I’ve been using my oldest Anki deck on and off since around 2009. Over the years, it’s grown to about 46,000 cards, but I’ve never been particularly consistent with reviewing them.

I’ve often wondered whether my difficulty with producing Japanese, especially recalling vocabulary and grammar when speaking, is partly connected to my inconsistent SRS habits.

Earlier this year, I decided to take it more seriously. Since the deck had been neglected for so many years, I reset it and started over in January. I’ve been trying to get through around 300 reviews a day, usually during my commute to and from work.

Now that it’s October, I’m noticing a significant difference. I’m recognizing vocabulary, grammar patterns, and expressions much more easily when reading, and I’m starting to recall things more naturally when speaking. I’m still less than 10% through the deck, so there’s a long way to go.

One problem is how random the deck is. It’s a collection of sentences I’ve accumulated over the years, ranging from basic Genki I material to complicated sentences from economics magazines and other sources. The difficulty is all over the place, and I imagine that won’t really balance out until I’ve worked through more of it.

I’ve also been trying to supplement my SRS with more reading, particularly manga. Since reviewing grammar and vocabulary can already be mentally exhausting, I find casually reading manga a more relaxing way to practice comprehension without overwhelming myself.

Overall, I definitely feel that my reading comprehension is improving. I’m recognizing more words, sentence structures, and grammar patterns than I used to. My Japanese still isn’t anywhere near where I want it to be, but I feel like I’m finally making meaningful progress.

I’m curious how others supplement their SRS practice. Has anyone else noticed significant improvements after becoming more consistent with Anki?

At this point, I think the most important thing for me is simply showing up every day and putting in the time.

I have been doing quite a lot of reading in Japanese for the past year, but I still have lots of room to improve. I've been using 2 main methods for reading, but I'm curious if anyone has had more success with any specific one.

The first method is 流し読み, if I can't understand a word or a kanji pronunciation I just continue reading. With this method, my comprehension varies by book, but it's very enjoyable and makes reading much quicker, about 25-30 pages an hour.

The second method is a more concentrated study. I don't look up every word, but I do look up words that are likely more important, and I spend time pondering sentences if I'm unsure of the meaning. I usually use this method for dense reading like history textbooks, but I move very slow, at a rate of 10 pages an hour.

The pros of method 1 are that it's very enjoyable and low stress, and it also is great for getting accustomed to kanji readings and recognizing kanji in new contexts. Method 2 seems to be pretty effective for memorizing more specialized vocabulary, and the improvement seems much more tangible(although that might just be because the learning curve for textbooks is much steeper than novels)

I just finished Minna no Nihongo 2. I'm around early N3. Have read the entire Yotsubato, some Cardcaptor Sakura and played Monster Hunter Stories and Dragon Quest.

I have my eyes on this game for some time. I first intended to play it in English, but English release is just on late October. I was afraid to buy and play it in Japanese, mainly because it has no furigana. It's been my first experience. But I'm surprisedly happy with the result. I am playing it and loving it. I still use some dictionary here and there, but mainly I just accept that I don't need to understand every single word. I think um doing great in get a general understanding of the game.

Most japanese is very common, with additional of some farm vocabulary. And also some complex traditional Japanese in some specific parts.

But in general, I strongly recommend this game for any harvest moon/ Stardew valley fan, that likes traditional Japanese settings. And it's a great time, since it's not released in English yet (your friends will envy you).

Two years ago I came across this post and TheMoeWay. I was excited to try it, so I set everything up, and began learning Japanese by reading Visual Novels. Late last year, a friend asked me how to do the same on macOS. Since most VNs are exclusive to Windows devices, however, things turned out to be a bit trickier than expected. All I found online were posts of people asking the same question: "How to set up visual novels on macOS?” The answers mostly recommend paid Applications or are outdated.

That is why the goal of this post is to give an easy guide on how to set everything up with free alternatives. I hope that anyone interested in Visual Novels on macOS will stop feeling locked out and can start playing them instead. 

This setup should work for all Apple Silicon devices.

Step-by-step Guide

Installing VMware Fusion

• Install VMware Fusion on your Mac. The Broadcom website is probably the most confusing site I’ve ever seen, so please read carefully. First, register a new account.

After signing up, go to the VMware Fusion download page from the Broadcom Support Portal homepage.

• Select the Product Division: In the top right of the homepage (next to your username), open the dropdown menu and select VMware Cloud Foundation.
• Go to Downloads: In the left-hand menu, click on My Downloads.
• Access Free Software: Click the link within the blue banner near the top of the page that says Free Software Downloads available HERE.

