• Prerequisites

    You can start this course from 0 ! If you already have some Japanese knowledge, we recommend taking our level check test here.

  • Free Trial

    Simply click the Free Preview button to gain access to the first 3 days of the course for free.

  • Student Community

    After purchasing, you will have access to the private student community to ask the course leaders, language school teachers or your peers questions about the course.

Meet some of the instructors!

Soejima sensei

I always wanted to be a Japanese teacher and I've been teaching Japanese for almost 30 years (yes I'm not very young! ^^). I've taught in Japanese language schools and universities. All the teachers that worked to build this course have worked very hard to focus on the Japanese you will be able to use as soon as you come to Japan in everyday life. I am the teacher in charge of answering all the queries and questions in the student community, checking your flipgrid uploads and running private Add-on lessons. I interact daily with students in the community to answer any questions or help solve anyone's doubts.

Ikenobe sensei

I've been teaching for 19 years, all my career in teaching has been at Akamonkai. I've been taught all Japanese levels, beginner, intermediate, and advanced. Until now I have only taught Japanese in class, face to face with students, I am so excited to be able to teach and connect to even more students from all over the world that are not able to be in Japan yet. The strong point of this course is that native Japanese teachers are using Japanese directly to teach students, at the same time we show English explanations and the students can ask their questions in English. The style of our lessons is based on the lessons you would get in a Japanese language school but changed to suit online, we believe that we were able to recreate the same feeling of attending a language school in Japan for our students.

Ihara sensei

I've been teaching Japanese for 5 years. The Akamonkai online course is really easy to use and understand. You can even access the course with your phone, so you can study at any time, anywhere you are! We have different types of videos, Conversation, Grammar explanations, Repetition, Practice to help you learn. We even have lessons where you answer the questions by recording a video of yourself and we review and scoring your video. This is something really special that the Akamonkai course has and you can't really find anywhere else. I think the course's strongest point is that the Japanese used is much more natural than you normally find in textbooks and that we also use English to explain grammar that otherwise could be difficult to understand.

Frequently asked questions

  • Can I try the course for free?

    Yes, before committing to buying the course, you can try the first day's lessons for free! Just click the "Free Preview" button. However, you will not be able to access the online community until you have purchased the course.

  • Who created the 12-week Akamonkai Beginner course?

    It was created by Go! Go! Nihon in partnership with Akamonkai Japanese Language School, the largest Japanese Language School In Japan as an introduction to the Japanese language and to help students get ready for studying full time in Japan.

  • How does the online course work?

    We have lessons using video, text files, audio files and more to help you learn easily. For some lessons you could be shown with a conversation video, back up grammar slides and also repetition videos for you to practice with, other times it might be with an audio file and downloadable vocabulary sheet, we show you the best materials to help you understand new topics quickly. There are opportunities for you to create your own videos to share with us so we can check your understanding and progress. We also have a community where you can engage with other students on the same journey as you, ask questions, compare notes and even engage with the course leaders.

  • Are there live classes?

    Although you will be able to interact with teachers, Go! Go! Nihon staff and other students through the community, you will not have live classes. The lessons are pre-recorded and created to help you learn as quickly as possible using our online platform but allows you to complete lessons at your own pace.

  • How long do I have to complete the course?

    You have access to the material for 6 months after you purchase the course. Lessons are released in weekly batches until all 12 weeks are available. You can study at your own pace once the lessons are unlocked. We do recommend trying to do a day's material each weekday as it’s how courses are taught in Japan!

  • Can anyone take this course?

    The course was designed to help get students ready for full-time studies in Japan or get ready to take JLPT N5, but anyone who would like to learn how to speak in Japanese is welcome to take the courses and will find them a very useful introduction to the language.

  • Will I get a certificate for finishing the course?

    You will get a certificate from the school when you complete the course, but you need to complete 100% of all of the course lessons in order to receive it, you have six months from when you sign up to be able to finish all the lessons. Since this certificate is issued by a Japanese language school, it is recognized by the Japanese government.

