NihongoShark Ebook 001

This is the amazing and incredible
NihongoShark 1 Year Japanese Mastery

Plan. If you follow all of the guidelines in
this book, then you should be fluent in
Japanese within 1 year.
Nikolai Walker
NihongoShark.com
2012 All Rights Reserved.
1
Table of Contents
Intro ............................................................................................................................................................... 4
The 1 Year Japanese Mastery Plan ............................................................................................................... 6
Mastery Plan Breakdown .......................................................................................................................... 7
The 4 Phases ......................................................................................................................................... 7
The 1 Principle ...................................................................................................................................... 8
Phase #1 Prep Your Ninja Tools ................................................................................................................ 9
Vocab Prep ................................................................................................................................................ 9
Ninja Tool #1: Anki Flashcards .......................................................................................................... 10
Ninja Tool #2 Remembering the Kanji ............................................................................................ 13
Ninja Tool #3 Reviewing the Kanji ................................................................................................. 14
Listening Prep ......................................................................................................................................... 15
Ninja Tool #4 JapanesePod101 ........................................................................................................ 16
Reference Prep ........................................................................................................................................ 17
Ninja Tool #5 Jisho.org .................................................................................................................... 17
Ninja Tool #5 Rikaichan / Rikaisama .............................................................................................. 19
Ninja Tool #6 Smartphone Apps ..................................................................................................... 20
Grammar Prep ......................................................................................................................................... 23
Ninja Tool #7 Bunpou Books .......................................................................................................... 23
One Last Thing ....................................................................................................................................... 33
Phase #1 - Checklist ............................................................................................................................ 33
Phase #2 Prep Your Ninja Brain .............................................................................................................. 35
Pronouncing Japanese ............................................................................................................................. 35
Ninja Brain Prep #1 Learn to Pronounce Japanese .......................................................................... 35
The Japanese Writing System ................................................................................................................. 36
Ninja Brain Prep #2 Learn Hiragana and Katakana ......................................................................... 37
Ninja Brain Prep #3 Learn All 2,136 Joyo Kanji ............................................................................. 42
The 97-Day Kanji Challenge .................................................................................................................. 43
How NOT to Learn the Kanji ............................................................................................................. 43
How You SHOULD Learn the Kanji .................................................................................................. 44
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Even the Best Way Will Not Be Easy ................................................................................................. 45
Lather. Rinse. Repeat 2,042 Times ................................................................................................. 46
How to Learn All 2,000+ Kanji .......................................................................................................... 64
The Hardest 97 Days of Your Life.......................................................................................................... 66
8 Reasons Knowing the Kanji Will Be Awesome .............................................................................. 66
Phase #2 - Checklist ............................................................................................................................ 71
Phase #3 Lay Your Fluency Foundation .................................................................................................. 73
The Almighty Study Chain ..................................................................................................................... 74
Chain Item #1 Flashcards ................................................................................................................. 76
Chain Item #2 Listening Practice ..................................................................................................... 84
Chain Item #3 Grammar Practice ..................................................................................................... 85
The Real Fluency Foundation ................................................................................................................. 87
Why Japanese Will Give You Superpowers ....................................................................................... 87
Summary ................................................................................................................................................. 90
Phase #3 Checklist ........................................................................................................................... 90
Phase #4 Go Jouzu ................................................................................................................................... 92
Reached Goals ........................................................................................................................................ 93
The Bridge to Fluency ............................................................................................................................ 93
Shifting Your Focus ................................................................................................................................ 93
Focus Shift #1 - Continue Year 1 Studying ........................................................................................ 94
Focus Shift #2 Start Speaking ........................................................................................................ 103
Focus Shift #3 Start Reading and Writing ..................................................................................... 103
Focus Shift #4 Go to Japan ............................................................................................................ 104
Focus Shift #5 Find Your Mokuhyou ............................................................................................ 104
Wrapping Up ......................................................................................................................................... 104
Phase #4 Checklist ............................................................................................................................ 104
GanbariShark ............................................................................................................................................ 107
Getting Organized ................................................................................................................................. 107
Your Japanese Mastery Checklist ..................................................................................................... 107
Your Daily Study Plans..................................................................................................................... 108
Staying Motivated ................................................................................................................................. 108
Getting Started ...................................................................................................................................... 109
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Clarify Your Goal ............................................................................................................................. 109
Get a Study Partner ........................................................................................................................... 110
Appendix A NihongoShark .................................................................................................................... 112
About NihongoShark ............................................................................................................................ 112
How You Can Help ............................................................................................................................... 112
Appendix B Checklists & Schedules ..................................................................................................... 114
Mastery Plan Checklists ........................................................................................................................ 114
Phase #1 Checklist ............................................................................................................................ 114
Phase #2 Checklist ............................................................................................................................ 114
Phase #3 Checklist ............................................................................................................................ 115
Phase #4 Checklist ............................................................................................................................ 115
Daily Study Plans .................................................................................................................................. 115
Phase #2 Daily Study Plan (Months 1-4) .......................................................................................... 115
Phase #3 Daily Study Plan (Months 5-12) ........................................................................................ 116

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Intro
I grew up as a classic child otaku. I was a ninja for Halloween five years in a row. I asked for swords for
my birthday. Ninja stars. I kept track of the Japanese video game scene like a stalker watching his ex-
girlfriend.
Needless to say, I was pretty interested in everything Japanese.
Still, I didnt start studying Japanese until I was in my early twenties. It sounds ridiculous, because I
always wanted to learn Japanese. It was my dream. But people had always told me that it was an
impossible language to learn. And I, not knowing the first thing about learning a foreign language,
believed them. Until, one day in college, I decided to take Japanese 101. Just because I had the extra
space in my schedule. Just for fun. That was back in 2008.
2008. The birth of an obsession.
Once I had one taste of the Japanese language, that was it for me. I studied nonstop. It was ineffective
studying, but it was obsessive. Japanese journal. Writing out the same kanji 8,000 times. Buying every
book on mastering Japanese I could find. Watching anime. Trying (and failing) to read manga. Playing
Japanese-language video games. Classes. Flashcards. Leaving my girlfriend of five years to move to
Japan.
What a mess.
It wasnt until 2010, after about 2 years of studying Japanese and 6 months in Japanese-language school
in Tokyo, that I finally got a hold of my own, ideal Japanese learning system. Its a system that Ive spent
the last two years working on.
I tested this language study system by applying it to Spanish. In doing so, I learned to read, speak, and
write Spanish fluently in 3 months.
Keep in mind, Japanese is not Spanish. The vocab and grammar take longer for an English speaker to
learn, not to mention the writing system. So it will probably take more like 1 year to become fluent in
Japanese using this study system. Still, a year is pretty fast for learning Japanese. I remember one time in
Tokyo I met a fellow gaijin (foreigner) that had been living in Japan for 10 years and he still couldnt
speak Japanese!
No wonder people always say Japanese is impossible to learn. Dont listen to what they say, though.
Japanese is not impossible. Its not even that hard, really. I like to think of it as walking across, say, the
United States. Coast to coast that would be almost a 3,000 mile walk.
It sounds impossible.
But is it really that hard to walk 3,000 miles if you spread it out over a year? That would still be a lot.
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Like 8+ miles a day. But its at least feasible. And I think learning Japanese is the same way. Its not
easy, but its definitely feasible. You just need to make sure that youre walking every. single. day. Also,
you need a map to ensure that youre walking in the right direction. And, really, thats the aim of this
book. It wont teach you much Japanese at all, but it will teach you how to learn Japanese.
Here goes nothing
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The 1 Year Japanese Mastery Plan

It took me years of trial and error before I realized which tools were the right tools for me to learn
Japanese as quickly as possible.
Ive taken quite a few Japanese classes over the years, and every single one focuses on four things:
listening, speaking, reading, and writing. This makes sense. Thats what it means to be totally fluent in a
language, right? You can understand it, speak it, read it, and write it. Theres one gigantic problem with
this, though: The definition of fluency is not a method for attaining fluency.
That stuff works eventually. It is studying after all. But it is so, so, so slow.
We want to learn Japanese fast.
And to learn any language fast, you only need to focus on three things: listening, vocab, and grammar.
I still think that speaking and writing are useful tools for learning a language, but they are not tools for
learning a language fast. They are not crucial to becoming fluent until you get really, really close to being
fluent. Now, I should clarify, this is not how I learned Japanese. But it took me 3+ years of a lot of
studying to learn Japanese. Those three, messy years made me do a lot of thinking as to what was the
fastest way to learn a foreign language. This is the system I came up with, and I tested it studying
Spanish for a trip to Peru. I studied for three months using this method: listening, vocab, and grammar.
Well, understandably, when I got to Peru, after this three months of study, I could not speak Spanish at
all. The simplest phrases would get me caught up. However, I understood everything I heard.
Then, within one week of getting to Peru, I was conversing fluently. I spoke with our homestay mom
for hours every evening. My Spanish school removed me from classes, because I was above their
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curriculum, and put me into one-on-one study sessions with the schools founder.
Coming back to the United States, people think that Im fluent in Spanish because I went to Peru. Thats
simply not true, though.
I always say that the only way to learn a language is to just go live in the country where they speak it.
Just get thrown in there, and youll pick it up in no time. Person who speaks no foreign languages.
This assertion makes the same mistake that curriculums make when they set aside time for speaking and
writing practice in the early stages of learning a language. Yes, writing and speaking are absolutely
essential skills when learning a language. But they are not a productive use of your time until you have
solid vocab, grammar, and listening skills.
With that, I hope that maybe, just maybe, Ive convinced you to at least entertain the possibility that these
are the three focuses for fast-track fluency:
1. Vocab
2. Listening
3. Grammar
To shark-learn those three focuses super fast, we have the Japanese Mastery Plan.
Mastery Plan Breakdown
Our Japanese Mastery Plan has 4 Phases and 1 Principle.
The 3 Phases describe the process you will use to learn Japanese, and the 1 Principle describes how youll
pass through those phases.
The 4 Phases
Phase #1 Prep Your Ninja Tools (Week #1)
This Phase of the Mastery Plan should take no more than one week (a day, if youre fast), and it will set
you up for fast track studying throughout the rest of the year. Mostly its just about getting all of the tools
that will prove invaluable for the duration of this year of studying.
Phase #2 Prep Your Ninja Brain (Months #1-4)
I wont get into it too much here, but Phase #2 is the most difficult part of this 1-year study plan. Or
maybe I should say: its the easiest part to fail. In the first few months of your year of studying, Phase #2
will have you master some core aspects of the Japanese language, which will propel your studying in
Phase #3.
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Phase #3 Lay Your Fluency Foundation (Months #5-12)
Phase #3 is all about building up a gigantic foundation for you to achieve fast fluency. This means
learning a ton of vocab, a ton of grammar concepts, and listening to a quite a few audio lessons. Since
youll have prepped in Phases 1 and 2, though, youll be achieving these goals at an incredibly fast rate.
Phase #4 Go Jouzu! (Months 13+)
For those that make it this far, this book will become obsolete. In Phase #4, youll start focusing on the
aspects of Japanese that most other curriculums focus on from the beginning, aspects that, though helpful,
would slow down your fluency achievement had you not already performed Phases 1, 2 & 3.
If youve followed through with everything in the first three phases, then you should be functionally
fluent within 1 month of studying in Phase #4.
The 1 Principle
There is only one principle to this Japanese Mastery Plan: Never stop.
A shark never stops swimming. You never stop studying Japanese.
Dont get us wrong. You can have a life. You can learn other things. But you cannot go a single day
without studying Japanese at least a little bit. (Details on daily essentials will be described in Phases #2
and #3.)
Swim, swim, swim. You are crossing an ocean.
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Phase #1 Prep Your Ninja Tools

This Japanese mastery system is all about smart learning. Part of smart learning is making sure that you
have the best resources at your disposal, and thats what Ill lay out in Phase #1.
This Phase is all about bombarding you with the ninja tools youll need to make it on this journey. In this
phase, you dont really learn any Japanese. Thats why this Phase should only take a couple of days. A
week, at most.
Specifically, well prep you with tools for:
Vocab & Kanji
Listening
Reference
Grammar
Sound good? Yoshi! Lets go!
Vocab Prep
Vocab is a numbers game. Not just that, but its the most important thing to study. The funny thing is
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that a lot of classes gloss over vocab study, because its not exactly suited for group study.
To learn vocab, well use Ninja Tool #1: Anki Flashcards.