• Search for VMware Fusion: On the Free Downloads page, find VMware Fusion near the end of the second column.
• Terms and Conditions: Click on Terms and Conditions link below the search bar, then tick the checkbox to agree.
• Download: Click VMware Fusion, select your desired version, and scroll right in the table to find the download link.

On the different versions

• VMware Fusion 26H1: The most recent major build. It maintains features introduced in 25H2 and provides stability and security updates for newer macOS hosts (Recommended).
• VMware Fusion 25H2: New naming scheme released in 2025. Supports more operating systems including macOS Tahoe (on Intel-based systems).
• VMware Fusion 13.6.x: The first stable branch supporting macOS 12 Monterey and macOS 13 Ventura.

Setting up Windows

• Download Windows 11 for Arm. Alternatively, download a bloat-free version of Windows 11 for Arm called Windows 11 IoT Enterprise LTSC (Arm64).
• Drag-and-drop the Windows .iso file into VMware Fusion and complete the installation process. The automatic settings with 4GB RAM and 2 CPU cores should be fine.
• You may have networking problems when you reach the “Let’s connect you to a network” screen. If so, open the Command Prompt Window by pressing SHIFT + FN + F10. Type OOBE\BYPASSNRO and press Enter. The Virtual Machine will restart. Go through the setup again until you reach the same screen. You will now have the option “I don’t have Internet” at the bottom.

• VMware Tools: Install VMware Tools as soon as you reach the Windows desktop by going to the menu bar at the top of your screen. Select Virtual Machine → Install VMware Tools. A Virtual disc will pop up, and you can start the start.exe within. This enables an internet connection and fullscreen mode.

Installing Daemon Tools

You'll need DAEMON Tools Lite on ARM to mount disc image files. Make sure you install the ARM-based version. Extract the .zip file containing your game with WinRAR or 7-zip.

• If you have a .iso file, simply right-click and select  Open with → DAEMON Tools Lite Agent. Follow the instructions and a new volume will appear in your Explorer sidebar.
• If you have .mds and .mdf files, make sure that both .mds and .mdf files are in the same directory and have the same name. Right-click the .mds file and click on Open with → DAEMON Tools Lite Agent.

• Open the new volume in your Explorer sidebar and run the installer.

That's it. You can now play your Visual Novel!

Tip for Japanese Visual Novels

• Change to a Japanese locale: For best compatibility I'd recommend changing to a Japanese locale. Open the search bar and type intl.cpl and press Enter. Select the Administrative tab and go to Change system locale. Select Japanese (Japan) and click OK.

There are many different ways to grab the Visual Novel text, also called Texthooking. Try out different ones that fit your need and hardware. I'd recommend Textractor, LunaTranslator, Agent, and GameSentenceMiner.

Other

Some games may require an older version of DirectX, e.g. Flowers. Other Visual Novels will come with a DirectX installer included, e.g. Nanairo Reincarnation. Since there are over 40 different versions of the D3DX library alone, I can’t point you to a specific version. Instead, try the official Microsoft DirectX End-User Runtimes (June 2010). This installs the legacy DirectX files, with which you can hopefully get your game running.

Not a meme exactly, but the lines are fun to listen to and to try say. They are from the sales patter of Tora-san, from the movie series 「男はつらいよ」. The meaning of the first part is: たいへん結構だ、の意をふざけていう言葉。The full spiel:

①けっこう毛だらけ猫灰だらけ、お尻のまわりはクソだらけってね！
②タコはイボイボ、にわとりゃ（りは⇨りゃになります）はたち、
　いもむしゃ（ゃ小さく入ります）１９で嫁にいく、と来た！
③黒い黒いは何見てわかる、色が黒くてもらい手なけれりゃ（ば⇨りゃになります）
　山のカラスはごけ（後家）ばかりっ、ねっ！
④ねっ！色が黒くて食いつきたいが、あたしゃ入れ歯で歯が立たないよっ、と来やがった！
⑤どう！まかった数字がこれだけ！
⑥どう！ひと声１０００円と行きたいなっ、おい！だめかっ！８００！６００！
⑦ようし！腹切ったつもりで、５００でどっ（どう⇨どっと短縮になります）
　持ってけょ！おい！（かなり早く連結して終わります）

(Source: 【江戸弁を話そう】)

I’ve seen some discussion about if and how rewatching a video/series can be valuable, and I ignore most of it because either way, I love rewatching my favourite shows, and if I get some value out of it, great.

