner vocabulary.
- [Access Japanese] has some hiragana games with sushi & train station names, as well as activities for kanji & vocabulary. Uses Flash.
- [Kids Nifty] is a Japanese site with cute kana games. It uses Flash for some games though, which is being phased out of use.
- [Usagi-Chan] has a selection of resources for learning kana using the Genki textbooks. Its kana drag & drop uses Flash.
Hiragana & Katakana
- [Easy Japanese] has a selection of cute simple games and quizzes, mostly for Hiragana & Katakana but some kanji as well.
- [Nihongo-Pro] has matching games for hiragana & katakana.
- [Real Kana] lets you pick what column of letters you want to study and then quizzes you.
- [Gyford] has a straight up quiz game: see the hiragana/katakana, type the romaji.
- Genki has a listen & click game for [hiragana] and another for [katakana]. Uses Flash.
- [Valiant Language School] has a game where Hiragana or Katakana fall from the sky and you have to type the correct letter in romaji before it kills you. Customizable by column. Uses Flash though, which is being phased out of use by Chrome.
Kanji
- [Kanji Repeater] is as straight up "see the kanji, pick the English" game.
- [Kanji Games] has, just like it says, a few different kanji games. From a link to a "find the kanji" game, to a blog on different games online, it has some interesting resources.
- [Kanshudo] has a selection of different kanji games and resources. Some are only available if you login with a free account, but others, like their kanji-matching game, are open.
- [Nihongo-Pro] has a good N5 level "find the missing kanji" game. Ads are a pain though.
- [Kanji-Alive] has a nice study tool with all basic information, example vocab and sentences, and lots of cross-referencing.
READING & LISTENING PRACTICE [Back to Top]
One school of linguistic research holds that language learning occurs when you inundate yourself with comprehensible input
Listening Practice: Textbooks & grammar Sites
Listening Practice: Podcasts
Listening Practice: News
Reading Practice: Books
Reading Practice: Manga
Reading Practice: Stories & Folktales
Reading Practice: Cultural Articles & Blogs
Reading Practice: News
Reading Practice: Other
Listening Practice: Textbooks & grammar Sites
- [Japanese Test 4 You]―a website full of single recorded sentences, organized by grammar on the JLPT, with the Japanese, romaji, and English for each so you can quiz yourself on your proficiency.
- [My Kikitori] a selection of themed conversations from the Genki textbook series. You can choose different speeds.
- [Tofugu] is an all-round great source, especially for the cultural side of language. Their podcast page has topics from basic grammar, to beginning conversations, and fun cultural topics (mostly in English) too.
- [The Japanese Page] has some audio resources, including some stories and a series for beginning Japanese.
Listening Practice: Podcasts
- [Wasabi] has a collection of podcasts on various topics.
- [Bilingual News] has Japanese (and English) podcasts in colloquial Japanese, on a variety of topics. They also have a companion app where you can get scripts.
- [Hiiki Biiki] is a more advanced podcast of two friends chatting on various topics.
Listening Practice: News
- [NHK Radio Listening]―News stories at various speeds, for language learners.
- [NHK World] has radio podcasts in multiple languages.
Reading Practice: Books
- [Japanese.IO]―This website has a selection of Japanese classics sorted by level, as well as regularly updated news stories and more. Even better, when you read, you can look up any word and add it to a vocabulary list. They also have a [chrome extension] that lets you hover over ANY word on ANY website and get instant dictionary. Requires a free account (google ok)
- [EhonNavi]―has hundreds of children's books that you can read for free. You have to sign up, and the site is 100% in Japanese, so it is good for a challenge.
- [Ehon]―also has Japanese children's books, but all as image files, so no auto dictionary.
- [あおぞら文ぶんこ]―This is a website that distributes Japanese novels which are already public domain. Since all the books were written at least 50 years ago, you will face some expressions which are not used today. Recommended for upper intermediate users.
Reading Practice: Manga
- [Bilingual Manga]―Just like it sounds. Click on the manga image to switch back and forth between Japanese and English. Sensei recommends [Yotsubato] for Japanese I, [Card Captor Sakura] and [Doraemon] for Japanese II, and by the time you finish II you should be able to pick your way through what you want if you try hard enough.
- [Wasabi] has put a lot of thought into helping you read. Check out their advice pages for learning from [Reading Aloud] or through [Intensive Reading] as well as their collection of [folktales] and [manga], all broken down for study.
Reading Practice: Stories & Folktales
- [Satori Reader]―Includes authentic readings for all levels―and supposedly can be tailored for your knowledge. You can listen, read, click for dictionary and English translations, keep a study list and even track your progress. For more info, read this [review] on Tofugu. There is a paid version, but the first two episodes of each story series are free. Requires a free account. Recommended by Karma-Sempai
- [Hukumusume] and [Traditional Japanese Children's Stories]―both have collection of fairy tales in Japanese and English. Best with the Japanese IO [extension].
