Learning Japanese with pictures…
…is actually a pretty decent way to learn the language — especially in this digital age.
You may be wondering how and why.
Well, this guide explains it all. 1) Why this method works. 2) How to learn Japanese with pictures. And 3) resources where you can get yourself some.
 | Want FREE Japanese Grammar & Vocab Cheat Sheets? Click Here to Get 20+ Cheat Sheets from JapanesePod101 (a Japanese learning program.) |
Why Learning with Pictures Works
It’s not that shocking really, and you’ll see why.
See, to learn Japanese, you must get “used” to Japanese — the words, the grammar rules, and the little nuances and differences. And there’s a lot of “differences” with the language, as opposed to say English. For example, if you want to count items, the words you use will differ based on the type of item. If you want to say wear in Japanese, the verb will differ based on the item and body part. Different onomatopeias for different sounds. And more. A lot of these unique points stress learners out… because it’s 1) just so different, and 2) there’s just so many things to learn.
Don’t let that stress you out. Yes, the language has it’s differences but you can learn it all…
…if you get “used” to Japanese. Now, getting “used” to things doesn’t mean studying for 10 hours a day behind a desk. It means reviewing and practicing things a little bit each day until… wait for it… you get used it. Kind of like riding a bike. You immediately fall on day 1. Ride wobbly on day 2 (and maybe fall). Ride fine on day 3.
So, how do pictures come into this?
In this digital age of smartphones and computers. Pictures (or infographics) are pretty much like flashcards.
If you have a picture on your phone with 10 must-know phrases, well you can easily glance at it… review the phrases for a few minutes a day, and you know 10 Japanese phrases. If you have 10 pictures with 10 phrases on each one, that’s 100 phrase that you know.
Imagine just swiping pictures on your phone — for a few minutes a day.
You’ll quickly get “used” to Japanese in no time.
Free Resources for Learning Japanese with Pictures
I figured you’d be interested in jumping directly into the resources right after learning “How to learn.”
So, here are some good places where you can get pictures/images/infographics that teach you Japanese.
JapanesePod101 Infographics
JapanesePod101 is known as a Japanese learning program with audio/video lessons and study tools.
But, they also offer plenty of free resources like… pictures/infographics, eBooks, and Japanese PDF lessons.
They have a pretty big collection of 100+ Japanese infographics that you can learn with. All you have to do is sign up for a free account and use that to download all of their infographics. Thee are also PDF ebooks at the bottom.
Click here to get 100+ Japanese infographics @ JapanesePod101.
Instagram Accounts
Obviously, if we’re talking about how to learn Japanese with pictures…
Instagram is another good place — filled with accounts you can follow. The downsides though are that 1) you can’t easily download pictures, and 2) you’ll get distracted by unrelated content and reels.
But either way, here are some accounts you can follow.
- https://www.instagram.com/japanesepod101/
- https://www.instagram.com/linguajunkie/?hl=en
- https://www.instagram.com/learn_japanese_with_nattofufu/
Pinterest Accounts
Instagram aside…
Another good place to find (and even download — unlike Instagram) is good ol’ Pinterest. So, here are some useful Pinterest accounts you can follow and learn Japanese with pictures.
And you don’t need to follow too many either. Pinterest will always “recommend” more into your feed, so you’ll always find new images and infographics. And that’s pretty awesome.
A) Japanese Quizzes: Nice collection of unique Japanese phrases. Ironically, no quizzes.
B) Japanese Test 4 You: Lots of grammar tutorials. Pictures are a bit bland though.
C) JapanesePod101: If you like their stuff on Instagram, it doesn’t hurt to follow them here either.
D) LinguaJunkie: Oh hey, that’s me! I post a variety of word/phrase/grammar type pictures and infographics. And, I try to be artistic with some nice looking pics as well!
Tips on How to Learn Japanese with Pictures
Earlier above, I mentioned that the best way to learn is to “get used” to Japanese.
But, it’s one thing to hear nice-sounding advice (like “just be yourself” or “be confident”) and another thing to actually do it and succeed.
So, here are some tips on how to learn Japanese with pictures successfully.
1. Download the images to your phone. I know I mentioned some Instagram and Pinterest accounts, but those are ways to FIND new infographics, not to learn. You want to save the images to a place where you can review them again and again. If you do that on social media, you’ll 100% get distracted by other shiny pictures and video. Trust me.
2. Create a specific album for Japanese only images on your device. You probably don’t want to mix your food pictures with your Japanese resources, right?
3. Learning time. Let’s say you have 5 or 6 pictures (doesn’t matter how many), spend a good 20 to 30 seconds to do the following:
- read each phrase in your mind
- read each phrase out loud
- cover the meaning (with your finger) and try to recall the meaning
- close your eyes and say the phrase and meaning.
- and then swipe over to the next picture.
Should you do all of these steps? Well, it depends on how well you want to get “used” to Japanese. Just pick one and do it.
But, when you’re done… walk away.
4. Continuing to learn.
Of course, you can’t just glance at the pictures once today and hope it sticks.
You have to do this often.
So, if you learned a bit in the morning and now you’re on the bus/train/plane or walking your dog later in the day, set aside another 3-5 minutes to glance through the pictures.
And of course, repeat the process tomorrow, the day after, and so on. Consistency is the key to “getting used” to Japanese.
5. Adding new images
You shouldn’t spend a lot of time digging for resources and finding ones you like. It’s tempting but you’ll easily waste 10, 20, 30, 40 minutes and more… that could’ve been spent on learning Japanese. Remember, you get NO results from scrolling through social media for pictures and downloading them to your phone. You get results from practice and learning.
So, limit yourself to maybe 1-5 minutes of resource gathering.
Or you can even hold off until you’ve mastered your current image collection.
Either way, whether you do it every day or once a week, for the love of god, do NOT spend more than 5 minutes.
Conclusion
If you want to learn Japanese with pictures…
Well, you can!
In this quick guide, I introduced some free resources, tactics on how to learn with pictures, and why this method works.
If it sounds interesting to you, go ahead and give it a try. Learning through pictures is an easy and painless way to add more Japanese words and phrases to your brain.
– The Main Lingua Junkie
