Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: Google Podcasts |
Everything You Need to Know to Speak Japanese Fluently
My speaking fluent Japanese…sort of…
One of the most common questions I get at Learn Japanese Pod is “How do I learn to speak Japanese fluently?”. The usual problem I hear is that although students study lots of vocabulary and grammar, they can’t seem to put it together to hold even a simple conversation. Fluency seems out of the question. Well, I hear you because I used to be in the same situation. I was really frustrated. However, after a lot of trial and error… and coffee, I eventually began to discover some effective study techniques, strategies and the mindset that actually worked.
Now, fluency didn’t happen overnight but my ability to hold natural flowing conversations with my Japanese friends got noticeably better and my progress definitely sped up. So if you are feeling confused, frustrated and your motivation is crumbling, it’s time to get your Japanese back on track. So this is why I decided to make this podcast and guide to show you absolutely everything you need to know to speak Japanese fluently.
You can listen to the podcast here where Ami sensei and I discuss this topic in detail. Then keep reading below for more in-depth information with links to useful resources.
Podcast Dialog – How to Speak Japanese Fluently
Japanese |
Pronunciation |
English |
A: 先生、質問しても良いですか? |
Sensei, shitsumon shite mo ii desu ka. |
Teacher, may I ask a question? |
B: はい、どうぞ。 |
Hai dōzo. |
Sure, go ahead. |
A: どうすれば日本語を流暢に話せるようになりますか? |
Dō sureba nihongo o ryuuchō ni hanaseru you ni narimasu ka? |
How can I become fluent at speaking Japanese? |
B: そうですね。やっぱり教材はもちろんですが、日本のテレビを観たり、日本の音楽をたくさん聴いてみてください。 |
Sō desu ne. Yappari kyōzai wa mochiron desu ga, nihon no terebi o mitari, nihongo no ongaku o takusan kiite kudasai. |
Let me see. Well of course you need study materials but you should watch Japanese TV, listen to a lot of music, stuff like that. |
A: なるほど。 |
Naruhodo. |
I see. |
B: 私の友達は、日本に住んだことはないですが、そうやって日本語を結構覚えましたよ。 |
Watashi no tomodachi wa nihon ni sunda koto ga nai desu ga sō yatte nihongo o kekkō oboemashita yo. |
I have a friend who never lived in Japan. However, he learned a lot of Japanese that way. |
A: 他に何かアドバイスはありますか? |
Hoka ni adobaisu ga arimasu ka? |
Do you have any other advice? |
B: 日本語が話せる友達を作って、積極的に日本語で会話をしましょう。 |
Nihongo ga hanaseru tomodachi o tsukutte, sekkyokuteki ni nihongo de kaiwa o shimashou. |
Make Japanese speaking friends and proactively try to have conversations in Japanese. |
A: 分かりました。頑張ります! |
Wakarimashita. Ganbarimasu. |
I understand. I will do my best. |
The Secret to Speaking Japanese Fluently
Here’s the brutal truth.
There is no secret to speaking fluent Japanese. And if anyone tells you there is a magical course that teaches you how to speak perfect Japanese in 3 days, buy a fire extinguisher because someone’s pants are on fire. It takes time, commitment and hard work…and coffee…I mentioned coffee right?
Anyway, I can’t give you a magic pill BUT…
And this is a big but…
I can tell you the dumb things I did so you don’t have to. And that’s going to save you a LOT of time and frustration. Plus there are more efficient and effective ways to study that will further save time.
But what do we actually mean by “fluency”?
What does “fluent Japanese” mean?
Fluent doesn’t necessarily mean native speaker level. To me, fluency simply means you can express what you want to say, clearly, easily and quickly without getting stuck or stumbling over your words. If you can order sushi or do a simple self introduction in Japanese, you have a basic level of fluency. No, you’re not native level but you could survive in Japan with a limited number of phrases. So don’t feel overwhelmed. Remember fluency isn’t how much you know, it’s how well you use it.
