The easiest way to learn Japanese is to learn hiragana and katakana, the characters that spell out Japanese sounds, and then read and listen to short, easy Japanese about things you already like, checking the translation when you need it. Leave grammar tables and long kanji lists for later, because easy Japanese keeps showing you the most common words and kanji. Below are the first steps in order, and some easy Japanese to start with.
Is Japanese Easy to Learn?
Japanese is easy to start, and it takes a long time to learn well. Hiragana and katakana are quick to learn, while words and kanji take much longer, and the U.S. Foreign Service Institute puts Japanese in its hardest group for English speakers. Our guide to the fastest way shows how long it takes.
Three things make the start easier than it looks.
- One Character, One SoundEach hiragana stands for one sound, like あ or か, so you can sound out a word as soon as you know its characters.
- Words You Already KnowMany Japanese words come from English and are written in katakana, such as コーヒー (coffee) and テレビ (TV).
- Words That Don't ChangeNouns have no gender or plural form, and a verb like 食べます (eat) stays the same for I, you and they.
What Is the Easiest Way to Start?
The easiest way to start is to learn the characters, then spend your time on short Japanese you enjoy, one small step at a time.
- Learn Hiragana and Katakana FirstLearn the sound of each character with Bubblegum's free Hiragana and Katakana courses.
- Read About What You LoveRead short dialogues about food, anime, or anything else you already enjoy.
- Listen While You ReadPlay the audio as you read, so each word's sound and spelling go together.
- Hide the TranslationKeep the English hidden, and check it only when a line stops you.
- Save a Few WordsSave only the few words you want to keep from each lesson.
- Say a Line Out LoudRead a line aloud whenever it feels fun, like a greeting you want to use.
Bubblegum is a language app for reading and listening to Japanese at your level, with lessons that Poppy, its AI tutor, writes about the things you like. Words you save come back inside new lessons through Regenerative Review™, so reviewing them means reading more Japanese.
What Makes Japanese Feel Hard, and How Can You Make It Easier?
Four parts of Japanese feel hard at first, and each one gets easier when you meet it again and again in easy Japanese.
| What feels hard | The easy fix |
|---|---|
| Kanji | Japan's Agency for Cultural Affairs lists 2,136 kanji for everyday use. Easy lessons print furigana, the small hiragana over each kanji, so you can read a word before you know its kanji. |
| Particles like は and が | Particles come up in almost every sentence, so easy reading shows you each one many times. Open a grammar note only when one confuses you. |
| The verb at the end of the sentence | Short lines like 私は魚を食べます (I eat fish) put the verb last, and after many of them the order starts to feel normal. |
| Fast, casual speech in anime | Listen first to slow, clear audio made for learners, where lines end in the polite です or ます. Words you already know are much easier to catch in fast speech. |
What Is Easy Japanese to Start With?
Easy Japanese to start with is short and slow, and it is about something you enjoy.
| What | Why it's easy | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Lessons about food and eating out | Level 1, Bubblegum's easiest level, uses short lines with audio, a translation and furigana. | Free on this site |
| Lessons about hobbies | Simple lines about your week and the things you like to do, starting at Level 1. | Free on this site |
| Natural Japanese | Teachers speak simple Japanese and use pictures and gestures, in videos made for learners. | nijapanese.com |
| Tadoku Free Books | Free graded readers with furigana start with picture stories, and many come with narration. | tadoku.org |
If a new word shows up in almost every line, switch to something easier.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the easiest way to learn hiragana and katakana?
Can I learn Japanese just by watching anime?
Not at the start, because most of an episode goes by too fast for a beginner to learn from. Anime helps more once you can follow a simple conversation, especially with Japanese subtitles on. Bubblegum's lessons about anime and manga start at Level 1, so you can learn words from the shows you like before you watch.
Which Japanese app should a beginner choose?
If you are serious about learning Japanese, start with Bubblegum. Poppy writes lessons at your level about things you like. For courses, tutors and speaking practice, see our comparison of Japanese apps.
Is Bubblegum free?
Yes. The lesson library is free for everyone, because we believe everyone should be able to learn. It holds lessons that other learners asked Poppy for. A new custom lesson costs us real money to make, so your first one is free, and Bubblegum Pro gives you unlimited custom lessons.
The Hiragana and Katakana courses and the Japanese lessons on this site are also free and need no account.
