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Learning Japanese

Resources

Japanese Ability Tests
The tests contained here are for the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) or Nihongo Nouryoku Shiken (日本語能力試験). They are samples intended to help you study.

Japanese and Kanji Dictionaries

Denshi Jisho
English-Japanese word and phrase dictionary with examples.

Kanji.sljfaq (handwritten kanji input)
A flash-based online kanji (漢字) dictionary and character reader from SLJFaq. If you don’t know a kanji character, look it up here.

NCIKU Translation (handwritten kanji input)
NCIKU, a Chinese company, provides multiple apps for kanji lookup and Japanese translation, in addition to its Chinese and English resources.

uPal (handwritten kanji input)
This javascript-based kanji dictionary, provided by Iwate University, is a good fallback for less advanced browsers. Other resources at the site include Japanese lessons.

Essential Japanese Learning Resources

Learning Japanese

J-Gram
Japanese grammar resource (explanations and examples). the site also sends daily Japanese grammar explanations and has a quiz function.

Tae Kim
Japanese grammar guide.

Learn Japanese Free
Japanese grammar and vocabulary.

Logical Grammar
Grammar help.

Basic Translation

Google Translate
Single word dictionary, or sentence or web page translation.

Year Converter
Convert Japanese years, based on the rein of Japanese emperors, to universally accepted years.