Hi, I am Shingo SATO, a native speaker with more than 10 years of experience teaching Japanese.
Are you wondering how to learn Japanese in 6 months?
In this article, I share how to learn beginner level Japanese in 6 months..
As it turns out, the best way is to use the Irodori Japanese Online Course. It’s free and of high quality.
Please read on for more details.
Beginner Level = A2 Level
First of all, “beginner level” in this article is A2 level.
“A2” is one of the levels in “The JF Standard for Japanese-Language Education” established by the Japan Foundation, which provides the following explanation.
The JF Standard for Japanese-Language Education represents the levels of Japanese in six stages, from A1 to C2. These are the same as the Council of Europe’s CEFR.
The Japan Foundation, Irodori Japanese for Life in Japan
There are six levels, and A2 is the second from the bottom.
The Japan Foundation has published two books based on this standard, Marugoto and Irodori.
What can you do at the A2 level? In Marugoto and Irodori, it is written as follows.
Can understand sentences and frequently used expressions related to areas of most immediate relevance (e.g. very basic personal and family information, shopping, local geography, employment).
Can communicate in simple and routine tasks requiring a simple and direct exchange of information on familiar and routine matters.
Can describe in simple terms aspects of his/her background, immediate environment and matters in areas of immediate need.
The Japan Foundation, Irodori Japanese for Life in Japan
Irodori has up to A2 level and Marugoto has up to B1 level, which is higher than A2, so if you learn from these books, you will be able to reach the beginner level（A2）.
Let’s Use the Online Courses!
However, there may be no Japanese language schools around you, and even if there are, they may not be using Marugoto or Irodori. Therefore, I recommend you use online courses, Marugoto Plus or Irodori Japanese Online Course. They are free of charge and cover all the contents of Marugoto/Irodori.
In these online courses, you can learn grammar, vocabulary, Kanji, and other language knowledge. The books emphasize goals (Can-do), in other words, what you can do in Japanese. For example, these online courses provide videos so that you can easily understand the right situations in which that language knowledge is used.
Marugoto Plus and Irodori Japanese Online Course
The following table shows the differences between these two online courses.
| Marugoto Plus | Irodori Online Course | |
|---|---|---|
| Level | A1 and A2 | A1 and A2 |
| SItuations | outside Japan | everyday life in Japan |
| Learning History | NOT kept | kept |
| E-certificate | NOT available | available |
So, the available levels are the same. The situations are different as you can see in the table.
You may be disappointed to know that Marugoto Plus does not offer any learning history or e-certificate.
But here is a solution. For Marugoto, you can see your learning history or even get an e-certificate on a platform called “Minato“. The registration is a little tricky. Please refer to the following video for how to sign up.
It Takes 100 Minutes a Day
How long does it take to complete this course?
For reference, here is how long it would take if you were to have a teacher teach you Irodori.
Each part, “Starter,” “Elementary 1,” and “Elementary 2,” typically takes about 80 to 100 hours to complete, so the entire course is estimated to take about 240 to 300 hours to complete.
The Japan Foundation, Irodori Japanese for Life in Japan
The book and the online course are the same in content, so this is a rough estimate.
The total course takes 300 hours, so if you want to finish it in 6 months, that’s 50 hours per month.
The study hours per day are as follows.
100 minutes per day (1 hour and 40 minutes) x 30 days = 3,000 minutes (50 hours)
If you are busy on weekdays, how about the following schedule?
Weekdays (Mon-Fri) 1 hour per day x 22 days = 22 hours
Weekends (Saturday and Sunday) 3.5 hours per day x 8 days = 28 hours
Total : 50 hours
Please consider other schedules that work best for you.
Change Your Goal If You Have Difficulty Finding the Time
Is it really difficult to secure 50 hours per month? If so, change your goal.
You can lower the level you are trying to reach or try to finish the study in 9 months or 1 year instead of 6 months.
Conclusion
In this article, I shared how to learn beginner level Japanese in 6 months.
I recommend using the Irodori Japanese Online Course.
I hope this will help you learn beginner level Japanese!
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