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GUIDE: First Steps to Learning Japanese (and playing otome without waiting for translations)

fasdfsda5235

fasdfsda5235

New member
Jun 7, 2026
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Hello everyone!​


Are you interested in learning Japanese so you can play games, especially otome? Don't worry, in 2026 we have all the resources we need... and more! I decided to make this guide to help those who want to learn Japanese so they don't have to rely on translations of their favorite games.

But if there are thousands of guides out there, why make another one? Because I want this guide to serve as a museum of all kinds of resources, so you have everything at your fingertips with just one click. So, if you have suggestions I can add, please don't hesitate to post them.​

Tips to start on the right foot

1. Don't compare yourself to anyone, go at your own pace

For example, some people study kana (hiragana and katakana) in 2 days. Everyone has their own life, their own responsibilities, and their own available time. Learning Japanese is like a marathon, not a sprint. It's a hobby that will take you hours… and when I say hours, I mean HOURS (that is, years).


2. Don't obsess over the destination, enjoy the process

Avoid questions like: "How long until I can understand Japanese?" or "How many exact hours do I need to...?" Shhh. Enjoy the journey. If you focus only on the goal, you'll burn out quickly. Celebrate every small victory: recognizing a kanji, understanding a simple sentence, reading a word in a game… You'll see that little by little, you make progress. And even when you think you're not improving, you really are. It's normal to experience plateaus. The important thing is to keep going.


3. Consistency beats everything else

It's better to stick like clockwork to your 15-30 daily minutes of Anki (or study) than to do 3 hours of immersion watching anime one day, but then do nothing for 2 or 3 days. The small but steady routine beats explosive, irregular effort.


4. Accept that at first you won't understand almost anything… and that's okay

Active and passive immersion (watching anime, listening to music or a podcast, reading, etc.) is useful, but don't expect miracles at the beginning. You must accept ambiguity from the start, otherwise you won't make progress. Combine it with active study (basic vocabulary and grammar). Over time, your brain will start recognizing patterns. But you need to see all the grammar and vocabulary you're studying "in the wild"; otherwise, memorizing everything will be a nightmare.


5. You don't need "perfect Japanese" to start playing

You can start playing games once you've completed a basic Anki deck and at least all the N5 grammar (for example, Genki I). With around 2k words, you're more than ready for a smooth start into the world of immersion.

Foundations of Japanese

1. Kana

Study hiragana and katakana first. I did 3 things: I reviewed the tables, I wrote them by hand (which helped me memorize each character better), and I used apps like:
→ Practice with Tofugu's Kana Quiz

2. Basic Vocabulary

In my case, I studied Tango N5 and Kaishi 1.5k, since the Core deck is quite outdated.
⚠️ Of course, very importantly: don't ignore kanji, but it's also not advisable to study it in isolation. I think a good supplement is Wanikani (for its mnemonic rules, reviews, and mastery system). But note that it requires a paid subscription.
Click to expand...

3. Basic Grammar

I studied Genki I and II, alongside YouTube (an infinite source of wisdom).

YouTubers I recommend:

Top written guides:

If you prefer books:

As I said, I used Genki and really liked it. I complemented it with Tae Kim's guide and the "A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar" books. Another highly acclaimed option is Minna no Nihongo.

As you can see, luckily there are many options these days. Try several and stick with one option, or two at most to complement.

4. Time to jump into the water: immersion

Remember 2 important things:
  1. Look for content within your level
  2. Accept ambiguity
At first you won't understand almost anything, just isolated words, but little by little that fog will clear. Trust the process.

YouTube channels I recommend that have helped me a lot:

It's important to gradually look for content you enjoy. My transition was looking for videos about cooking recipes, travel, motorcycles and camping. The best thing is to look for native content made for natives.

Reading (by difficulty order)

To start (children's / very easy):

Next level:

Blogs (longer readings written by natives on all kinds of topics: food, culture, travel, etc.):


All of this helps you take your first steps and reach the next level with a good foundation and some practice. From here, you can start getting into the world of VNs.

Guides for reading VNs:

At this stage, you can also try manga or directly light novels. There are many tools to help you know what level you need to read a specific title you're interested in. For example, Learn Natively helps you take that step, but there are also many recommendation lists from other users based on level (more on that later).

To find out if a title is at your level: Learn Natively (books/manga + anime)

If you want to read Light Novels comfortably: use tools that let you look up words on the fly like for example Jiten reader.

Difficulty Lists

Visual Novels (VN):

Podcasts:

Other media:

VNDB (VN database):


Additional Resources

Here are even more resources to expand your learning process, in case the examples I gave you felt lacking. I don't want you to be left wanting to know more or without resources!

General collections

Live Japanese TV

Genki supplements

Create your own Anki cards

Pitch accent

Verb conjugations

I don't recommend studying conjugations this way, but some people like it and it works for them. We don't all function the same way, and what works for one person might not work for you. The key is to try.
Click to expand...

Dictionaries

Book search

Anki decks made by the community

Guide for reading manga

Where to get VN even more links to get VN

Immersion Tracker


More interesting mobile apps


IMPORTANT: Duolingo fired all it's translators and only uses AI… I do NOT recommend it at all.

LingoDeer – very good for beginners

Bunpro – excellent for grammar review

Interactions with natives

Italki – improve speaking with native teachers

HelloTalk – interact with natives, practice your writing and speaking

Gravity – excellent native social app for practicing your writing and speaking (if you create a VC, let people know. This app, as I said, is for natives; its purpose is not language learning)

VRChat – you don't need a VR headset to play and it's free. There are many language exchange channels with natives to talk to. Most want to improve their English

​

✨ And that's it!​

Consistency, patience, and enjoy the journey. Any questions or suggestions, you know: post without fear.

Good luck everyone!

:boys2_hippie:​
 
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