How do I start learning Japanese online as a complete beginner?

Start with hiragana and katakana and nothing else, for about three weeks, twenty minutes a day of writing them by hand. Do not begin kanji or grammar until both alphabets are readable. Every stage after this is faster because you did it first, and learners who skip it end up reading Japanese through romaji for years.

Should I learn hiragana or kanji first?

Hiragana, then katakana, then kanji. Hiragana is the script every textbook and every JLPT paper is written in, so until you can read it you are learning from romanised text that teaches pronunciation habits you later have to undo. Kanji makes far more sense once you have sentences to put it in.

How many hours a week do I need to study Japanese?

About four to five hours a week is enough to move a level in a few months: one live class, twenty to thirty minutes on most other days, and fifteen minutes of listening whenever your hands are busy. Frequency matters more than total time, so six hours every Saturday and nothing else does not work as well.

How long does it take to learn Japanese online?

Reaching JLPT N5 from zero takes most part-time learners a few months of weekly classes. N4 takes roughly as long again. Anyone promising conversational Japanese in weeks is describing a phrasebook, not the language.

What is the most common mistake people make learning Japanese online?

Never scheduling the speaking. Grammar is easy to understand and hard to produce, and the gap between them closes only through use. Learners working alone skip speaking practice because it is uncomfortable, then conclude after months that they are bad at languages.

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By the SajiloBhasa instructors · 21 September 2026 · 7 min read

How to learn Japanese online: the order that actually works

Almost nobody fails at learning Japanese online because the material was bad. They fail because they did the right things in an order that guaranteed frustration: kanji before kana, grammar before sound, reading before speaking. Sequence is most of the game. Here is the order that holds up.

Weeks one to three: the two alphabets, and nothing else

Hiragana and katakana, 46 basic characters each. Do not start kanji. Do not start grammar. Twenty minutes a day of writing them by hand and reading them aloud will have both within about three weeks, and every single thing after this point is easier because you did it first. Learners who skip ahead spend the next year reading Japanese through romaji, which quietly caps how well they will ever hear the language.

This stage is free and it is solo work. Use an app, use a chart, use anything. Just finish it.

From week one, in parallel: listen before you understand

Put Japanese in your ears daily from the beginning, long before it makes sense. Fifteen minutes of anything spoken at natural speed. You are not studying, you are letting your ear learn what the language is shaped like, and it is the one part of learning that works passively.

Month two onward: sentences, out loud, with somebody listening

This is where online learning splits into the people who get there and the people who do not. Grammar is easy to understand and hard to produce, and the gap between the two closes only through use. Reading an explanation of the te-form teaches you the te-form. Being asked a question you have to answer with the te-form, at speed, while five people wait, teaches you to use it.

If you take nothing else from this article: schedule the speaking. It will not happen on its own, because it is uncomfortable, and uncomfortable things do not get done by learners working alone at eleven at night.

Month three onward: kanji, in context, not in lists

Now kanji makes sense, because you have sentences to put them in. Learn them as they appear in words you already use rather than as a list of two thousand characters, which is how most people quit. N5 asks for around a hundred. That is a reachable number and it feels very different from the mountain people imagine.

A weekly routine that survives a real job

One live class, at a fixed hour you defend like an appointment. Twenty to thirty minutes on most other days, split between review and the current week homework. Fifteen minutes of listening whenever your hands are busy. That is roughly four to five hours a week, and it is enough to move a level in a few months. Six hours on a Saturday and nothing else is not, whatever it feels like.

The fixed weekly class is what makes the rest hold. It creates a deadline every seven days, and a deadline is the only thing that reliably converts intention into study.

Aim at a sitting, not at a feeling

Decide now which JLPT sitting you are working towards, July or December, and register for it early. Studying to get better is open-ended and quietly optional. Studying because you are booked to sit N5 in December is neither, and the difference in how much work gets done is enormous.

If you do not know which level to aim at, that is the one thing you should not guess. Book a free trial class, get placed properly, and start the clock. The sitting you can still reach is the one you begin preparing for this month.

Questions people ask

How do I start learning Japanese online as a complete beginner?: Start with hiragana and katakana and nothing else, for about three weeks, twenty minutes a day of writing them by hand. Do not begin kanji or grammar until both alphabets are readable. Every stage after this is faster because you did it first, and learners who skip it end up reading Japanese through romaji for years.
Should I learn hiragana or kanji first?: Hiragana, then katakana, then kanji. Hiragana is the script every textbook and every JLPT paper is written in, so until you can read it you are learning from romanised text that teaches pronunciation habits you later have to undo. Kanji makes far more sense once you have sentences to put it in.
How many hours a week do I need to study Japanese?: About four to five hours a week is enough to move a level in a few months: one live class, twenty to thirty minutes on most other days, and fifteen minutes of listening whenever your hands are busy. Frequency matters more than total time, so six hours every Saturday and nothing else does not work as well.
How long does it take to learn Japanese online?: Reaching JLPT N5 from zero takes most part-time learners a few months of weekly classes. N4 takes roughly as long again. Anyone promising conversational Japanese in weeks is describing a phrasebook, not the language.
What is the most common mistake people make learning Japanese online?: Never scheduling the speaking. Grammar is easy to understand and hard to produce, and the gap between them closes only through use. Learners working alone skip speaking practice because it is uncomfortable, then conclude after months that they are bad at languages.