I am always on the lookout for good Japanese learning tools. With all the available channels there are a lot of different types products, but to be honest, many fall very short of really teaching you the language. But every once and a while, I happen to stumble across one that really impresses me. What’s even better is that this particular video series is completely free.

Now I will admit that Let’s Learn Japanese is a little bit outdated, but the over all content is great (and I did mention free right?).

The videos do a great job, of putting the Japanese words and conversation in context so you can get an understanding even if you don’t understand the Japanese. They then break it down and explain the meaning and have you practice the various Japanese phrases and words .

The other thing I like is that the series is shot as a funny and interesting little story. While it isn’t a blockbuster, I thought the film crew did a good enough job that I wanted to keep watching. The story line follows Yan, a foreigner coming to work and live in Japan.

There was also a companion book for the video series called “Let’s Learn Japanese”, but it seems to be out of print now. I was able to find some PDF copies on Scribd.

You can find the rest of the Japanese videos below:

Japanese Basic I- I am Yan

I happened to come across what I think is a very good video for practicing Japanese pronunciation.

Japanese doesn’t have a lot of sounds, but some of the sounds it does have are difficult for English speakers. Luckily, the more you practice the better you will get. Even if you are advanced, getting back to the basics every once and a while is a good idea.

I am a huge National Geographic (ナショジオ) fan. Nature shows were some of my favorites to watch growing up as a kid. I was (and still am) fascinated by nature and can sit and watch nature programs for hours on end. If only the videos were available in Japanese then I would be able to watch interesting videos and practice Japanese. The only way it could be better is if they were free.

Today I stumbled across a blog called “Wired in Japan” that had a post pointing to the National Geographic YouTube site in Japanese. There are a ton of videos, and since it’s National Geographic, you can be sure they are using proper Japanese. Take a look and get some Japanese listening practice.

You can find the link here: National Geographic in Japanese

I recommend that you watch each video at least a couple times. This will allow you to get a better idea of the story, and then focus on learning the Japanese words and phrases.

You can find more information on watching Japanese videos below:

• Learn New Japanese Words and Practice Listening with a Movie Night
• Watching YouTube in Japanese
• Learning to Hear Japanese