Can I get fluent in Japanese with 1 hour a day? (2024)

January 24, 2023 — Tatsumoto

No, but you can get fluent with 12+ hours a day.

In Mass immersionI said that if you study 18 hours a day, it will take you 1.5 years to basic fluency.Progress takes commitment.With one hour a day it might take you 15 years.

Think about it seriously and ask yourself the following question.Even if you somehow magically got fluent today,would you really need itif you were going to spend just one hour a day doing Japanese?What do you need Japanese for?Why do you want to know Japanese?Maybe Japanese isn't exactly what you want to do,and you need to consider something else.

And once you reach fluency,you want to maintain it.You don't want to forget the language.To maintain a high level of proficiency,you have to spend more than 1 hour on Japanese each day anyway.So even if you magically got fluent, it wouldn't last long.

In the very beginning it is easier to improve.Until a certain point studying Japanese for one hour a day is going to be sufficient.But it gets harder as you approach higher stages.Unless you up your immersion later in the process,before reaching a lower intermediate level you're going to reach a plateau,where you will be stuck.

If a low intermediate level is enough for youthen it would be okay to go for it.However, this is not the level where immersion becomes enjoyable.So if you want to know Japaneseand reach the highest levels of fluencywhere you can express yourself comfortably and effortlessly,what should you do?If you don't have time now,you could consider doing 1 hour a day for a while,but as soon as you can you've got to switch to the mass immersion modeand start doing All Japanese All The Time.

Tags: faq

Can I get fluent in Japanese with 1 hour a day? (2024)

FAQs

Can I get fluent in Japanese with 1 hour a day? ›

To maintain a high level of proficiency, you have to spend more than 1 hour on Japanese each day anyway. So even if you magically got fluent, it wouldn't last long. In the very beginning it is easier to improve. Until a certain point studying Japanese for one hour a day is going to be sufficient.

How many hours to become fluent in Japanese? ›

For example, the Japanese Language Proficiency N1, which is the highest level of Japanese proficiency, requires between 2,150 and 3,000 hours. However, this level of Japanese is used by businesspeople and news outlets, and you won't require as much knowledge to have daily conversations.

Is 30 minutes a day enough to learn Japanese? ›

With this in mind, you can map out your study plan so that you dedicate 20-30 minutes to learning Japanese every day. By doing so, you'll pick up the language faster than those who have hour-long study sessions only a few days a week.

How much Japanese should I learn a day? ›

2 hours a day sounds good enough if you study consistently. The Foreign Service Institute estimates 2200 hours average for an English speaker to learn Japanese, so that would take about 3 years to learn the language. Of course it's just an estimative, but it's a decent enough general idea of the effort it will take.

How many hours a day is Japanese language school? ›

The Daily Routine

Japanese language schools must offer the same total volume of study hours per term and roughly gives three hours of classes for half a day, every Monday to Friday. The classes are usually divided into two 90-minute or four 45-minute sessions, with small breaks in between.

What is the hardest language to learn? ›

1. Mandarin Chinese. Interestingly, the hardest language to learn is also the most widely spoken native language in the world. Mandarin Chinese is challenging for a number of reasons.

Can I learn N5 Japanese in 1 month? ›

Like any standardized test, you'll want to spend at least three months to prepare for the test. For test-takers who don't know kanji, you can assume it will take around 450 to 500 hours of study to pass the JLPT N5 test. Moreover, out of 450 to 500 hours, approximately 150 hours are for learning Kanji.

Can you learn Japanese in 7 days? ›

Many speed learning language programs, however, use the ambiguity of terms like "speak a language" to advertize A1 results in a short period of time. Can you learn some of the Japanese basics in seven days? Definitely.

Can I learn Japanese in 1 month? ›

It will take around 2-6 months to get through most beginner Japanese textbooks. Though, this does depend on how much time you have to spend on your studies and what grammar method you choose. You can even go through a couple different textbooks at the same time, if you want.

How valuable is learning Japanese? ›

You may have a better chance of getting hired if you know a second language. This will also allow you to negotiate higher salaries. Thus, speaking Japanese is valuable for your career. There are a variety of careers available in many industries.

Is it expensive to learn Japanese? ›

It can be very expensive trying to learn Japanese. ‍I have spent thousands of dollars trying to learn this language. It doesn't help that every time I quit, lost motivation, didn't believe in myself--anytime I looked for clues about how to learn Japanese there was someone there to take my money.

Can you learn 10 kanji a day? ›

So it's safe to say that it's manageable to learn around 5-10 kanji characters per day. Some people may be able to handle more, but most learners make the mistake of cramming as much kanji as they can before a test.

Do Japanese people go to school 7 days a week? ›

School levels. The school year in Japan begins in April and classes are held from Monday to either Friday or Saturday, depending on the school. The school year consists of two or three terms, which are separated by short holidays in spring and winter, and a six-week-long summer break. Ph.

Do students go to school 6 days a week in Japan? ›

Public schools in Japan have classes five days a week, from Monday to Friday. There are also schools that have classes on Saturday. In junior high and high schools, there are six class periods each day, typically lasting 50 minutes for each.

How many hours do Japanese kids study? ›

In general, kids have to be at school by 8:45 am. School finishes around 3:15 pm, so they have to be in school for about six and a half hours every day from Monday to Friday. However, most kids also attend after-school clubs, and many also go to juku (cram school) in the evening to do extra studying.

Can you learn Japanese in 2 years? ›

Depending the length of your study time every day and how often you can practice alone, such as having speaking practice over Skype, listening to podcasts like JapanesePod101, reading and writing the writing systems, and actively trying to utilize kanji, you can learn intermediate level Japanese within 1-3 years.

How hard is it to learn Japanese fluently? ›

Is Japanese an easy language to speak? The U.S. Foreign Service Institute (FSI) ranks Japanese as among the hardest languages to learn for English speakers.

How long does it take to reach N5 Japanese? ›

Below you can find each JLPT level and the estimated study time for each. N5 with kanji knowledge took between 250-450 hours, while with no prior kanji knowledge it took between 325-600 hours. N4 with kanji knowledge took between 400-700 hours, while with no prior kanji knowledge it took between 575-1,000 hours.

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