How to Speak Japanese

This article contains advice and video instruction on how to speak Japanese.

For more resources in Japanese, please visit our page on the Japanese language.

For specifics on Japanese phrases see our pages with helpful instructional videos on how to say: hello, goodbye, ask for directions, order food, pronounce words, count, ask questions, and flirt.

Many people are familiar with the saying "Konichiwa" for hello in Japanese. But, there are several different ways to say "Hello" in the language. You can use different versions depending on time of day, the people you're speaking to, even your gender! In this video from Mahalo, Akari and Tyler discuss various ways to greet people in Japanese.

Check out these other helpful How Tos to learn more about Japanese.

1. How to Say Hello in Japanese
2. How to Say Goodbye in Japanese
3. How to Flirt in Japanese
4. How to Ask For Directions in Japanese
5. How to Order Food in Japanese
6. How to Pronounce Japanese Words
7. How to Ask Questions in Japanese
8. How to Count in Japanese
9. How to Greet Somebody in Japanese
10. How to Say No in Japanese
11. How to Say Excuse Me in Japanese
12. How to Say Please in Japanese
13. How to Say Thank You in Japanese
14. How to Ask For Help in Japanese
15. How to Say I Want to in Japanese
16. How to Say This and That in Japanese
17. How to Say I Don't Understand in Japanese
18. How to Say Common Hotel Phrases in Japanese
19. How to Ride the Train in Japanese
20. How to Buy Something in Japanese
21. How to Say Cheers in Japanese
22. How to Read Basic Japanese
23. How to Say Good Morning in Japanese
24. How to Say Good Afternoon in Japanese
25. How to Say Good Evening in Japanese

1. First, think about why you want to learn Japanese. Learning a new language can be a big time commitment, so consider how much time you can spend learning Japanese.

2. If you're going to Japan for a vacation or brief visit, concentrate on learning some key phrases phonetically.

3. Knowing how to say even a few words will let you communicate, and you'll start to understand what others are saying to you.

4. Phonetic learning will limit you; you will not be able to comprehend any written Japanese, such as signs and newspapers.

5. To reach a higher level of comprehension, lessons with audio and written elements are necessary.

6. To get the best return on these lessons, studying regularly is very important!

7. No matter what type of course you follow, always keep in mind that you should take advantage of any chance you get to practice the language, however the occasion arises.

8. When you are in Japan, don't worry about what your level of Japanese is, just try to communicate! The people you meet will appreciate every effort you put into speaking the language.

9. Speaking (and understanding what is said to you) may be hard at first, but it will get easier with every word.

Check out a few basic Japanese phrases:

• Good morning: Ohayo gozaimasu
• Good evening: Konbanwa
• Good-bye: Sayonara
• Express gratitude for meal (before eating): Itadakimasu
• Express gratitude for meal (after eating): Gochisoosama
• Thank you: Arigatoo-gozaimasu
• Excuse me: Sumimasen
• How much is this?: desu-ka?

Although it can be difficult to learn, pronouncing Japanese is not difficult, as many of its sounds are similar to English. Mahalo has a page on How to pronounce Japanese words.

Remember that Japanese grammar is very different from English grammar:

1. Pronouns are often not used
2. People are addressed with honorific titles, such as san or sensei

Japanese uses four writing systems: hiragana, katakana, kanji, and romaji. Since romaji refers to Japanese words written with Western letters, you already know that system! A deeper understanding of Japanese requires comprehension of hiragana, katakana, and kanji.

Hiragana has 46 basic characters. Hiragana are used for words without kanji representation and after kanji to show conjugation. Any native Japanese word can be written in hiragana.

Katakana has 46 basic characters. They are used for foreign words and names, such as America; company names; and new Japanese words, like karaoke.

Kanji are symbols, brought from the Chinese language, that are used to represent words or phrases. Every term in kanji can be expressed in hiragana. However, understanding kanji is necessary for reading comprehension because written Japanese does not use spaces between words. Kanji allow readers and writers to know where one word ends and another begins.

When learning any of these writing systems, pay attention to stroke order (the direction in which it is written on paper). A different stroke order can indicate a different character. Traditionally, writing in Japan consisted of columns (running from top to bottom), read from right to left. However, a newer writing format is also used these days, which arranges characters in rows read from left to right.

