On Volition

Prerequisites
Learning Japanese
Outline
1. Kana
2a. Kanji
2b. Vocabulary
2c. Grammar
3. Practice
Learning Resources
Kana
Kanji
Vocabulary
Grammar
Practice
Yotsuba Reading Pack
Tools
IME
Anki
Lookup Resources
Misc Tools
Questions & Thread Etiquette
Guide Discussion

On Volition
This guide is by no means the end all be all of your learning options. There are an insane amount
of different directions you could go, and this guide exists mostly to give people incapable of
independent thought and analysis some direction. There probably exists a method better for you
than this, and it is your place as a learner to search for it.

Prerequisites
Before you start you will need 3 pieces of software. The first is called Anki. It is essentially a
flashcard program. The second piece of software is Rikai - this will allow you to look up
definitions of Japanese words in English by highlighting them. And the last one is an IME - this
will allow you to type Japanese characters using a keyboard. There are several you can install, so
look at the options and choose the one which best suits your needs. More information on these
programs, including links and brief descriptions, can be found in the Tools section.
Also, be sure to have quick glance at the Thread Etiquette section before posting.

Learning Japanese
Outline
This section will explain the outline of each step. Once you have read this section, go to the Learning Resources
section and choose the resources appropriate for your level.

Sections 2a, 2b and 2c should be done simultaneously.

1. Kana
You will need to learn kana before moving on to any other part of the language. To repeat, you
will need to learn kana before moving on to anything else. The kana refer to the two
syllabaries used in Japanese that consist of about 50 characters each. Hiragana is what is
normally used, and katakana is used for loan words, onomatopoeia. Start with hiragana or
katakana first. Note, you do not need to master this completely before moving on, as you will
come across each kana many times while learning Japanese and you can master it as you go. You
should be able to read well enough without mixing up any character tone/pronunciation is
different for non-imaginary/non-made-up sounds, and some more technical japanese words. You
will need both before moving on.
2a. Kanji
Kanji are pictographic characters, which originated from China. One common misconception is
that kanji are the same as vocabulary. This is not the case. There are some kanji that are words on
their own, but many of them need to be combined with either other kanji or hiragana before they
can be words. This site can explain it in detail. however it has some errors and generally you
should doubt or double-check anything written on it. On the other hand, it does give a pretty
good overview. Read everything under the getting started section. This is important. Some
people choose to not learn the kanji individually at all and choose to simply gain the knowledge
through vocabulary study. If you would like, then you may choose to do that.
2b. Vocabulary
For vocabulary you will need Anki. From there you can either download a pre-made deck
(recommended) or you can create your own deck and add words you come across. Preferably
both. The custom deck should preferably have audio in it, as it will help with pronunciation as
well as listening comprehension. Some people don't like to learn vocabulary through Anki and
prefer to just read. Others may like sentence mining which is a good way to teach yourself how
to say something and remember it.

2c. Grammar

Grammar will allow you to both form and understand sentences in Japanese. There are three
resources that we recommend: Genki, tae kim, and Japanese the Manga Way. The pros and cons
of each are listed in the Learning Resources section. If you are unsure of which one to choose,
we recommend you to try them all and see which suits you the best.
3. Practice
After learning (at least) basic Japanese grammar, you can, and should, start reading and learning
words from actual Japanese texts. It is recommended that you create your own Anki deck with
new words that you encounter. If you are reading manga (or anything that uses images instead
easy kanji look-ups using OCR. See the Tools section for more information.
You can find recommended reading, including games, in the Learning Resources section. You
can also find some sites to help with listening and writing.
When reading while aided by tools(as all beginners should be) its best for the purposes of
learning to look at the words youre looking up, and try to make an educated guess as to the what
the meaning is before completing your lookup.
Its also a good idea to jump into the deep end of the difficulty pool from time to time. This is
especially true at the very beginning even when you know its impossible, and that youll
understand next to nothing and in general have a bad time of it. These experiences are important
for both future motivation(Theres nothing quite like the feeling of going back and breezing
through something that you vividly remember kicking your ass), and for having a better idea of
where youre at in the larger scheme of consuming Japanese media, and where your current
learning method is getting you.

Learning Resources
Note: There is no correct way of learning, so we would recommend that you try out the resources appropriate for your level
and see which one you feel is best. Use multiple resources if you wish.