So, let’s move to the first step you need to take on your journey to Japanese fluency.
1. Set Specific Goals
Perhaps the biggest mistake students of Japanese make is not being clear about what they want to achieve. You need to set clear, specific goals, broken down into small achievable steps with deadlines. And here are my personal reasons:
- Set it and forget it – This avoids stress and decision fatigue worrying over what you should study next. It keeps it simple.
- Focus equals momentum – A focused goal gets you to where you want to go more quickly.
- Goals avoid waste – If you get super specific about what to achieve you avoid wasteful and irrelevant study
- Deadlines make it real – Set a date to increase the chances of success. A deadline further focuses you and makes your goals more concrete. Breaking things into small steps with many deadlines can help to avoid feeling overwhelmed.
What’s a good Japanese Study Goal?
So what’s a good goal? If you say “I want to speak kick ass, ninja level Japanese” that’s all well and good but it’s too vague and lacks a clear goal. Something better would be “I want to be able to say 100 travel related phrases fluently for my trip to Japan in three months”.
Now you know the following:
- Exactly what you will study
- Exactly how much you need to study
- When your deadline is
Breaking down your goal into small achievable steps will increase your chances of success. So learning 100 phrases in 3 months is a pace of just over 1 phrase a day, totally achievable.
Try to set a goal that inspires and motivates you. Also, try to pick a goal that allows you to be able to do something. You want to build skills rather than simply piling up words. Here are some examples:
I want to learn all the phrases to order food at a Japanese restaurant within 2 weeks.
I want to be able to ask and understand directions in Japanese in one month.
To really demonstrate how a short and laser focused goal can help you make progress more quickly, try out my completely free 5 Day Japanese Challenge. It emails you a new lesson every day and if you follow the course properly you will be able to give a natural self introduction in flawless Japanese in five days.
If you are still not sure what goal to set, choose something, anything, simply to get started. For example, you could attempt to pass the N5 Japanese Language Proficiency Test in 6 months. And even if you fail the test, you will have still improved your Japanese.
2. Get the Right Japanese Study Materials

Now you have a clear goal, you will need good materials and resources to study with. This depends on your goal and level of Japanese. For beginners, I recommend buying a good standard Japanese textbook. Now, this won’t guarantee fluency, however, a good textbook will teach you the basic grammar and vocabulary you need to build your base before you can attempt conversations. Here are some of my top recommendations:
Recommendations for basic Japanese textbooks
GENKI I
– This is good standard textbook used in university Japanese courses. This is more grammar heavy so it will give you a good language base to build on. It includes an audio CD which you can use to listen and practice with. Japanese for Busy People is another widely known text good for teaching you the basics.
Nihongo Fun and Easy – A smaller but awesome little Japanese conversational textbook that focuses more on daily situational dialogs and includes a CD to practice with. This is not as comprehensive as Genki but might get you speaking basic Japanese more quickly.
NIHONGO Breakthrough
– Another really good Japanese conversational textbook that focuses on real life situations and natural language to improve you basic level of fluency.
Again, these textbooks won’t make you fluent over night. However, they will give you the essential base Japanese grammar and vocabulary you need to work towards fluency.
And textbooks on their own are not enough. We need to look at some effective techniques to get you speaking more fluently in less time.
3. Drill, Drill and Drill Again

If there was only one single technique I could teach you that would massively help your fluency, that would be drilling. It’s an incredibly powerful technique that will build you vocabulary, speed, pronunciation and fluency.
Drilling is simply repeating phrases out loud over and over again until you can say them easily and without thinking.
I first started studying Japanese on my own. I bought a random Japanese conversation textbook, read the dialogs, listened to the audio and repeated every phrase and conversation until I could say them automatically. The book wasn’t that great and some of the conversations were kind of boring and not even that useful. Here is a reconstruction of the silly things I drilled:
Japanese |
Pronunciation |
English |
|