“Learning” Japanese on Social Media is a tricky thing.
(In other words, NO-ONE does it.)
Why? Well, why are most people on social media? Mostly to waste time, stalk, post pictures of food and watch their feed go by. I guarantee you, people just re-share things (oh, god, Tumblr users are so guilty of resharing without actually learning anything).
That being said – there’s a way to learn Japanese on Social Media ONLY if you try. How?
- You actually copy new words & sentences down.
- If you don’t – it’s completely useless. Do it.
- Add them to your Anki, flashcards, notebook, etc.
- I can’t stress this enough – You review them.
- You review them some more.
What are the Top 10 Japanese Learning Accounts to Follow? I’m including ones that don’t just give out random words… but actual, practical phrases and sentences you may need to use. Here we go.
Note: These are geared towards Japanese people learning English but are perfect for Japanese learners too.
1.) 低燃費少女ハイジ 英語・英会話
Warning: This account will slip in a few NSFW phrases, but for the most part, tweets include conversational Japanese phrases that you can use with friends in real life. Take a look below. This is my favorite account to follow by far. I actually use these phrases.
How do I learn these phrases?
- I copy & paste them out of Twitter & into a flashcard App on my phone.
- Or, I’ll write them down in my notebook.
- Is it tedious? Yes. But do you seriously expect to learn anything by looking at it once?
2.) 楽しい会話 (Tanoshii Kaiwa – Fun Conversation)
This one is a lot safer. Conversation & professional/work oriented. Similar to the previous one, you’ll get phrases and sentences. Great for picking up new words and grammar. For example below… I had no idea how to say “pros and cons” in Japanese ’til now.
This one is great. Basically, lots of colorful, interesting and useful (and useless) phrases like… “I’m not motivated to do my homework.” (Who is? LOL.) Expect little to no professional work related phrases here and 95% fun stuff. “You’ll get hurt one day!!”
4.) JapanesePod101
Yep, the Twitter channel behind the JapanesePod101.com Learning Website (click to visit the site). You can expect the Japanese Word of the Day, Video Lessons, Japanese Phrase Lists (see the example below), giveaway contests, and the occasional website sale promotions. However, it’s a nice variety overall.
5.) 英会話が苦手な人のメモ – Eikawa ga nigatena hito no memo
A mix of professional sentences, conversational phrases, and the occasional F bomb. This is geared towards British-English learning Japanese. But of course, it’s just as good for you.
These guys are promoing an app – but it’s for English learners. Overall, it’s another good source of casual/professional/personal and friendly lines. Why are there so job/professional related tweets? Well, in Japan, it’s mostly the office-workers and students that take up English learning. So, it’s something geared for them to use.
7.) 中級熟語からの英会話 – Chuukyuu Jukugo Kara no Eikaiwa
These guys post up a grammar point + sample sentences. Very good way to broaden your range of Japanese expression. One word of warning is that they also post links to unrelated products (clothing?) – for their Japanese userbase – so make sure you can deal with that.
8) Daily英語.com
Less so sentences and more phrases, idioms and words you might need.
9) よく使う英会話文 – Yoku Tsukau Eikaiwa Bun
This is pretty vanilla, but reliable. These guys post a combination of phrases, sentences and grammar points. Plenty of safe conversational phrases as you can see below with “Do you like your job?”
10) ジブリ英語BOT – Ghibli Eigo Bot
Big fan of Ghibli movies? You’ll find random lines from movies posted in both English and Japanese. Real life practical value? 3/10. Learning for the hell of it – if you’re a Ghibli fab? 10/10. Slight warning as they tend to retweet unrelated promotional links.
Conclusion: Ah, you made it this far. Here are some things you need to know.
- Social media is an easy & free source of content to learn from IF you actively study what you see. That’s a big IF. If, you try, you can start building up your Japanese with Twitter.
- Is following all of these accounts a good idea? Well, a question for you. Are you planning to note down everything you see from them, review, and memorize on a daily basis? Yes? Then sure.
- However, you can make your life simple and stick w/the top recommendations.
Now let me know what you think.
Do you use social media when learning Japanese or any other language?
And if so, how? See you in the comments below!
– Linguajunkie
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