Ninja Tool #1: Anki Flashcards

Anki Flashcards are the most important language study tool in this
entire guide. If youre not going to use Anki, then you can go ahead
and throw this guide in the trash. You can also pretty much forget
about learning Japanese in under a year.
Anki Flashcards are intelligent computer flashcards that adjust
according to what you do and do not remember.
The basic idea is that Anki shows you a flashcard right about when
you will be forgetting it. This means that (1) you dont waste time
studying things you already know and (2) you do spend time studying
things youre forgetting.
So, you have a flashcard with something you want to remember, like a Japanese word:
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This is the equivalent of side 1 of any flashcard. Anki only really gets going, though, once you click
Show Answer. Then you see the side 2 of the flashcard:
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If I didnt remember that (seiseki) meant grades (as in, school grades), then I would click
Again, and it would show me that card again in a few minutes. Or, if I thought it was really easy to
remember, I could click Easy, and it would wait 5 days before showing me this card again.
When I first started using Anki, it was quite the undertaking. I was already living in Japan, and I had
1,000+ paper flashcards that I had to transfer over to my newly created Anki flashcard deck. It took
forever! Im so glad I did it, though. I can only imagine how many of those 1,000+ words I would have
forgotten had I not put them into my Anki deck. Also, I can only imagine how much time I would have
spent reviewing cards that I already had memorized (because they were right next to cards I was good at).
To use Anki, download it at this website:
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http://goo.gl/4REHA
Dont create a new deck or start studying just yet, though, as Ill have detailed instructions on the best
way to do that in Phase #2.
If you have any trouble setting up Anki, their website has good documentation and tutorials for pretty
much any problem you might be having.
Anki is especially useful, because by using it we can track our vocab progress. You can have a clear
understanding of how many vocab words you have memorized, which means that you can track how far
along you are in trying to achieve fluency.
Ninja Tool #2 Remembering the Kanji

This may cause some uproar with readers, as theres quite a debate going
on as to whether one should use Remembering the Kanji in order to tackle
the 2,136 Japanese characters youre required to learn in order to, say, read
a newspaper.
Our 1-Year Plan integrates James Heisigs timeless book. We dont do it
exactly his way, but it is still worthwhile to pick up his book.
Remembering the Kanji is a kanji-learning system that Heisig developed
back in the 70s. Yikes! In most Japanese classes, you learn kanji by
order of usefulness. The problem with this is that some of the most useful
kanji are pretty difficult to memorize. At the same time, some of the less-
used kanji are incredibly easy to learn, and they show up as parts of all
kinds of different, more commonly used kanji.
Heisigs method is essentially the polar opposite of what you do in Japanese classes. He completely
disregards (for the time being, at least) the usefulness of the kanji and instead presents them in an order
ideally suited for memorizing their writing and meaning only. So, you learn how to write the kanji and
what it means, but you dont actually know any Japanese words that use that kanji.
He does this by dividing the kanji into primitive elements. Then, he takes all 2,136 kanji that you need to
learn to read a Japanese newspaper, and he puts them in order of these primitive elements.
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So, for example, (turkey) + (tree) = (gather).
By the time you get to in Remembering the Kanji, youve already learned the primitive elements
(turkey) and (tree), so its easy to memorize if you make a story to help you remember it, something
like, Turkeys like to gather on top of trees.
In Phase #2, Ill present a kanji study method that uses Heisigs book and method, but adds a few tweaks
so that we can speed it up dramatically.
For the time being, its a good idea to get Remembering the Kanji. Here it is on Amazon:

http://goo.gl/qe50C
Ninja Tool #3 Reviewing the Kanji

Reviewing the Kanji is an amazing website. It is made up of a community of people who are using
Heisigs Remembering the Kanji system. This website will save you hundreds of hours learning the
kanji.
In Phase #2, Ill discuss the best way to utilize this site in conjunction with your Remembering the Kanji
book and Anki Flashcards. For now, though, just bookmark the following address:

http://kanji.koohii.com/
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Listening Prep
I call this listening prep, but maybe what it should be called is Nihongo Saturation.
Im always a little bit shocked by the results of listening practice when studying foreign languages.
Maybe because its such a passive method of studyIm not going after books and new concepts and
writing notes and examples, just receiving instruction, honing my ear for Japanesemaybe thats why
Im always shocked at just how helpful listening practice is when learning a foreign language. It really
works though if you really do it.
What I mean is, if you want to have listening practice improve your Japanese, then you need to Nihongo-
ify your life. Its a question of priorities. How bad do you want this? Because you probably need to cut
back on listening to music. Maybe cut out TV completely. Were trying to do something monumental
here. Japanese fluency in 1 year. Its almost unheard of for someone whos self-taught. And its only
possible with a little bit of sacrifice.
I have, for your perusal, a video:
How bad do you want it?

http://goo.gl/5Dard
If youre like I was before I knew Japanese, every day is tinged with a little bit of sadness, sadness that
you dont have this seemingly impossible thing: Japanese fluency. But if every day you move towards
the achievement of that goal, it can allay that sadness. I bring this up now, because listening practice can
be incredibly inconvenient. We like listening to music. We like watching shows. But achieving goals is
about putting future wants in front of immediate wants. And that means listening to lessons while you eat
breakfast, lunch. It means listening to them while you exercise, drive. Language learning is all about
numbers. The more hours of lessons you listen to, the better your Japanese will become.
If you do a minimum of 30 minutes of Nihongo listening practice every single day, then you should
achieve JLPT Level N2 listening comprehension after about 1 year.
But what to listen to? For that, weve got
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Ninja Tool #4 JapanesePod101

JapanesePod101 is a lot more than a Japanese podcast. Ya, thats the main focus, but really it could also
be used for your grammar studies. I didnt use it for grammar, because by the time I discovered
JapanesePod101, I already knew a lot of Japanese grammar. But I have read quite a few of their lesson
PDFs, and I think theyve got a pretty good thing going. For now, though, lets talk about Japanese
listening lessons.
I truly believe that JapanesePod101 is an indispensable resource for learning Japanese. Rosetta Stone,
Pimsleur, other podcastsnone of them are on the same level as JapanesePod101:

http://goo.gl/KDdWm
The reason Im such a die-hard supporter of JapanesePod101 is that, after a while, their lessons get to be
very advanced. I still listen to them every day. And every time I listen to them I learn something super
awesome and useful.
I feel a little strange recommending a study program that costs money, but luckily JapanesePod101 is
pretty cheap. I definitely dont regret purchasing it for myself. Still, if youre not willing to pay, you can
still find some good, free podcasts through iTunes, though theyre unlikely to be as structured or helpful
as JapanesePod101.
The most important part of Phase #1 listening prep is just that you Nihongo-ify your life. Youll be
amazed at how much your comprehension increases with constant listening practice.
If youre going to go with JapanesePod101, then you should download all of the lessons for a given level,
then put them on your computer, phone/mp3 player, and/or burn them onto CDs. You want to make it as
easy as possible to have them playing when youre available for listening. There was a time that I didnt
have hookups to listen to my mp3 player in the car, and I had to burn hundreds of JapanesePod101
lessons onto CDs so that I could listen to them on my way to work. And Im so glad I did!
It helps if you only download one level at a time. This keeps them from getting mixed up by your
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smartphone or mp3 player. So, maybe start with Absolute Beginner Lessons or Newbie Lessons.
Listen to them. Then maybe listen to them again at 2x speed. Then, when you feel youre picking up
everything thats being said, move onto the next level. Theres always more to listen to.
Good? Ok, lets move on. Hang in there; weve only got two Phase #1 preps left! And this next one
wont require any studying at all. Awesome, ya?
Reference Prep
It may sound a little bit strange to prep your Japanese references, but when it comes time to use them, itll
be nice to learn exactly where to turn. This section has 3 Ninja Tools. Get excited!
Ninja Tool #5 Jisho.org
You may already know this, but if were going to become fluent, were probably going to need to look up
a couple of words in a Japanese-English dictionary.
Heres the thing, though:
Do not buy a paper dictionary.
Waste of trees. Waste of space. Waste of your time.
Instead, use Jisho.org. Heres why: When you need to look up a word, you also need to make a flashcard
for it. Jisho.org is awesome because (1) its easy and fast to look up words, (2) most words also have
example sentences with translation, and (3) you can click to see the kanji that make up every word on
Jisho.org, and the kanji page tells you what number the kanji is in Remembering the Kanji.
Jisho.org

http://jisho.org/

Kanji Page in Jisho.org
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To find the Remembering the Kanji number of a kanji, you would go to a page like the one shown above
on Jisho.org, then scroll down until you see this:

Towards the bottom you can see the Remembering the Kanji index number, which is 1534, for Frame
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1534: blue.
Though I dont want to interfere too much with your life (like Im not already with this hardcore study
plan!), you might want to make Jisho.org the homepage in your web browser (unless youre my best
friend, and you want your homepage to be Nihongoshark.com). Having your email as your homepage is
pretty much just asking the world to distract you. Same goes for Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.
Youre Nihongo-ifying your life, remember? Which means Japanese comes first. Those other sites are
distractions. Theyre already pulling you away from productivity, from fluency. Dont make it any easier
for them!
Oh, and if you havent yet set up your computer to handle Japanese, heres a little guide:
Using Japanese on Your Computer

http://goo.gl/m5tPJ
Speaking of getting Japanese onto your computer screen, you should also get
Ninja Tool #5 Rikaichan / Rikaisama
Rikaichan is a browser plugin that helps you to browse the internet in Japanese. Once its installed, you
can scroll over any Japanese words you see online, and their meaning and kanji will pop up, like this:

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Awesomeness! Even with Rikaichan, itll probably be pretty painful to browse the internet in Japanese, at
least until the end of year one (i.e. this mastery plan). Hopefully it will come in handy, though!
Rikaichan

http://goo.gl/Cjc41
In all honesty, I dont use my computer to look up random words that often, as Im lucky enough to have
a smartphone, and Im often looking words up on the go.
Rikaisama is pretty much the same thing as Rikaichan, only its got some added features like word
pronunciation, Anki flashcard import tools, etc. Ive heard its actually better than Rikaichan, but I dont
have much experience using it.
Rikaisama

http://goo.gl/2ym4i
Ninja Tool #6 Smartphone Apps
I only use two apps for Japanese. Not many, but I use them all the time.
My #1 Nihongo App: Anki flashcards.
In line at the grocery store, waiting for my food to come out at a restaurant, getting my oil changed,
waiting for my girlfriend to finish her makeup, sitting in the dentists waiting room, on planes, trains,
buses, at the beach, in bed when I cant sleepIm always doing my Anki flashcards on my iPhone. Ive
already logged hundreds of hours of studying on my Anki app.
Anki iPhone app
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http://goo.gl/tP4IY

