Practice Japanese Daily: Polyglot’s Tips and Ways to Start

In this post – a learner of Japanese and polyglot, Teresa Tak will give us some tips on how we can practice Japanese daily!

From Teresa:
Of all the languages I have studied before, Japanese is by far the hardest to get used to. Why?
It takes some serious PRACTICE, and cannot just be memorized in a book. If you really want to learn Japanese, you need to use it every day! And in this post, I’m going to tell you exactly how. 

Think in Japanese

This sounds scary, I know. But don’t worry, you don’t have to think about everything in Japanese. Start with small things like, ‘where did I put my phone again??’ or ‘This scene is very nice’.

Then, little by little, you can start understanding what things you want to say in Japanese and cultivate a stronger voice in the language also.

After all, we think over 70,000 thoughts a day on average! That’s a lot of practice time to add to your day.

Subscribe to Japanese Twitter Accounts

This is a good way to naturally introduce yourself to some Japanese. Without having to open a new tab or pull out a textbook, you can push yourself to read bits of Japanese all the time.

Since tweets are never really long, it’s a great way to practice without stressing yourself out. Plus, it may get you used to reading Japanese kanji! 

Watch Japanese YouTubers

This is a really great way to practice listening. YouTubers speak to their audiences as if they are speaking to friends. The most natural Japanese isn’t found in a movie, on the news or in manga- it’s on YouTube!

Personally, I choose a few videos on a topic I like or by an interesting YouTuber and then I watch it over and over again until I can make more sense of it. I take notes while I’m watching too, and sometimes I revisit months later to see if my improvements have helped my understanding!

I have a few videos in Japanese for this purpose as well if you want to use them. For further listening practice – you can also check out the Coto Academy Youtube Channel.

Pro tip+ you can watch over 100 times and it will still be beneficial! 

Download Japanese learning apps

Applications like duolingo, drops and innovative learning can give you daily snippets of language practice.

These applications won’t teach you the nitty-gritty grammar you need to take your skills to the next level, but they will help you keep your current skills fresh and Japanese on your mind!

Each lesson is usually no more than 10 minutes so it isn’t a burden. If you are looking for a Japanese learning app that fits your study style – we have also published a list of helpful Japanese learning Apps for you to use.

Read webtoons or Doujin

This one’s a bit more strenuous but can be very fun and very rewarding! Apps like LINE webtoon update thousands of short `manga` like stories every day.

Many Japanese people read them during their commute to work. If you find one you like or one correct for your level, you can create some fun and constructive Japanese practice time for yourself. 

Keep a two-line journal

This is my most recommended tip. Absorbing Japanese from outside sources is great, but formulating your own sentences is irreplaceable for your Japanese journey.

Languages should be learned from the inside out: meaning you should start with the words you want to say yourself most! Writing a short journal will tell you every day, just which words you want to know how to say the most. The more often you bump into them, the faster you will learn them! 

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