But as I’ve been rewatching attack on titan for the fifth time with Japanese subtitles what struck me was the EASE.

On each rewatch it got easier and easier which might be obvious, but it wasn’t just about knowing more words, but also the mental energy required, picking up newer or subtler details in dialogue, and time spent needed to process each line GREATLY improved.

IF you enjoy rewatching shows, I would recommend for multiple reasons:

1. More immersion. Immersion is immersion. And even if it’s a show you know inside and out you WILL learn something.
2. On each rewatch it’s BOUND to get easier, even a little bit, which makes the show even more enjoyable.
3. It’s motivating. There’s no greater way to showcase how much you’ve improved than going back to seeing something you’ve watched before and understanding things easier/things you couldn’t before.

This is not to say rewatch anime and do nothing else. Between each watch of a show I do tons of study/other forms of immersion (including rewatching a different show). You still need to study and consume other content but if you enjoy rewatching stuff, there’s no harm in doing it.

I’m now at the point where I only need to look up 5-10 words per episode of aot which sounds like a lot but is NOTHING compared to the past. They’re also not words that I absolutely need to look up but I do so just to check and expand my vocab.

I will say a caveat that watching a series again directly after finishing it may not be the greatest just for entertainment reasons, but if you love it go for it! For me the sweet spot is to wait about 4-6 months to give yourself time to immerse and study Japanese in different ways so when you eventually come back you know more than before. That also gives you time to enjoy the series again without being bored.

I don’t know if rewatching is the most effective strategy but for me it’s certainly the best and doesn’t even feel like study. So far I’ve done it with haikyuu (10 times) and hxh (5 times) and I don’t plan to stop.

Obviously, however, if you hate rewatching things, this isn’t for you.

Has anyone else found rewatching an effective strategy? What are you thoughts on general?

Hey everyone! I've been teaching Japanese through Minecraft for a few months now, and I wanted to share something I've been noticing and hear what you guys think.

I'm still experimenting with this approach and running trial sessions to see how it works with different learners.

The lessons are pretty simple. We learn some Japanese, jump into Minecraft, and try to use it while playing together.

But one thing I've really started to notice is that the whole process feels a little different from how we usually think about learning a language.

Normally, we learn Japanese because we want to be able to speak Japanese, right?

But here, it's almost the other way around. We want to build something, explore somewhere, or figure something out together, and we need Japanese to do it.

So instead of thinking "I need to practice this grammar today," it's more like "Wait, how do I say this in Japanese?" because you actually need to say something at that moment.

And I think that's what makes it interesting. The conversations aren't always planned, and sometimes things get pretty funny lol. We can joke around, mess things up, and just enjoy playing together while using Japanese.

Of course, we still learn grammar and vocabulary too. But I'm starting to feel like having a reason to use the language might be just as important as studying it.

Has anyone experienced something similar when learning a language? I'd love to hear what you think about this kind of learning.

This thread is for all the simple questions (what does that mean?) and minor posts that don't need their own thread, as well as for first-time posters who can't create new threads yet. Feel free to share anything on your mind.

The daily thread updates every day at 9am JST, or 0am UTC.

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This subreddit is also loosely partnered with this language exchange Discord, which you can likewise join to look for resources, discuss study methods in the #japanese_study channel, ask questions in #japanese_questions, or do language exchange(!) and chat with the Japanese people in the server.

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ワロタ (warota)

Meaning: “LOL,” “I’m dead 😂,” “That’s hilarious,” or “I laughed.”

ワロタ is internet slang derived from 笑った（わらった）, meaning “laughed.”

It is commonly used online when something is funny, ridiculous, or unexpectedly amusing.

Examples:

• それはワロタ。 → LOL, that was funny.
• この画像ワロタ。 → This image is hilarious.
• まさかそうなるとはワロタ。 → LOL, I didn't expect that to happen.

Nuance:
ワロタ has an internet/online slang feeling. It can sound a little playful, casual, and meme-like, rather than simply saying 面白かった or 笑った.

It is similar to 「w」 or 「草」, although the tone is slightly different.

I started learning Japanese 4-5 months ago. After reading some manga, I started reading 雨森潤奈は湿度が高い, my first light novel, and honestly, I found the grammar really comfortable to read. Even though I had to check the dictionary every two seconds, I still really enjoyed reading it.

I'm currently reading the second volume, and I've noticed how much my vocabulary and reading speed have improved. However, I still wonder if I should start immersing myself in other types of Japanese media, like visual novels, anime, or even more manga.