Reading Practice: Cultural Articles & Blogs
- [Hirogaru Nihongo]―a selection of cultural articles with great pictures. Best combined with the Japanese IO [extension].
- [Matcha]―This is a web magazine for foreigners planning on visiting Japan and providing articles about Japanese culture and travel information in simple Japanese.
- [Medium Japanese Official]―This is a weblog platform based in the US. The link suggests articles written in Japanese. The contents are about business, technology, culture, life hacks, travels, etc.
- [週しゅう刊かんはてなブログ]―This is a weblog platform and suggests links to popular articles weekly. There is a large range of topics. They just list articles in popularity order.
Reading Practice: News
- [NHK News Web Easy]―real news articles written in simpler Japanese for young readers. Has an automatic Japanese dictionary for hovering, but no English.
- [NEWS PICKS]―This is a web media that focuses on the economy.
- [The Huffington Post 日に本版ほんばん]―This is a web media that covers politics, business, entertainment, technology, etc. Since some contents are translated from English to Japanese, you can refer to the original texts when you find difficulty reading Japanese.
- [Lifehacker 日に本版ほんばん―This is a web media about life hacks and software. Since some contents are translated from English to Japanese, you can refer to the original texts when you find difficulty reading Japanese.
Reading Practice: Other
- [Team Japanese] has a list of reading sites and nice descriptions. You should be able to blast through most of the Easy section, and stick your toes into Intermediate.
PARTICLES [Back to Top]
Particles are one of the toughest aspects of Japanese to wrap your head around. So it gets its own section.
All Particles
Particles: は&が
Particles: に&で
All Particles
- [PuniPuni] is always short and to the point. No exceptions in this lesson on particles.
- [Learn Japanese Adventure] has a very in-depth description of all particles their uses.
- [JapanesePod101] goes into ALL the particles in brief in this lesson.
Particles: は&が
- Wasabi Japan: has several great articles explaining は & が: [Topic v. Subject], [FAQs], even a [Video Lesson] on the difference and a practice [translation lesson] that includes も.
- [Tofugu] goes well in-depth describing the subtleties between this often confusing pair of particles.
Particles: に&で
- [Maggie Sensei] is always extremely thorough.
- [Kanshudo] has good specific examples
- Wasabi Japan: has great articles explaining [に] and [で].
- [Japanese Ammo] has a good particle introduction for に、で and へ.
ONLINE TEXTBOOKS & MULTIMEDIA LEARNING SITES [Back to Top]
This section highlights two types of online websites: websites that focus give straight grammar explanations with plenty of examples, and websites that are organized by themes with lots of various media.
Online Textbooks
Multimedia Learning Sites
Online Textbooks
- [Maggie Sensei]―A blog-style textbook website that focuses on explaining grammar and answering grammatical questions using example sentences--about Maggie, the blogger’s dog! Super cute, and a great source of native Japanese.
- [Tae Kim's Japanese]―well organized and thorough explanations of grammar. He also has an [App].
- [Crunchy Nihongo] while this site mostly has cute pictures to help with learning the kana alphabets, it also has vocab practice games and beginning Japanese articles.
Multimedia Learning Sites
- Erin's Challenge--A great website following the adventures of Erin, a Japanese American who goes on exchange in Japan. It is structured in thematic lessons, and is 100% natural Japanese--not dumbed down for beginners! Even the first lessons have things to learn, and even the highest lessons have information accessible to beginners. Follow it in order, or hop to a lesson of interest. And really poke around. There is so much great information: videos, quizzes, games, hidden in every section. You can find the page in [Japanese] or [English] and a number of other languages.
- [Wasabi Japan]: A really great website with easy-to-follow explanations, videos, activities, and even manga broken down for learning. They have live seminars, topical discussions, and kanji study tips. Seriously, just go check them out!
- [NHK for School]―This is a website providing Japanese elementary kids with materials to learn Japanese. You can watch interesting videos with Japanese scripts.
- [PuniPuni] has a variety of simple grammar lessons with cute videos.
- [LingQ] requires signing up for a free account (use ASD google), but has a wide database of Japanese materials, from podcasts, to books, news, and can manage content from other sources as well.
ANIME & VLOGGERS [Back to Top]
Youtubers and vloggers doing video lessons on Japanese or Japan, and (yes, of course, how could we not?) anime and study guide resources for actively using anime to learn.
Youtube Channels & Podcasts
Anime
Youtube Channels & Podcasts
- [Koto Japanese Academy]: Features a list and short description of 50 youtube channels focusing on Japanese. 50!
- [Japanese Pod 101]: Lots of great videos on everything from “learn Hiragana in 1 hour” to “is house ie or uchi?” Grammar, vocab, culture, Japanese Pod 101 has it all!