Kana
Real Kana - Tests kana recognition. Does not teach stroke order or pronunciation.
Tae Kim - This site has a section on kana, includes a video lesson, stroke order, as well a
pronunciation guide.
Memrise - Offers various SRS courses including kana courses which are perhaps the only thing
the site does well in regards to the Japanese language.
Heisig - Download Remembering the Kana, its like 6 hours all up to know both hiragana and
katakana. Way better than just attempt to remember them. By all means use realkana along side it
though to test yourself. Attempting to drill your way though with realkana because it provides
mental images with the kana to ensure you remember.
Kanji
KanjiDamage - Everything on this site should be taken with a grain of salt, but it can be

effective to some. With KD, you learn the meaning and readings all at once, but not the stroke
order (which you can look up for yourself in jisho or any dictionary). Sometimes the method is
liberal with the radical usage.
Heisig - Read about it here. With RTK, you are learning the stroke order and meaning of each
kanji, eventually learning the readings in the second book. The order of the kanji is even more
messed up than the one used in Kanji Damage. Heisig is pretty convoluted, so much that the
community needs to correct almost everything hes written in the books. It pretty much requires
using the Koohii fansite, so register an account.
JLPT (contains various sets, so order and suspend them accordingly) - Sets of kanji as described
by the Japanese Language Proficiency Test. Usually ordered by level. More info on Wikipedia.
Jouyou (same deck as above) - A set of 2136 kanji announced by the Ministry of Education that
is to be taught before graduating from secondary school. Usually ordered by grade. More info on
Wikipedia.
Kyouiku - A subset of 1006 of the jouyou kanji that is taught in primary school. Has many
simple words in the beginning (the numbers, elements of nature, body parts). Usually ordered by
grade. More info on Wikipedia.
Vocabulary
Anki Shared deck - This is highly recommended to learn vocabulary. Obviously, you will need
Anki to use it. It is recommended you use a deck with audio, such as CorePlus, however you will
need to install audio yourself. There are other decks, you may search for them and see which one
will best suit your needs.

Grammar
Tae Kim - This method is faster and succinct than the others listed here, As for exercises, Tae
Kim only has exercises in the beginning, after which there are no exercises to work on.
Genki - Genki tends to be more comprehensive than Tae Kim, and it has exercises that you can
practice with, which may help drill grammar rules into your mind. The obvious downside is
speed of course. This resource can be found on the bottom of the pastebin.
Japanese the Manga Way - This book teaches grammar through examples from actual Japanese
manga. They are mostly older comics, but it is still an engaging way to learn new grammar
points, and subsequently see them executed in a practical manner. It does have a few quirks. For
one, it uses romaji too often. It can be easily ignored, however. New grammar points tend to be
summed up rather succinctly la Tae Kim. Those looking for a more in-depth style could likely
do better elsewhere (Genki). Recommended as either a supplement, or as a simple
introduction to the major grammar points of Japanese.
Japanese in Mangaland Ixrec's Guide to Japanese Dictionaries of Japanese Grammar (DOJG) - A collection of three books, Basic, Intermediate
and Advanced. As the name implies, these are dictionaries rather than guides. It goes in-depth
into the various grammar rules, more so than virtually any other resource.

Practice
Yotsuba Reading Pack

Reading List - This is a list of books, games and manga which we have compiled. You can sort
through the list by skill, platform, etc. We recommend you have a look, regardless of skill level.
Please contribute anything you read as well to it so it can become a better resource.
Yotsuba Reading Pack - This pack is designed for beginners who have just started reading. This
is an accompaniment to the first two volumes off Yotsubato!. This includes a vocabulary list and
a pre-made Anki deck. Yotsubato is a Manga that is often recommended to beginners.
Aozora - This site contains a collection of Japanese literature. This site is mainly for advanced
readers and not recommended for beginners.
Kitsunekko - This site has a selection of Japanese subtitles for popular shows. The timing often
does not match up with most available downloads, but you can try to retime it in a subtitle
editing program or just look at it in the editor to compare with what you hear.
D-Addicts - This is a great site to find Dorama with subtitles.
Fengyunzhibo - This site is a good easy place to watch some TV.
Lang-8 - You can write jo a Chinese streaming site but it has Japanese channels on there which
are of good quality for a stream journal entries which are corrected by Japanese natives and in
turn you correct their journal entries, this is a great way to increase your writing/production
ability.
Nyaa - If you type in the Japanese name, you can find the raw version of whatever media you are
looking for most of the time. If what youre looking for is ero use this. Note that most VNs will
contain ero, and sometimes even non-ero VNs are uploaded to sukebei instead of the main site.

Tools
IME
Input Method Editor - It will allow you to type in Japanese using your keyboard. Required.

