This is a short beginners guide on how to study Japanese 日本語ーにほんご even if you're dumb (kiddin') anyway, you might be wondering (or not) why should I study Japanese in the first place? maybe cuz you like watching anime, reading manga, or just a language enthusiast. Anyway, many people says Japanese is very hard but if you'd ask me it really depends on some factors such as whats your native languages is or have you already learned any language that might be close to Japanese tho I personally think anyone can learn Japanese and it is hard but no that hard and trust me soon you'll start feeling its actually easy and fun. Im gonna keep this short and straightforward.

Content :

• Writing System
• Vocab building
• Basic Grammar
• Immersion

Writing System 日本語の文字体系 (にほんご の もじたいけい)

Japanese Writing system is probably the trickiest part of the language.
Japanese writing system consist three scripts

• Hiragana : Hiragana is the native writing system of Japanese and it is made from Kanji. It is used to write native Japanese words such as かわいい - Kawaii/Cute, Grammar like particles such as は/へ/に etc, and verb ending etc...... Its a very beautiful and by for most easiest writing system in whole language and personally I love it. Trust me you can learn the basic of in a week even if you're lazy. (Later, I'll tell how ~ DW)
• Katakana : Katakana is the another native writing system of Japanese and it is also made of Kanji. It is used for foreign words, sound effects, Scientific names, and emphasis etc. Words in katakana usually sound very close to English like words cuz it has many loanwords borrowed from English such as ライフ ( Life ~ It is read as Raifu, thats actually very close to what we say in English ). Words in Katakana are sometime very easy to remember tho writing and reading is a bit tricky as sometime it feels a bit hard to read certain katakana or even to write tho it looks very curvy and sick.
• Kanji : This is the thing why many people says Japanese is hard, Kanji is one of the writing script in Japanese and basically a foundational script for Hiragana and Katakana. It was borrowed from Chinese Writing System Hanzi. It is a Logographic script and mainly used to represent meaning of the word instead of just sounds. It is hardest system but it consist too many characters (50,000) tho by Modern Japanese Standard, learning 2,000–2,500+ would give you absolute mastery over comfortably reading most of the stuff but for beginner learning 100-200 is pretty much fine.

How to learn?

It's really easy to learn Kana ( Hiragana and katakana collectively called kana) because of internet. Im gonna list easiest way to learn them as well as how to learn basic kanjis

There are two pathways for learning kana you can choose which one sounds more you.

Learn Kana カナ

Way 1

You can learn kana from actual Japanese people by watching one 2hrs video of Learn Japanese with JapanesePod101.com and personally I really liked their standalone Hiragana video that is literally 9 years old but trust me, I think its one of the best video on Hiragana for beginners. Tho I just checked they have made a 2hrs tutorial combining kana, where they'd first teach hiragana and then katanakana so yeah you can simply watch this video and you're good to go tho please try to watch in parts and ofc must practice by writing those characters on paper as well as you can practice kana here on this gamified website Kana-Practice by tofugu <3

Way 2
This one is also a single video but by another great creator ToKini Andy and I really loved his video on Kana, because in 2hrs he taught hiragana and katakana side by side with native Japanese pronunciation and great stroke order tutorial. Personally I'd recommend you to watch this video if you want to learn Hiragana and Katakana in PAIRS rather than first doing hiragana and then katakana tho its completely on you.

Learn Kanji (漢字ーかんじ)

There are tons of way to learn Kanji available on internet. Though there's a video by ToKini Andy on N5 Kanjis (Basic 100 kanjis) and I'd hundred percent recommend you to watch this one if you wana learn how to write and read basic kanji. Trust me this playlist is just gold.
By the way, don't forget to practice kanji on paper as well I'd recommend you to write daily on paper as well as be sure to done with kana first.

There's another video by another great creator that you can checkout if you want to learn kanji while watching gaming videos. I'd say, it might be best for you if you love gaming. (I haven't watched it tho but I trust him)
It could feel a bit overwhelming tho.....to me it felt when I first tried watching it xD!

Vocab building

Its the second most important factor in learning any language and you have to focus on learning Vocab the most as its the basic of whole language.
There are some ways to learn Vocab but I personally like using Anki ー Its a free app to learn words and anything using SRS (speed repetition method). You can make your own cards or just use already made card.
Personally, I really liked Japanese Core 2000 Step 01 Listening Sentence Vocab + Images as it really helpful in learning all basic vocabs to understand basic Japanese. I personally used it to learn the basic vocab and during your journey it'd also help you learn the reading of many kanji naturally.
But if you just want to learn Japanese to watch anime you can checkout this amazing deck Jlab's beginner course as it is made by using scenes from anime, for a weeb it sounds really awesome.
By the way, before starting using Anki I'd recommend you to watch this video as it'd save your time later.

Basic Grammar

For learning basic grammar I'd suggest you to watch one of these videos. First one is again by ToKiniAndi and other by GameGengo giving you another gamified experience of learning Basic Japanese grammar.
GameGengo one is just 2hr video and that is really good if you cant stick on long videos for so long.

Though, you can try ToKini Andy playlist on N5 grammar according to Genki 1. It is really great if you want to learn in detail and in accordance with book series Genki 1.

