I teach independent learners how to master any language, anywhere.
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Master Japanese Anywhere
Can’t move to Japan? Don’t have time or money for classes? No problem!
- How to acquire Japanese anywhere in the world.
- How to learn by doing instead of studying.
- How to optimize your memory.
- How to overcome your fears and stay motivated.
- How to choose resources that fit your unique interests and goals.
Today’s the day to stop wasting time and start making progress. Are you ready to begin your Japanese journey? Get Master Japanese now.
Begin Your Language Learning Journey
I share my language learning tips in the following four formats. Choose your own adventure!
The 7-Step Roadmap to Japanese Fluency
My free 7-day email course shows you how to to build an immersive environment almost as good as Tokyo (even if you’re in Topeka).
Master Japanese
Ditch boring textbooks and expensive classes and learn Japanese when you want, where you want, and how you want through Anywhere Immersion.™
The Language Mastery Blog
100+ free language learning articles that include tips, tools, tech, product reviews, and more to help you learn languages in a fun, effective, adult-friendly way.
The Language Mastery Show
40+ free interviews with the world's best language learners, including conversations with polyglots, linguists, teachers, missionaries & more.
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Featured Articles
Popular articles from the Language Mastery Blog
5 Steps to Start Learning Japanese TODAY
Want to learn Japanese but don’t know where to start? Here five key steps you can take right now to begin your journey to Japanese fluency.
The 3 Essential Ingredients You Need to to Learn Any Language
Mastering a foreign language is at once extremely complex and predictively simple. On the one hand, you have to learn the nuanced meanings of thousands of words, internalize hundreds of grammar patterns, and be able to understand and use these terms and structures at rapid speed. On the other hand, most of the complexity happens at a subconscious level. Our brains do almost all of the heavy lifting for us if we get enough exposure and practice. In essence, you just have to show up. But how you show up matters. Contrary to popular belief, we don’t learn languages by osmosis. Just being around foreign languages is not enough. Read on to see the 3 essential ingredients you need to ensure that this exposure will lead to fluency.
The Top 7 Lessons I’ve Learned from 50 of the World’s Best Language Learners
I first started The Language Mastery Show in 2009 as a short-term experiment. My initial goals were: ① To test drive the new medium of podcasting. ② To serve and empower independent language learners. ③ To have a good excuse to meet some of my linguistic heroes. Now eleven years later, I am happy to say that the podcast has exceeded all initial expectations. I’ve reached hundreds of thousands of people, interviewed 50 of the world’s best language learners, and befriended many in real life. Before kicking off Season 3 of The Language Mastery Show next week (launching on Friday, July 24, 2020), I wanted to go back and highlight some of my favorite lessons from the amazing guests that have shared their time and wisdom with us over the years, including polyglots, hyperpolyglots, linguists, professors, teachers, and passionate enthusiasts. I’ve learned countless lessons on how to make my own language learning more fun and effective along the way, and I hope you have gleaned some useful strategies, methods, and resources, too.
7 Essential Principles to Get Fluent in a Foreign Language
As Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “As to methods there may be a million and then some, but principles are few. The man who grasps principles can successfully select his own methods. The man who tries methods, ignoring principles, is sure to have trouble.” Here are 7 essential principles you can follow to get fluent in Japanese, Mandarin Chinese, or any other target language. You can play with lots of different methods to find what works best for you, but violate these universal principles at your own perel!
How to Create a Japanese Immersion Environment Anywhere in the World
Once upon a time, you had to two choices if you wanted to get fluent in Japanese: ① Take Japanese language classes. ② Move to Japan. I did both and had a (mostly) great time doing so. But while I think classes can be great for those who can afford the time and tuition and that living abroad can be a profoundly transformative experience, neither undertakings are a requirement for learning a language. Today, anyone with an internet connection, a little creativity, and sufficient discipline can reach a high level of fluency anywhere in the world if they design the proper environment. Read on to see exactly how to create a fun, effective Japanese language environment no matter where in the world you happen to live.
My Top 10 Tools for Learning Japanese Through Online Videos
We have been conditioned by well-intentioned mothers to believe that television will “destroy our brains.” This might well be true if one spends their time watching “reality” TV shows that don’t actually reflect reality, the sensationalist 24-hour news cycle, and tasteless drivel that neither entertains nor educates. But if you watch television in Japanese, this otherwise time-wasting and brain-wasting activity can become a constructive form of language learning that even mommy should be able to get behind! Video is also one of the best ways to create a fun, effective, foreign language immersion environment no matter where in the world you happen to live. Here now are my top ten favorite tools for using online video to learn Japanese.