Getting Started

Overview

The Japanese language may primarily be spoken only in Japan, but just think: Japan is home to the second largest economy in the world, despite having around the tenth largest population. Japan is always at the forefront of the technological and automotive industries, so anyone who learns the Japanese language can expect his or her language skills to help pave the way to jobs in global business, engineering and manufacturing as well as education and translation. Or you can just study this beautiful language to expand your horizons and add another life skill to your repertoire!

The Japanese language has a reputation among Westerners as a difficult language to learn. As is the case with learning any language, if you’re really serious, you’ll have to learn to think of language differently than you’re used to. You’ll have to work hard and study consistently. However, you’ll be pleasantly surprised to find that many aspects of the Japanese language are simple to master.

What Do You Want to Get Out of This Site?

TheJapaneseTutor.com will help you get the most out of your Japanese education, no matter your goals or skill levels. Within our pages you’ll find cultural articles, grammatical lessons, flashcards, quizzes, information about other resources, and more. There are no due dates or GPAs to worry about here! Study what you want when you want and at your own pace!

For example, you may find that you’re one of these types of Japanese language learners:

1. The Casual Learner

Maybe you want to learn enough Japanese to get around in Tokyo during an upcoming trip or to greet some Japanese friends or clients when you pick them up at the airport. Perhaps you want to do something different and learn a new life skill, to be able to understand simple everyday conversations without the pressure of engaging in complex dialogue or understanding every minutiae of the language. Or maybe you’ve just got an interest in the country and culture of Japan and want to learn more, but you haven’t got the time to become fluent.

As a casual learner, you should read all of the cultural articles that interest you in order to learn more about Japan in a fun way without having to quiz yourself on your knowledge. Study the vocabulary lessons that seem the most useful to you and then consider tackling the Level I grammar lessons, where you’ll learn everything from basic counting in Japanese to telling time to reading the Japanese script hiragana. You can study with flash cards and test yourself with our quizzes, but don’t feel pressured!

2. The Passionate Pupil

As a passionate pupil, you’re determined to learn as much about the Japanese language and culture as you can. Perhaps you hope to spend a lot of time in Japan one day, see yourself in a job that requires Japanese fluency, think you’ll get ahead in your career choice with Japanese language skills, or you just really love the culture and the language. The foremost requirement of the passionate pupil is time and dedication. You’ve got to be willing to study and to review and pace yourself—don’t tackle everything all at once. Fluency doesn’t happen overnight!

As a passionate pupil, you should read all of the cultural articles to help you get better understand the Japanese culture. Try to read at least one cultural article per week. Learn everything the vocabulary and grammar lessons have to teach you, including the Special Notes sections. Start at the basic grammar lessons and make sure you completely understand the material before moving on to more difficult ones. You can test your progress by using our flashcards and taking our quizzes.

Every passionate pupil learns at a different pace. You may find that you grasp the basic grammar lessons almost immediately, so go ahead and move on to more difficult ones after as little as a week. However, don’t rush yourself and don’t be discouraged if you need to spend a couple weeks or even a month reviewing each level’s lessons before moving on. The most important thing is to study and review every day until each lesson becomes second nature!

3. The One-Stop Resource Student

If you’re already studying Japanese through school, a language course, or just on your own, you may already know a lot about the Japanese language and culture. However, nothing you learn or teach yourself will stick with you unless you review and practice your skills constantly! If you studied Japanese years ago and want to polish your skills, this is the place for you!

As a student in need of a one-stop resource, you can review our cultural articles and grammar and vocabulary lessons to remind you of what you may have already known (and perhaps learn something new). Test yourself with our quizzes to make sure that you’ve really got the lessons down pat and look for our simple-to-understand grammatical explanations to help clear up any confusion. Quickly check pronunciations, kana, kanji, and vocabulary words at our one-stop resource!

Conclusion

TheJapaneseTutor.com, like any Japanese tutor whose help you’d request, can be the tutor you need it to be: an introduction to Japanese language and culture made simple, an in-depth guide for the committed student of all things Japan, and a one-stop resource to help those who are already on their way to understanding the Japanese language and culture. The main differences? TheJapaneseTutor.com is there for you 24/7 and it won’t charge you a penny for its time! (Although contributions to our effort are always welcome, should you see fit to help us out!)

Get started on your Japanese education today! がんばって!