How Long It Takes to Learn Japanese (and how to make a study schedule)

How much Japanese can I learn in 6 months? Can I become fluent in Japanese in 3 months? How do I make a schedule for learning Japanese? These are the 3 questions I answer in this video. I also go on a rant about the "JUST IMMERSE" immersion community, and the annoying comments that always seem to pop up on videos like this one.

0:00 Beginner questions about learning Japanese
0:24 How much Japanese can I learn in 6 months?
3:54 Rant about "Immersion"
6:43 Can I become fluent in Japanese in 3 months?
7:34 Sample Schedule for Daily Japanese Study

[nikkuniisan]

Hey, I just saw this video and thought it was good. Studying Japanese does require "studying" before just input. That's probably the most efficient way by far. I don't know how I would have gone about learning Japanese without reading the instruction manual first. The reason I tell Japanese people just to immerse is not because I think Just immersing is the best method, but because they study English from elementary school till high school and never actually immerse with real input. Your video made sense of why I think people studying Japanese should study more than Japanese people studying English (because Japanese people have already studied tons of English).

[g_rr_tt]

I was able to master all grammar points up to N3 within 2 years of daily 1-2 hours of actual study; I spent the rest of my time watching Japanese TV/ movies/ dramas.
I'm now approaching my 5 year mark and gearing up to take the N1 test this winter. I know around 11-12k words now but the grammar points just keep getting more difficult. Difficulty comes in the form of it not being used too frequently and therefore it's easy to forget.
I have never lived in Japan, I have 0 Japanese friends, this was all done in my room as a hobby while I finish up my engineering degree.

[samuelallen]

basically what I got from this video is to shave off several mindless hours of gaming/watching youtube I spend daily and instead actually study

[TravelGeeq]

I just came back from my dream vacation from Japan for two weeks. I've been trying to study on and off for about a year solid and I will say that I already knew 3x more than I ever thought I needed. Sure, there are other scenarios (like working there, watching anime, etc.), but I got through the entire trip on very few words including buying groceries, food, and making others laugh with a couple of jokes. They were SO appreciative of my knowing ANY amount of Japanese and I even got a Nihongo Jiozu by an old taxi driver in my very first few hours. I was so happy and grateful to everyone I met and it boosted my confidence for the entire trip.

TLDR: No matter what your level is, don't think you're not doing well. Any input and learning is one step closer to your goal. Always try your best and I assure you that you'll succeed!

[magicfibre]

This is my 30th month of studying Japanese ~1 hour/day and I'm just starting to be able to read NHK Easy and Satori Reader without having to look up the words every 3-4 sentences and I'm just now realising that it's not really the lack of time or effort that's been stopping me - I've just been learning the wrong stuff.

For over 2 years, I've been mostly just memorizing kanji and words while doing some Duolingo lessons on the side, but whenever I actually wanted to read or listen to any Japanese I could barely understand anything. A few months ago I decided to watch Andy's Genki playlist to try improving my grammar a bit and it suddenly felt like someone opened a floodgate - now I'm able to understand around half of what I'm hearing and most of what I'm reading, the particles have stopped blending with the words and recalling the meanings of everything became so much easier, since now I can understand the context of the surrounding sentence.

So, dear reader - if you're like me and you don't see much results despite pouring a ton of hours into learning Japanese, maybe take a step back and make sure you're touching all the bases and diversifying your learning methods instead of hyperfixating on just one or two aspects.

[namniag]

I have been “trying” to learn Japanese for about 5 years, which mostly means I’ve had several times over the years where I’ve started, spent 2-3 weeks of 2-3 hours a day, then completely burned out, stopped studying entirely, and forgot everything. ADHD man… My new schedule is 30 minutes a day. It’s not much, but it’s reasonable, achievable, and most importantly I’ve only missed 3 days in the last 60. Id like to reach an N5 level by the end of my first year, which means I’ll need to pick up more later, but for now slow and steady wins the race.

[Yuoaman]

Very solid information in this video! I definitely appreciate you pointing out that even the most ardent "Immersion-only" people likely did not get where they are solely via immersion, it's one of my pet peeves with the Japanese learning space online.

[AnikaNeela]

I am happy to get this extra motivation to keep my pursuit on disciplined learning schedule. Thank you!

[NeilHaskins]

I love the "immerse" idea. I just need to learn enough that I can actually understand anything being said. Otherwise, it doesn't seem so different from random noise.

[Kanji_world]

I think the best way for a non Japanese speaker to learn Kanji is through meaning inside words. For example 明日 (ashita->tomorrow) means 明るい日 (akarui hi-> a bright day, an encouraging day) because we expect the best for the next day of our lives 😁

[alialdur]

one of the best channels out there for learning Japanese, thanks man.
Your Japanese alter ego is fun; please make him a permanent guest

[AuntieDeeDee]

Great points!!!! This is so relatable and honest. Thank you.

[CotoLanguageAcademy]

Thanks so much for this great video! We will share it with our students.

[tricia]

Thanks andy, I've been slacking a lot lately. がんばります!

[kortexii]

The character speaking in Japanese was really funny.

[oEllery]

Thank you, Andy. I want to see myself as a person who is dedicated to studying, but I feel like every so often I need another reminder that I have to really make sacrifices if I want to make progress.

[dudemcfizzle]

Andy, you are the greatest teacher I have ever had. Thank you for giving us a realistic lens of the learning process of Japanese. I love your humor and jokes that you add into your content to keep everything interesting. I don't think people understand how much you are pouring into your videos and I'm continuously blown away. I love your learning framework, because it works for more than just Japanese learning. It works for all learning. Always appreciating your wisdom keep it up!

[micro_mechanologist]

I've been doing the blended approach that you recommend. I'm working through the Genki textbooks while using your online course and meeting with an italki tutor about once a week and doing anki everyday. During work, I listen to Japanese podcasts and youtube videos for the immersion approach for about 6-7 hours. Youtube channels like yours, Japanese with Shun, Yuyu's Podcast, Real Japanese with Mika, Cure Dolly and anything I can find in Japanese I'll listen to. If I'm going to watch a movie at home I'll watch something that's in Japanese. I agree that the approach you recommend is the best. Thanks for recommending the free graded readers, I've been looking for something like that to practice reading. I love the channel and all the content, keep it up!

[Evie-wqnd]

The points you make are very important, especially in regards to immersion. Having that base of knowledge makes immersion so much more efficient and meaningful (and therefore potentially more fun). Without it it's very easy to get super frustrated and burn out. Speaking from experience there.

[sivisvitamparamortem]

I've been studying for 6 months using Genki and having once weekly evening classes. I also have speaking sessions every week (I try and have 2 x 30m weekly) and try to study 90 minutes 6-7 days a week. I'm starting to get somewhere and am loving it! We do one Genki lesson per month which is a reasonably mild pace (good for people who have to work during the day). I am looking to maybe get a 1 on 1 tutor to speed things up a bit over the summer months. Great Language to learn! I find it is a challenge but not as amazingly hard as some people say - the tricky bit is the very different sentence structure to English and the levels of politeness. Also, don't try to rush things - there is so much to learn you can easily burn yourself out and give up, but sticking with it in the long run is fun and i can see it paying off.