Learning Japanese from Nothing to Intermediate in 6 Months | How I Learn Japanese

I started learning Japanese 6 months ago and now I'm reading Japanese books! I wanted to share the Japanese resources I used to quickly learn the grammar, vocabulary and kanji needed to move past the beginner stage and start learning Japanese from native materials.

= Related Videos =

= Resources Mentioned =

= Beginner Books =
Shirokuma Cafe - Chill polar bear running a cafe - manga
わんわん探偵団 Book 1 - Guy and his dogs solving crimes - chapter book w/ illustrations
Yotsuba 1, 2 & 3 - Slice-of-life of a 6-year-old girl - manga

= Socials =

= Timestamps =
0:00 - Intro
0:45 - Grammar
1:52 - Vocab
4:02 - Kanji
6:52 - Listening Comprehension
7:38 - Reading / Immersion
10:30 - Outro

= About Me =
Hi, I'm Alivia! I started learning Japanese in the summer of 2020. I'm using this channel to share my study approach, my progress, and as an outlet for all my Japanese "study research". Language learning can be a messy progress, so I hope to share what I've learned from all the bumps along the road. I also speak French, a little bit of Spanish, and my current goal is to pass the JLPT N3. Join me!

*Some of the links above are affiliates, which means I might get a commission if you decide to make a purchase. Thanks for supporting the channel!

[rayvennnn]

this might get lost in the comments but for reading kanji theres a book called "Remembering the Kanji", Ive learned about 150 kanji so far with it and the way it teaches the kanji to you is through stories with them and has been a really great resource, also there is an anki deck someone made of all 2200 kanji you learn in the book and so far i highly recommend it

[fabixigg]

(My experience after 6 months)
Speaking: you can say very short sentences usually with a lot of mistakes.
listening: if you watch videos you understand about 20%
reading: hiragana, katakana no problem. Kanji about 200.

I started it as a Corona-hobby becouse I had time.
and please don't rush Kanji. The Japanese students need 9 years to lern them all.

[jammydoughnuts]

This is really inspiring! It can be a bit intimidating to come across videos/tips from people who are already fluent, so it's nice to get some insight from someone who is still learning. It encourages me to think about where I can be in 6 months, if I keep going at this rate and follow some of these tips :) I've tried learning Japanese before in the past, even briefly at university, but this is the first time I'm incorporating kanji from the very beginning with WaniKani. I watched a few episodes of Shirokuma Cafe a few years ago and thought it was so cute, so I'll definitely start watching it in Japanese this time :D

[Paulaarant]

Hey, Alivia! I'm so glad I found your channel! I started learning Japanese around 8 months ago, but I haven't done much progress yet. I'm also doing WaniKani (still level 12 after all this time...) and Anki, but I feel that I lack some organization skills and I haven't built a routine yet. Your video has really motivated me to try harder and be more focused, so thank you so much!

[gogolavanlinden]

I clicked on this out of curiosity from reddit and I have to say you are very articulate and engaging, and the video is nicely put together. I hope your channel will grow, good luck on your journey

[AliviasNook]

Thanks for watching! Anyone else decide to learn a new language in quarantine? How's it going?

[mellowasahorse]

Appreciate your honesty. So many people overstate their level, whereas you're completely upfront about it ... which is exactly what the people who are watching this video need.
+1 subscriber.

[vali]

Enki? Kenji? You have to work on your As

[harpie]

In one week's time, I will reach one year of learning Japanese. So far I still cannot have a normal conversation in Japanese. I only know basic phrases and about 1600 kanjis. I aim to complete the joyo kanji list of 2136 kanji in these few months and then I will start immersion. Can't wait to get rid of the kanji part!

[Lady_Miako]

Really excited to have found your channel, Alivia! I am trying to figure out how/where to start and was getting so overwhelmed. Your videos are really helpful and I'm excited to start my learning journey!

[PinkBerryPhie]

Oh be careful to learn the proper japanese pronunciation though!
I've notice how you pronounce Kanji and Anki and they sound like Kenji and Enki which can be confusing in jp

[elizerlemuelmarbaniang]

This is very realistic way of explaining how to study Japanese and i even feel the same thing in what you said in one of your last point related to watch NHC news I get demotivated at times but thank you for sharing some of your POVs on how to study Nihongo. Really appreciate this. Thank you so much

[RubyDuran]

This was really helpful! I started 5-6 weeks ago, and to see how much progress you’ve made gives me hope 😂🥲 thank you for sharing!

[monchaichan]

Thanks for sharing! I just started learning Japanese 5 weeks ago at the start of 2021. I always wanted to learn Japanese but never got the chance to attend classes. I tried self learning Korean and well...I didn't know how to really study languages on my own! I got a bunch of books, online resources and watched native content, but didn't have the discipline to study consistently. After several years, including living abroad in Korea, I'm still a beginner. It's a shame, but I've learned from my mistakes. Now, I'm learning Japanese on my own and I'm definitely more knowledgeable about the tools and routines I can use to learn the language. I hope to get to N4/N3 at the end of this year. I am using Japanese From Zero and have really enjoyed it. It's helpful for a learner like me. I need someone to hold my hand and stay accountable. I haven't started learning Kanji, but Wani-Kani is one of resources I was leaning towards. Good luck on the JLPT!

[hsuwhnn]

Hey! I've just found your channel and honestly I'm so surprised! The tips are really good and the quality is amazing💞🌌 I was confused because you didn't have a lot of views and likes but I just saw that you're new. I can say that I was here before it blew up haha
I'm using RTK and I'm planning to use genki when I finish it so these tips are really interesting to me, I like how you speak too.
Thank you for the video, looking forward to see more of you💞💞

[KatiePrescott]

Thanks for the really useful tips! I've been attempting to self-study Japanese for around half a year now and really struggling to keep up any momentum, will definitely check out those resources you mentioned!!

Just a note about Memrise - it DOES have the ability to test your ability to recall and even write the language, it just depends on how the person who created that particular deck set it up :) You can create your own Memrise courses (on desktop only) if you can't find one which offers this for your textbooks!

[LaikasFriend]

I decided to learn Japanese for the new year (very late) and I only just realized how much work I am going to have to put into it. I appreciate seeing people are still learning and the tips :)

[kk-lctm]

this helped so much!! tysm!! ur so underrated tbh

[sprklychngbn]

theres a free WaniKani deck on anki you can download, if youre broke you should definitly check it out, honestly it basically does the same thing

[simplesurfer]

Awesome video!
I also started reading the よつばと manga a couple weeks ago and I'm really loving it(I'm reading volume 8 atm).
I remember trying to read them a couple months ago and I had a hard time reading the casual speach coming from only "textbook japanese".
But now it's really fun, even tho I still dont get some of the wordplay、when Yotsuba misspronounces words xD.
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