Theres only one problem with the Anki app: the iPhone one is $25! Its the most expensive app Ive ever
paid for. Actually, its the only app Ive ever paid for.
It couldnt be helped. By the time the smartphone app came out, my main Anki study deck already had
7,000+ cards! My thinking is that the dozens of hours its always saving me through accelerated learning
is worth well over $25. Still, ouch.
My #2 Nihongo App: imi wa?
I love Jisho.org, but they dont have an app (though their mobile site is pretty solid). So, for looking
words up on my phone, I usually use imi wa? The problem with imi wa? is that its only on the iPhone,
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though. Sorry, other smartphone users.
imi wa?

http://goo.gl/lIwVb

Thats about it for smartphone apps. Id recommend some study games, but Ive yet to come across any
that are actually a productive use of my study time.
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Grammar Prep
Japanese fluency grammar preparation. Wow, that sounds terrifying. Guess what, though? Phase #1
grammar prep only takes like 5 minutes. All youve got to do for grammar in Phase #1 is pick out which
grammar study tool youre going to use in Phase #3.
Now, there are a ton of great grammar resources for Japanese. After all, grammar is straightforward. Ya,
sometimes its a little bit backwards for what we English speakers are used to, but its at least clear cut.
And its well-suited for books.
My preferred approach is to pick out a course for my grammar studies before beginning. This is mainly
because so many Japanese grammar book series have only one volume. In other words, they always end
before you can progress to an advanced level. Good, advanced Japanese grammar books are hard to come
by. Im guessing it must be because so many of us foreigners start learning Japanese, but we rarely
progress to anything vaguely resembling an advanced skill level without going to Japan or majoring in
Japanese at a 4-year university. And even that fails sometimes. My experience leads me to believe the
array of grammar resources is something like this:

It probably wont get too advanced, but we want a grammar series with at least two volumes. The
options arent that extensive, but here are a few Ive come across
Ninja Tool #7 Bunpou Books
Bunpou = = (sentence) + (method) = the method of sentences = grammar!
Beginner's Grammar Intermediate Grammar Advanced Grammar Japanese-Language
Books
Number of Awesome Books
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#1 JapanesePod101 PDFs
Ok, so Bunpou Book #1 isnt a book at all. The thing I love about the PDFs JapanesePod101 publishes
is that they get super advanced. It makes sense: they have a PDF for every audio lesson, and they have
hundreds and hundreds of audio lessons which means hundreds and hundreds of grammar study PDFs.
Here are a couple of images taken from a lesson PDF of theirs:

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My main issue with using JapanesePod101 as a grammar study tool is probably the lack of concise,
attached practice material. I think that this makes it, perhaps, a better grammar study tool once youve
already completed a couple of standard grammar textbooks, the kind with workbooks and example after
example.
#2 Tae Kims Guide to Japanese Grammar
In all honesty, Ive never read Tae Kims A Guide to Japanese Grammar, but Ive heard so many good
things that I thought I would list it here as a grammar resource.
This behemoth grammar guide (over 450 pages!) is meant to teach you Japanese as its really spoken,
as opposed to the over-polite Japanese that most grammar books stick you with for the first one or two
volumes of study.
Tae Kims Guide to Japanese Grammar

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http://goo.gl/jpwZN
#3 The Genki Series
Genki has a special place in my heart. This ones pure nostalgia. It was my first encounter with the
Japanese language. I still have my workbooks. Looking through them, you can sort of sense the thrill
with which I was filling in these examples. Every answer written out completely, each character so neat,
each stroke made with care, caution. I was opening the gates to a new world, a world where I sit for five
minutes contemplating the history of the word teaspoon, because Japanese has a word for teaspoon that
has the character for tea() in it! What does tea have to do with a teaspoon? And how did it cross all
those miles to mean that for such geographically distant people?!
Ok, Ill stop. If youre reading this, youre probably already plenty fascinated by Japanese.
If you do decide to go with the Genki series, youll be looking at these books:
a) Genki I
Text (http://goo.gl/iSbT1)

Workbook (http://goo.gl/YXVBW)
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b) Genki II
Text (http://goo.gl/y6sFm)

Workbook (http://goo.gl/HT7Na)
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c) Intermediate Japanese
Text (http://goo.gl/Y1BjU)

Workbook (http://goo.gl/8LKED )
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Take a look at some reviews. Or better, flip through them at a college bookstore (they probably wont
have good textbooks at a regular bookstore). Compare them with some other grammar books. Maybe
compare them with
#4 The Minna no Nihongo Series
When I first used Minna no Nihongo, I thought it sucked. I was at an international Japanese language
academy in Tokyo, and there was no English in the books! But then I came across the English versions of
Minna no Nihongo, and they actually look pretty helpful. Take a look:
a) Minna no Nihongo I
Text (http://goo.gl/274Og)

English Translation (http://goo.gl/Shv6E)
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b) Minna no Nihongo II
Text (http://goo.gl/DQPuH)

English Translation (http://goo.gl/reTMC)
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#5 The Japanese Grammar Dictionary Series
Warning: If youre still a beginner, do not use these books as a grammar study course. These books are
meant to be used as references. Only crazy people with too much time to study read these books from
cover to cover (in other words, me). But you might want to go ahead and get them, if you can find them,
because its great to be able to look up a grammar item youve come across, which all other grammar
books are really bad for.
I would put these in the reference section, but really they are a supplement to the grammar study
curriculum you choose. Since we dont have a classroom, well often need a different way of explaining
a grammar concept in order for us to understand it, and these books are really useful for that, thanks to
their ordered, detailed indexes.
Im a grammar nerd, so I love these books. Theyre pretty much my favorite books in the world.
a) A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar
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http://goo.gl/3wCNw

b) A Dictionary of Intermediate Japanese Grammar

http://goo.gl/44DKa

c) A Dictionary of Advanced Japanese Grammar
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http://goo.gl/D3Kb1
You can also get the whole set off of White Rabbit Press.
#6 Books You Should NOT Use
This mastery plan is all about saving time, and there are a lot of grammar books that will cost you more
time than you need to spend. Thats why I recommend starting with a grammar book series. If it only
has one volume, if they sell it at Barnes and Noble or another major chain, if it has a fun twist (e.g. learn
grammar by reading manga), then be very careful. These books may teach you some useful stuff, but
youll probably end up restudying that same stuff when youre forced to switch to a different grammar
book series, one that progresses to intermediate and advanced levels.
One Last Thing
Congratulations!
Dont ever forget to congratulate yourself for each step of your journey to Nihongo mastery. You did
something great when you decided to learn Japanese. You did something great when you got a hold of
this book. And you did something great by reading all the way through Phase #1 which you just did!
Thats right. Phase 1 complete! Well, youve still got to do the work laid out in Phase #1, but Im happy
to say that you now know everything youre going to need to do in Week #1 in order to become a master
of Japanese this year. Lets take a condensed look at your Phase #1 Goals:
Phase #1 - Checklist
Download Anki Flashcards
Get Remembering the Kanji
Bookmark Reviewing the Kanji
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Get your listening lesson study tools (from JapanesePod101 or elsewhere)
Bookmark Jisho.org (and maybe make it your homepage)
Install Rikaichan or Rikaisama in your web browser
Download smartphone apps (if applicable)
Pick and purchase your grammar study materials
Be excited about life
Dont let this list intimidate you
Sounds like a lot, maybe. But it shouldnt take more than a day or two to decide on all of this stuff. And
after these first few days, youll be prepped to Great White Shark attack the Japanese language. Youll be
prepped for Phase #2!

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Phase #2 Prep Your Ninja Brain
I should apologize in advance. The truth is, I am very hesitant to propose what Im going to propose in
Phase #2, because Im worried that many readers will falter when faced with such a huge challenge.
Back when I studied Japanese at a language institute in Tokyo, it was pretty embarrassing to compare the
average Western student (mostly Americans) with the majority of our student body (mostly Koreans and
Chinese), because the Westerners were comparably inept at learning Japanese. I saw Westerner after
Westerner fall behind in their courses, unable to keep up with their Asian counterpartsChinese students
who didnt need to study the kanji; Korean students that already spoke a language similar to Japanese. It
was a bit embarrassing, really.
Phase #2 is all about closing the advantage-gap that separates Asian students from Westerners. In other
words, its about learning to decipher the Japanese Writing System. This phase has three Ninja Brain
Preps, which altogether should take you about 104 days to complete. For many it will take longer. For
some incredibly motivated students, it may take half that time.
1. Learn to pronounce Japanese (Day #1)
2. Learn Hiragana and Katakana (Week #1)
3. Learn the meaning and writing of all 2,136 Joyo Kanji (Weeks #2-14)
Youre probably looking at #3 and thinking that Im crazy, but it really is possible if you follow this guide
diligently. Its actually pretty simple to do so. Dont, however, confuse simple with easyits simple to
exercise every day, but that doesnt mean its easy.
Anyways, here we go
Pronouncing Japanese
Ninja Brain Prep #1 Learn to Pronounce Japanese
Before you start studying Japanese, youll need to know how its pronounced. That way, when you read
something, youll think the sound of the words correctly in your mind. Its the first step to learning any
language. Rather than try to teach you myself, Ill do what youll find me doing for the bulk of this book,
which is point you in the direction of the ideal study tools out there.
The first thing I would do is check out some YouTube videos, which can be very good (and free!) for
pronunciation practice. This one isnt bad, for starters:
YouTube Pronunciation Video
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http://goo.gl/4u5Hy
That doesnt give very much background, though. So you might want to use something that has
accompanying text-based guides. There are a lot of options out there for this, but I recommend
JapanesePod101:
JapanesePod101

http://goo.gl/KDdWm
I suggest checking them out a few times throughout this book, but doing so is completely optional. For
now, its worth mentioning if you want to look up an immediate solution for hearing some good examples
of Japanese pronunciation.
The Japanese Writing System
So now you can pronounce Japanese. Sweet! Im so proud of you.
Before anything else, youll need to learn Hiragana and Katakana.
Hiragana & Katakana
Hiragana and Katakana are not hard to learn. They are both used to represent the sound syllables that
make up the Japanese language. So, for instance, ka in hiragana/katakana would be /.
Each of these syllabaries (alphabets) has 46 basic characters (sounds). Hiragana is usually used to
represent Japanese words and grammatical elements (e.g. particles), while Katakana is usually used for
words of foreign origin.
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So, for example, sumimasen, which means sorry or excuse me, would be written in hiragana,
because its a word of Japanese origin: (su-mi-ma-se-n).
However, a word like nekutai, which means (get this) necktie, would be written in katakana, because
its a foreign loan word: (ne-ku-ta-i).
Often these loan words will just be English words with a Japanese pronunciation, like the example just
shown (necktie). The cool thing about this is that once you learn katakana, you more or less will have
learned to read thousands of words in Japanese. This is why katakana is a great syllabary to learn if
youre just going to Japan for a short trip. It will come in handy, I promise.
Youll want to learn hiragana and katakana right away, so you can get away from
The Evil Romaji
The early chapters of any Japanese introductory-level book will show you the romaji for Japanese words.
Romaji are roman characters (i.e. the alphabet). So, when I write yama instead of or , thats
romaji.
STOP USING ROMAJI RIGHT NOW.
If you study Japanese with romaji, you are sabotaging yourself. Its super-detrimental. You
must, must, must learn at least hiragana and katakana before you study Japanese any longer than
a day. It takes maybe 2-5 days to learn hiragana and katakana, so just go get it over with, ya?
Ninja Brain Prep #2 Learn Hiragana and Katakana

