Which lesson for an beginner?

[furkanhans14734]

Hello everyone, I want to learn japanese and someone told me about this page. I found it really nice and decided to take a look. But im a little bit confused. Which lesson should i start with?
Absolute beginner, or newbie? Any suggestions ?

[mmmason8967]

It depends on you, really. You could try one of the Newbie series and if it turns out you want something a little gentler to start with, try an Absolute Beginner series instead.

New members often feel a bit confused. I have a basic explanation of how the site works that I can copy-and-paste whenever someone asks, so I'll post it as a follow up to this message and hope that it helps.

マイケル

[mmmason8967]

JapanesePod101 Where to Start
The lessons on JapanesePod101 do not follow an obvious sequence such as Lesson #1, Lesson #2, and so on. New students often find it difficult to work out where they should start. Hopefully this short summary will remove some of the confusion.

Overview
JapanesePod101 is based around audio lessons that generally last around ten to fifteen minutes. Lessons are grouped into seasons (explained below) and are categorised by Level (also explained below).

Levels
Lessons are categorised using four levels: Absolute Beginner, Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced.

The Absolute Beginner level contains two sub-levels, Absolute Beginner and Newbie. The main difference is that the Absolute Beginner sub-level is aimed at those who want to learn to say things in Japanese but don't feel ready for detailed grammar explanations.

Seasons
There are several seasons (or series) at each level. You are not expected to work through each season in order! When you have completed between two and four seasons at one level, you will probably feel ready to move up to the next level.

For most seasons there is a summary of the curriculum for that season. You can find the curriculum from the season's home page by clicking on the blue i icon. The blue i icon is also available alongside the seasons listed for each level on that level's home page.

Curriculum
Many members like to follow a structured curriculum. For these members there is a sequence of series called Nihongo Doujou.

Newbie S2 --> Newbie S3 --> Beginner S4 --> Beginner S5 --> Beginner S6 --> Lower Intermediate S6

Alternatively, there is another earlier sequence:-

Beginner S1 --> Beginner S2 --> Beginner S3 --> Lower Intermediate S1 --> S2 --> S3 --> S4 --> S5

Writing
You can find out about Japanese writing on the Japanese Writing System page.


The first stage of learning to read and write Japanese is to learn the kana (hiragana and katakana). A very good resource is the Kantan Kana video course.

[community.japanese]

furkanhans14734-san, マイケルsan,
kon'nichiwa

Wow, such a perfect and detailed instruction form JapanesePod101 expert Michael-san!! Thank you very much!
furkanhans14734-san, I think you've got the best answer already, so hope you can find the best starting point for you
Each series has curriculum where you can see overviews of lessons (key vocab, grammar point, etc.)
Maybe it will also help you choosing the lessons you want to study

If you have more questions, please feel free to ask us!
(Maybe our expert listener Michael-san will help you )

Natsuko(奈津子),
Team JapanesePod101.com

[furkanhans14734]

Thank you Michael-san for the very detailed answer
I think ill start with Absolute Beginner 1 & 2.

But I have one more question about the curriculm. When you follow it, don´t you miss a lot of vocabulary and some grammar points?

[mmmason8967]

But I have one more question about the curriculm. When you follow it, don´t you miss a lot of vocabulary and some grammar points?

That's a good question. I don't think you'll miss any grammar points: each sequence of lessons will cover the same grammar points (probably in different ways), which is why you don't need to listen to every single lesson at a given level.　JapanesePod101 is not so much a course as a set of courses.

The vocabulary will be different depending which lessons you decide to follow. The essential core words will always be there (like the grammar points) but there are bound to be variations. That's not a big deal, though: you won't just rely on the lessons you've chosen as the only source of vocabulary. JapanesePod101 has the Core Words lists, which you'll almost certainly start using soon, and if you watch anime, read manga or surf Japanese websites, you're bound to collect even more words.

Ultimately, if you're listening to a series and you find that you can understand the opening dialogue before you've listened to the explanations in the lesson, you're definitely ready to move up a level. And if you can't understand the opening dialogue even after you've listened to the lesson repeatedly, you probably need to move down a level and do some revision.

マイケル

[community.japanese]

furkanhans14734-san, マイケルsan,

But I have one more question about the curriculm. When you follow it, don´t you miss a lot of vocabulary and some grammar points?

That's a good question. I don't think you'll miss any grammar points: each sequence of lessons will cover the same grammar points (probably in different ways), which is why you don't need to listen to every single lesson at a given level.　JapanesePod101 is not so much a course as a set of courses.

Thank you; that's correct!
I don't know the proper English name, but we call this method "spiral" curriculum. Regardless of starting point,
you'll learn all the grammar points because every level covers the similar grammar points (of course, more advanced
in upper level even if the grammar point is same). This method is often used in language courses, but not in textbooks.
For example, if you check the curriculum of Absolute beginner, Beginner and Intermediate at rundomly,
you'll probably find "i-adjective" in many lessons in different levels/seasons. On the contrary, if you search lessons
that cover i-adjective, for example, search result will give you lessons with different levels.

As to vocabulary, even if certain words in a lesson were not the first time we introduce, we might
list them in vocab section if those are important to understand the lesson. So, you don't have to worry

Natsuko(奈津子),
Team JapanesePod101.com

[furkanhans14734]

Arigatō gozaimasu Michael-san, Natsuko-senpai.
Then I don't have to worry about the order anymore and will move on to the next level, when I feel ready for it.

[team.relationships]

Hello furkanhans14734-san,

どういたしまして。Dōitashimashite.

Thank you!
Cheers,
Ofelia
Team JapanesePod101.com