Japanese Quick Reference Guide

When I moved to Japan in 2013 I spent the first six months taking intensive Japanese classes at a language school in Tokyo. During that time I got frustrated with the quality of the teaching materials and in particular the explanation of grammar rules which I found over-complicated things for the average student who just wanted to get a hang of the basics.

To that end I put together my own quick reference guide which covers a variety of useful topics, summarised in as simple a manner as possible:

  • Hiragana and Katakana
  • Numbers & Times / Dates
  • Counters & Pointers
  • Expressions of Time
  • People & Family
  • Useful Verbs
  • Useful Adjectives
  • Conjugation Basics
  • Common Verb Conjugations
  • Useful Adverbs
  • Useful Nouns
  • Common Particles
  • Sentence Recipes

It’s sat dormant on my computer for the last few years so I felt it was time to set it free in the hope it might be useful to others. You can download it for free as a PDF or from the iBooks Store (for iPhone / iPad).

Download PDF Download iBook

The guide roughly covers the content of the first ‘Minna no Nihongo‘ textbook and is intended as a supplement for classroom study, not as a replacement – it does not include copious examples or explanations.

While the content has been proofread by a native speaker there may be errors – if you spot one or have suggestions on how things could be improved please get in touch and I’ll do my best to keep it updated.

David avatar

7 responses

  1. Yoav Shapira avatar
    Yoav Shapira

    Very nice of you to share.

  2. Fran avatar
    Fran

    This is very helpful and clearly laid out! Thanks!

  3. Lucas avatar
    Lucas

    Thanks a lot. Really. I’m gonna learn it all !

  4. james avatar
    james

    Thanks for your share.

  5. playmaino avatar
    playmaino

    Thanks a lot! I am italian trying to learn Japanese while living in Germany. Well it sounds crazy but I have a reason to do it. 🙂

  6. Andreas avatar
    Andreas

    Very helpful. Thanks for making this available.

  7. Lalantha avatar
    Lalantha

    Wow
    Thank you so much
    Now I understand,

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