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Japanese Language Course

Learn to read, write, and speak Japanese, from hiragana to everyday conversation.

No reviews yet80hFlexibleAll Levels
$35 USD/hr
80h of instructionFlexible formatAll Levels

What you’ll learn

  • Learn hiragana, katakana, and basic kanji
  • Build core vocabulary and grammar patterns
  • Practice speaking and listening through guided conversation
  • Progress at a pace suited to your level

    • About this course

    This all levels languages course offers 80 hours of instruction. By the end, you'll be able to learn hiragana, katakana, and basic kanji; build core vocabulary and grammar patterns; practice speaking and listening through guided conversation; progress at a pace suited to your level. Every course on TutorA is reviewed by our team before it's published, and every request is matched by a person — not an open marketplace where anyone can pitch you.

    Structured to work for both newcomers and learners with prior experience in languages.

    What this course covers

    • hiragana, katakana, and kanji each handle different roles
    • subject-object-verb sentence order
    • politeness levels: casual, -masu/-desu, keigo
    • kanji readings shift depending on context

    Japanese uses three writing systems within the same sentence, and understanding how they divide labor is one of the first real hurdles. Hiragana handles native grammatical elements — particles, verb endings — and is usually the first system a tutor introduces. Katakana is reserved mostly for foreign loanwords and emphasis, and tends to come next since it shares hiragana's phonetic logic.

    Kanji, borrowed from Chinese characters, carries most of the actual vocabulary meaning and takes far longer to build up — a single kanji can have multiple readings depending on context, which is part of why kanji study is usually paced gradually alongside speaking rather than front-loaded.

    Grammar poses a different kind of challenge: Japanese sentence order is subject-object-verb rather than English's subject-verb-object, and the language uses distinct levels of politeness — casual speech, polite -masu/-desu forms, and formal keigo — that change verb conjugation and vocabulary depending on who you're speaking to.

    Choosing the wrong register isn't just informal, it can read as genuinely inappropriate, which is exactly the kind of social nuance an app can't teach and a live tutor can. Sessions typically start with hiragana, katakana, and polite-form basics for everyday situations, then build toward more natural conversation and kanji literacy as you progress.

    If you're studying toward a specific level of the JLPT, or need Japanese for work or travel, mention that when requesting a tutor so material matches your actual timeline. Politeness aside, verb conjugation in Japanese doesn't change based on the subject the way it does in many European languages, which is one area where the grammar is actually simpler than a new learner might expect.

    Why a TutorA tutor

    Japanese has a large self-paced following — Duolingo, dedicated apps, and structured online courses covering hiragana, katakana, and kanji. They're fine for memorization drills, but conversation practice and pronunciation feedback are hard to get from an app alone. A TutorA Japanese tutor works with you live, 1:1, matched to your level — whether that's starting with the writing systems or working on conversational fluency. Every tutor is reviewed before being matched, with pricing shown before you book.

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    Japanese Language Course tutoring FAQ

    No — if you're starting from scratch, your tutor can begin with the writing systems before moving to vocabulary and conversation.

    Yes — let your tutor know your goal and sessions can focus on speaking practice rather than just written exercises.

    Yes — mention your child's age and level when requesting a tutor.

    An app repeats the same drills for everyone; a tutor listens to your actual speech and adjusts pacing and correction to you specifically.

    No — TutorA is live tutoring, not a self-paced video course, so there's no certificate of completion.

    Most tutors introduce kanji gradually alongside speaking and reading practice rather than as isolated memorization, since seeing a character used in real sentences tends to make its readings easier to retain than flashcard drilling alone. Mention if you'd like kanji study weighted more heavily or paced more slowly.

    Yes — mention your target JLPT level, N5 through N1, when requesting a tutor, so sessions can be matched to that level's vocabulary, grammar points, and kanji list. Higher levels also test more formal and written-register Japanese than everyday conversation typically covers.