Learn Japanese Pod - 10 Tips for studying Japanese

Sep 28, 2026

Uploaded by Finn

Learn Japanese Pod show notes covering a podcast episode focused on practical, high-frequency methods for learning Japanese. The tips emphasize setting a clear goal, mastering everyday expressions, learning culturally grounded phrases that don’t map neatly to English, and drilling common speech patterns through repetition with small substitutions. Included dialogue examples and Japanese sample phrases help learners connect study actions to real conversational use.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

FormatPDF

Pages8

Reading Time20 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Top 10 Tips for studying Japanese

Tip 1 - Set a clear goal

Tip 2 - Know your everyday expressions

Tip 3 - Learn expressions that don't translate easily into English

Tip 4 - Drill common speech patterns

Learn Japanese Pod Podcasts 10 Tips for studying Japanese [LearnJapanesePod.com](LearnJapanesePod.com) Introduction In this podcast, Asuka and I go through our top 10 tips for learning Japanese. These show notes summarise those tips and also include the example dialog you can hear in the podcast here. Podcast Dialog | Asuka | おはようございます | ohayō gozaimasu | Good morning | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Alex | おはようございます | ohayō gozaimasu | Good morning | | Asuka | 昨日のパーティー楽しかったですね | kinō no paatiitanoshikatta desune | Yesterday’s party was fun | | Alex | 楽しかったですね | tanoshikatta desune | It was fun wasn’t it? | | Asuka | またやりましょう | mata yarimashō | Let’s do it again | | Alex | ぜひ! | zehi | Absolutely! | Top 10 Tips for studying Japanese Tip \# 1-Set a clear goal This one is pretty obvious. Before you start anything, you should set a clear goal, preferably with a deadline. This will help to really focus your studies. If you're not sure what your goal is, simply ask yourself “why do I want to study Japanese?” Do you want to visit Japan on holiday? Do you want to be able to read your favorite manga? Or perhaps you want to become a ninja. Depending on that answer, you can focus more effectively on a study plan. That might be obvious to you but it is worth saying. And there is one more reason to have a clear goal that people sometimes forget about. [LearnJapanesePod.com](LearnJapanesePod.com) And that is, setting a goal avoids wasting time studying stuff you don't need to know. If your goal is to visit Japan for a week on holiday, then you should just be studying simple phrases for booking tickets, asking directions and perhaps shopping. You don't need waste your time studying 2500 kanji from a dusty textbook for that. So, why do you want to study Japanese? Think about it and leave a comment below. On to my next tip. Tip \# 2-Know your everyday expressions For those of you who want to visit Japan, work here and be able to hold a conversation in Japanese, learning high frequency everyday expressions is a great place to start. You should know greetings for different times of day, asking how people are and how to say please and thank you. For example: おはようございますこんにちはこんばんはお元気ですか元気ですお願いしますありがとうございますどういたしまして ohayō gozaimasu Konnichi wa Konban wa ogenki desu ka genki desu onegai shimasuarigatō gozaimasu dō itashi mashite Good morning Hello (Used around midday) Good evening How are you? I'm ﬁne Please (Could you do something for me?) Thank you You’re welcome Tip \# 3-Learn expressions that don't translate easily into English After learning some basic daily expressions you should learn phrases that don't easily translate into English. In other words, learn phrases that give you a deeper insight into Japanese culture. This also helps you to stop translating words from your own language into Japanese which wastes time and makes you sound unnatural. Here are some examples: お先に失礼します-osaki ni shitsurei shimasu This means something like, "I'm sorry for leaving before you" . You say this when you are the ﬁrst person leaving work or some engagement with a group of people. [LearnJapanesePod.com](LearnJapanesePod.com) お疲れ様です-otsukare sama This literally means, "you must be tired" . It is used in various situations but means something like good job, or well done. You use it to express your appreciation for someone after they have exerted a lot of effort for something. It can also be used when someone ﬁnishes work and goes home for the day. You often hear the last two phrases together like this. A: お先に失礼します-Right, I'm off (Excuse me for leaving ﬁrst) B: お疲れ様です-Bye (Good job) これからよろしくお願いします-kore kara yoroshiku onegaishimasu The word "yoroshiku" means something like good or please treat me well. So this phrase is could be used to mean "I look forward to working with you" or " I look forward to doing something with you in the future" . It's used a lot at the end of a se

FAQs

Why should learners set a clear goal for studying Japanese?

A clear goal helps focus your studies and prevents wasting time on content you don’t need. It also helps you choose the right study plan for your reason to learn Japanese.

What everyday expressions are recommended for beginners?

The notes recommend high-frequency expressions such as greetings for different times of day, asking how people are, and polite forms like please and thank you.

How can learners avoid unnatural translation from their native language?

The guide recommends learning phrases that don’t translate easily into English so learners understand Japanese culture and stop mapping words directly from their own language.

Sep 28, 2026

Uploaded by Finn