Intro — 日本語

A few landmarks to situate the language. Numbers shift over time — these are orders of magnitude, not promises set in stone.

• 世界

  sekai

• 言語

  gengo

• 話す

  hanasu

• 国

  kuni

• 日本

  nihon

• Native speakers

  ~ 125 million

  Japanese is spoken essentially in Japan. Very few other countries use it as a main language — it's a geographically concentrated language, not a global one like English or Spanish.

• Learners worldwide

  Several million

  Manga, anime, video games, cuisine, travel: the language is learned by millions outside Japan, especially in East and Southeast Asia, and increasingly in North America.

• For a French speaker

  Distant language family

  Japanese is not an Indo-European language. Its grammar, writing, and sound system are very different from French. That doesn't make it "impossible" — just different. The learning curve is progressive: first sentences come fast, writing takes more patience.

Key takeaway: aim for real communication first. Travel, politeness, reading a restaurant menu, chatting for 30 seconds with a shopkeeper. The rest comes with time.

Japanese is an ancient language, spoken in the archipelago for over 1,500 years. Its language family is still debated by scholars — some link it to Korean, others treat it as largely isolated. The vocabulary, however, has borrowed massively from Chinese (the famous 漢字 / kanji), then from English in the modern era.

• 歴史

  rekishi

• 言葉

  kotoba

• 書く

  kaku

• 読む

  yomu

• Chinese wave (~ 5th–9th century)

  Japan adopts Chinese characters to transcribe its own language. That gives rise to kanji. Many learned words still trace back to that era.

• Birth of the kana (~ 9th–10th century)

  Hiragana and katakana are created from simplified kanji forms, to write the sounds that Chinese characters didn't naturally capture.

• Modernisation (19th–20th century)

  Japan opens to the world. A large quantity of technical and everyday words arrive from English and get written in katakana (テレビ, コーヒー, スマホ).

Japanese uses three writing systems in parallel, mixed within the same sentence. That's what surprises beginners the most — and it's also what makes the language so visually distinct. You start with hiragana and katakana, then learn kanji little by little. Nobody learns all the kanji at once. Nobody.

• ひらがな

  hiragana · Hiragana

  The Japanese phonetic syllabary. Used for native Japanese words, grammatical endings, and particles. It's the script a beginner learns first — and it's also what shows up most often in everyday grammar.

  あ・い・う・え・お

  a · i · u · e · o

  ~ 46 base characters

• カタカナ

  katakana · Katakana

  Same phonetic role as hiragana, but reserved for foreign words ("coffee" → コーヒー), scientific names of animals/plants, emphasis, and onomatopoeia. Visually more angular.

  ア・イ・ウ・エ・オ

  a · i · u · e · o

  ~ 46 base characters

• 漢字

  kanji · Kanji

  The Chinese-origin characters. Each kanji carries a meaning (sometimes several) and multiple readings depending on context. Don't panic: an adult native knows around 2,000 "common" kanji, and you can already travel with a few dozen well-chosen ones.

  山・川・人・水

  yama · kawa · hito · mizu

  ~ 2,000 "common-use" kanji (jōyō)

Japanese has a limited inventory of sounds, which makes it surprisingly clear on the ear. No difficult rolled "r", no throat sounds, no complicated consonant clusters. But word order and grammar are very different from English/French — that's where the effort sits.

• 文法

  bunpo

• 動詞

  doshi

• 名詞

  meishi

• Everything is syllabic

  Japanese is built around simple syllables (consonant + vowel, or a vowel alone). There are almost no clusters like "str-" or "-mpts". That's why foreign words transform: "computer" becomes コンピューター (kon-pyū-tā).

• Pitch accent, not stress accent

  Instead of stressing a syllable (like English), Japanese modulates pitch. Native speakers can feel the difference, but at your current level, speaking "flat" is perfectly acceptable and understood.

• Word order: Subject–Object–Verb

  Where French/English put the verb in the middle, Japanese puts it at the end. That's the most important mental shift early on: you wait for the verb.

  私は寿司を食べます。

  watashi wa sushi o tabemasu.

  I (subject) — sushi (object) — eat (polite) → I eat sushi.

• Particles: a minimalist user manual

  Tiny words like は (wa), を (o), に (ni) are the grammar markers: they tag who does what. At your stage, treat them as a kit: は marks the subject/topic, を marks the object, に marks the destination or time. You'll refine with a teacher — this isn't a trap to solve alone.

Key takeaway: Japanese pronunciation is fairly forgiving for a French speaker. Word order and particles are what need practice.

Here's a minimal politeness kit — all in polite form, because in Japan you always start polite with strangers, shopkeepers, or coworkers. You can drop to more casual registers later, with friends. Tap the audio icon for the pronunciation.

Japanese isn't just words — it's also a social user manual. Here are the most useful codes to know BEFORE your first trip. Not to overwhelm you, just to avoid well-meaning misunderstandings.

• Shoes come off

  At home, in some traditional restaurants, in school changing rooms or temples, you remove your shoes and sometimes wear provided slippers. Watch for the raised step at the entrance — that's the signal.

• No tipping

  In nearly every restaurant and taxi, tipping isn't expected and can even make the staff uncomfortable. Service is included. If you want to thank them, say "ごちそうさまでした" (gochisōsama deshita) on your way out.

• Trains and subways are silent

  People don't talk loudly, phones go on silent, and you don't take calls. Japanese passengers treat public transport as a shared space that is respected by default.

• Two-hand exchange

  Credit card, business card, gift, change: you give and receive with two hands, or with a light support from the second. Small gesture, big respect signal.

• "No" is rarely direct

  "ちょっと…" (chotto…), "難しいですね" (muzukashii desu ne, "that's difficult"), a long silence, or a small embarrassed laugh — that's how polite refusals often sound. Learn to read these signals: insisting after a "chotto…" is rude.

• A bow is worth a word

  A slight bow accompanies most "thank you" and "excuse me" moments. No need for the ceremonial 90° version: 15° is plenty for a respectful beginner.

Six thematic decks: language in the world, writing systems, core politeness, introductions, leaving, and grammar concepts.

• Language in the world

  Vocabulary to talk about Japanese and languages in general.

• Writing systems

  Vocabulary to talk about Japanese writing.

• Core politeness

  The survival kit for first polite exchanges.

• Introductions

  Phrases to open a meeting.

• Leaving

  Phrases to close an exchange politely.

• Grammar concepts

  The words to talk about the structure of the language.