  • Why does the course cost ¥10,4190?

    Tuition for a 3-month course in a Japanese language school in Japan costs about ¥195,000 on average. Our beginner course follows Akamonkai Language School’s 3-month intensive course base curriculum, with the same high-quality level of learning materials and access to their teachers in our community for further support for less than half that cost. Extensive work has been done to adapt their beginner course to be more effective for online and remote learning so you can reach the same level as you would after 3 months at a Japanese language school from anywhere in the world.

  • What level of Japanese will I achieve?

    Since this course follows the curriculum of a high-intensity Japanese language school, you will reach JLPT N5 (CEFR A1) after completion, if you properly studied all the materials provided. Please see below for the course curriculum.

Get both!

Purchase our Akamonkai Beginner course and Akamonkai Pre-Intermediate course bundle at a discounted price and master N4 level Japanese in 6 months!

To the bundle

Course curriculum

    1. Course introduction

      FREE PREVIEW

    2. How to use the course

      FREE PREVIEW

    3. Course Overview

      FREE PREVIEW

    4. Join the Student Community!

      FREE PREVIEW

    5. We'd like to know a few things about you, before you begin...

    6. Frequently asked questions

    1. A message from the teachers

      FREE PREVIEW

    2. Introduce yourself on Flip!

    3. Course Vocabulary Index (Week 1 - 12）

    1. Week 1 Overview

      FREE PREVIEW

    2. Introducing Hiragana

      FREE PREVIEW

    3. Day 1 - Hiragana Practice

      FREE PREVIEW

    4. Day 1 - Vocabulary

      FREE PREVIEW

    5. Day 1 Lesson 1 - Video (Introducing a new student)

      FREE PREVIEW

    6. Day 1 Lesson 1 - Grammar slides

      FREE PREVIEW

    7. Day 1 Lesson 1 - Video Repetition

      FREE PREVIEW

    8. Day 1 Lesson 2 - Video (Asking for someone's major)

      FREE PREVIEW

    9. Day 1 Lesson 2 - Grammar Slides

      FREE PREVIEW

    10. Day 1 Lesson 2 - Video repetition

      FREE PREVIEW

    11. Day 1 Lesson 2 - Show us!

    12. Day 1 Lesson 3 - Video (Asking about things you don't know)

      FREE PREVIEW

    13. Day 1 Lesson 3 - Grammar Slides

      FREE PREVIEW

    14. Day 1 Lesson 3 - Video repetition

      FREE PREVIEW

    15. Day 1 Lesson 3 - Practice

      FREE PREVIEW

    16. Day 1 Lesson 4 - Video (Use of this and that)

      FREE PREVIEW

    17. Day 1 Lesson 4 - Grammar Slides

      FREE PREVIEW

    18. Day 1 - Lesson 4 - Video Repetition

      FREE PREVIEW

    19. Day 1 Lesson 4 - Practice

      FREE PREVIEW

    20. Day 1 - Grammar Homework

      FREE PREVIEW

    1. Day 2 - Previous Day Grammar Homework Answers!

      FREE PREVIEW

    2. Day 2 - Hiragana Practice

      FREE PREVIEW

    3. Day 2 - Vocabulary

      FREE PREVIEW

    4. Day 2 Lesson 1 - Video (Ordering at the restaurant)

      FREE PREVIEW

    5. Day 2 Lesson 1 - Grammas slides

      FREE PREVIEW

    6. Day 2 Lesson 1 - Video Repetition

      FREE PREVIEW

    7. Day 2 Lesson 1 - Practice

      FREE PREVIEW

    8. Day 2 Lesson 2 - Video (Thinking what to order in a restaurant)

      FREE PREVIEW

    9. Day 2 Lesson 2 - Grammar Slides

