Introduction
Don’t seem to be making progress in your Japanese language learning quest? Well, that’s fine, it is about time you make a change to that. Imagine being able to speed up your learning process, and make significant progress in learning your desired language.
People want to learn a new language for different reasons, whether it’s for promoting a career or because of popular culture, anime, manga or foreign students who need to learn something in the native language.
Well, that doesn’t matter, the problem is you are stuck and don’t seem to be making any significant progress. The truth is that you can learn the Japanese language much faster than you are doing.
The most exciting part about learning a new language is that many people use different methods, some people decide to download all the available e-books they can find and begin reading, which isn’t a bad idea. But the truth about such involvement is that they lack the necessary factors, these factors we like to call “catalyst” which are meant to speed the learning process.
The mistake most people make is that they sometimes make the learning process incompatible with the kind of life they live. At the end of it, they get bored midway or even become frustrated. It is important you learn in the most convenient way that is why taking online lessons will be your best option.
Online courses have been one of the most efficient learning methods available today as they’re convenient, concise, affordable, and save a lot of time. Another important reason online courses are great is because of the flexibility that comes with them.
You can learn at your own pace as well as take part in some practical exercises that will boost your understanding much further. The most amazing thing about online courses is that they offer different levels to start with, so it doesn’t matter if you do not have a prior foundation in Japanese.
These courses are available from beginner level to advanced levels, you will be properly guided in learning the basics such as 3 Japanese alphabets like Kanji, Hiragana and Katakana which form the pillars that hold the Japanese language.
Why Learning Japanese Online Is The Best For You?
When you learn Japanese in a classroom you follow the same sets of the program followed by other students, that way you are limited because you only progress at a fixed pace.
But by taking online classes you get to move at your own pace. In some instances, classroom learning is not the best depending on what exactly you want to study. By taking online classes you take a more specific and direct approach, you choose what you want to learn based on a large number of courses available.
Online courses provide you with many tools and guides that will help you have a better learning experience with highly engaging videos, and practice exercise by taking online courses is surely your best bet in making that progress you have always wanted.
So if you’re motivated enough to walk the right path towards learning Japanese, then below are some of the best Japanese courses available for you.
1. Japanese Language – for Beginners 1 – Coursera
This course should be the starting point for learning Japanese for a beginner. It is worthwhile and will help you build a solid foundation for you to learn the basics. It is highly recommended for you if you have had no previous knowledge of Japanese. It offers a very flexible schedule where you can learn at your own pace.
This course aims at teaching you the Japanese way of thinking. The materials are provided by the Department of Japan Studies.
In this course, you will be tutored by 4 instructors Maria Malashevskaya, Inga Ibrakhim, Yoshiko Arakawa and Nadia Hassan Issa who do an outstanding job in teaching the basics of Japanese language.
What to expect?
This course is offered completely online with a flexible deadline, it takes an approximate 12 hours to complete. In this course you will learn the basics of Japanese Grammar that can help you with getting started in having a day-to-day conversation. It will also guide you by providing you with the basic rules of Japanese communication etiquette.
By taking this course you will also learn the skills of writing commonly used Japanese characters and letters. You will also be taught how to properly pronounce Japanese words.
Upon completing this course you will be able to read all complicated texts as well as write using Hiragana and Katakana script along with the Kanji characters. You will be able to construct your own sentences using the materials provided.
This course provides learners with more than enough material including Japanese writing system based on phonetics and communication customs that are consistent with the Japanese culture.
This course contains over 200 words that will help improve your vocabulary. After completing this course you get a certificate, and if you wish to learn more you may then proceed to the second part of the course Japanese for beginners 2.
What you will learn?
This course is divided into five sections that span over a five-week.
- In the first week, you will be given a piece of general information about the Japanese language along with information that guides you on learning the basics of phonetics, pronunciation, grammar structure and the first letters of the Hiragana script.
- The second week will focus more on teaching the commonly used pronouns, understanding the structure of simple declarative sentences as well as how to write Hiragana letters.
- Third week. In this section you will learn and understand how verbs and adjectives change forms, you’ll also learn new Japanese suffixes after which you will be introduced to the third Japanese Script Katakana.
- In this section you will be taught how to introduce new objects into sentences as well as adverbial modifiers, you will also learn the basic rules involved in voicing and devoicing the Katakana script.
- In the final week, the objective will be more streamlined focusing more on the lexical aspects with less information on grammar rules. You will also learn etiquette and fill out forms in the Japanese culture, and finally write your first character.
COURSE DETAILS:
Instructors: Maria Malashevskaya, Inga Ibrakhim, Yoshiko Arakawa, Nadia Hassan Issa
Level: Beginner
Class Project: N/A
Video Lectures: 32
User Review: 3.9
Price: USD 49
2. Japanese Course for Absolute Beginners (Letters, Alphabet) – Skillshare
This course is for you if you are looking to take your very first step in learning the Japanese language. It is absolutely a great course if you are interested in learning the very basics of Japanese. This course is structured in a way that allows absolute beginners to master the Japanese letters Hiragana and Katakana which form the very foundation of the Japanese language.