Google IME (Windows, Mac OS) - Google IME generally includes a larger collection of words,
inclusive of internet slang. The downside, however, is that its handwriting recognition is rather
lacking (see sljfaq below). To switch to romaji press alt+` (Just above tab key). Ctrl + Caps Lock for
hiragana, hold shift while in hiragana mode to type in katakana. Alt + Caps is katakana. Shift +
Caps reverts back to hiragana. This does not affect Caps Lock.
Protip: Type in kaomoji and hit space.

Mozc (Chromium OS, Android, Windows, Mac OS, GNU/Linux) - This is a project that stems
from Google IME, except that it is available on a greater number of operating systems.
iBus - (GNU/Linux) - If you use (K/X/L)Ubuntu, you probably already have it. You just need to
install the Japanese IME packages using the language support in the settings and select iBus as
your keyboard input method system. You can select the keys to press to change the keyboard
layout or do it manually using the icon on the panel. For the rest of us that dont use Ubuntu or
its variants, you can probably find iBus in the official repositories of your distribution. You can
make iBus autostart when you boot by adding ibus-daemon to your ~/.xinitrc. And you will

probably want to add & to the end, ala: ibus-daemon & (also your windows manager might have
its own autostart file, use that instead) that you can find in your Home folder. Dont forget to
configure Qt for input in Qt apps.
$ qtconfig-qt4
>interface >default input method >select ibus
For the superior non *buntu users:
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/IBus
Anki
Flashcard Software. Required.

Anki Anki is a flashcard program which uses a method called Spaced Repetition in order to
drill information in your head. You can download premade decks here ).
It shows you a set amount ofnew cards each day (default 20) and will show you the same cards
again https://ankiweb.net/shared/decks/ when you are most likely to forget them through
algorithms. This program has a lot of features that cant be covered here so read this
(http://ankisrs.net/docs/manual.html) if you wish to totally utilise Anki. You can also get this on
mobile and sync your decks. In the App Store it costs money so you might just want to use Safari
in that case instead.
If you use GNU/Linux and you want to change the size of the Japanese characters, you need to
install the appropriate Japanese fonts, if you dont have them.
Lookup Resources
You use it to look up words. One Rikai-chan variant Required.

Rikaichan (Firefox) - This is a tool that shows you equivalent or close meanings (in English) of
Japanese words in plaintext format, by hovering over them.
Rikaikun (Chrome) - Essentially a clone of Rikaichan. Has the exact same features, not much
difference other than a few bugs and only having the Japanese dictionary. Very outdated and
essentially dead.
Rikaisama (Firefox) - Has many useful features not in Rikaichan, such as audio playback and
the ability to save words to a file or import it straight into Anki.
Jisho.org - Online J>E/E>J dictionary. It also contains information on kanji including stroke
order, readings, etc. You can also search a kanji by its radicals, if you dont know the correct
stroke order.
KanjiTomo - This is an Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Scans for words on your screen and tells you what they are and what they mean. Success rate
varies widely based on image / character quality.

sljfaq - Handwritten kanji search. Just draw the kanji using the correct stroke order and a list of
possible kanji will appear. The results will link you to the WWWJDIC project, which is where
the data for Jisho comes from. You can simply copy and paste the kanji to the Jisho website, if
you prefer.
Interactive Text Hooker - This allows you to extract text from Japanese games as its being
displayed. The extracted text is put in your clipboard for an application like Translation
Aggregator to make use of it. Designed for reading VNs so it will not work for most non-VN
type games and unsupported engines.
Translation Aggregator - Usually used for machine translation, but in your case, youll be using
JParser (preferably with Mecab hinting) to help you parse Japanese sentences and enable you to
easily look up words in the same fashion as with Rikaichan and the like.
Misc Tools
Useful things that dont fit into any of the other categories.

Kanji Stroke Order Font Not always correct, so be careful. Kakijun is a great website for
checking the proper stroke order.
The Pastebin - List of resources
Japanese Text Analysis Tool - Takes a .txt, youd probably use a (term for .txt books,
frequently LN), and creates a frequency list based on that.
Japanese Language Pack - 27 gigs worth of various learning materials including the essentials,
and much more (a lot of it is awful)(might trigger virus warnings).
JNovel Formatter -

