Speak Japanese from Scratch
Start speaking real Japanese from your very first lesson. Learn the pure rhythm of the language, essential everyday phrases, and practical sentence frames to order food, ask questions, and navigate real conversations.
Like Duolingo, but for Speak Japanese from Scratch. Tomo turns the whole topic into a game you play five minutes a day, until it actually sticks.
A short one: 10 levels across 2 sections, about 20 minutes end to end, roughly 4 days at five minutes a day. It moves through Finding Your Voice and Real-World Exchanges. It starts from scratch.
Free forever · No credit card · iPhone & Android
Key ideas in Speak Japanese from Scratch
- Japanese vowels (a, i, u, e, o) are pure, steady sounds that do not change shape mid-syllable
- English speakers often unintentionally glide vowels like 'o' into 'oh-oo', which makes Japanese sound accented
- Holding the mouth still produces a crisp, authentic Japanese vowel
- Japanese spoken rhythm behaves like a steady metronome, giving every syllable identical beat length
- English relies on stress timing where stressed syllables are longer and unstressed ones get squished
- Even spacing across every syllable is what gives spoken Japanese its characteristic flat, flowing cadence
- 'Konnichiwa' serves as the default daytime greeting for greeting acquaintances or entering public spaces
- 'Arigatou gozaimasu' adds polite phrasing to show gratitude in service and daily transactions
- 'Ohayou gozaimasu' is the standard polite greeting used before midday
- Spoken Japanese routinely omits 'I' (watashi) and 'you' (anata) whenever the context makes the speaker and listener obvious
- Constantly repeating 'anata' (you) sounds stiff, unnatural, and sometimes overly confrontational to native speakers
- The presence of direct eye contact or a specific shared focus provides all the context needed for the subject
- In Japanese, the topic comes first, followed by the particle 'wa'
- The noun or description ('B') comes next, and 'desu' finishes the sentence at the very end
- English places the verb 'am/is/are' before the noun, but Japanese places 'desu' at the end
- The particle 'wa' marks the topic, signaling 'as for this topic...' to the listener
You've tried the other tabs
Thirty open tabs. Four facts you actually kept.
You watched. You nodded. By Sunday it was gone.
One answer, then back to scrolling.
Eight weeks. You meant to finish. You didn't.
Tomo gives Speak Japanese from Scratch the Duolingo treatment: levels, streaks, and quick quizzes that test what you just learned. That game loop is what the tabs above never had, so it's the one you actually finish.
Here's what playing it feels like
A real question from this course. Take your best guess.
When English speakers say a Japanese 'o' sound, what mistake do they often make?
Get it right to open this lesson and 9 more in the app.
Where Speak Japanese from Scratch takes you
- 1
Finding Your Voice
- Clean Pronunciation and First Greetings
- Building Core Sentences with 'Desu' and 'Ka'
- 2
Real-World Exchanges
- Ordering Food and Buying Goods
- Getting Around and Handling Confusion
2 sections · 4 units · 10 levels. Built to play, not to enroll.
Tomo is in ChatGPT
Tomo is also a ChatGPT plugin: the same playable courses, built and played inside your chat.
Add Tomo to ChatGPT- What to ask
- “Make me a Tomo course on black holes.” “Turn this chat into a Tomo course.”
- What you get
- Quick questions with instant feedback, hearts and stars, ready to play in about a minute.
- Where it goes
- No sign-up to start. Connect your Tomo account and your streak carries on in the app.
You pick the voice
Speak Japanese from Scratch is taught in the Professor style: clear, structured, thorough. Want a different feel? In the app you can spin up the same topic in any of Tomo's teaching styles. Same facts, totally different vibe.
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Start Speak Japanese from Scratch today.
Download Tomo, search Speak Japanese from Scratch, and play your first lesson in under a minute.