As a beginner, it is very important to master these aspects of the language, and if you have a good foundation then the remaining parts will surely be a smooth sail for you, the more reason this course is highly recommended.
You’ll be too tutored by Allison Williams who is a Japanese instructor. He does an outstanding job in this course. He also has over 7 years of experience in language education as a translator, interpreter, and Japanese instructor. He aims at providing students with relevant information that will help them understand the Japanese language.
What to expect?
This course focuses not just on teaching you how to pronounce and write Japanese letters but also offers additional knowledge that will help you a lot. This course is English-based making it easier to comprehend most especially if you are a beginner.
It will also teach you the proper ways to access your knowledge and how to practice after the lessons. It will provide you with the relevant PDF materials for each section with all the available writing practice exercises.
The cultural note session aims at submerging you into the Japanese culture enabling you to understand better. This course will help you build a good vocabulary base by providing you with the necessary vocabulary-building tools.
These tools are sure to help you practice pronunciation so you can have a basic level of understanding of Japanese words. You will also be learning commonly used phrases in the Japanese language.
In this course, you get a comprehensive guide that helps you avoid common mistakes most beginners make. The video lectures have a total duration of 6 hours 17 minutes and the time taken to complete the course is dependent on the effort you’re willing to put in.
COURSE DETAILS:
Instructor: Allison Williams
Level: Beginner
Class Projects: 1
Video Lectures: 45
User Review: N/A
Price: USD 29 billed annually
3. Get Fluent and Confident in Japanese – Udemy
The tutor will guide you on how to improve both fluency and confidence when speaking Japanese. This course is for you if you want to learn the Japanese language from a native speaker.
You will be tutored by Guang Chen. With over 470 students enrolled in this course, it is one of the best options available for you to learn efficiently.
What to expect?
The tutor guarantees you will be able to speak Japanese within 1 month of taking the course. The duration of this course is an approximate 6 hours which will take about a month to complete if you put in 30 minutes of effort a day.
Upon completing this course you will be able to read, pronounce and write correctly. You will also be able to pronounce the common Japanese phrases like a native speaker as well as be able to introduce yourself in Japanese.
In this course, you’ll be introduced to the basic concepts in the Kanji script. After completing this course, you would be able to describe the common things found in your environment and also describe actions you and others have been engaged in. At the end of this course, you should be able to ask simple questions regarding the topics described above.
What you will learn?
The course is divided into six sections. In the first section, you will be given a brief introduction to the course. In the second section, you will be taught exclusively on the Japanese writing system where you will learn the basics of Katakana and Hiragana.
In the next section, you will learn the demonstrating aspects of the language and you will be able to introduce subjects and objects in a sentence. In the fourth section, you will learn the descriptive aspect of the language, you will also learn adjectives, conjugations, adverbs and how to make formal statements. And at the end of the section, you will carry out some exercises that test what you have learnt including some listening exercises.
In the fifth section, you will learn how to use verbs in sentences. And for the final section, you will learn the interrogative aspects of the language, how to ask questions about something or someone.
COURSE DETAILS:
Instructor: Guang Chen
Level: Beginner
Class Project: N/A
Video Lectures: 78
User Review: 3.7
Price: USD 12.99
4. Steps in Japanese for Beginners – edX
Taught by Naoko Kinoshita, a Japanese speaker and an associate professor at the Waseda University where she earned her PhD. She is an expert at Japanese language education and Japanese phonetics and phonology.
With more than 25 years of experience, she has taught Japanese as a second language in Universities companies and language schools. She has done a great job in this course as her lectures are interactive and very engaging.
What to expect?
This course contains 4 months of course content for 3 to 5 hours of effort per week. This course offers a flexible arrangement allowing you to study at your own pace. It is created for Japanese beginners who want to learn to express basic ideas in Japanese by building vocabulary and relevant sentence patterns used commonly.
The content of this course will help you get a firm understanding of Japanese conversation, vocabulary, and Japanese grammar structures. This course also makes available discussion forums that will facilitate the learning process, as you get to interact with other students in the course. Ultimately this course will help you learn the language as well as the cultural values through conversation.
What you will learn?
The course is divided into three sections that focus on the key aspects of learning the Japanese language.
- In the first section, you will learn basic expressions in Japanese.
- The second section focuses on teaching you how to gain relevant information and how to pass this information to others.
- The third and final section guides you on learning important words and phrases that will help you in building relationships with people.
