From Zero to Reading Manga in Japanese

What This Guide Covers

This guide is built around one goal: getting you reading manga in Japanese as fast as possible. To do that, it covers four things:

1. How to start reading the Japanese syllabaries hiragana and katakana
2. How to acquire fundamental grammar so you can start putting sentences together
3. How to learn kanji in a sustainable way that will actually help you read
4. How to rapidly build a core vocabulary that makes reading manga approachable

Those are the four steps. Pick whichever one fits where you are below.

What This Guide Does NOT Cover

This guide is focused on helping you comprehend written Japanese, because that’s all you need to start reading manga. So it deliberately leaves out:

1. Mastering pitch accent so you sound like a native speaker
2. Survival Japanese for an upcoming trip to Japan
3. Writing kanji by hand
4. Understanding spoken Japanese at native speed

These are all fine goals. They’re just outside the scope of this roadmap.

Who This Guide Is For

This guide is for busy, self-motivated people who want to read manga in the original Japanese.

Busy: the approach works no matter how little time you think you have. If you value your time, this guide is for you.

Self-motivated: the roadmap teaches you what to study, but you still need to show up almost daily for several months. If you don’t need a classroom to keep you accountable, this guide is for you.

How Long Will It Take?

The time per step depends on how many hours per week you can put in. Steps 3 and 4 can run in parallel with Step 2, which is where the variance comes from:

• Step 1: かな — 2 to 4 weeks. Prerequisite: none.
• Step 2: 文法 — 6 to 12 months. Prerequisite: Step 1.
• Step 3: 漢字 — 6 to 12 months. Prerequisite: Step 1.
• Step 4: 単語 — 6 to 12 months. Prerequisite: Step 1 and at least Genki I from Step 2.

Fastest pace: start Step 2 and Step 3 right after Step 1. Begin Step 4 once you’ve finished Genki I. You’ll be reading manga in Japanese in under a year.

Recommended pace: work Step 1 and Step 2 at whatever rate fits your life. For most working adults, that’s about a year. Then run Step 3 and Step 4 in parallel. You’ll be reading manga in roughly two years.

Sustainable pace: take each step in order at the slowest pace, finishing one before starting the next. You’ll be reading manga in about three years.

What Happens Once You Complete the Roadmap?

You’ll have what it takes to start reading manga. That doesn’t mean it will be easy at first. But you’ll have everything you need to keep climbing.

That’s also where Ashiba comes in. Once you’ve got the foundation, the app builds your vocabulary directly from the manga you actually want to read.