Languages

Guides and tools for picking up a language, one script at a time.

Japanese

• Learn Japanese: A Ridiculously Detailed Guide (Guide) — Tofugu’s step-by-step path from zero: hiragana and pronunciation first, then 300+ kanji and around 1,000 words by radical mnemonics before any grammar textbook, on the principle that you should already know 80% of whatever you study next.
• Self Taught Japanese (Website) — a blog by someone around twenty years into learning Japanese mostly on their own: explainers on expressions like 〜と言いたいところだけど, word-origin posts (what “ikigai” means in Japan versus the 2017 bestseller), manga, novel and anime reviews, and trip logs. The author also translates Japanese fiction under the imprint Arigatai Books.