There are a number of ways you can pick up hiragana and katakana. For me, I like using flashcards and
web apps for hiragana/katakana. If youre on your computer, this site (realkana.com) has a good
flashcard system for learning hiragana and katakana. There are also a lot of YouTube videos, which can
help with pronunciation. If youve got an iPhone, they have apps for this as well. Years ago, I just made
some paper flashcards and blasted through them in a few days.
Though I havent read it personally, James Heisigs book claims that it can teach you both Hiragana and
Katakana in 3 hours total:
Remembering the Kana
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http://goo.gl/guRYF
If it were anyone but James Heisig, Id probably be a little suspicious of that claim, but he did write a
pretty awesome Kanji memorization book, which I used religiously when learning the Kanji (and will be
discussing later in this section). For now, lets get back to hiragana and katakana.
Now, for your perusal, here are the complete lists of both hiragana and katakana characters:

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Hiragana Chart

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Katakana Chart

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Shark attack those dealskis! Im sure it will take more than those little snippets and charts in order for
you to master hiragana and katakana, but just be sure that you know them by the end of your first week.
Week #1 Goals:
Learn to pronounce Japanese
Learn Hiragana
Learn Katakana
This Week #1 prep will be indispensable as you continue throughout the rest of your Japanese journey.
Also, it will seem very, very easy once you take on Ninja Brain Prep #3 the most challenging part of
this entire book.
Kanji
Kanji! Its endless curves, the way they combine to make words, make meaning of concepts in forms Id
not thought before, the way writing can be a visual art, the incredible depth and history. I hate them.
They are like the most beautiful, fascinating, insufferable lover.
Kanji is the third of the three pillars of the Japanese writing system (the other two being hiragana and
katakana). The characters are actually Chinese characters that the Japanese began to adopt well over
1,000 years ago. The unique thing about Kanji is that the characters have meaning, as opposed to how
hiragana and katakana are simply used to represent sounds. The other unique thing about them is that
there are thousands of them!
The sheer number of Kanji that must be learned in order to obtain Japanese fluency (JLPT N1) is just
ridiculous. Overwhelming. 2,000 plus! How can we ever hope to do it? How can we, in a year, master
something that Japanese people themselves are expected to learn only by the end of high school? I mean,
look at all of them:
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Ok, sorry. That was cruel. Forget you ever saw that picture. It will seem much less atrocious if you
dont try to take it all in at once.
I know what I always used to think: Is it possible?
The answer is yes. In fact:
Ninja Brain Prep #3 Learn All 2,136 Joyo Kanji

I used to just stare at the sheer number of kanji I was supposed to learn. 2,000+! Impossible! Get out of
my life, kanji. Ill never know you.
But then, it can be done. And after years of studying them the wrong way, then going back and studying
them the right way, I firmly believe that its best to get the meaning and writing of the kanji learned and
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out of the way before anything else. Those of you who are savvy to kanji study methods probably know
Im talking about Heisigs method. But, actually, Im talking about my own streamlined method of kanji
study. This is the bulk of Phase #2, and its also what youll be doing for the first 3.5 months of this 1-
year mastery plan, should you choose to follow it.
So, without further ado, I present you with
The 97-Day Kanji Challenge
Studying Kanji is tricky business. Everyone seems to have an opinion on the best way to study the kanji
fast. And, truth be told, there are a lot of good ways to study the kanji. But most of them can be pretty
overwhelming, so its easy to lose motivation and go in search of the mythical easy, fast way to learn the
kanji.
I wont mince words: Learning the kanji is one of the hardest things Ive ever done. Not only that, but it
took me longer than 97 days to learn them. It took me a lot longer, because I kept trying different study
methods, never thinking that I was on the right track to learning all of the kanji.
How NOT to Learn the Kanji
1. Stroke by Stroke
This is how a lot of Japanese classes will encourage you to learn the kanji. Thats because they teach kanji
in the same way that Japanese children learn themstroke by stroke, over the course of 10+ years.
Theres another word for this method: masochism.
Seriously, this is torture. Im not saying its impossible to learn this way. Im just saying that it wastes an
unbelievable amount of time.
2. Learning Each Kanji as a Whole
Kanji are made up of parts and those parts have meaning. So you should learn the parts first, then the
kanji as a whole.
3. Using Only 1 Kanji Study Tool
A lot of people will write books and blog posts and just about anything you can think of in which they tell
you about the best, fastest, most awesome way to learn the kanjiwhich, as coincidence would have it,
is their way. Not only that, but pay us money for it, too.
No!
There are a ton of useful kanji study tools and methods out there. But the only way to learn kanji fast and
effectively is to combine the best ones. And thats what this 97-Day Kanji Challenge is all about: an
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amalgamation of the best tools available for learning kanji.
How You SHOULD Learn the Kanji
The fastest way to learn the kanji is to use a combination of the best kanji study tools out there.
Not only that, but you also need to be sure to use them in a very particular manner.

Why these three tools? Well
1. Anki Flashcards will keep us from forgetting what we learn.
2. Heisigs Remembering the Kanji will help us break our kanji into parts so we can learn
them via stories and mnemonics.
3. Reviewing the Kanji will save us from having to write our own, time-consuming,
ineffective kanji stories and mnemonics.
Used together, these three tools can speed up your kanji acquisition exponentially. When used
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together the right way, they leave you with the fastest way to learn the kanji. If the instructions
in this guide are followed precisely, you will learn all of the 2,000+ joyo kanji in 97 days.
Even the Best Way Will Not Be Easy
I could go on for pages and pages about why I chose the following method of study as opposed to one of
the plethora of other options. The bottom line, though, is that I think this is the fastest way possible to
learn and retain the meaning of each of the 2,136 Joyo Kanji.
However!
It will be a nightmare getting through this 97-Day Challenge, and Im really sorry to tell you that. But if
youre serious about learning Japanese, then its the most valuable 97 days that you will ever spend
studying. If you know the meaning of the kanjieven if you dont know their readings or example vocab
to go with themevery part of your Japanese studies will get easier, and you will learn faster. Concepts
make more sense. Vocab makes more sense. So why not just get them out of the way? You can do it. I
know you can. You are awesome. You are awesome. You are awesome.
Now, bear with me, friend. I vow to not lead you astray

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Lather. Rinse. Repeat 2,042 Times

The 97-Day Kanji Challenge follows a six-step process. The first five steps only take a few minutes.
Actually, step six only takes a few minutes also but then you need to repeat it a couple thousand times.
1. Download Anki
That is, if you havent already done so. You can get it here:

http://goo.gl/4REHA
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2. Buy Remembering the Kanji
Again, if you havent already done so. You can get it here:

http://goo.gl/qe50C
Once you buy it, be sure to read the introduction. This book is meant as a guide, but we'll be using it as
more of a reference.
3. Download the Heisig Deck on Anki
There is a shared deck on Anki, as luck would have it, that already has all of the Remembering the Kanji
characters in it, along with links to each of them on Reviewing the Kanji. I cannot express in words how
much time this is going to save you, so I wont even try. Just know that today the world should look a
little more beautiful to you, because of how much time and pain this has saved you from wasting.
Once youve downloaded and installed Anki, click the Get Shared link down at the bottom of the decks
page. You can see my mouse pointing to it in this image:
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This will bring up a webpage, where you can browse shared decks:
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Click on (you guessed it) Japanese!
On the next page, type Heisig in the search bar. Youre looking for a deck titled Heisig's Remember
the Kanji (RTK) 1+3. Be careful, as there are similar decks that arent as good. It should be relatively
easy to spot, as it has the most downloads. As of the time of this writing, its the third item down on the
page. Click the Info button next to it:

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This will bring you to the decks information page. Scroll to the bottom and click Download:

This will prompt a download box. Click to open the file with Anki (this should be pre-selected):

Anki will then automatically add this deck to your list of decks:
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Next, I want to give the deck a name of my own, so I click on the settings button and select Rename:
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Now, I have my deck downloaded and named something I want. Next, Im going to
4. Set Up Anki Preferences
Anki is a great tool. Its actually my favorite tool, period, for studying Japanese. One thing I dont like,
though, are the default settings for Anki, because I dont think theyre optimized for learning VAST
amounts of information (i.e. the kanji!). A few tweaks to the settings can change this.

Change New Card Order
Changing the New Card Order is the most effective way to learn Japanese via Anki. I know this, because
I was doing it the wrong way for years. Ankis default is to spread out New Cards mixed within the cards
that are due for review that day. The reason this is detrimental to your studies is that there is nothing in
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the world more important than doing every single card due for review. Every day.
There will be days when you dont feel like studying. Days when you dont have time or feel sick or have
to go to a wedding or party or class or pretty much anywhere you can think of. On such days, you may
not have a lot of time to study, and you might not have any time to learn new cards. But you must, must,
must, must review the cards that are due that day.
Once upon a time, I missed about a week of doing my cards that were due for review, and I got
overwhelmed by the cards that piled up, causing me to miss even more that were due for review and
before I knew it, I had about 4,000 cards due to be reviewed on a single day.
One way well avoid this is by having our new cards always show after our review cards.
To do this, go to Tools Preferences. Then under the Basic tab, make sure that youve selected Show
new cards after reviews:

Then click close.
Allow Maximum Reviews/Day
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You also want to make sure that Anki is always showing you every card that is due for a given day. So,
next, click on the Settings icon next to your deck on the Decks page and click Options. Click on the
Reviews tab and change the Maximum reviews/day to 9999:

Change Card Formatting
This one is really up to preference. I just dont like the default font size for this Anki deck. To change it,
open up your new kanji deck and click Study Now.
Then, on one of the card pages, click Edit:
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Then click Cards:
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Then edit the card appearance to your liking:
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I prefer to change the font size on the Back Template to 50px instead of 150px, as I think 150px is just a
little overwhelming, because its so big, and I want room for my story to show. Really, its up to you,
though, how youd like your cards to look.
Most importantly, you will want to make sure that you add the {{Story}} field somewhere in your Back
Template. I put mine between the character and stroke counts, so my entire Back Template is as follows:
{{FrontSide}}
<hr id=answer>
{{Kanji}} 
 {{Story}} 
 : {{Stroke count}}, Nr: {{Heisig number}}
With that, the cards are set up to show the Story during review. Which means
Congratulations! Your Anki program is maximized for Kanji learning.
Now we just need to set some goals
5. Change New Card Quota
This is a tough one, because, really, it depends on the person. While this deck has over 3,000 cards, were
only going to make it our priority to learn the first 2,042 of them. That would have us learn every one of
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the Joyo Kanji up until they added 196 additional ones in 2010.
The 196 additional kanji are spread throughout the remaining cards between 2,043 and 3,007. I think that
you should still learn all of the kanji between 2,043 and 3,007, but maybe just save it for later on in the
year, or after youve finished this 1-year mastery plan.
That said, we have some decisions to make. We need to learn 2,042 flashcards in as little time as
possible without getting burned out or overburdening ourselves.
To follow the challenge and get through them all in 97 days, wed need to learn 22 kanji per day. That
means we would set our New Card Quota to 22. To do so, we click the Setting icon, then for New
cards/day we would enter 22:

