Your First Steps in Japanese
Like Duolingo, but for Your First Steps in Japanese. Tomo turns the whole topic into a game you play five minutes a day, until it actually sticks.
For the part of you with thirty open tabs that never became anything.
Free forever · No credit card · iPhone & Android
Key ideas in Your First Steps in Japanese
- Sumimasen is the standard way to initiate an interaction with a stranger
- Desu acts as a polite 'to be' verb at the end of Japanese sentences
- Sumimasen is used to acknowledge an inconvenience caused to others
- Ending a sentence with 'Desu' signals a polite relationship with the listener
- Sumimasen functions as a polite 'thank you' when someone has gone out of their way for you
- Dropping 'Desu' makes a sentence casual and potentially rude to strangers
- Recognizing the appropriate context for using 'Sumimasen'
- Applying 'Desu' to adjust the politeness level of a statement
- Onegaishimasu follows a noun to mean 'Please give me [noun]'
- Bowing is a physical signal of respect that accompanies spoken Japanese
- Onegaishimasu is more formal and polite than the casual 'kudasai'
- A slight nod or bow 'punctuates' the end of an apology or greeting
- Using 'Onegaishimasu' to make a polite request
- The suffix '-san' must be added to other people's names to show basic respect
- Using a person's name without a suffix (yobisute) is considered overly familiar or rude
- Understanding the role of bowing in Japanese communication
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 Your First Steps in Japanese 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.
You are at a busy train station and need to ask a staff member for help. Which word should you use to start the interaction?
Get it right to open this lesson and 11 more in the app.
Where Your First Steps in Japanese takes you
Skip the dry grammar drills and learn the 'magic words' and logic needed to navigate your first day in Japan with confidence.
- 1
The Survival Kit
- The Magic Words of Politeness
- The 'A is B' Sentence Logic
- 2
Cracking the Code
- Navigating the Three Scripts
- The Rhythm and Sounds of Japan
2 sections · 4 units · 12 levels. Built to play, not to enroll.
You pick the voice
Your First Steps in Japanese is taught in the 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 Your First Steps in Japanese today.
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