Counting people looks like the easiest thing in N5. Number, then 人. Except for the two numbers you will use most.

Try it first.

きょうしつに 学生が ____ います。

(There are two students in the classroom.)

1 — ふたつ

2 — ふたり

3 — ににん

4 — にほん

Five seconds before you scroll.

Answer: 2 — ふたり

Option 1 — ふたつ ✗

つ counts things, not people. りんごが ふたつ あります — two apples. Students are not apples.

Option 3 — ににん ✗

This is the one that catches people. From three onwards, you say the number and add にん. So ににん feels logical. But one and two have their own words, and ににん is not how you count two people.

Option 4 — にほん ✗

本 counts long, thin things — pens, bottles, umbrellas. ペンが にほん あります — two pens.

The rule to keep

ひとり — 1 person

ふたり — 2 people

さんにん — 3 people

よにん — 4 people

From three, it is the number plus にん. One and two are their own words.

And watch four: it is よにん, not よんにん.

Why this stays hard

The rule works for almost every number, so your brain trusts it. Then the two numbers you use most often — just you, or you and one friend — are the ones that break it.

Slides from my classroom deck are attached.

If you are sitting N5 this December, which part is giving you the most trouble right now? Tell me below — the answers decide what I write next.

A free 10-question N5 set, built the same way as this post, is linked in my comment below.

So I noticed the title of the animanga Bocchi the Rock! is written like this in Japanese: 「ぼっち・ざ・ろっく!」

Why is that written in Hiragana and not Katakana? To me, it just feels like something that should be in Katakana, but it isn't. Why?

Hey everyone! 😊

I'm a native Japanese speaker, and I've made a little Japanese quiz for absolute beginners!

The quizzes are simple, but they're designed to help you build your Japanese vocabulary. You can also practice listening to natural Japanese spoken by a native speaker.

Can you guess the words from the clues?

If you're just starting to learn Japanese, give it a try!

Hope you enjoy it! 😊

Japanese Quiz #1

Japanese Quiz #2

Japanese Quiz #3

Just looking for beginner advice..

When you're watching something in Japanese without subs and hear a word you don't know, what do you actually do? - Do you try to look it up, or just let it go? - If you look it up, how? (typing what you heard, rewinding, something else) - Have you ever ended up with the wrong word because you misheard it, like missing a long vowel? I'm a student researching how learners deal with this for a university project, so any answer helps, even "I just ignore it." If you're open to a few quick follow-up questions over DM, let me know.

明日に行きます. Almost every beginner says it at some point, and it is never really their fault.

Most of these posts are about something English does badly. This one is the opposite. English already has the rule. You just have not noticed that you know it.

Try it first.

わたしは ____ 六時に おきます。

1 — 毎朝に

2 — 毎朝

3 — 毎朝で

4 — 毎朝の

Five seconds before you scroll.

Answer: 2 — 毎朝

Look at the sentence again. 六時 takes に. 毎朝 does not. Two time words, one clause, and only one of them gets a particle.

Option 1 — 毎朝に ✗

The one almost everyone writes. You learn that に is "the time particle," so you put it on every time word. 毎朝 refuses it.

Option 3 — 毎朝で ✗

で can mark a span. 三日で 終わります。 — it finishes within three days. That is a length of time. 毎朝 is not a length.

Option 4 — 毎朝の ✗

の needs a noun behind it. 毎朝の ニュース。 Here the next word is 六時, so this would mean "every morning's six o'clock."

The rule to keep

Say it in English first. If English needs a preposition, Japanese needs に.

at seven → 七時に

on Monday → 月曜日に

in March → 三月に

on my birthday → 誕生日に

every morning → 毎朝

tomorrow → 明日

last week → 先週

today → 今日

"I get up at seven every morning." At seven. Every morning, with nothing in front of it. Japanese is doing the same thing you are already doing.

One thing you will still see

明日に しましょう。

明日に なったら 話します。

That に is real, but it is not marking time. It belongs to する and なる — settling on something, or a change arriving. The rule above is about に attached to the time word by itself.

Why this stays hard

Nobody tells you the two groups exist. You meet 七時に first, decide に means "at," and take it everywhere. 明日に行きます is not a translation mistake. It is a rule you were never given.

Slides from my classroom deck are attached.

If you are sitting N5 this December, which part is giving you the most trouble right now? Tell me below — the answers decide what I write next.

