Does Learning Japanese casually get you anywhere?

By now it is probably no secret that I really love Japan. And I should have started Learning Japanese casually a long time ago. Since my first trip in 2004, I have visited several times, with a long hiatus between 2008 and 2023. Until recently, I was unable to speak Japanese except for the most well-worn tourist phrases of the international traveller courtesy of the guide book.

It all changed when I went to study at the University of Nagasaki in 2023 – only a short professional course, but one requiring a lot of work and projects. I told myself to relax, as the course would be in English. Having written a thesis in English, I knew I could probably tackle a new-ish subject in English well.

Just to be safe and to not look like a complete fresh off the plane eejit, I started learning Japanese. And because I had a fair bit on my plate already, working a full-time job, studying remotely after work…

So I revived my dormant Duolingo account and started to learn Japanese. On the free plan, being the cheapskate. After all, I had just purchased a flight, six weeks worth of accommodation and tuition fees so I needed to mind my budget.

But first… Do you need to know Japanese to travel in Japan?

Of course not, you do not need to know Japanese for being a tourist in Japan. Especially in the day of artificial intelligence and some pretty decent translation apps. When I first visited Japan, I knew the greetings, “please” and “thank you” and “sorry”. On my third trip, I made such progress that I was able to ask anyone if they speak English… often mixing the words for English and Japanese and causing much amusement asking people whether they spoke Japanese… but nevermind.

I though Japanese was complicated and why on Earth do Japanese have three writing systems when most languages do pretty well with one? And other than being a tourist, I would not use any Japanese in my daily life – so for years, I did not bother.

Then came my study trip to Nagasaki, and I remember wandering campus looking for my school… and asking people the way. Trying to decipher handwritten menus using my Translate App (near impossible)… or trying to explain to the irate conductor on a deserted Kamome train late at night that I had mistakenly sat in a reserved car, and please, please, I had been travelling all day and night, would he let me sit there for the next thirty minutes?

So I thought about high time that if I like Japan so much, I better study Japanese language.

How much study do you need?

I studied between almost never and about three hours per week. Usually after coming home from work to wind down, sometimes fifteen minutes before work. I never finished top of my league or built up more than a 14-day streak. However, I did learn quite consistently and never gave up altogether.

In 2023, after about five weeks of learning, I was able to order sushi and have a very simple conversations in restaurants with people sitting next to me. It often served as an ice breaker, and people became immediately helpful helping me to translate handwritten Japanese menus.

In 2024, after a longer break, I visited Japan after about a year. I had planned charity work in Nepal, but family illness shortened my three-week period of leave into just under one, so I made a last-minute trip to Kansai, my “home from home” where I feel most comfortable travelling. I was able to order food, buy things, and also ask the bus driver for directions and checking I was on the right bus – a game changer for the relatively non touristic Hyogo countryside.

On a trip the same year for Gion Matsuri, I actually made simple conversation with the people next to me. I never perceived Kyoto as “unfriendly” and put it down that perhaps although I look like an oversize clumsy Westerner, I can greet people in Japanese and don’t put my foot in it immediately.

Encouraged by my ability to tell people more than that I’m a cool doctor or a nice lawyer (Duolingo Learners, you know what I mean!), I signed up for community college online lessons, once a week. Community College in Germany is nice and slow learning, so everyone can follow. I skipped one or two levels and was was able to comfortably skip in at a level of someone who had been part time learning three semesters. After that, I was still very much a beginner.

But by now, I was able to read Hiragana texts slowly but comfortably, and knew about 50 kanji. Not at JPLT N5 but not terribly far off. 

Then. in Spring this year, a new class started at my local Community College, at intermediate level. 

Are there any other ways to learn Japanese?

I would highly encourage signing up to any class that fits around your life style. For me, that was online classes at community college, and since I prefer classroom lessons, I made the switch even though I was punching well above my level there and struggled terribly at first.

It helped that I have a good ability to recognize shapes – I can read Cyrillic, Greek and Hebrew. Kanji are still a big challenge, and so, surprisingly, for me Katakana proves a real challenge too.