1. If you want to learn Japanese writing, but have limited time, consider focusing on katakana.

2. Katakana is used for foreign words and companies, so you will recognize the words once you learn how to sound out the characters.

Learning katakana means learning another alphabet; ideally you will someday know katakana as well as your ABC's. The following resources will help you to do so:

Genki Online

Check out Genki Onlinehttp://genki.japantimes.co.jp/self/site/gakusyu/katakana.html

1. Click on each character to see its stroke order and pronunciation.
2. Test yourself with the online flashcards.

Katakana Writing Tutor

The katakana writing tutor has the sounds of each character written out.http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Shrine/7047/kwritutor.htm

1. Choose "both" to view the characters and their sounds displayed together.
2. Then click "katakana" and try to remember the sounds with the characters displayed alone.
3. Create your own flashcards, writing the characters out yourself to practice.
4. Carry the flashcards with you to practice whenever you can.

Genki Online

Just like katakana, you will ideally learn hiragana by heart. Visit Genki Online's Hiragana chart for help.http://genki.japantimes.co.jp/self/site/hiragana/hiragana.html

1. Click on each character to see its stroke order and pronunciation.
2. Test yourself with the online flashcards.

Dartmouth College's Kanji Practice

Kanji exercises are available from Dartmouth College's website.http://www.dartmouth.edu/~kanji/

1. Watch the QuickTime video to see the kanji brushstrokes.
2. Listen to the audio files of the kanji used in a sentence.
3. Study the English translations of the kanji.

Online Kanji Flashcards

Once you know some kanji, Speedanki.com has online flashcards you can use to test your knowledge of kanji.http://www.speedanki.com/cards.php?level=1

1. After choosing the appropriate level, a flashcard will appear with a word or phrase written in kanji.
2. You can press flip to see the term written in hiragana.
3. If you need more help to understand the term, checking the box marked example will show the kanji used in a sentence.
4. Check the box marked meaning to see if you correctly understood the word!

NHK Basic Japanese

The Japan Broadcasting Corporation, NHK, provides introductory online lessons on its website, entitled "Basic Japanese for You". The fourteen most recent lessons are available with audio files, so you can listen to the dialogues as well as read them. Older lessons do not have audio files, but every lesson is available as a text file. If the audio file for a lesson is not available, choose the text file link below it. Each lesson has a short dialogue, in English and romaji Japanese.http://www.nhk.or.jp/lesson/english/index.html

1. Pay close attention to the highlighted key vocabulary.
2. For each lesson, study the dialogue.
3. Try to practice the key words by saying them along with the dialogue.
4. Then read the dialogue aloud.
5. Tape yourself to hear how you sound.
6. Compare yourself to the audio files.

Tim's Takamatsu

A brief overview of Japanese grammar and verbs can be found at Tim's Takamatsu.http://www.timwerx.net/language/

1. Begin by checking out the section "A Bit of The Language". This section has a review of basic pronunciation and writing, but also has fun stuff, like Japanese onomatopoeias.http://www.timwerx.net/language/bitlang/index.htm
2. Then move to the sections on Japanese verbs, adjectives, particles, and prepositions.http://www.timwerx.net/language/jpverbs/index.htm http://www.timwerx.net/language/jpadj/index.htm http://www.timwerx.net/language/particles.htm http://www.timwerx.net/language/prepositions.htm

Studying these sections gives you a quick glance at Japanese basics and a window into the rules of Japanese grammar.

Japanese for the Western Brain

This site does not have specific vocabulary and grammar exercises; instead it attempts to indicate the different approaches to grammar between Japanese and English. Reading the sections on this site will be useful to any student of Japanese. Instead of wondering why something is so different from English, this information brings the idea of learning a foreign language back into perspective.http://kimallen.sheepdogdesign.net/Japanese/index.html

NHK Brush Up Your Japanese

The Japan Broadcasting Corporation also offers Brush Up Your Japanese, an intermediate course. Each lesson has a short dialogue, in English, hiragana, and romaji, with key vocabulary highlighted. Every lesson is available as a text file. The fourteen most recent lessons are available with audio files, so you can listen to the dialogues as well as reading them.http://www.nhk.or.jp/lesson/english/index.html

1. For each lesson, study the dialogue.
2. Try to practice the key words, by saying them along with the dialogue or by reading the dialogue aloud.
3. Tape yourself to hear how you sound compared to the audio files!