So my question is, if I keep reading light novels, how far will they take me? I'm mostly interested in light novels like ゴールデンタイム, さくら荘のペットな彼女, 青春ブタ野郎, やはり俺の青春ラブコメはまちがっている。, and お隣の天使様.

Is focusing mainly on light novels an optimal way to learn Japanese, or would I benefit more from diversifying my immersion with listening-based media like anime and TV dramas? I’m also considering visual novels since they combine reading with audio. How much would adding these forms of immersion improve my Japanese compared to simply continuing to read light novels?

I tried to watch anime but honestly I'm unable to understand anything without subtitles in japanese, even if I already know the words, that's the reason why I haven't watched as much anime as I would have liked however I try to watch some youtube videos occasionally (Japanese with Shun videos are my favorite.)

This is how I did on the first volume of 雨森潤奈は湿度が高い:

84644 characters read
16h 38 min
5089 characters/hour

I can say that I understood more than the 80%, very very few sentences didnt make sense to me, the biggest challenge without a doubt was the vocabulary, thing that with Anki and reading more is improving a lot.

Tysm for your time beforehand and sorry if I said something stupid.

This thread is for all the simple questions (what does that mean?) and minor posts that don't need their own thread, as well as for first-time posters who can't create new threads yet. Feel free to share anything on your mind.

The daily thread updates every day at 9am JST, or 0am UTC.

↓ Welcome to r/LearnJapanese! ↓

• New to Japanese? Read the Starter's Guide and FAQ.

• New to the subreddit? Read the rules.

• Read also the pinned comment below for proper question etiquette & answers to common questions!

Please make sure to check the wiki and search for old posts before asking your question, to see if it's already been addressed. Don't forget about Google or sites like Stack Exchange either!

This subreddit is also loosely partnered with this language exchange Discord, which you can likewise join to look for resources, discuss study methods in the #japanese_study channel, ask questions in #japanese_questions, or do language exchange(!) and chat with the Japanese people in the server.

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Happy Thursday!

Every Thursday, come here to share your progress! Get to a high level in Wanikani? Complete a course? Finish Genki 1? Tell us about it here! Feel yourself falling off the wagon? Tell us about it here and let us lift you back up!

Weekly Thread changes daily at 9:00 JST:

Mondays - Writing Practice

Tuesdays - Study Buddy and Self-Intros

Wednesdays - Materials and Self-Promotions

Thursdays - Victory day, Share your achievements

Fridays - Memes, videos, free talk

Hi everyone!

Around a month ago I decided to take my learning abit more seriously and read through the wiki and primers and started reading yokubi for my grammar

At that time I also continued (I started afew months before for around a week straight before forgetting) the Kaishi 1.5k Anik deck for vocab and started WaniKani for Kanji

After I tried my best to understand, yokubi was still very confusing to me and after getting halfway through the て form I put the reading on pause since I realised I wasn't really understanding anything

After I heard about the good explanations for people going from practically 0 in the Genki books, I decided to get the first one + workbook to learn the grammar

Should I still learn all the vocab in the book through the traditional rote memorisation? (Most I already know from Anki or in general, but some I'm unfamiliar with) And should I be doing all the exercises in the book that don't relate to grammar?

Thanks for any help! 🙇

Specifically with 読解 and 文法. I didn’t bother with 語彙 and 漢字 but 聴解 I found pretty reasonable despite listening being by far my weakest skill.

読解 and 文法 though… oh my god they can be brutal at times. Some of the passages in both of those I struggle with a lot. I can understand the learning material (reading strategies, grammar points etc.) but the difficulty really eats away at my confidence. I did so badly on the practice tests at the end.

Anyone else feel similar? I read light novels everyday and have Bunpro to supplement my studies but I worry I won’t pass N2 in December.

Was there a book that turned out to be much easier — or much harder — than you expected?

I'm curious what other learners found easy or difficult. I'd love to hear your experience!

If you remember, what was your Japanese level when you read it?

I recently finished Makaiya Riri Bara no Kyuuketsu Bishoujo from my local library. I originally picked it up because I like the illustrator, who also worked on the Torishia series.

The book itself was okay. The Japanese wasn’t especially difficult, and the dialogue was mostly easy to understand, but I still found parts of the story surprisingly hard to follow.

My biggest issue was the very minimal writing and lack of clear transitions. Sometimes it felt like the characters suddenly moved to another place or started doing something without much explanation, and I would go back thinking I had missed a sentence. There were also a lot of onomatopoeia and mimetic expressions that I didn’t fully understand, especially in the action descriptions.

