started learning japanese my friend

**@[sameer](https://nyaa.si/user/sameer)** to be honest, I've been learning Japanese on and off since 2015 lol. Managed to get good enough to read RAW manga just last year tho.

oh wow! nice!! one of these days i should find more time.

**@[sameer](https://nyaa.si/user/sameer)** a tip from my side - just stay consistent. No matter if you do it for even less than 30 minutes in a particular day, just do it everyday...

thx for the tip. consistency is one thing i badly need.

@Pajeet Where did you learn Japanese from? How much kanji have you learned over the past 5 years? Can you read a RAW manga nowadays and understand pretty much everything?

**@[YoRHaUnit](https://nyaa.si/user/YoRHaUnit)** this will be a rather long comment, so read with patience. Due to the character limitations in place, I'll have to divide this comment into chunks. Also, keep in mind what I'm writing here is not a fact, it's just what I've experienced. Journey of learning is different for everyone... I started learning Japanese on my own using books and the Internet when I was in school, starting in 2015. My journey learning both Japanese and English is tied very closely to my growth as a student and as an individual. You see, before 2015 I was really bad at communicating with others, in any language whatsoever. My eerily deep voice and very fast speed of talking added to that. As a result, I was a subject of jokes and ridicule in language classes, both by the teachers and students. Dealing with these problems for years on end made me more determined and more motivated than ever to get my shit together. So, why did I tell you all this? To convey that if you want to self-learn a language like Japanese, you need a strong sense of purpose. ....(1/5)....

....(2/5).... Now, onto how I learned it. First thing that you should start to learn is the Japanese writing system, i.e., Hiragana, Katakana and Kanji. What most people get wrong here is that after mastering Hiragana and Katana, they try to learn the entirety of Jōyō Kanji all at once, without giving proper time to Grammar and giving actual, practical, real-world usage a fair chance. For some people good at memorising, it may work. But it didn't work for me. Instead, I chose a more organic approach to language learning and learned Kanji slowly as I used it while also simultaneously focusing on the grammar. I used several resources to learn Kanji. I mainly used dictionaries like KKLC along with some Kanji Damage(awesome website lol) and Anki decks for spaced revision. Some people also like Heisig RTK, but personally I don't like it as it only teaches you what each kanji means and not how it's meant to be "read" and interpreted. Choose KKLC or any other Kanji dictionary if you want the full experience, but it's time consuming, or go the Heisig route which is much faster, but doesn't really teach you readings, choose whatever floats your boat really. I'll admit that I haven't memorised tons of Kanji, but I find it much better to learn things as I come across them rather than learn thousands of Kanji at once that I'll use very rarely. ....(2/5)....

....(3/5).... Now onto the Grammar part. Luckily, the internet has you covered pretty well on that front! Even here on Nyaa, you'll find several torrents of Japanese learning packs. Within them they pack tonnes of books and knowledge that used to take one a lifetime to accumulate just a few decades ago. All that knowledge, right at your fingertips and on your device's storage ready to be consumed anytime, anywhere. What a time to be alive, right? Well, the problem is that many people have divisive opinions on grammar learning. Many people say that books meant to make you learn Japanese grammar are too "plain" and "wooden" in nature and don't teach you Japanese like the natives actually speak It today. While that might be true to some extent, but it doesn't really diminish the importance of these books. As for how you can learn Japanese like how real natives use it, we'll get to that in a moment. For now, I recommend that you start with a few books to get you through the basics of grammar and sentence formation. I recommend books like Genki, Minna no Nihongo, the Tobira series etc. Honestly, feel free to pick any series of books you like. Remember, this journey of self-learning is about you, not about what some stupid guy on the internet told you to do. Just make sure you stick to your choice, as falling into a dilemma of choice won't take you anywhere. ....(3/5)....

....(4/5).... After you have some experience under your belt regarding the grammatical part, and have mastered hiragana, katakana and built up some knowledge on Kanji, first of all congrats on getting this far! Second, now you have many options. You can follow any good online guide that teaches you how the natives use the language today, I highly recommend Tae Kim's website or book for that, as it'll also help you jog your knowledge of Grammar basics. But most of all, due to my focus on organically learning the language, I recommend that you start immersing yourself in Japanese media as soon as possible. Yeah, I do mean as soon as possible. Just finished learning Hiragana and Katakana? Why not use your knowledge and bop to the lyrics of your favourite anime OP(most songs have karaoke tracks with Hiragana and Katakana, with furigana for kanji). Finished the basics of grammar as well? Why not read a shounen manga you remember at your fingertips, but in Japanese! Granted, you won't understand everything, that wasn't even the goal. As you're familiar with the source material, you'll enjoy the tough read regardless and it'll help you get familiar with how the language is actually used. Feel free to whip out your Kanji dictionary or a Grammar cheat sheet if you don't understand something. Remember, the keyword here is Immersion. The sooner you get immersed into actually using the language, no matter how slow you read or how broken you sound, eventually you'll start to pick up on things real fast and learn to actually love the language rather than bashing your head against a wall just because you can't remember the on reading of a certain kanji. ....(4/5)....

....(5/5).... As for me, I've started to really read RAW manga in mid-late 2019. I can read most titles just fine, however at times I need to look up Jisho to learn about certain Kanji I don't know about(remember, I like to learn as I go). My level of comprehension has skyrocketed since I started putting my knowledge to actual use rather than mugging up books. Turns out you learn language better if you actually use the damn thing. Weird, right? TL;DR - Learn Hiragana and Katakana first. Learn Kanji at a slow pace as you go rather than months at a time. KKLC > Heisig RTK (opinion, not fact). Take a grammar books series and stick to it. Use Tae Kim and other online guides to learn the native lingo. Immerse yourself in Japanese media ASAP. Huge emphasis on Freedom and Immersion. ....(5/5) [END]

Sorry for any typos in advance. And yeah, thanks for coming to my TED Talk!

@Pajeet Holy shit man! Thank you so much for taking the time to write up such a amazing reply. I'm gonna have to screenshot your entire comment to use as help when I start learning Japanese. Thank you so much for going in so much detail and giving various website and book recommendations. You're great, man! I cant thank you enough.

**@[YoRHaUnit](https://nyaa.si/user/YoRHaUnit)** hope that helps you in the future ^_^ Good luck on your journey learning Japanese! Just remember that whatever I've written above isn't set in stone. Feel free to take your time and experiment with different approaches, with an emphasis on **Freedom** and **Immersion**...

Pajeet, is Shonan Junai Gumi worth reading?

**@[SOUVIK](https://nyaa.si/user/SOUVIK)** If you have read GTO - Great Teacher Onizuka and want to know how Onizuka was as a student, then it's a must read! Heck, even if you haven't read GTO first, Shonan Jun'Ai Gumi is a great delinquent manga. Just make sure to read GTO afterwards then....

Sanks!!!