      FREE PREVIEW

    10. Day 2 Lesson 2 - Video Repetition

      FREE PREVIEW

    11. Day 2 Lesson 2 - Explanation

      FREE PREVIEW

    12. Day Lesson 2 - Practice

      FREE PREVIEW

    13. Day 2 Lesson 3 - Video (Asking someone about a person you don't know)

      FREE PREVIEW

    14. Day 2 Lesson 3 - Grammar Slides

      FREE PREVIEW

    15. Day 2 Lesson 3 - Video Repetition

      FREE PREVIEW

    16. Day 2 Lesson 3 - Practice

      FREE PREVIEW

    17. Day 2 Lesson 4 - Video (Asking who has ownership of an object)

      FREE PREVIEW

    18. Day 2 Lesson 4 - Grammar slides

      FREE PREVIEW

    19. Day 2 Lesson 4 - Video Repetition

      FREE PREVIEW

    20. Day 2 Lesson 4 - Practice

      FREE PREVIEW

    21. Day 2 - Grammar Homework

      FREE PREVIEW

    1. Day 3 - Previous Day Grammar Homework Answers!

      FREE PREVIEW

    2. Day 3 - Hiragana Practice

      FREE PREVIEW

    3. Day 3 - Vocabulary

      FREE PREVIEW

    4. Day 3 Lesson 1 - Video (Giving information)

      FREE PREVIEW

    5. Day 3 Lesson 1 - Grammar slides

      FREE PREVIEW

    6. Day 3 Lesson 1 - Video Repetition

      FREE PREVIEW

    7. Day 3 Lesson 2 - Video (Asking where is a place)

      FREE PREVIEW

    8. Day 3 Lesson 2 - Grammar slides

      FREE PREVIEW

    9. Day 3 Lesson 2 - Video Repetition

      FREE PREVIEW

    10. Day 3 Lesson 2 - Practice

      FREE PREVIEW

    11. Day 3 Lesson 3 - Video (Asking the maker and the price of an item)

      FREE PREVIEW

    12. Day 3 Lesson 3 - Grammar slides 1

      FREE PREVIEW

    13. Day 3 Lesson 3 - Video Repetition 1

      FREE PREVIEW

    14. Day 3 Lesson 3 - Practice 1

      FREE PREVIEW

    15. Day 3 Lesson 3 - Grammar slides 2

      FREE PREVIEW

    16. Day 3 Lesson 3 - Video Repetition 2

      FREE PREVIEW

    17. Day 3 Lesson 3 - Practice 2

      FREE PREVIEW

    18. Day 3 Lesson 4 - Video (Buying an item)

      FREE PREVIEW

    19. Day 3 Lesson 4 - Grammar slides

      FREE PREVIEW

    20. Day 3 Lesson 4 - Video Repetition

      FREE PREVIEW

    21. Day 3 Lesson 4 - Practice

      FREE PREVIEW

    22. Day 3 - Grammar Homework

      FREE PREVIEW

    1. Day 4 - Previous Day Grammar Homework Answers!

    2. Day 4 - Hiragana Practice

    3. Day 4 - Vocabulary

    4. Day 4 Lesson 1 - Video (Talking about breakfast)

    5. Day 4 Lesson 1 - Grammar slides 1

    6. Day 4 Lesson 1 - Video Repetition

    7. Day 4 Lesson 1 - Practice 1

    8. Day 4 Lesson 1 - Grammar slides 2

    9. Day 4 Lesson 1 - Video Repetition 2

    10. Day 4 Lesson 1 - Practice 2

    11. Day 4 Lesson 2 - Video (Talking about this evening plans)

    12. Day 4 Lesson 2 - Grammar slides

    13. Day 4 Lesson 2 - Video Repetition

    14. Day 4 Lesson 2 - Practice

    15. Day 4 Lesson 3 - Video (Talking about homework)

    16. Day 4 Lesson 3 - Grammar slides

    17. Day 4 Lesson 3 - Video Repetition

    18. Day 4 Lesson 3 - Practice

    19. Day 4 - Grammar Homework

About this course

  • ¥104,190
  • 1296 lessons

Course reviews

5 star rating

Perfect for beginners (and busy people)

Grace Schuberg

Bite-sized lessons make this course ideal for beginners and people with busy lives. I like to study language in my free time, and the way this course is orga...

