Learn Japanese for beginners

by Paul Noble

12h8min

No books. No long lists of vocabulary. No chance of failure.

Welcome to Learn with Paul Noble—a tried-and-tested language-learning method that has been used by over one million people to speak fluently and confidently.

With Paul Noble’s simple, relaxed approach, you will learn in a way that suits you—without having to memorise long lists of words you won’t use, scribbling notes as you listen or feeling frustrated. Instead, Paul will introduce you to the basics of Japanese and guide you through over 15 hours of everyday scenarios—from simple situations like asking for directions and eating out to talking about yourself and how to master the different tenses—that are practical, fun and applicable. Just listen, interact and learn wherever you are.

Whatever your experience with languages, whether you’re an absolute beginner or someone with basic knowledge who wants to improve their ability, this is the course to get you speaking Japanese quickly and confidently.

A native Japanese expert will help you to perfect your pronunciation as you progress through the course. You will learn a huge range of vocabulary in no time at all and be able to quickly make your new knowledge work for you in a variety of everyday scenarios. A downloadable booklet is also included to use as a reference and revision tool.

Paul Noble left school unable to speak a language—having found that the traditional learning methods left him feeling ‘confused, incapable and unable to really say anything’. Determined that there must be a better way to learn, Paul spent years devising his own unique method of learning languages which cuts out all the grammar, all the memorisation and all the stress. He began using his method to teach in his Language Institute and, thousands of students later, he prides himself on never having had a student fail.

This download contains the entire course—Parts 1, 2 and 3. To continue your language-learning journey once you’ve completed this course, download Next Steps in Japanese with Paul Noble for Intermediate Learners—Complete Course.

Genres: Language, Audiobook, Nonfiction

13 pages, Audible Audio

Published January 1, 2021

Reviews

[Benji · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unbelievably helpful and useful

[Gina · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the age of Duolingo it seemed old fashioned to listen to a book on tape for a language, but I thought it would be useful supplement. It turns out I vastly preferred it to Duolingo. The main benefit is so basic but important psychologically - when it prompts you for something there's just silence. With Duolingo, there's always multiple choice. With an audiobook, your brain has to scramble, mimicking a real conversation. I'm also constantly listening and speaking, which was the most important skill for me.

This book has really excellent pacing, when a word was recently introduced, it repeats it a lot on its own, but once a word has been practiced, it moves a little more quickly for that particular translation. 

I also appreciate that the focus is mostly tourist stuff - a lot of restaurant conversations, hotel check in, etc. 

This book was probably a little syntax heavy, with a lot of explanations about how grammar works and the literal translations of words. I think next time I want to learn a language for a trip, I'll use this series, with another flashcards or vocabulary supplement on my phone. 

Recommend to anglophone tourists to Japan

[Stuart Piper · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have listened to this course on Audible while running, as a supplement to other resources, and I can honestly say I think I managed to retain more information from this course (and achieve more output Speaking ability) than from any other single source. So thank you Paul Noble! I'm definitely moving on to the sequel in this series "Next Steps".

For anyone interesting in Japanese learning my updated list of resources which I'm using daily, en route to my first stab at the JLPT N5 test this December is:

GRAMMAR
-NativShark
-Bunpro
-Genki I + Anki deck + TokiniAndy YouTube
-Japanese from Zero + official YouTube

KANJI & VOCAB
-WaniKani
-Anki decks inc Refold / N5

IMMERSION
-Just changed from LanguageReactor to Iago - for Streaming/Mining
-Bilingual and Easy Japanese podcasts, using Refold & YouTuber recs

N5 TEST PREP
-Migii JLPT App
-All the practice test textbooks available

[Maximilian Nightingale]

Paul Noble’s Spanish course was helpful for forming sentences, and that is what this course seems to help the best with. It is not difficult to go through this while driving or walking, and you end up understanding the most common particles, tenses, and even how to make a subordinate clause.

On its own, it does not take you very far. The vocabulary is intentionally quite limited.

[Karina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very useful course in introductory japanese. This has been a great way for me to practice speaking and grammar when I’m at home. It prepared me greatly for daily interactions I have in konbinis, restaurants, talking to neighbors, etc. Already started the intermediate course and loving that one so far, too!

[Garrid Klippness · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent intro to a lot of Japanese grammar that is (excuse the pun) foreign to an English speaker. I used this course to really break down each element of the sentence and I learned a lot of great things along the way. I’ll be excited to start the next course by Paul Noble soon, while using what this one taught to start learning more in other ways.

[Emma Theobald · Rating 5 out of 5]

Im horrible at retaining info and learning languages has been such a struggle for me but this audio book broke it down in a very impactful and efficient way! I felt like I grasped more from this book than I thought possible. Save your self the trouble and start with something like this over duolingo!!!

[Alexa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nice easy listening that you can keep up with in the car, while you're in the shower, cooking, etc. Definitely need to study grammar separately to understand why/how they form the words, but overall a nice introduction to how to form simple Japanese sentences.

[Amanda Mae · Rating 5 out of 5]

I feel like I learned so much so quickly using this audiobook! I’m much more confident in my (very basic) Japanese knowledge now. I’m excited to continue to the next audiobook!

[Luke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good overall, didn't have a few words and phrases that I definitely needed as a beginner in Japan. Worthwhile read before a trip.

[Tyler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Probably best supplemented with googling of translations so you can get a better feel of verb conjugation.