MIT Japanese Lessons

MIT's website also has some online Japanese lessons.http://web.mit.edu/21f.500/www/vocab-photo/index2.html

1. Look at a photo, then press play to hear an audio file naming what's in the picture in Japanese.
2. The name is also written in Japanese above the photo, in both hiragana and kanji.

Nihongo Resources

Nihongo Resources has a Japanese course online. The courses assume you know Japanese kana, and there are kanji in the lessons as well. Lesson 0 has a review of reading and writing Japanese, if you need help.http://www.nihongoresources.com/language/lessons/lesson-00.html Once you've mastered kana enough to benefit from these lessons, download the free Nihongo Resources Grammar book (a PDF file).http://www.nihongoresources.com/language/lessons.html

1. For each lesson, first read the lesson description.
2. The word list has a review of words used in the lesson.
3. Then go to the practice section, where you can review what you've just studied.
4. The conversation section has a conversation entirely in Japanese using words from the lesson. You should be able to understand the conversation based on what you've just studied.
5. Finally, try reading the conversation aloud. This site does not have audio files, so this is a way to practice your speaking comprehension.
6. Tape yourself and play back the conversation to hear how fluent you sound!

Tae Kim's Japanese guide to Japanese grammar

Once you understand hiragana, katakana, and kanji, Tae Kim's Japanese guide to Japanese grammar has some good lessons. These grammar lessons are approached from the perspective that it is better to know how to write Japanese as you learn it. As such, do not tackle this page until you understand writing Japanese!http://www.guidetojapanese.org/

1. Watch Japanese music videos (find them on YouTube for JPop) and see if you can understand the lyrics.
2. The Learn Amazing Japanese blog has videos and anime dialogues you can study.http://www.learn-amazing-japanese.com/blog/
3. It's not always polite, but the Japanese slang jisho has slang terms in Japanese (written in romaji).http://www.angelfire.com/anime4/jslang/jibiki.htm
4. Check out Mahalo's Learning Japanese with Akira Kurosawa

Learn Japanese has a series of podcasts.http://japanese.libsyn.com/index.php?post_category=podcasts Each podcast has a short dialogue, with a transcript posted online for more complex lessons.

1. Check the archives from October 2005 for the first lesson!
2. You can either listen to the podcast online or download an MP3 to take with you.

For more advanced students, the Japanese newspaper Yomiuri has video podcasts.http://podcast.yomiuri.co.jp/video_news/ online Watching and listening these is a great way to test your comprehension.

1. Mixxer allows language students to register (for free) to find a partner for a language exchange. You can find a partner who is a native speaker of Japanese, and who wants to learn English. By communicating over Skype, you and your partner can each help the other progress in your respective language studies.http://www.language-exchanges.org/
2. Check out your local university to see if they offer Japanese classes or if there is a student or professor who can tutor you.
3. Japanese! Japanese! is a blog that compiles posts from many different authors about their experiences studying Japanese.http://www.japanesejapanese.com/
4. The J-List Side Blog has five tips for learning Japanese.http://www.peterpayne.net/2003/03/japanese-language-overview-final.html
5. Rent movies in Japanese. Turn off the subtitles (or cover the bottom of your television).
6. Visit Japanese restaurants where you live. If you like sushi, try to order it using only Japanese. If there are Japanese speakers on the staff, practice your Japanese!

1. Australia's Griffith University has kanji and grammar resources online, which provide answers to basic grammatical questions and a way to check kanji meanings.http://www.griffith.edu.au/school/lal/japanesemain/JP_Res/JP_Res_home.html
2. Jim Breen's WWWJDIC Server has a great an online dictionary.http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~jwb/cgi-bin/wwwjdic.cgi?1C and a kanji look-up page lets you look up a Japanese word (in kanji, kana, or romaji) to see its meaning in English.http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~jwb/cgi-bin/wwwjdic.cgi?1B
3. Kantangohttp://kantango.com/index.php
4. Rikai.com provides translations into hiragana and English for kanji. If a site has Japanese characters you need translated, you can type in the web address. The page will reappear, but this time you can hover over any Japanese word and get an English translation!http://www.rikai.com/perl/Home.pl
5. Mahalo's Guide to the Japanese language