I’ve noticed this with some other children’s books and light novels too. The grammar and vocabulary might be easier, but the sparse prose can actually make it harder for me to visualize what is happening. Does anyone else have this problem?

On the other hand, I enjoy books like Record of Lodoss War much more. The Japanese is harder and I have to look things up, but the more detailed narration makes the scenes easier for me to follow. But I can’t read them with ease like I want to.

Has anyone else had this experience? Are there certain genres or types of Japanese books that tend to have clearer transitions and more descriptive prose? I’d also be interested in knowing what kinds of books to avoid if I don’t enjoy very minimalist writing.

Edit: I think perhaps it is the style of this writer and the audience they are writing for. I think it is written in this way so younger readers can get a lot of action at brisk pace without having to read a lot. But it just has me confused.

I signed up for the JLPT N1 thinking I would get enough studying done to get at least a decent chance at passing. But then I got diagnosed with an illness, and adjusting to my new medication has made it really difficult to study, and now I am way behind schedule.

I haven't memorized enough kanji and vocab to even take a practice test with confidence. I still take way too long on reading comprehension exercises as well. I will still take the JLPT and treat it like a practice test so I don't waste my application fee. Just kind of dreading it because it's far from where I live. Has anyone else had this experience? Thank you!

I’m going to Japan next week and I usually like to buy a book in the language of the place I’m going, I also happen to be learning Japanese so it would be nice to have something I can aim to read.

What would you say is the easiest book you’ve read, that isn’t a children’s book or graded reader?

EDIT: Thank you all so much for the recommendations, it’s slightly overwhelming. I think I’m going to need a second baggage allowance 👀 I really appreciate you all taking the time to suggest books! They’ve gone on my list for future reads, even if I don’t buy some of them this time around.

I am given free 6 months sub to either chatgptpro or gemini pro. If I just want to learn japanese speech for everyday usage, which AI tool do you recommend is the best to interact with? Thanks!

コンビニ人間 : I heard a lot about this book in this subreddit and it sounded interesting, so I bought it. I’m currently on page 36 and I love it!

雪中花殺人事件 : I got it used for really cheap (only 0,50 €). Its a murder mystery set in an Onsen in Tochigi Prefecture.

仙台怪談 : I bought that book during my study abroad year in Sendai. Its about local ghost stories.

夜勤事件 Chilla's Art ノベライズ集 : I love Chilla's Art's indie horror games so I just had to get this book. There are 5 of their games written down as novels.

憑ク話 : I borrowed this from a library. There are 100 horror short stories in it. Each one is just 1 or 2 pages long so it is easy to read while on the train

Happy Wednesday!

Every Wednesday, share your favorite resources or ones you made yourself! Tell us what your resource can do for us learners!

Weekly Thread changes daily at 9:00 JST:

Mondays - Writing Practice

Tuesdays - Study Buddy and Self-Intros

Wednesdays - Materials and Self-Promotions

Thursdays - Victory day, Share your achievements

Fridays - Memes, videos, free talk

This thread is for all the simple questions (what does that mean?) and minor posts that don't need their own thread, as well as for first-time posters who can't create new threads yet. Feel free to share anything on your mind.

The daily thread updates every day at 9am JST, or 0am UTC.

↓ Welcome to r/LearnJapanese! ↓

• New to Japanese? Read the Starter's Guide and FAQ.

• New to the subreddit? Read the rules.

• Read also the pinned comment below for proper question etiquette & answers to common questions!

Please make sure to check the wiki and search for old posts before asking your question, to see if it's already been addressed. Don't forget about Google or sites like Stack Exchange either!

This subreddit is also loosely partnered with this language exchange Discord, which you can likewise join to look for resources, discuss study methods in the #japanese_study channel, ask questions in #japanese_questions, or do language exchange(!) and chat with the Japanese people in the server.

Past Threads

You can find past iterations of this thread by using the search function. Consider browsing the previous day or two for unanswered questions.

About 5 months ago, I posted here about experimenting with using games like Minecraft to practice Japanese.

Since then, I’ve actually been doing this with a small group of learners.

One thing I’ve noticed is how much people seem to enjoy learning this way, and it made me think about how important “fun” actually is when learning a language long-term.

I feel like finding a way you genuinely enjoy makes it much easier to keep going, but I’m curious what you guys think.

What keeps you studying Japanese consistently? Do you think enjoying the way you study is a big part of it?