Don’t underestimate the power of TV, either. I watched a few shows for entertainment, and my favourite ones are “The Makanai”, “Asura”, “Midnight Diner” and “The Quartet”. I would not say either of these is great for studying the language, although cough cough, some Japanese reality TV shows were offering the more simple everyday conversational Japanese I was after.

What can you be expected to say and do after a year?

If you study a lesson or two daily, after a year you should be able to greet people, talk about yourself a bit, and do the basic touristic business like check in at a hotel, use public transport, order in restaurants and buy things.

You will also enjoy the goodwill of many Japanese who will in most cases be very pleased at the attempts in Japanese who may then dig out their High School English, making communication a heck of a lot easier.

If you are to take your study very serious, there are several exams you can take. They are relevant for university entry and the most widely used is probably the Japanese Proficiency Language Test (JPLT). From the lowest level , N5, which requires about 150 lessons through to Low Intermediate N4, theses are probably fun exams for those with a casual interest. N3 is perhaps the lowest level required for a job with a Japanese Company, the N2 tends to be standard for job requirements and university entry, and N1 is proficient Japanese and gives you bonus points when applying for jobs or at university in Japan.

I never studied regularly for a year. I started on Duolingo about 20 months ago but very casually. I have taken Japanese seriously with a 90-minute lesson per week for the past five months and daily Duolingo lessons of 10-30 minutes. I manage enough to clearly communicate simple things like that, no Translate needed. I can read Hiragana haltingly and I know about 30-40 kanji. I feel a lot more comfortable travelling when I can speak Japanese on a basic level and feel like I am reaching that first milestone now… and I am excited about speaking better every month!

Additional ways to learn

I am still a fan of Duolingo. I use the free plan, and I have no affiliation or promotional business with Duolingo. I may have used other apps briefly, but basically, I tried Duolingo and stuck with it. It’s very gamified, but I am okay with that, In fact, if they maybe could integrate into Merge Mansion, I would learn even better and would even pay money for it.

I also brushed up my Russian and learned Ukrainian when I started doing some voluntary work in 2022, and it served me well there, too.

I also found several books for self study really helpful. First up, my first textbook. It is the most entertaining textbook for beginner’s Japanese, but it is in German. So not sure if this will help any one.

Secondly, I bought several other books. Starting with “Reading and Writing Japanese Hiragana” and “Japanese Kanji for Beginners“. Both books are published by Tuttlem who are a great publisher in English for all things Asia.

I also bought Kiriko Kubo’s “Japan: Illlustrated Conversation Book” (ISBN9: 9784533083259) and “illustrated japanese Characters” (ISBN: 9784533013591). Both are published by JTB Publishing – basically an offspring of japan’s largest travel agency. They are small, cheap, light, and in a manga-y style for quick study on the move. I love the Japanese visual style and always have one in my bag.

I’ll never be fluent, but…

Just pitching up at Kansai Airport Station and telling the minder that I can speak a bit of Japanese, then bypassing the huge foreigner queue for tickets is priceless.

I am not going to read the Tale of Genji in Japanese, that’s for sure. I have always been interested in travel and languages and was able to speak two foreign languages fluently. Meanwhile, my Russian declined a great deal, but I learned French and Italian to simple tourist conversational level, dabbled in Hebrew, Turkish, and now Japanese.

Learning is language is cool and a very useful life skill to have. So, in a grand conclusion gesture, language will expand your world, and connect you with new people. Just do it, use the low threshold of a free app and start learning.

The Small Print

Nothing in this post is sponsored, there are no affiliate links either. I mention books and apps because I personally found them useful, and I do not receive any monetary benefits from recommending them.

I also didn’t really optimise this post for SEO, just to see how it does… all part of my dilettante hobby blogging experiments. Just rest assured that, as always, this post represents my actual experience and honest opinion. I may revise this later as the Japanese language is fun but pretty complex.

If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment or email me. If you wish to support this blog, please feel free to visit my other Japan posts, and book your accommodation through some of my affiliate links. Thank you for reading!