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Bite-sized lessons make this course ideal for beginners and people with busy lives. I like to study language in my free time, and the way this course is organized makes it easy to squeeze in a lesson even if I only have 20 minutes to spare. The concepts are explained simply and already help you start speaking Japanese by Week 1. By Week 4, kanji and grammar lessons spoken completely in Japanese are introduced; so it's a good pace of increasing difficulty as I become more confident in my listening/reading skills.

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5 star rating

Fantastic Format

Fabio Luongo

Huge fan of the new format for analysing grammar - with the teacher explaining from the whiteboard!

Huge fan of the new format for analysing grammar - with the teacher explaining from the whiteboard!

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5 star rating

Beginners review from a french person

Guillaume Riem

The course, the lessons, etc... were perfectly made for beginners and help us to get the basics in Japanese so we are able to go to Japan more easily. I am ...

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The course, the lessons, etc... were perfectly made for beginners and help us to get the basics in Japanese so we are able to go to Japan more easily. I am grateful to the teachers that have made the program and with their helps, I learned fast and well even if I still need to keep learning that beautiful language. ありがとうございます。

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5 star rating

Great foundation builder

Chantell Salts

Having stopped and started learning Japanese for a few years I'm quite happy to have completed this course. The grammer slides and videos help with explainin...

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Having stopped and started learning Japanese for a few years I'm quite happy to have completed this course. The grammer slides and videos help with explaining the concepts pretty well. I did have some technical problems but then again that is almost to be expected. The staff did fix it as quickly as possible which is nice though due to the time difference it can take several days. Over all, I am incredibly happy to have paid for this course and am excited to move onto the next one.

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5 star rating

A great and conventient introduction to Japanese

Anson G

Also, you get to practice speaking by making videos. The videos are then checked by a teacher (not in real-time) and you get feedback to help you learn that ...

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Also, you get to practice speaking by making videos. The videos are then checked by a teacher (not in real-time) and you get feedback to help you learn that way. You can also get listening practice by watching the teacher videos, and even the other students videos so you can hear Japanese being spoken by a native person, and by many people. I cannot stress how convenient it is to have these courses available at ANY TIME I want to access them. I can fit my learning into my schedule. I highly recommend this online course. I think a total beginner or anyone brushing up their knowledge of basic Japanese would get something out of this.

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5 star rating

Very helpful

Bruno Arturo Coppiano Ceballos

I learned a lot of things about the first lessons. Some vocabulary and some nouns in japanese Great!

I learned a lot of things about the first lessons. Some vocabulary and some nouns in japanese Great!

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5 star rating

The perfect starting point!

Fabrizio Marchi Vannicola

I truly believe this course is fantastic for whoever wants to pick up japanese from zero or for who perhaps already studied it but wants lessons covering the...

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I truly believe this course is fantastic for whoever wants to pick up japanese from zero or for who perhaps already studied it but wants lessons covering the N5 concepts. It is composed of 60 days in which you will find many grammar concepts and explainations, a lot of lexicon and exercices to practice (both writing and speaking); plus there are real life sketch in which they anticipate what the content is going to be and give you a general idea of common conversation (i loved those!) Also there are videos to do in which you are required to speak in japanese; i found these particularly important because (at least from my experience) speaking is often overlooked but is crucial part in the learning process of a language (especially one such as japanese). Overall the course is amazing, the platform is easy to use, each lessons offers a lot and the teachers are very responsive. Since you are given twice the amount of time, it's suitable even for people who need their time while studying or for those who want to do it parallel to something else. I picked it up even if i had to attend university but i managed to finish it with 2-ish months remaining. This was a lot of fun! A huge thanks to everyone involved in this project!

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