Many Japanese learners stall in the same place. They can read hiragana and katakana and know a few hundred kanji from flashcards, and they still cannot follow two friends talking over ramen. Japan's list of kanji for everyday use has 2,136 characters, so a few hundred still leaves gaps in many sentences. Japanese sentences also often leave out who is doing the action, and you work that out from the context. Comprehensible input is the fix: you spend the same study time on Japanese where you already know almost every word, so the context explains the few new ones.
What Comprehensible Input Looks Like
Each row below is a sentence. The gray bars are words you already know, and the purple bar is the one that is new.
About one new word per sentence.
At this difficulty you keep reading, because everything around the new word tells you what it means. You work it out yourself, and a word learned that way stays with you far longer than one memorized from a list.
Your Roadmap by Level
Bubblegum sorts every lesson into six levels, and each level is described by a sentence about the learner. Find the sentence that sounds like you, and the row tells you what to read and what to do.
- Absolute Beginner
I can't read hiragana yet.
Hiragana and katakana each have 46 basic characters, and each one stands for a sound. Start with the free Hiragana course, then take the Katakana course.
Hiragana course - Level 1
I can sound out words but not much else.
Read short dialogues with audio, a translation, and furigana, the small hiragana printed over each kanji to show how to say it. Save the three words you look up most often.
Level 1 lessons about food - Level 2
I can handle simple exchanges.
Read dialogues about your week and your hobbies with the translation hidden. Add the free graded readers from Tadoku Supporters, which go from simple picture stories to short novels.
Level 2 lessons about hobbies - Level 3
I follow conversations on familiar topics.
Listen to Nihongo con Teppei, a podcast in natural, easy Japanese, and read NHK News Web Easy, the news in simple Japanese from Japan's public broadcaster.
Level 3 lessons about polite Japanese at work - Level 4
I understand most content but miss some nuance.
Hide furigana, and turn it back on only when a kanji stops you. Watch anime with Japanese subtitles, one episode a week.
Level 4 lessons about travel - Level 5
I read complex topics but rare words slow me down.
Watch anime without subtitles and read manga, and look up only the words that block the story.
Level 5 lessons about anime and manga - Level 6
I read at near-native level.
Read novels and the news for their own sake.
Move up a level when the current one starts to feel easy, and move back down if you lose the thread by the third line. If you are learning Kansai or Fukuoka Japanese, our guides to Kansai Japanese and Fukuoka Japanese list the best ways to learn each one.
Try It on a Real Lesson
The lesson below comes from Bubblegum, where Poppy, your AI tutor, writes Japanese lessons at your level. You can read it here just as you would in the app. Read it at all three levels and notice which one you can follow while still looking up a few words.
One Situation, Three Levels
From Bubblegum’s guide Conversing About Daily Life and Hobbies in Japanese. It works here the way it works inside Bubblegum.
I can handle simple exchanges.
A Day at School
The school morning begins.
Good morning. Did you do your homework yesterday?
No, I didn't have time, so I didn't do it.
The long classes ended, and after-school time arrived.
Thank you for showing me your notes. It really helped me out.
You're welcome. Did you study for the test yesterday?
Yeah, I studied a little bit, but I didn't watch TV at all.
Well then, you should go to bed early today. See you tomorrow.
Frequently Asked Questions About Comprehensible Input
Do I need to learn kanji before I start?
No. Read with furigana until a kanji feels familiar, and you will learn its readings from the words it appears in. For example, 人 (person) is read ひと on its own, じん in 日本人 (Japanese person), and にん in 三人 (three people).
Is watching anime comprehensible input?
From Level 4 with Japanese subtitles, yes. Below that, most of an episode passes too quickly to learn from, so lessons about anime and manga are the better starting point.
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.