That probably doesnt even sound like all that much, but be careful that you dont underestimate the
mental toll that learning Kanji takes. Also, you dont just look at a card and automatically learn it. Instead,
youll have to:
1. Click the link
2. Pick a story/mnemonic
3. Edit the card
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4. Learn the kanji
And all of that can take quite a while to do especially when you have to do it over 2,000 times! If it
helps, lets walk through an example
6. Learn New Kanji
The biggest flaw with Heisig, for me, was that he makes you write so many of the stories yourself. And
Im just not creative enough to write 2,000 stories that are good or help me remember. Inevitably, I would
end up rushing through the creation of a story meaning my story would suck meaning I wouldnt
remember the kanji.
This is why Reviewing the Kanji is such a helpful site, because other people have already written great
stories and pointed out which ones are better than others. So all I need to do is click the link on one of the
new cards that shows up while Im studying:
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This takes me to the relevant page on Reviewing the Kanji:
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I can then scroll down and pick the story that, to me, is easiest to remember:

I then copy the mnemonic and go back to my Anki deck, where Ill click Edit:
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I then paste the chosen story into the Story field. I like to also write the primitives above the story. If
you dont know the primitives, just check your Remembering the Kanji book. I put primitives in italics
and kanji meanings in bold:
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Then I hit Close. From now on, the answer side of this card will look like this:
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If your answer card does not show the Story, then you probably havent edited the card formatting right,
which I showed you how to do back in Step #4.
There you have it. Now Ive learned the Kanji for risk, and my Anki deck will never allow me to forget
it as long as I keep studying it.
How to Learn All 2,000+ Kanji

Even with a straightforward approach like this, it seems pretty overwhelming, right? Ya, it only took me a
few minutes to learn the character for risk, but to remember it amidst thousands and thousands of other
characters, thousands and thousands of other stories? How is it possible?
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Well, there are a few keys to this:
Take It 1 Kanji at a Time
Youre not learning 2,000 kanji all at once. Youre only learning 22 kanji a day. And maybe youre busy,
and you only average something like 10 new kanji a day. Thats fine, too. It just means that itll take you
a little bit longer to learn all of the kanji and thats not a big deal. If you miss adding new kanji one day,
then it will just take one extra day to learn all of them. So what? It takes most people years and years to
learn all of them. Its not like one extra day is going to be the end of the world.
But!
Not reviewing cards that are due for review IS the end of the world.
Never Miss Your Cards Due for Review
I cannot stress this enough.
Its not a big deal if you dont learn any new kanji on a given day. But it is a big deal if you dont review
the cards that Anki tells you are due on a given day. Because its just too easy to miss two days then
three days then a week, and pretty soon, you dont remember any of the hundreds of kanji that youve
spent all that time learning!
Im serious. This has happened to me, and it SUCKED.
I always review my cards first thing in the morning. A lot of the time, Ill review them on my phone
before I even get out of bed. Its been about six months since I missed a day reviewing my flashcards
and some of those days I was pretty absent-minded, and reviewing probably didnt do me all that good
anyways, but I at least have the peace of mind in knowing that (1) Im making progress and (2) Im
staying on track.
Review the cards that are due EVERY DAY.
Find Your Perfect Mnemonic Style
It took me a long, long time to realize that a lot of the stories that Heisig wrote in his book did not help
me at all. I think that, overall, this is because his stories are written for visual learners, but Im not a visual
learner. I remember word-play, jokes, etc.
Maybe you do need to draw a picture in your head every time you put down a story, though.
Whatever works! It might take a long time to find out what kind of mnemonic is easiest for you to
remember. So dont fret about it. But ask yourself, as you continue through the kanji, why you remember
some stories so easily while you forget others every time you read them. Do they strike up vivid images
in your mind? Do they remind you of something that happened in your life? Do they make you laugh, cry
or inspire other emotions?
Only you can find your perfect mnemonic style.
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Watch the Clock
When studying kanji, its really easy to get distracted and start doing something else. I, for one, have a
particularly hard time focusing when Im studying kanji, so I often find myself dazing while Im learning
new ones, or getting carried away with finding the perfect mnemonic and spending 30 minutes on one
story! Its going to take hundreds of hours to learn all of these kanji. And it will take hundreds more if
you dont watch the clock.
Keep Swimming
Just keep at it. I thought that learning all of the Joyo kanji seemed impossible. Even when I was up to
1,800 or so, I still thought it seemed impossible. Whether I had 1,000 left to learn or 200 left to learn, it
just seemed impossible.
So I had to keep my head down. I had to take it one story at a time and remember that great
accomplishments only come from persistent efforts. When I finally lifted my head up, at the end of it all,
it was a feeling of joyreliefthat Ive never been able to adequately describe to anyone before.
You wont regret it. And yes, you can do this.
The Hardest 97 Days of Your Life
Right? But were in this together! Dont give up! Maybe this will help:
8 Reasons Knowing the Kanji Will Be Awesome
1. Youll practically know Chinese.

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2. Youll be able to read ads in Japan.

3. And signs warning you not to be a pervert.

4. Youll know what food youre eating.
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5. Crows will be nice to you.

6. Some signs will seem less rude.
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7. Youll feel safer.
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And, perhaps most important

8. Hawks wont steal your lunch. (I wasnt so lucky that day.)
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Phase #2 - Checklist
Learn to Pronounce Japanese
Learn Hiragana
Learn Katakana
Learn 2,042 Kanji
o Download Anki
o Buy Remembering the Kanji
o Download the Heisig Deck
o Set Up Anki Preferences
o Change New Card Quota
o Learn New Kanji
Learn up to Kanji #22 (Day #1)
Learn up to Kanji #154 (Week #1)
Learn up to Kanji #1,078 (Week #6)
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(This weeks just in case youre behind schedule!)
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Phase #3 Lay Your Fluency
Foundation

The main purpose of Phase #2 was to prepare you for Phase #3. This phase will take up the bulk of your
first years Japanese studies. Assuming youve made it through Phase #2, youve already learned all of
the kanji and are an amazing all-around person. Youve already switched out all of your music and TV
shows for Japanese podcasts. Youve already set up your computer to avoid distractions and help you
learn Japanese. Youve already got a stack of grammar study materials just waiting for you to dive into
them. Youve already laid all the groundwork necessary in order for you to become fluent in Japanese at
an incredible rate.
Im just going to warn you now: Like Phase #2, it will be incredibly hard to make it through Phase #3
without hitting any major speed bumps. Its difficult, because its going to require that you studyand
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completecertain items every single day. No weekends off. No holidays. No exceptions.
It will require an enormous amount of discipline. Because of this, you may want to adjust the daily goals
that Ive set out here to match what you feel comfortable doing. Only you know how much time you can
truly dedicate to your Japanese studies on a day-to-day basis. I can tell you one thing, though, a principle
that is underlying every page of this book: No one becomes fluent in a language by studying
intermittently.
The Almighty Study Chain
Phase #3actually, this entire mastery planutilizes the dont break the chain system. Heres an
article about how this system works:
Dont Break the Chain Article

http://goo.gl/g4y9a
The general idea is that you buy or print a monthly calendar, and each day you have a few recurring tasks
that you must do. And if you manage to complete all of the required tasks for day, then you put a big X
over that day in your calendar. If you only complete 2 out of 3 tasks, then youre not allowed to put an X,
and your calendar will have an ugly gap in its chain of Xs. Instead, you want a calendar that looks
something like this:
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And you would keep putting Xs for every day that you completed your daily chain items.
I like to think of the dont break the chain, of Phase #3, as a kind of reward system. Each days small
amount of studying is building to something grand and magnificent: Total fluency. But its hard to keep
that vision in mind. We humans are weak creatures, prone to favoring immediate wants over future wants.
Im going to start studying tomorrow. Im going to start losing weight on New Years Day. Goals like
these are fun, because we get to imagine ourselves achieving them without actually doing anything right
now. Then, a year later, we end up in the same spot we were in before and it sucks!
We can beat this by rewarding ourselves with those Xs on our calendar, by building a chain.
For the duration of Phase #3, our chain has 3 items:

1) Flashcards (vocab and Kanji)
2) Listening practice
3) Grammar study
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Ill get into more detail on each one in just a second, but Ill warn you that this chain will require a
minimum of 1 hour per day. Probably more like 1.5-2 hours per day if you take your time studying.
First, Ill tell you more about what each chain item entails, then well work on your strategy for achieving
this plan. Lets get started!
Chain Item #1 Flashcards
This is by far the most important item in the chain. Actually, this is the most important item in this
entire study plan. For your flashcards, youll always have to do two things: study and build.
Building refers to adding new words, grammar concepts, and example sentences to your Anki flashcard
deck.
Studying refers to memorizing those cards by using Anki. There are two kinds of cards that you can
study in an Anki deck: (1) new cards and (2) cards due for review.
The reason I say that these flashcards are so important to focus on in your studies is, first and foremost,
that they can help you retain words and kanji at an extremely accelerated rate. However, there is also
another reason we need to focus on them: Its very easy to fall behind on your Anki flashcards. You pick
an ambitious number of new cards to study each day. You keep up just fine, but then you start having a
hard time keeping up with all the cards that Anki is telling you are due for review on a daily basis, and
before you know it you have 5,000 cards due for review today, a number youll never reach, and youve
removed the intelligence from your intelligent flashcards. Do not fall behind on your Anki flashcards.
If you fall behind on your Anki flashcards, you will not learn Japanese in 1 year. So, if you notice
youre starting to fall behind on these, youll need to make it your #1 priority to get caught up at whatever
means necessary. That probably means you stop adding new cards, temporarily.
As I said, there are two kinds of Anki flashcards: new and review cards. It should be pretty easy to meet
your flashcard quota in the beginning stages of Phase #3, because you wont have yet accumulated all that
many cards that are due for review. However, a few months down the line, you may have a couple
hundred cards that are due for review on a given day, which could take an hour or more to get through. If
you happen to break the chain on that day, then the next day youd have an even higher number of cards
due, enough to take up to an hour and a half. Then, all of a sudden, youve got over 1,000 cards due
today, and you simply stop studying them which means you stop learning at an accelerated rate, which
means you stop making progress to Japanese fluency.
This is why we make our flashcard quotas our #1 study priority.
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You will probably fall behind on them, at least at some point during the year. One time, when I had just
moved back from Japan, I let my flashcards get away from me, and before I knew it, Anki told me I had
over 4,000 cards due one day. Ouch. It took me months to catch up on those, and its something I dont
ever want to let happen again. So, keep all of this in mind when you lay out your daily flashcard goals, as
you read the standard goals Ive laid out for this mastery plan, especially if you plan to increase my
suggested flashcard numbers.
Creating a New Anki Deck
You may be tempted to simply download one of the shared decks on Anki. After all, people have already
gone to all of the work of adding thousands of items to those decks. This is an option for you, but,
personally, I dont think its the best idea.
If you have your own deck, then over time youll gain a sense of accomplishment when you see the
number of cards inside of it growing and growing. Youll feel that you really are making progress on
what often seems to be an insurmountable hurdle: learning Japanese. So, I like to create my own deck.
I also do this because of the value of
Creating Your Own Study Cards
I like to add my own cards, because that means that I review cards that I just learned. Maybe I should
explain.
On most days, after Im done reviewing, Ill then study every new card thats in my deck. Typically,
every new card just means all of the new cards I created the day before. So my daily goal is to get my
decks new cards down to zero.
Having zero new cards in your deck at the end of each days means that when you add new cards that
youd like to learn, youll get to review them soon thereafter. If, instead, you had a deck with thousands
of new cards, and you added some new ones that you wanted to learn, you might not learn those cards you
added for monthsnot until Anki told you they were due for review.
Does that make sense? I hope so.
(By the way, this study plan assumes that youve set up your Anki preferences so that new cards always
show after cards due for review. For how to do this, check out Step #4 of the 97-Day Kanji Challenge.
Also, if you want to take the approach where you try to clear your new cards at the end of the day, make
sure that your deck is set up to show 9999 Maximum Cards/Day for both Reviews and New Cards.)
Managing Multiple Decks
You may have caught on that, if youre starting a vocab deck, you now have two decks: Kanji and Vocab.
Eventually, youll probably want to merge these decks into one. At least, thats what I like to do. The only
problem with that is that you cant do that until youve learned every card in the kanji deck. And even if
youve passed Phase #2 with flying colors, you still have about 1,000 cards in that deck which you
havent learned yet.
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So, for the time being well just have to have two decks. You might want to lower your new card quota on
the kanji deck in order to make time for your vocab deck (maybe only something like 5 new kanji per
dayreally, its up to you).
Once you learn every card in the kanji deck, then you can merge the two decks into one.
Building Your Anki Deck
You wont have any flashcards to study unless you are regularly adding more to your Anki flashcard deck.
Every time you come across a new vocab word or phrase, you must add it to your flashcard deck. You
should never come across a Japanese word and not know its meaning more than one time.
Yikes.
Actually, that depends on the person. And it depends on your goals. If you want to translate Japanese one
day, if you want to pass JLPT N1 and read Japanese novels and political essayswhateverthen you
should never come across a Japanese word and not know its meaning more than one time.
If, however, you just want to be functionally fluent, if you just want to speak Japanese well and get
around and understand anime, then you can be more sparing in deciding which words you will add to
your deck as you come across them.
Yes, the Japanese word for maternity leave () is in my deck. No, Ive never used it before.
Not yet! But Im glad its in there for a couple of reasons:
1. If Japanese is really going to be a part of my life for an extended period of time, then I will
absolutely come across this word again. One day, maybe even years down the line.
2. It helps me remember the words that its built on, words that I do come across: (childcare)
and (holiday; day off).
Studying New Cards
There are two concerns when we finally decide how many new cards we are going to see each day in our
Anki deck: (1) how much can we handle on a daily basis, and (2) how much do we want to learn by the
end of Year #1?
I came up with a New Cards Goal Schedule that should result in the following by the end of Year 1:
3,000+ vocab words memorized
That should put us in a pretty solid spot as far as fluency achievement goes. No, you wont be passing
JLPT N2 with that, but youll be well on your way.
Now, heres the flashcard schedule well need to follow in order to make that happen. First, Ill talk
about how many words we want to learn per day, and then Ill explain how many flashcards that should
translate to, approximately. Heres the schedule I propose for new vocab words added to the Anki deck
each day (watch out, these are estimates!):
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Month #
New
Words per
Day
New
Words per
Month
(est.)
Total
Words
Learned
1 Kanji only Kanji only Kanji only
5 15 454 454
6 15 454 908
7 15 454 1,362
8 15 454 1,816
9 15 454 2,270
10 15 454 2,724
11 15 454 3,178
12 15 454 3,632

Wait, I thought you said 3,000 words. Thats 3,600!
Ya, well, were human, and I thought Id leave some room for procrastination, missing days of new cards,
etc. You may also notice that I dont have any new vocab being added until month #5, but you should
actually be done learning all of the kanji within the first 3.5 months. This is all just so you have some
room to breathe.
Anyways, according to this chart, in Month #5 we begin Phase #3 and start making vocab flashcards.
Keep in mind that these are not numbers for how many flashcards you will study each day/month. Im
simply saying that you should be adding at least this many vocab words to your deck each day if you
want to be sure that your flashcard deck grows at a sufficient pace for you to learn, according to this plan,
3,000+ vocab words within 1 year of studying. If thats confusing, hang in there, because it should
become clearer once I explain your New Cards Study Quota.
New Cards Study Quota
Weve decided how many words we need to learn each month if were going to learn 3,000+ vocab in
Year 1. However, we still need to figure out how many new cards well need to study in order to learn
that many words.
Our vocab study plan has us learning 3,632 words by the end of Month #12. Because of this, we know
that well need to learn a minimum of 7,264 cards (3,632*2). We have to double the number of cards,
because for each vocab word we need to have a card where we see the English meaning and guess the
Japanese word (and its kanji!), and we need a card where we see the Japanese word and need to guess the
English meaning. So, if we were going to make vocab cards for the word (tango), which is the
Japanese word for vocab, well go through the following process.
First, click Add:
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Then well make the English to Japanese flashcard:
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And then well make the Japanese to English card:
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By studying our vocab like this, in both directions, well be able to increase our retention. Great!
A couple things you may have noticed:
I like to include an example sentence. It helps me remember! I usually just pull them off of
Jisho.org.
I use a Japanese period () in between the kana, to let me know the reading of each individual
kanji in the vocab entry.
In this particular example, my Japanese to English card told me that I already had a card for
oops!
Finding Your Golden Time
Youve probably figured it out by now: studying flashcards consistently for an entire year is a
monumental task. One thing that helps me deal with this is finding my golden time.
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Your Golden Time is the time of the day when youre usually:
1. Thinking clearly.
2. Motivated to learn.
3. Free of distractions.
Finding your Golden Time is key, because thats when youre going to want to do your flashcards
every day. Try to make a routine, if you can.
My Golden Time happens to be first thing in the morning, usually at a coffee shop. If I dont do my
flashcards first thing in the morning, then I have a hard time getting through them all day. There are just
too many distractions later on in the day. Things come up. And I have a hard time doing them at home,
because there are so many distractions there, too. Family and friends mean well, but they are rarely
conducive to productive studying.
So, every morning I try to go to a coffee shop and do my flashcards. Before work, school, anything.
If I know I cant go to a coffee shop on a given morning, Ill do my flashcards before I even leave my
room, before anyone even knows that Im awake. That way, they wont bug me!
Vocab Ninja, You Will Become
Just repeat that process about 3,000 times, and youll make it through the flashcard portion of Phase #3.
Simple but not easy. Mega-difficult, actually. (Please dont hate me.)
Study your flashcards like this, and you will know a lot of Japanese by the end of Year 1. Make sure that
you spend more time on going over this part of the book, along with the 97-Day Kanji Challenge, than
any other. These flashcards will be the key to learning Japanese in 1 year. When you start your days
studies, always start with your flashcards, particularly with the ones Anki says you must study that day.
Everything else is second to your flashcards. Everything.

Flashcard Checklist
Phase #1 (Week 1)
Download Anki
Phase #2 (Months 1-4)
Do All Cards For Review Every Day
Learn 22 New Kanji Per Day
Do All Cards For Review Every Day
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Learn 15 New Vocab Words Per Day
Chain Item #2 Listening Practice
Each day of Phase #3, once youve finished reviewing your flashcards, you can move onto studying
Chain Items 2 & 3, listening and grammar. These items will probably get quite enmeshed with part of
your flashcard approach, because listening and grammar practice will serve as a source for new words to
add to your Anki deck and new kanji to study. Still, you should not study listening and grammar until
youve studied all of the new and review flashcards on Anki for a given day. You dont ever want to
risk missing a day of new and review flashcards, because it will jeopardize this entire mastery plan. Its
not the end of the world if you go a day without studying listening and/or grammar. It is the end of the
world if you go a day without doing your flashcards.
Sorry if Im being repetitive, but Ive felt the sting of not following this advice, of not prioritizing my
Anki flashcards, and it literally stalled my Japanese language progression by months.
With all that flashcard business aside, then, lets talk about listening practice.
Chain Item #2 is great, because its so simple: 1 audio lesson per day, minimum.
As you know, I prefer JapanesePod101, but occasionally Ill also throw in a lesson by Beb and Alex (not
as good for beginners) or one of the 100 other Japanese podcasts out there.
JapanesePod101

http://goo.gl/KDdWm
Beb and Alex

http://goo.gl/qY0Wz

Disclaimer: Anime is not listening practice. Its not a form of study at all. It is, however, a fun way to
notice your progress, as by the end of 1 year youll understand quite a lot of your favorite shows.
I achieve my daily 1-lesson quota without even setting aside any extra time for listening practice. Instead
of listening to music in my car, I listen to Japanese lessons. Also, if Im alone, Ill listen to a lesson or
two while I eat lunch or dinner. Thats all! Listening is by far the easiest part of this study plan, because
all you do is press play and, well, listen! And somehow, magically enough, this makes you better at
Japanese. You should start to notice drastic improvement in your listening comprehension after the first
month of Phase #3 (in other words, after youve listened to an audio lesson per day, every day, for an
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entire month). Then you get to look forward to your comprehension level after a whole year!
Ok, time for a confession: I dont do the ideal kind of study for listening practice. You will actually learn
a lot more if you listen to audio lessons while writing down new words and concepts that they go over,
and then making flashcards for each of them immediately after that. The main reason I dont do this is
that I do the majority of my listening practice while driving. And, surprisingly, driving is not very
conducive to note taking (go figure). So, if you have the time, maybe go ahead and take notes while you
listen to your audio lessons, then make flashcards immediately after. Youll learn faster than I did if you
study that way!
Im talking about listening practice in Phase #3, but since listening is not really an intrusive study method,
you can actually start it in Phases #1 and #2. You can start right now! You need to learn pronunciation in
Phase #2 anyways, and the early lessons of JapanesePod101 and a lot of other podcasts can help you out
with that quite a lot. This means that our checklist looks something like this:
Listening Practice Checklist
Phase #1 (Week 1)
Download listening lessons/podcasts
Listen to lessons in your free time
Master pronunciation
1 listening lesson per day, minimum
One Last Thing
Before we move onto grammar, theres one last thing I want to say about audio lessons: Do not buy them
at a bookstore. I like JapanesePod101 and free podcasts, because theyre worth your time (especially
taking money into account). Ive also heard good things about Pimsleur, though it seems a little
expensive to me. But those listening CDs that they sell in the language section of major bookstores are
not worth your time, and theyre especially not worth your money. Dont buy them! They wont get
even close to the advanced level that were aiming for in this mastery plan. Rosetta Stone, when I used it
for Japanese years ago, was also pretty limited. I have heard that their Japanese product has improved,
but I still have a hard time believing its worth the amount of money that they charge for it.
Ok, were almost done. Were almost done! Our fluency foundation is almost complete!
Chain Item #3 Grammar Practice
Back in Phase #1, you chose the study materials that youd use for your grammar practice. Now its
Phase #3, and its time to bust them out!
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This chain item is also super simple: 15 minutes per day of grammar study, minimum.
Dont worry about doing five pages a day or two chapters a week or one grammar book per month. That
stuff doesnt work. Or, I should say, that stuff has never worked for me (at least, not in the long term).
Some grammar concepts take longer to learn than others. Some youll pick up effortlessly. Or maybe
youll get enraptured with some fascinating dialogue in Chapter 2 of your Genki I book. I dont know the
probability of that, but you never know.
The dont break the chain approach is perfect for grammar. Dont worry about how much material
youve gotten through, just be sure to dedicate a little bit of time each day, and youll learn a lot. Sounds
easier than our flashcards, where we do have to worry about how much we get through, right?
Formal Education vs. Self-Study
You may have already noticed, but this is a self-study guide. Its supposed to help you study by yourself.
And, up until now, weve been looking at things that are ideal for self-studying. Namely, weve been
looking at Kanji and Vocab. And it would be very difficult to convince me that a classroom teaches vocab
and kanji better than focused, productive self-studying.
However, grammar is a different monster.
Some people will have a truly difficult time learning grammar on their own. If this is your case, dont fret.
Some people can learn grammar by reading explanations. Other people want to vomit when their
grammar book starts using words like particle, object marker, subject, object, verb, transitive,
intransitiveyou get the idea.
I like learning grammar in books. But then again: Im a nerd.
So you may want to consider looking up some Japanese classes nearby to help you get through the initial
Japanese grammar gauntlet. If there arent classes near where you live, JapanesePod101 is a little bit
similar to formal education, because technically you can go on their site and interact with instructors.
Probably really helpful for some. Not so much for me.
Anyways, give it some thought. Also, high-five yourself, because youre done with Phase #3!
Grammar Checklist
Phase #1 (Week 1)
Pick your grammar study tools
Chill out
Relax.
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Study for 15 minutes every day
Chain complete!
The Real Fluency Foundation
This entire 1-year study plan has been designed upon the principle that you can set yourself up for rapid
language acquisition. You acquire the best tools for learning Japanese before you start studying. You
learn vocab faster, because you already know the kanji. You learn everything faster, because youre using
smart flashcards. You cut out the things that waste time and focus on the things that will save you time. I
went ahead and paraphrased this all as building a fluency foundation.
But that stuff is just the measurable fluency foundation. Everything in this book is also designed to help
you lay an even more important fluency foundation: Were trying to change ourselves into people that
can learn anything quickly. Lets hope I can explain this adequately
Why Japanese Will Give You Superpowers

