Topic hubs
Japanese: Topic Hubs
Short orientations to every major area of Japanese. Start here if you want a map of the terrain.
Each of these is a compact briefing on an area of Japanese. The deep work lives in the pillar guides; these hubs are the map.
Hiragana: The Japanese Cursive Script
The 46-character cursive script used for native Japanese words, particles, and verb endings.
Katakana: The Japanese Angular Script
The 46-character angular script used for foreign loanwords, brand names, and emphasis.
Kanji: The Japanese Imported Characters
The thousands of Chinese-derived characters that carry meaning in Japanese. The long tail of Japanese learning.
Japanese Particles
The one- and two-syllable markers that do in Japanese what word order does in English.
Japanese Grammar: What You Actually Need
The grammar patterns that cover most real-world Japanese. Shorter than the textbook makes it look.
Japanese Pronunciation
Phonetically simpler than English, but with pitch accent that most apps ignore.
Essential Japanese Phrases
The phrases you actually need in your first week of using Japanese.
Japanese Pitch Accent
The high/low tone pattern most learners (and most apps) skip. Why it matters and when to study it.
Keigo: Japanese Honorific Speech
The polite, humble, and respectful registers that change Japanese sentences depending on who is speaking to whom.
Japanese Verbs
The two main verb classes (ru-verbs, u-verbs) plus two irregulars. The whole system fits in a page.
Japanese Numbers
How to count from 1 to a billion in Japanese. The two reading systems, the counters, and the big four irregularities.