These are just the Japanese dialogues taken from podcast #05 “Top 10 tips for studying Japanese” Top 10 Tips for Studying Japanese  One of the most common questions I get is “I want to study Japanese but where should I start?”. The next most common question is “I’ve hit a wall with my Japanese and don’t seem to be improving, what should I do?”. So, if you are a beginner, or have already started studying Japanese but got stuck, this podcast is for YOU! Asuka and I put our heads together and came up with our top 10 tips for studying Japanese more quickly and effectively. I also wanted to make this podcast to point out that, there aren’t any magical shortcuts or secret techniques for learning to speak perfect Japanese in only a few months. A lot of websites out there would have you believe otherwise! Rather, it is more about discovering your “why” or motivation for studying Japanese. Then, you want to focus on a specific goal. In that way, you won’t waste your time studying non-essential topics and save a lot of time. Podcast Dialog Japanese Pronunciation English 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 paatii tanoshikatta desu ne Yesterday’s party was fun Alex: 楽しかったですね tanoshikatta desu ne 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. 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 the 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 – ohayō gozaimasu – Good morning こんにちは – Konnichi wa – Hello (Used around midday) こんばんは– Konban wa – Good evening お元気ですか – ogenki desu ka – How are you? 元気です – I’m fine お願いします – onegai shimasu – Please (Could you do something for me?) ありがとうございます – arigatō gozaimasu – Thank you どういたしまして – dō itashi mashite – 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.