Yes, it will. Im serious. Japanese will give you superpowers. I know, because it gave me superpowers.
Learning Japanese gave me the ability to:
Learn Spanish
Learn Web Design
Form three businesses in the last 2 years
Found NihongoShark.com
Write this book
It allowed me to do a bunch of other stuff that doesnt fit well into a bulleted list, also. Specifically,
learning Japanese did two things for me, things that have changed my life in every way:
1. Learning Japanese gave me confidence.
2. Learning Japanese taught me discipline.
The Gift of Confidence
If you can learn Japanese, you can do so, so, so many things that are way easier. I used to think that life
was filled with a lot of things that I wished I could do. After learning Japanese, though, that all changed.
Life is filled with things that I can choose to do, if I feel like it. Learn Spanish? Why not? Build a
website? Done. Learn piano? Ok. Get a six-pack? Sure.
If I could learn Japanese, then of course I could do those things. Theyre so much easier! Theyre easy
now, because Japanese endowed me with the greatest skill in the world: discipline.
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Discipline is a skill.
Only after learning Japanese did I understand the importance of that sentence.
Discipline is not something you are born with. Its something you learn. Its something that you can get
better at, with practice. And thats exactly what were trying to do in this 1-year study plan. Were trying
to hone our discipline. Thats the real fluency foundation. Thats the real key to learning anything you
want to learn.
With discipline, you can learn anything you want to learn.
Because discipline means focused, consistent persistence. And persistence is the only thing that leads to
greatness. I should know. Ive quit more things than I can count. I quit more things than just about anyone
I know. I founded a charity in college, but then I quit working on it. I have about ten unfinished novels. I
QUIT EVERYTHING. But I didnt quit Japanese. I didnt quit studying the kanji. And thanks to that, I
can finally grasp the value of working on something persistently. It was one of the first times Ive ever
felt accomplished in my entire life. I actually felt Id done something worthwhile.
Failure cant cope with persistence. Napoleon Hill
Its true, too. Because I have failed at learning Japanese so many times. But I didnt quit. And now the
fluency foundation has been laid. I have learned discipline.
Finding Your Motivation
Lets be honest, though. Discipline sucks. BORING. Ill never make discipline sound fun, no matter how
hard I try. Discipline is lame!
But its also necessary. And the only way to attain it is through persistence. And persistence is impossible
without motivation. So weve got to find some motivation!
Do you want to understand anime?
Do you want to read manga?
Do you want to read Haruki Murakami in the original Japanese?
Do you want to marry a Japanese girl?
Do you want to get a job translating Japanese to English?
Understand Japanese television?
Make friends in Japan?
Play Japanese video games before theyre released worldwide?
Whatever it is thats motivating you to learn Japanese, keep it close to your heart. Youll need it if youre
ever going to make it through this year. Get a study partner. Get a poster of your favorite anime. Get
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something that will keep you going when you feel that this is an impossible task.
The Problem of Priorities
Motivation will help you when youre sorting out your priorities.
Would you rather be scanning Facebook right now, or would you rather be fluent in Japanese right now?
I find that it helps to avoid thinking of studying as, well, studying. You need to make your future goals
seem immediate. Dont think about how you need to study 22 new kanji today. Think about how its
going to feel when you know all of the kanji. Because thats happening on its own if youre following
your study plan.
I cant express how hard all of this is. I want to make it easy for you. I want to give you some magic book
that will make learning Japanese effortless. But I just cant. Because learning Japanese is hard. And I
cant force your priorities into any certain order. (I have a hard enough time sorting my own priorities!)
All I know is that you can do this. I know, because there have been so many times that I doubted if I
could do it, but then I did! And its worth it. Im telling you: Its worth it.
Active vs. Productive
Thought I would also mention something that I have a really hard time staying diligent about. I have the
worst habit of being active when I should be productive.
Thinking about Japanese is not the same as studying Japanese. Calculating how many more days you
have until youve learned all of the kanji is not the same as learning the kanji. And that kind of activity
will cost you precious time.
I have a very lazy person living inside of me. And he LOVES being active, but hates being productive.
Lets look at a side-by-side comparison:
Active Productive
Reading articles about how to
learn Japanese
Reading a chapter on a
specific Japanese grammar
topic

Calculating how many kanji
youve learned

Learning a new kanji
Watching anime

Listening to a podcast lesson
Researching translation jobs Translating something

Try to stay productive. Youll do awesome things.
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Summary
Phase #3 Checklist

Now we know everything that we need to do in Phase #3 in order to become true Nihongo Sharks:
Phase #3 Daily Study Plan
1) Vocab
Study all review cards due in Anki
Study 30 new Anki flashcards (15 new words)
Add 30 new Anki flashcards (15 new words)
2) Listening
1 full audio lesson, minimum
3) Grammar
Study for 15 minutes, minimum
Do your flashcards. Listen to your audio lesson. Study grammar for 15 minutes. Every day.
Swim, swim, swim. You are crossing an ocean.

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Phase #3 Complete!!

(Image source: Blabyloo229)
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Phase #4 Go Jouzu

Phase #4 begins at the end of Year #1. Maybe if you hit some speed bumps it will take a little over a year
to complete Phases #1-3. Or maybe youre a study master, and youll get to Phase #4 in 8 months.
Whatever the case, reaching Phase #4 is an occasion for celebration. If youve made it this far, then your
mind is super-prepped for fluency. You are officially Jouzu.
Jouzu = = skilled; good (at) = (above) + (hand) = upper hand = pro status; shark ninja-esque
= something Japanese people will tell you that you are the second you learn to say Konnnichiwa, but a
distinction that you wont feel is deserving until youve done a ridiculous amount of studying.
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Reached Goals
Getting to Phase #4 means that youve accomplished some seriously amazing goals:
3,000+ vocab words memorized
2,000+ kanji learned
200+ audio lessons listened to
Honestly, that is amazing. People should buy you presents when you make it to Phase #4. They should
give you high-fives and tell you that you are downright inspiring and awesome at Japanese.
You will feel differently, though
The Bridge to Fluency
Truth is: Language learning is a drug. You will want more. You will not be satisfied. Great, youll
think, I know a lot of Japanese. But I dont feel comfortable reading a novel. Ive never had a deep,
hours-long conversation in Japanese. I cant yet pass the JLPT Level N1 Exam. And thats why we
need Phase #4.
Up until now, Ive been throwing the word fluent around quite recklessly. Ill be honest, though: I think
fluency is a meaningless concept. Its messy, indefinable. Even now, people ask me if Im fluent in
Japanese, and I dont feel comfortable answering (Youll notice that most people who ask you this are
rarely fluent in another language). So how do you answer? If Im being honest, then, ya, Im probably
fluent. But Im not satisfied. Im not native-level. And so it feels somehow wrong to call myself fluent,
though I may be. Thats why I propose, if you make it this far in your studies, that you forget about
fluency. Think instead about what you want from Japanese. Its not a numbers game anymore. Its about
communication, the beauty of human interaction. And its time for a focus shift.
Shifting Your Focus
Phase #4 is when your Japanese studies will really start to get fun, because its finally time to branch out
into your interests. Finally, after all that work. There are 5 elements to Phase #4:
1) Continue your Phase #3 Plan
2) Start Speaking
3) Start Reading & Writing
4) Go to Japan!
5) Find Your Audacious Jouzu Goal
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Focus Shift #1 - Continue Year 1 Studying
Ya, sorry, but Focus Shift #1 isnt much of a shift.
Maybe you wont add as many words to your Anki deck per day. Maybe youll start playing around with
some more topical grammar books. But one thing is absolutely mandatory:
Flashcards
You must continue to review every flashcard that is due in your Anki deck every day.
Memory is a tricky thing, and these words and kanji are always in danger of slipping away from you.
You can lighten the number of new cards per day so that its less than it was before, but you must keep up
with the cards that are due for review each day. As much as flashcards are a key to learning, they are also
a key to not forgetting. Actually, thats the whole purpose of flashcards, isnt it?
Listening
Listening practice is a little more negotiable. You might want to start incorporating some Japanese music
or Japanese-only podcasts into your audial life. Or maybe youll be addicted to JapanesePod101 like me
and progress forward into their more advanced lessons.
Have a little fun. Enjoy yourself. But dont completely erase listening practice from your life.
Grammar
This is my favorite part of Phase 3. Since your grammar study materials no longer need to be part of a
series, youre free to pick up all kinds of random grammar topic study materials. Theres so much nuance
and fun that you can tap into in your Japanese studies, and this is your chance to do it. Here are some
examples (Ive only read some of these, but I plan to read as many as I can find time for):
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http://goo.gl/TVJMV

http://goo.gl/YiZk1
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http://goo.gl/G41WJ

http://goo.gl/bGypW
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http://goo.gl/0aoAg

http://goo.gl/OJRcv
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http://goo.gl/ANUh2

http://goo.gl/eB0cL
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http://goo.gl/IJv9A

http://goo.gl/ALgXQ
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http://goo.gl/c3uW6

http://goo.gl/odFlC
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http://goo.gl/MXRBK

http://goo.gl/d5o8q
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http://goo.gl/2wbP9