Immersion

Immersion - Its one of the recommended way of learning any language and if you're here to learn Japanese because you want to watch anime in Japanese or read native manga with no English translation then it'd be the easiest part for you or maybe not. For the immersion you can do some stuff such as watch anime in Japanese (If you want to learn Japanese as quickly as possible try watching anime without English subtitle and repeat single episode or certain scene to immerse better) I'd recommend you to watch 子供アニメ (Kids Anime) such as Doraemon tho you can also watch anime in genres like slice of life or maybe romance too (Let me know of if you want a list on anime best for beginner). You can also read manga made for Japanese learners, or just listen to beginners Pods.

P.S : You can do it. がんばって!!

Note: Check out my article on best underrated romance anime movies

Throughout my anime journey, I’ve always been fond of good emotional and romantic movies and series (I’ll cover them in another post sometime later). As I kept watching, emo-romantic movies list finished too fast and yeah I was so cheeky on what kind of main characters or story I want to see and due to this habit I happened to watch some good underrated stuff most people usually miss. In this post Im going to list some good underrated anime movies that are must watch but I think most people usually miss them.

This list isn’t in any order but I’ll try to put good one on top tho : )

1. The Tunnel to Summer, the Exit of Goodbyes

Earlier I said this list isn’t in any order but I have to contradict my own words here ー this masterpiece is a must watch and could be easily top in our list.
The story revolves around a guy named Kaoru Touno and a girl named
Anzu Hanashiro Who just transferred in from Tokyo. In the beginning they dont really get along well but later due to some certain situation they become like a team and explore a mysterious tunnel Urashima Tunnel　ー a tunnel where if you once enter you can get anything but you’ll have pay with time…because time is money (笑）
Story is quite complex and I cant really just spoil it here too just go and watch; this is a pure masterpiece and ending is sick too.

Ratings:
Imdb : 7.2/10 (Cruel xD)
SaikoScale: 10/10 (Underrated Masterpiece)

Useful Links
IMDb
Anilist

2. Maboroshi

I just can’t explain how much I love this anime (movie). It has everything a romantic movie need; story is fine too though it might feels slow in the beginning but just hang there for half an hour and you’re gonna thank yourself.
Story goes like Masamune was living a normal life with his friend until
a mysterious blast happens in a factory in their town and their age and everything in that town get stuck forever. Story gets interested when Masamune follows his mysterious classmate Mutsumi Sagami when they encounter another mysterious girl who can’t speak and story gets another turn…leading to an intense romantic and emotional plot.
Must Watch.

Ratings:
Imdb : 6.4/10 「IG…I Just dont wana say anything 💧 (╥﹏╥) 」
SaikoScale: 10/10 (Underrated Masterpiece 2x ✿)

Useful Links
IMDb
Anilist

3. Words Bubble Up Like Soda Pop

If you wana see something different (I mean art style) this one is your thing.
I really liked this movie as the main character (male ニャ) seems to be an introvert that was a thing I felt very relatable and art style as well as story is really fined tuned. AND if you like Haiku or you wear braces and mask (srry xd) you’re gonna love this.

Story starts as two people; a guy named Cherry (kawaii name) and a girl named Smile ツ both with communication issues due to different reasons interact to each other and their love story starts. It has very heart-touching light-hearted story with multiple unique plots.

TBH if you’re an introvert or just like romance you are gonna like this for sure.

Ratings:
Imdb : 6.8/10 「 (-_-メ) 」
SaikoScale: 8.5/10 (beautiful ✿)

Useful Links
IMDb
Anilist

4. Patema Inverted

Patema Inverted is one of those anime movies whom most people dont even know exists…(To be honest, I never met a single person who has watched this movie). I really enjoyed every single second of it.

The Story is very unique and serene, a princess named Patema who lived most of her life in an underground world, where people lived normally like humans but they have to wear special clothes all the time. Patema’s favourite place was a dead end Danger Zone During her exploration journey she happened to cross the world and stumble in a different world (Our World) where she met a guy named Age (yeah you read it right…its age). Anyway slowly they become close and their love story unfolds as they also explore the wonders of story. There are a lot more story so just watch it.

Edit: (There’s also a prequel Patema Inverted: Beginning of the Day too ig)

Ratings:
Imdb : 7.3/10 「Not Bad 」
SaikoScale: 9/10 (beautiful Story and Plot ✿)

Useful Links
IMDb
Anilist

5. The Boy and the Beast

This one might seem an action movie from first view…yeah it has some action but it also has full load of emotions and ofcourse romance material too. I just liked it and you’re also gonna like it.

The story revolves around an orphan guy named Ren tho mostly called Kyuuta (Kyu 九ー9) as he was nine year old when given named.
Story starts as a beast Kumatetsu who was looking for a student as he had to participate in a certain competition to secure the throne of beast kingdom but due to his anger issue no student lasts an evening with him. He happened to pass across in the human Ren but dont really like him and leave for the beast kingdom but Ren follows him and happened to pass into the beast kingdom. Many things happen and when Ren becomes a teenager he started getting human like interests and started visiting the human world where he met Kaede a girl who offers him free tuition and their relation slowly develops into something beautiful ❤️.
If you want romance, action, and emo at one place…its a must watch.

Ratings:
Imdb : 7.6/10 「Not Bad 」
SaikoScale: 9/10 (beautiful Story <3)

Useful Links
IMDb
Anilist

Final Note

I guess, its enough for this post. I know I just covered only 5 Anime…don’t worry as soon as I get the time & motivation; I’m gonna add more or just post a part 2 of this. Its my first post so please excuse any silly mistake or grammar errors. Feedback is really appreciated so please let me know if I did something wrong, missed any good anime so I could put it in my future posts or missing something in general. Cheers!