- [Miku Real Japanese] [Homepage]: Fun videos on grammar and Japanese culture--including common foreigner mistakes. She has full lessons and stuff too! Probably counts as a multimedia online “textbook” too.
- [Getting to know Japanese] that advertises appeal to beginners and up. Videos include a series of skits by a very cutely enthusiastic comedy duo.
- [Bilingirl Chika] A mix of videos in English and Japanese for people learning about Japan and America. Blog-style.
- [Dogen] has a great sense of humor and a ton of good resources, from beginner to advanced, for learning native-sounding Japanese.
- [Kanji Link] has a good short explanations of lots of different aspects of Japanese grammar.
- [Japanese Ammo with Misa] has good native-speaker explanations
- [Masa Sensei] streams lessons on her computer, and uses good basic vocab.
- [Tokini Andy] looks to be a pretty fun Japanese language youtuber.
- [FunNihongo] has a cute songs and more.
- [Masako Ng] has a adorable if repetitive grammar videos
- [ゆめある] is a youtube channel with resources for Childhood Education in Japanese.
Anime
- [Chi's Sweet Home] a super-cute anime about a cat, based on a manga of the same name. Episodes are very short and have very simple language too! Comes recommended by Zoe Sensei's Japanese college Professor friend. You can watch it on [crunchyroll].
- (yes, I know this section is bare. more coming, and send in recommendations!)
OTHER [Back to Top]
Resources which have yet to be categorized, have too little resources to justify their own categories, or defy categorization.
Speaking
Karaoke
Lists & Unsorted
Lists & Unsorted
Speaking
- [HelloTalk] an app that pairs up folks who want to learn each others’ languages. Talk to a native speaker! Warning: this app does pair you up with total strangers, and may not be age appropriate. Seek parental approval before use.
Karaoke
Lists & Unsorted
- [AATJ List of Teacher Resources]―A spreadsheet of resources being put together by teachers on the American Association for Teachers of Japanese for distance learning. While this might be a list aimed at teachers, there’s no reason students can’t take learning into their own hands.
- [Random List of Untested Websites]―A messy and lightly organized list Zoe Sensei has always planned to sort and research properly. Still working on it.
- [Nihongo e-na] is basically a website with lists of lists of lists divided by skill set.
- [イラスト屋]―Ever wonder where Sensei gets all those cute pictures from? This is the website. You have to search in full Japanese, or just browse.
Lists & Unsorted
- [イラスト屋]―Ever wonder where Sensei gets all those cute pictures from? This is the website. You have to search in full Japanese, or just browse!
- [Human Pictogram]―clipart website full of shadow-people doing random actions
- [Fukidashi]―a website with all sorts of quote box clipart.
- [Posta Collect]―clipart for each prefecture in Japan, of all the things each one is known for.
APPS! [Back to Top]
For your phone or tablet, textbooks, exercises and more.
Apps that also have multi-media websites:
Again, if you have a recommendation, please contact me!
Apps that also have multi-media websites:
- [Duolingo Japanese] Bite size Japanese chunks for phone or computer. Lessons advance as you learn, and you get immediate feedback! - [iOS] - [Android]
- [Memrize] Like Duolingo, an App/website that features learning in biteable chunks, native speakers, and instant feedback.Unlike Duolingo, you can start at your own level. Free, but requires sign-up.
- Jisho by Cahn Khac for [Apple] or [Android]―Rave review by Brice Sempai: "This thing is so dang useful. You can search for words in kanji, hiragana, romaji, and English. You can search for katakana words. You can draw in kanji you don’t know. You can input kanji by radical. You can search for grammar bits. It has a built in alphabet in case you forget. It has a news section that is divided into easy reading and other topics. It even has a exploration of the JLPT system. It is super awesome and I highly recommend it. Oh yeah and the whole thing works offline."
- [Test with Erin] by the makers of Erin's Challenge.
- [Japanese Graded Readers]―a wide variety of stories in a range of Japanese difficulties.
- [Imiwa] is a free offline Japanese dictionary with extensive Japanese-English entries (currently over 170,000). It's also filled with sentence examples and kanji stroke order indications.
- [Anki] is a free SRS system available for studying flashcards both online and offline.
- [Tae Kim's Guide to Learning Japanese] is probably the best free resource to study the grammar you need to know.
- [Wani-Kani] is Tofugu's kanji-learning app. Focuses on using mnemonic stories based on the pieces in the kanji.
- [Manga-One]―This is a mobile app where you can read manga. For free users, the amount that you can read for a day is limited, but it may be enough for language learners to read manga as a learning tool.
- [Kanji Study]―a free Android app for…uh…studying kanji! Recommended by AP Graduate Cody-sempai.
Again, if you have a recommendation, please contact me!