Is Japanese hard to learn for English speakers?

How hard is Japanese compared with other languages?

The yardstick most people quote is the Foreign Service Institute (FSI), which trains US diplomats full-time and publishes how long its students usually need to reach a professional level of speaking and listening. Japanese sits in the slowest group.

FSI adds that the real time depends on natural ability, earlier language learning and time in class, and its students aim at professional fluency. Treat the table as a ranking, not a personal deadline (see seven language learning myths). What it means in hours a day is worked out in how long it takes to learn Japanese, and the closest comparison, Korean, has its own guide.

What makes Japanese hard for English speakers?

Reading needs three scripts

A Japanese sentence mixes hiragana, katakana and kanji. In the free A1 chapters of the Contos Japanese library (October 2026), about 67% of the characters are hiragana, 8% katakana and 25% kanji, and the 24 chapters use 368 different kanji between them. Plenty of those belong to character names, but they still have to be read. Our guide to the Japanese writing system explains how the three fit together.

One kanji, several readings

A kanji can change its pronunciation from word to word. 人 (person) appears in all of these, and each one turns up in the beginner stories:

Particles and the verb at the end

Japanese marks each noun's job with a small particle after it and keeps the verb for last. Here は marks the topic, に marks who is being asked, and the verb waits until the end:

Particles are short but constant. Counted across the free A1 and A2 chapters, just five of them, は, の, が, を and に, make up about 27% of all the words. The first 100 Japanese words shows how we counted.

Politeness lives in the verb

Japanese verbs change with who you are talking to. Beginner text mostly uses the polite -masu form, and from A2 the plain form takes over the narration. The flagship series, The Secrets of Sakura House, tells the same scene both ways:

We checked how each free chapter is narrated. At A1, 22 of 24 chapters are told mainly in the polite form; at A2, 8 of 24; at B1 and B2, none. So you learn the polite form first, but you need both to read beyond the beginner stage.

What is easier than people expect?

• Loanwords give you free vocabulary. The free A1–A2 chapters use 110 different katakana loanwords. ドア (door) appears in 22 of the 48 chapters; コンビニ (convenience store), メッセージ (message), カメラ (camera) and テーブル (table) are close behind.
• One verb form serves every person. 言います means I say, you say, she says or they say. The verb 言う (to say) appears 112 times in the free A1–A2 chapters, but in a handful of forms that keep repeating.
• No articles, no gender, no plural endings to match. 本 can be a book or books; the context tells you which.
• Kana spelling is regular. Once you know hiragana and katakana, you can sound out any word written in them.
• Beginner grammar is narrow. A1 stories stay close to the present tense and the polite form, which is why they are readable early on.

How can you make Japanese easier on yourself?

1. Learn hiragana, then katakana, before anything else. Every Japanese text uses them, and Contos stories have no romaji.
2. Read text with spaces first. Ordinary Japanese runs words together. Contos stories put a space between words so you can see each one and tap it for its meaning.
3. Learn kanji inside words you have read. A kanji met in a story comes with a meaning and a sound; see how many Japanese words and kanji you need.
4. Learn the polite form first and the plain form at A2. That is the order the stories use; Japanese CEFR levels shows how the text changes level by level.
5. Read a little every day. A short chapter a day keeps kanji coming round again; try the 15-minute reading routine.