COURSE DETAILS:
Instructor: Naoko Kinoshita
Level: Beginners
Video Lecture: N/A
Class Project: N/A
User Review: N/A
Price: USD 222.30
5. Japanese Lessons – To Start Reading the Kanji in the Context Just in 30 Days (All 10 Lessons) – Udemy
This course is definitely your go-to point if you are particularly interested in reading the Katakana, Hiragana and Kanji. This course is excellent for beginners as it provides a step-by-step guide to understanding the basics of the 3 scripts in the Japanese language. The lessons are straightforward and easy to navigate around.
In this course you’ll be tutored by Nicholas Kemp, Nicholas has lived in Japan for 10 years where he established a language learning school helping people to learn English and Japanese.
Nicholas does a great job in this course as it’s easy to understand and provides you with the relevant information you need to be able to read Kanji in a short period of 30 days. In this course, you will be able to read the whole script of Hiragana within a week.
This course will teach you how to read the alphabets in Katakana and how to pronounce words that are easily misunderstood. You’ll learn plenty of new words as well as phrases and will have the opportunity to study four hundred characters in Kanji within a short period of time, saving you hundreds of hours.
What to expect?
This course requires a total of 10.5 hours and a 1-hour on-demand video. It also provides you with 34 downloadable resources that will guide you throughout the course. In this course, you will get 20 screen capture video tutorials that focus on teaching you to read Kanji. 16 videos are dedicated to helping you master Hiragana, while 20 audio files are dedicated to teaching you Japanese verbs.
You also get to learn 120 common Katakana phrases. Another advantage of taking this courses is that you will begin to gain some insight on the written aspects of Japanese, and finally, also get flashcards that will help you memorize the important characters you need to be familiar with.
COURSE DETAILS:
Instructor: Nicholas Kemp
Level: intermediate
Video Lectures: 125
Class Project: N/A
User Review: 3.9
Price: USD 12.99
6. Beginners Japanese: Daily Phrases to Travel and Communicate – Skillshare
If you want to learn basic Japanese without necessarily going into the more complex aspects of the Japanese language then this is the right option for you. This course is designed for people who want to learn some Japanese for the purpose of traveling, so they can communicate with others and have simple conversations.
It doesn’t go deep into the Japanese language but the online lessons in this course cover a wide range of topics that will also help form a good foundation for you.
You will be learning with Mikiko Koike, who is a Japanese and English language teacher and translator. She aims at making the learning process a fun experience through her exciting study materials. She’s a native Japanese speaker who teaches Japanese to both universities and business organizations.
What to expect?
This course provides useful features that will help you travel to Japan without having to master the entire Japanese language. This course also includes some cultural tips that will guide you when visiting Japanese hot springs.
It provides you with some sample phrases that will speed up your understanding of the language. In this course, you will master common Japanese greetings and also how to respond appropriately to common questions. You will also learn the important 3 phrases commonly used in Japanese.
This course will teach and help you master useful phrases that will boost your confidence when speaking Japanese. You will acquire new vocabularies for travellers that will help you in some activities and places like transportation, visiting a restaurant or when shopping.
You will be able to understand the basics of Kanji and also be able to introduce yourself appropriately. This course also aims at making you familiar with some of the culture and customs of the Japanese people.
COURSE DETAILS:
Instructor: Mikiko Koike
Level: Beginner
Video Lectures: 16
Class Project: N/A
User Review: N/A
Price: USD 29.88 billed annually
7. Online Japanese N1 Course (All 10 lessons) – Udemy
This online Japanese learning course is designed for those who have an intermediate learning experience in Japanese and have learned JLPT N2 level of the language. It is particularly useful for JLPT preparation and also for individuals who want to further their Japanese communication proficiency.
This course is for you if you understand English but want to learn Japanese as a second language. It is also for students who have enrolled in a Japanese language learning school. This course is also for learners who want to learn advanced Japanese to take their careers to the next level (Business Japanese).
You will be tutored by Attain Corps, which is a Japanese education online company that offers over 600 lessons of e-learning materials.
What to expect?
This course has over 11 hours of video content with 15 downloadable resources. It aims at enabling you to master comprehension, grammar and vocabulary in the Japanese language. After taking this course you’ll be able to comprehend Japanese used in daily activities as well as read written materials clearly.
You will also be able to understand and hold a conversation on topics of day-to-day situations. In the end, you should confidently be able to speak and understand business Japanese even at advanced levels.
When you have so many options of online courses and you have to select the most appropriate one, you need to be a smart decision maker.
First of all, figure out your skill level in the Japanese language, then find the best online platform offering you the language courses, explore the courses offered by a renowned tutor and there you go. Here in this guide, you’re provided with everything for the best Japanese language courses online that you need to consider to make a smart decision.
COURSE DETAILS:
Instructor: Attain Corps
Level: Advanced
Video Lectures: 218
Class Projects: N/A
User Review: 4.5
Price: USD 14.99