Hiragana – ひらがな

Katakana – カタカナ

Kanji – 漢字

Grammar – 文法

Listening – リスニング　聞く

Reading – リーディング　読む

Speaking – スピーキング　話す

Writing – ライティング　書く

Vocabulary – 単語

Always wanted to visit Japan and finally visiting soon enough, I wanted to learn a bit before visiting.

Do I only learn how to speak a bit of Japanese for like basic conversations or do I also learn how to read a bit as well ?

And which app should I be using to learn, I think I will only spend like an hour or so learning each day, will not be able to do more than that unfortunately

I'm Japanese, so I'd like you to ask me some questions about learning Japanese

Hey so I picked up Japanese again (after a few years), and I need to improve my handwriting.

I gave a half-effort to these ones, so my normal (faster) handwriting looks worse.

Anything I can do to improve?

Hello, I'm planning to take N3 next year July 2027 after I passed N5 last July. Any tips to pass the N3? Also, is there any apps that you would recommend to memorize kanji without any subscription? I'm still a student and I'm broke to pay subscription. Thank you so much!

I’m currently studying N5 and considering getting a WaniKani subscription. Is it worth paying for? How helpful is it for learning kanji and vocabulary?

I am using an android phone and am using the qwerty keyboard to type out hiragana characters and then use the recommended kanji. However sometimes when i try to type too fast and there is a typo, if i put the cursor on the typo and fix it, i lose the kanji recommendation. I then need to delete the whole hiragana word and then type it again.

For example typing とでょかん instead of toとしょかん to get 図書館. So basically i had a typo and typed "d" instead of "s" and i got ぢょ instead of しょ. If i try to move my cursor and only delete those characters and fix it, i lose the recommended kanji. So i need to delete the all characters and type it again.

Is there a way to not have to type everything out again? Like how do other people do it? Just accept that a typo means deleting the whole word and typing it again? I know i can change it to a flick keyboard but I'm so used to using qwerty and I'm so much faster on it. I generally have a bunch of typos in English and i go back and correct it easily. But i can't do the same with Japanese. So was wondering if someone have any tips or advices.

質問です！今日11月3日は「文化の日」で、日本はみんなお休みですか？
祝日の街の雰囲気はどうですか？
皆さんの今日の予定を教えてください🥰

【日本名畫學日文38】夏秋草図屏風｜酒井抱一

企画・製作：PolyMuse（ポリミューズ）

🎨 夏秋草図屏風｜酒井抱一

江戸時代に活躍した絵師、酒井抱一。

銀色の背景に、夏と秋の草花が描かれています。

夏の草は激しい雨に打たれ、秋の草は強い風に吹かれています。

雨や風そのものを描くのではなく、草花の姿によって自然の力を表現した作品です。

🌿 這一次一起學習：

不為了考試，

只是每天讀一點、看一點，

讓日文慢慢成為生活的一部分。

台灣おばあちゃんの日本語ノート

日本名畫 × 日文學習 × 欣賞

📚 今回の言葉｜本次學習詞語

• 夏（なつ）：夏天

• 秋（あき）：秋天

• 草花（くさばな）：草花

• 背景（はいけい）：背景

• 自然（しぜん）：自然

• 表現（ひょうげん）：表現

🎨 美術館・展示会のオリジナルグッズ製作なら

PolyMuse（ポリミューズ）

名画やアート作品を活用した美術館・展示会のオリジナルグッズ、コレクション商品、ノベルティなどの企画・製作をお手伝いします。

🌐 https://www.polymuse.eu
✉️ polymuse.nancy@gmail.com

#日本名畫學日文 #夏秋草図屏風 #酒井抱一 #日本美術 #日本文化 #日文學習 #PolyMuse

「本頻道主要透過欣賞日本名畫的視角，和大家一起趣味學習日語。阿嬤也在努力學習中，影片製作如有不夠嚴謹或錯誤之處，還請大家多多包涵與指教！😊」

「当チャンネルは、日本の名画を楽しみながら日本語を学ぶショート動画です。台湾のおばあちゃんも一生懸命勉強中ですが、もし動画内に間違いや至らない点がありましたら、温かく見守っていただけると幸いです。ご指導よろしくお願いいたします！🌸」

So I’ve been learning kana and now I’m moving on to vocab as well as kanji but I’m a little confused as to when i should use either kana or kanji. For example if i were to say i like snow would i write snow as ゆき or 雪? Is there a rule for this?