Follow These 6 YouTubers to Learn Japanese

If you’re looking for upper intermediate resources or a senpai to share tips and hacks, there are 6 awesome channels you should follow to learn Japanese on YouTube.

When we dive into Japanese, we are constantly looking for new content. When I started learning Japanese, it seemed like the main search results always landed on two different sites: Tai Kim and Tofugu.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with either of these resources. However, if you are looking to dive a little deeper into Japanese and get some really good lessons, or simply follow along with someone who is learning Japanese, then I have a few of my favorite accounts that I’ve rounded up for you.

Japanese Ammo With Misa

Japanese Ammo with Misa has 143 videos as of this writing.  She teaches a variety of topics, including feeling sick/having a headache, Japanese gaming and internet slang, and grammar lessons on how to conjugate verbs.

Lessons are subtitled so that you can listen and read along helping you to not leave any critical learning area out. For those struggling with Kanji, she offers both the Kanji and the Hiragana/Katakana versions of subtitles.

Links:

• Youtube:  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBSyd8tXJoEJKIXfrwkPdbA
• Twitter:  https://twitter.com/japaneseammo
• Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/japaneseammo_misa/

Matt vs Japan

Matt began studying Japanese with the All Japanese All The Time (AJATT) method. What makes Matt an amazing follow is that he has learned Japanese mostly from outside of Japan, even though most people think you have to visit or live in a country in order to learn the language.  

He is developing (along with another Japanese enthusiast named “Yoga”) an approach called “Mass Input Approach” (MIA) that will expose learners to the language as much as possible. There are a lot of different opinions in the language community about input vs. output, but Matt has some really good information about the importance of input.

Links:  

• Youtube:  https://www.youtube.com/user/MATTvsJapan
• Twitter:  https://twitter.com/mattvsjapan
• Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/MassImmersionApproach

Evan’s Easy Japanese

If you are looking for something more specific such as passing a JLPT test, then Evan’s Easy Japanese is for you.  Evan breaks down practice tests and gives grammar points and vocabulary help along the way. He is very thorough and leaves nothing out.  He doesn’t just have one video on the JLPT tests; his JLPT N5 series has 85 parts. It’s a great channel to follow if you want every possible solution broken down and want to leave no stone unturned.  

• Links:
• Youtube:  https://www.youtube.com/user/evangrogers
• Twitter:  https://twitter.com/EvansEZJapanese
• Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/EvansEasyJapanese/

Lindie Botes

I wanted to put Lindie on this list simply because if not for her, I would never have discovered Lingodeer.  Lindie speaks Japanese, Chinese, Korean and a few other languages as well. She is very active on social media and posts to her Youtube channel regularly.

Her Youtube channel has tons of info including some “Study With Me” style videos so you can follow in her footsteps as to how she’s mastered so many languages.

Links:  

• Website:  https://lindiebotes.com/
• Youtube:  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjVwBKqRh8ckPWhfD5UDKcg
• Twitter:  https://twitter.com/lindiebee
• Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/lindiebotesvideos
• Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/lindiebotes/

Japanese word of the day

If you are like me, sometimes we fall into a lull on social media and forget to practice.  Luckily there are accounts that can help prevent that. On Instagram, one of my favorites is Japanese Words Daily.

Each day there is a new Japanese word at your fingertips to give you some practice. There is also a picture with it (since it’s Instagram, after all), that you can perhaps attach meaning to in order to help you remember.  It’s a great way to “plug and play” words into different sentence structures that you already know.

Link: Instagram-  https://www.instagram.com/japanesewordsdaily/

BONUS CONTENT

Japanese In A Year

This Youtube channel isn’t active anymore, but it is filled with vlogs and study techniques from Shawn. He embarked on a journey starting January 1, 2017 to learn Japanese by December 31, 2017. There isn’t much else to say about this; it’s a channel you simply need to watch yourself.

Link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwV0yvyOYea4EieewSSQOMg

OhTalkWho

Dave has been studying Japanese for about a year. His channel has a lot of good information if you are into creating Subtitles to Spaced Repetition System (Sub2SRS) flashcards or other things like that.

He found a file of every downloaded subtitle from Japanese Netflix movies and TV, ran them through a text analyzer, and then had them broken down into the frequency in which they were used. After learning about 5,000 words with this method, you can understand over 90% of spoken Japanese on Netflix. He gives you the links to download these lists so you can put them into use for yourself.

Link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYalapqSS8UlC1wOl5uKPLw

In closing, Japanese is a very hard language that I’m still struggling with. What I’ve found is, if you follow several people with the same struggle, it’s easier to stick to. There is absolutely no shame in watching others’ videos and looking through their content to get tips. People who have learned the language can point you in the right direction and give you proper tips on how to study more efficiently.

Follow me on Twitter, Instagram or Youtube by the handle “SeaboltSpeaks” to join me on my language learning journey. Shoot me your favorite social media account or vlogger that helps you learn!