cb's Kanji Word Association Tool *

Questions & Thread Etiquette

>The Daily Japanese Thread
We have a thread everyday, a new thread gets put up at around0 UTC/GMT). On top of that, there is an IRC you can use, details are in the thread.
1930 EST (003
>I have a question.
Does it matter (Is it a Y/N Question, Or a bi-question (e.g. Tae Kim or Genki?); Is it a lazy question where you're asking whether you should
learn something or not; Could you have easily found your answer yourself; Will this just lead to an argument). Not all questions need answers, or
have answers.
>Why is everyone sage-ing? Not that you can see it anymore.
The thread does not need to be bumped often and it takes up space on the front page. As such, you'll see many anons sage often. Anyone who
wants to find the thread can use the Catalogue. Of course, if the thread is close to page 10 then bump the thread.
>The thread is getting close to the bump limit / I accidentally replied to the Guide to learning Japanese image or otherwise participated
in a fruitless argument.
Delete your old posts, it will allow the thread to survive longer until the new thread pops up.
>The Thread 404d early.
Go to the Archives. We will be chilling there till the new thread comes up (Its not like we have lives).
>Its been 3 hours past the scheduled time and OP hasnt put up the new thread.
Then put up a temporary thread with an appropriate picture and the following OP. Be sure to have Daily Japanese Thread in the title as we cant
Ctrl+F it otherwise. Number it Temp. NOTE: Only do this if you personally will be available to delete the thread at around 0030
UTC/GMT (when OP should put up the new thread. If not make another temp thread, number it Temp 2). Obviously make sure someone else
didn't make one before you make one.
As moot has disabled deleting your own thread, if the need arises make the temp thread after the thread 404s and if the current time is 0330 UTC
(3 hours past the scheduled time). Make sure no one else has made one before you make one. If there was already a thread today, then head to
the archives, we will be there.
Style Note: We are not /vg/, do not call the the thread /djt/. We are not a subboard, we are /a/. Also if you cant post the official op image
dont post the op.

http://pastebin.com/w0gRFM0c
Guide:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1G5C7fCe07CDzYalZYZObzxv_fhw7RUNsLHiMAY-t7FA/edit
(Old) https://docs.google.com/document/d/1QkKNc3AYP5sOv23FRjBoCs2dDzHN83BuT1T_aRU21t0/edit
Reading List:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/lv?key=0Agk2IH0ZXhn7dDNmSW1BVFU5dVgyOHkzWjU4b2l2dkE
#l/a/nguage on irc.rizon.net
Previous Thread:
[Insert archive link here]
>I seem to have the dont motivation to do this.
.

>Namasensei (you bitch)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQlq-hxWRzQ
Namasensei is often watched by beginners learning Japanese, because his alcohol-fueled antics are strangely both entertaining and powerfully
motivating, especially for anons. Unfortunately, this is a double-edged sword; since hes always shitfaced drunk, Namasensei tends to teach in an
ineffective fashion, has terrible handwriting, and messes up the stroke order of some of the kana. Get wasted and watch this guy when you need
some motivation.
Suck it up, write this shit 50 fucking times, and drink fucking beer. You bitch.
(His te-form is mutually agreed to be the only worthwhile video he has.)
>I cant figure out what this means
Google X, X, X() where x is your inquiry. Also google.co.jp yields better, more
relevant results.
If you find something you want to do better, write down this formula and solve.
I want to do X or a related activity to X better/faster/more easily, do X.
Replace the activity with X

If you have any trouble with Mozc for GNU/Linux read the following.
GNU/Linux - The open source project mozc is based on the Google IME
Instructions for Ubuntu:
http://chris.bracken.jp/2011/10/installing-ibus-mozc-on-ubuntu-1110.html
Packages also exist in Fedora, Debian, GNU/Linux Mint, and OpenSuSE. For Arch, its available in the AUR.

Guide Discussion
Discuss the guide here.
Specific matters (such as rewording of a section) should be done via a comment in that section.
Header PSD file (including font)
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1471453/DJT%20Header.zip
Pronunciation guide
I have yet to find a suitable guide that covers everything about pronunciation in Japanese, Ive found different guides covering specific aspects
about pronunciation but thats it.
We could collaborate our own.
Ill start: http://vocaroo.com/i/s0vVf9QhwHyk
Or we could just link the different guides for different aspects of it.
I think listening to each kana on Tae Kim is pretty good reference http://www.guidetojapanese.org/learn/complete/hiragana
Or do you mean an actual guide about how to place your tongue?
Tongue placements would be useful to people who cant figure out how to mimic the sound.

Kan make our own full introduction to the writinTUg systems, like KanjiDamages Kanji_Info page. It doesnt have to be in this particular
guide, as I think we should try to make this as concise as possible, but we could have another doc that fully introduces it.
This raises the question of what exactly is this guide trying to be, the guide of guides(which is to say all encompassing, but probably
confusing to a beginner), or djt guide 2.0, which is to say a concise guide of a specific(KD>Vocab) method?

Recall vs recognition
Shouldnt there be something on this? Some people dont realize the difference and just go with whatever their pre-made deck uses.