Learn Japanese with YouTube

Japanese is far from English in sound, grammar and writing. Video helps because you hear natural speech and see the text at the same time.

What to watch by level

• Beginner: Lessons made for learners with slow speech, and videos with on-screen Japanese text.
• Intermediate: Vlogs, cooking, game streams, travel, and explainers. Pictures help you guess meaning.
• Advanced: Interviews, news, talks, variety shows, drama clips.

Use the original line and a translation

Many Japanese videos have creator subtitles. The original line shows kanji and kana. The translation shows the meaning. Even if you cannot read a kanji yet, you start to see which shapes go with which sounds.

What to notice

• No spaces. Japanese has no spaces between words. Do not try to find every word at first. Learn common word pieces and particles such as は, が, を and に.
• Kanji. Do not stop at each one. Save the words you meet often, with the full sentence. Over time the shapes repeat.
• Politeness levels. Speakers change their form by situation. Notice です/ます and the casual forms.
• Sentence end. The verb comes last. Wait for the end of the sentence before you decide the meaning.

Dictation in Japanese

Dictation in Dual Subtitles compares one character at a time for Japanese, since there are no spaces. You need a way to type Japanese on your computer, such as the built-in Japanese input.

A 20 minute routine

1. Watch a 5 minute video with both lines.
2. Watch again with the translation hidden.
3. Loop three sentences and say them out loud.
4. Save five words with their sentences, then export them to Anki.

Subtitle tips for Japanese

Automatic Japanese captions can be rough with names and fast talk. Creator subtitles are much better. Prefer videos that have them.

Method: How to learn languages with YouTube. Setup: dual subtitles on YouTube.

Get Dual Subtitles and start with one short video.