Disclaimer: Though were talking about tapping into all kinds of fun study materials, you should still be
making flashcards for every new word and kanji that you come across. Never see a word and not know
its meaning more than once. If youre not incorporating your flashcards, youre not studying.
Consider the following graph:

Stalking People on Facebook Studying Without Flashcards Studying With Flashcards
Amount of Nihongo Learned
(arranged by study method)
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To recap:
Rule #1 Keep doing flashcards
Rule #2 Have fun learning more Japanese!
Focus Shift #2 Start Speaking
The second element to Phase #4 is to get out there and start using this language that youve been studying
for the last year.
I expect that one of the biggest issues that naysayers will have with this mastery plan is that it doesnt
incorporate speaking Japanese until after an entire year of study. So, perhaps I should clarify
You can start speaking Japanese from Day #1 of this mastery plan. I would never discourage
speaking practice of a foreign language. My position, instead, is that you cannot consider speaking
practice to be one of your study methods until you reach Phase #4. You cannot substitute speaking
practice for the vocab, kanji, listening, and grammar practice you do in Phases #2 and #3.
Speaking definitely teaches a lot, but it is best if utilized as a supplement to an intensive study program.
Then, once you have a good Japanese foundation (i.e. after Phase #3), it becomes fantastic study practice.
Not only that, but there is a point (Phase #4!) when speaking practice becomes absolutely essential to
mastering Japanese.
Phase #3 taught you how to form sentences in Japanese, fill them with words, sound them out.
Speaking teaches you to form ideas in Japanese.
Make some friends online, on Facebook, Twitter, Mixie, Skype, etc. Get a job at a Japanese restaurant,
look for Japanese Meetup groups. Then start talking. At first, youll feel like you dont know Japanese at
all. Then, after a couple of weeks (thanks to Phase #3!), people will start to tell you that youre fluent.
And its so thrilling to be at this level. Youll want more. Youll want to keep studying.
Focus Shift #3 Start Reading and Writing
Really, this one will likely merge a bit with the speaking element, because youll be typing and reading
text when you converse on a lot of those social sites mentioned above. But it will also be helpful if you
start reading some actual Japanese texts and writing some of your thoughts down.
Reading
For reading, you might want to start with the Read Real Japanese books. Im pretty impressed with these
books, and they should be a great aid to your reading comprehension. They might be a little difficult, but
no worries: We have no time limits on Phase #4. Take your time. Enjoy yourself.
Disclaimer: If youre going to read manga, be careful with what you repeat, as a lot of manga contain
dialogue that is actually incredibly rude when used in real life.
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Writing
I have another confession: This is one element of studying that Im really bad at sticking to. Im all about
measuring productivity, and thats not an easy thing to do when writing in Japanese. Why? Because it
takes a long time to write only a so-so amount of text. So I always feel like Im getting nowhere. Theres
no denying it, though: Writing will make you better at Japanese. It makes you form ideas (like speaking
does), and it also makes you study vocab and kanji (like reading does).
The only way I ever make progress with writing is if I put it into a time-based dont break the chain
calendar, something like: Write for 15 minutes every day.
Youre totally capable of it at this point, so why not write something? Start a journal. Write a short story.
A secret love letter. Your shopping list. Your life goals. At least if you write something private, nobody
else will be able to read it!
Focus Shift #4 Go to Japan
Seriously, what are you waiting for?
Go to school there. Get a job. A scholarship. Do a homestay.
If youve completed the 1-year mastery plan, then going to Japan will be the best thing you can possibly
do in order to super-charge your Japanese studies. If you need ideas on schools, jobs, etc., just check out
the links page on NihongoShark.com: http://nihongoshark.com/links/. It lists links to schools, job sites,
scholarshipsto almost anything youd need in order to make it over to Japan.
Focus Shift #5 Find Your Mokuhyou
I talked about this a little bit towards the end of Phase #3, but it is incredibly beneficial if you clarify a
huge, audacious jouzu goal.
My goal is to translate Japanese literature into English one day. Im still ages from being that jouzu! But
Im excited to strive for it. I cant wait!
So find your big, audacious jouzu goal. Write it down. Then get excited that its going to happen one day.
Wrapping Up
Phase #4 Checklist
1) Continue Phase #3 Studying
Flashcards every day
Fun with listening
Fun with grammar
2) Start Speaking
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Make some friends
3) Start Reading & Writing
Read books
Write a journal, story, etc.
4) Go to Japan
Enroll in a school, get a job, etc.
5) Find Your Mokuhyou
Write down your huge, audacious jouzu goal

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Phase #3 complete! High five!

Now, for some bittersweet news: I have nothing left for you to study. If you make it this far in your
Japanese studies, then I am officially obsolete. Perhaps we can meet in Japan, as friends, and kanpai to
one anothers hard work.
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GanbariShark
You now know everything that lies between you and total Japanese mastery. To close this book, Ill give
you a condensed version of everything that must be done, a few motivational snippets, and then the rest
will be up to you.
I cant teach you Japanese. No one can. I can only teach you how to learn Japanese. The bad news?
That means a lot of work for you. The good news? Theres nothing stopping you from progressing
towards Japanese mastery!
Getting Organized
Your Japanese Mastery Checklist
Phase #1 Prep Your Ninja Tools (Week 1)

Phase #2 Prep Your Ninja Brain (Months 1-4)
Learn Japanese pronunciation
Learn Hiragana
Learn Katakana
Learn 2,042 Kanji

Phase #3 Lay Your Fluency Foundation (Months 5-12)
Memorize 3,000+ vocab
Listen to 200+ audio lessons
Study grammar for 15 minutes per day

Phase #4 Go Jouzu! (Months 13+)
Continue Phase #3 Studying
Fun with listening
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Fun with grammar
Start Speaking
Make some Japanese-speaking friends, co-workers, etc.
Start Reading & Writing
Get some books
Start a journal, story, etc.
Go to Japan
Find Your Mokuhyou
Stand in awe of your awesomeness
Your Daily Study Plans
Phase #2
Review all flashcards due for review
Learn 22 new kanji
Phase #3
All cards due for review
Study 30 new flashcards (15 words)
Add 30 new cards to Anki deck (15 words)
Study grammar for 15 minutes, minimum
To stay on track, you may wish to use a dont break the chain calendar.
Staying Motivated
As youre likely already thinking, looking at that giant list I just threw at you, this is going to be a ton of
work. But honestly, I know you can do this. What Ive come to realize over time is that learning a
language isnt about being smart or not being smart. Instead, learning a language is about discipline.
Discipline is greatness.
Smart people dont learn languages. Only disciplined people do. And discipline is not a talent, is not
something youre born with. Discipline is a skill. And since its a skill, it canlike all skillsbe learned.
For me, discipline is nothing more than putting future wants ahead of immediate wants. What do I want
more: To watch a TV show Ive already seen or to be fluent in Japanese? If only it were that simple,
right? Well, discipline is just about brainwashing yourself into believing that it really is that simple.
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I cannot think: Do I want to go for a run or do I want to sit here?
Instead, I must think: Do I want to be in shape or do I want to sit here?
It may help if you read this article from the New Yorker:
Procrastination Article

http://goo.gl/TkgA9
Then, after you do, put this on a flashcard:

Future Wants > Immediate Wants

Finally, I have one last task for you
Getting Started
Taking the first step is often the hardest thing to do. To help out a little, there are two things I have for
you to do: (1) clarify your goal and (2) get a study partner.
Clarify Your Goal
Before you study a single thing, you might want to try a little exercise. Imagine, if you will, that youve
already completed this mastery plan. Imagine that you completed it 3 years ago, and youve studied
every day since then. How do you use it? What is it like? What kinds of things do you do now that
youve mastered Japanese?
Maybe write that down. Then read it once a week. Or just whenever youre feeling discouraged. You
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cant be disciplined if you dont stay motivated.
Get a Study Partner
Study partners are often recommended so that you have someone to turn to when you are faced with
confusing topics. I think thats helpful, too, but for a study plan like this theres an even more important
reason: accountability.
Studies show that if you tell someone youre going to complete a task, youre more likely to actually
complete it. So find someone to ask you, every day: Did you do your flashcards today? Audio lesson?
Grammar practice? etc.
It doesnt matter if theyre studying Japanese. You just need to be able to tell someone all the amazing
work that youre doing. Because youre really accomplishing something incredible by doing this study
plan. Also, telling a person your accomplishments might be a little more fun than telling your dont
break the chain calendar.
Then, thats all. Youre good to start!
Ganbatte!
Swim, swim, swim.

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You are crossing an ocean.
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Appendix A NihongoShark
About NihongoShark
NihongoShark.com is a website with free Japanese lessons, guest posts from smart people, and, uh, stuff
about learning Japanese.
Oh ya, and we wrote this book. Well, one of us did.
NihongoShark.com

How You Can Help
There are a number of ways that you can help NihongoShark in becoming more awesome
1. Become a staff writer at NihongoShark.
To apply to become a staff writer, please email nikolai@NihongoShark.com
Please note that since this is for a free site, we cannot pay our writers, though you will get
explicit credit for each article/lesson written, as well as an author bio section, so you can
send people to your own site or blog, if you have one.
Were hoping to pay authors one day, but as of now everything on our site is free so
we cant exactly pay anyone! Free is better anyways, right?
2. Like us on Facebook!
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http://www.facebook.com/NihongoShark/
Please!!

3. Tell your friends!
We always need help spreading the word about our language learning endeavors, and
especially about this book.
4. Let us know how we can improve.
Youve probably notice a few things that we could do better. Youre probably right! Just
let us know by visiting our contact page, please: http://nihongoshark.com/contact/.
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Appendix B Checklists & Schedules
In this Appendix, Ive copied all of the checklists and schedules that appear throughout the book.
Mastery Plan Checklists
Phase #1 Checklist
Be excited about life
Dont let this list intimidate you
Phase #2 Checklist
Learn to Pronounce Japanese
Learn Hiragana
Learn Katakana
Learn 2,042 Kanji
o Download Anki
o Buy Remembering the Kanji
o Download the Heisig Deck
o Set Up Anki Preferences
o Change New Card Quota
o Learn New Kanji
Learn up to Kanji #22 (Day #1)
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(This weeks just in case youre behind schedule!)
Phase #3 Checklist
Memorize 3,000+ vocab
Listen to 200+ audio lessons
Study grammar for 15 minutes per day
Phase #4 Checklist
Continue Phase #3 Studying
Fun with listening
Fun with grammar
Start Speaking
Make some Japanese-speaking friends, co-workers, etc.
Start Reading & Writing
Get some books
Start a journal, story, etc.
Go to Japan
Find Your Mokuhyou
Stand in awe of your awesomeness

Daily Study Plans
Phase #2 Daily Study Plan (Months 1-4)
Review all flashcards due for review
Learn 22 new kanji
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Phase #3 Daily Study Plan (Months 5-12)
All cards due for review
Study 30 new flashcards (15 words)
Add 30 new cards to Anki deck (15 words)
Study grammar for 15 minutes, minimum
To stay on track, you may wish to use a dont break the chain calendar.

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