80/20 Japanese
A clear, logical approach to Japanese that will get you to fluency in no time, even if you're a complete beginner
A better way to Japanese fluency
Are you new to Japanese and feeling intimidated? Have you been studying for some time but are feeling stuck and are sick of not progressing? Or are you just tired of textbooks and classes that teach simple Japanese concepts in obscure or backwards-feeling ways?
There's a good reason for that...
Most programs introduce sentence patterns in isolation without showing you how everything is connected. You remember a few set phrases, learn some random vocabulary, then get stuck trying to put all the pieces of the grammar puzzle together by yourself.
Sound familiar?
If so, 80/20 Japanese is what you need. One reader described it as "like finding the Holy Grail."
"Why?" you ask.
Because it actually teaches you how Japanese works!
80/20 Japanese pulls together all the fundamentals of the Japanese language and teaches them in an order that makes sense. Plus, it was designed for self-study, so it goes into more detail than what you usually get, with proper, in-depth explanations of each concept.
You'll learn how the language actually works, and clearly see how all the different pieces fit together, giving you the confidence to say what you want to say, when you want to say it.
No set phrases - this is learning, not memorizing.
80/20 Japanese is used by independent learners, international organizations and schools around the world.
A 3 Point Overview of 80/20 Japanese
Discover Exactly How Japanese Works
From the grammar patterns to the implicit nature in which native Japanese speakers communicate, Japanese is very different to English (and most other languages).
Learn exactly how Japanese works with 80/20 Japanese's complete and detailed lessons on everything - sentence structure, particles, all the major verb forms, complex sentences, and everything in between.
This book will take you from barely speaking the language to stringing together long and complex sentences.
Practice, Practice, Practice with Tons of Additional Resources
Packed with exercises and examples to help you understand and consolidate each concept, the book is not the only way to get you practicing your Japanese.
Develop your vocabulary and sentence building skills faster with the Anki Pack, a set of 7000+ flashcards for use with the Anki flashcard app, exclusive to 80/20 Japanese users. Meanwhile, the Hiragana + Katakana Workbook will get you reading and writing today, and the Audiobook and Audiobook Remix will enable you to continue learning while on the move or washing the dishes.
Keep scrolling to learn about all of learning resources available with 80/20 Japanese.
Learn to read Japanese, or don't - the choice is yours
Whether you want to learn to read and write, or you want to focus strictly on spoken Japanese, there's a version of the book for you.
The Romaji Edition let's you learn Japanese without the pressure of learning any new characters, while the Kana + Kanji Edition uses hiragana, katakana and kanji throughout so you can continuously practice and improve your reading skills.
Both editions cover the exact same content - the only difference is the characters.
Life after 80/20 Japanese
I don't know how you have been able to dissect and present Japanese sentence structure, word order, and general grammar the way you have, but you stand far apart from everyone else...
It's like I've been illuminated by 1,000 light bulbs.
Julia D.
“I have to say, it’s the most well-crafted Japanese language textbook I have ever studied. Thanks for putting the time and effort in, to produce something of such high quality.
My first trip to Japan was earlier this year and it was awesome. I made friends... danced with girls, and I could ask for directions when I became lost.”
Adam C.
Nearing the end of my time in japan. Loved every moment of it.
Your textbook had me far ahead of my colleagues learning Japanese by other methods.
David L.
Study Your Way
With an abundance of resources to make learning easier, you can choose what you need according to your learning style and language goals.
Romaji Edition
In this edition, all Japanese words and sentences are written in ‘romaji’, the Latin script we use in English.
This is perfect if you are new to Japanese and want to focus on learning to speak the language, without worrying about learning all of the different Japanese characters.
Included in:
eBook, Self-Study Pack, eBook + Anki Pack, Self-Study + Anki Pack
Kana + Kanji Edition
In this edition, the Japanese words and sentences are predominantly written as they would normally appear in Japanese, whether that be in hiragana, katakana or kanji.
If your language goals include learning to read and write Japanese, this is the edition for you.
In this edition, the Japanese words and sentences are mostly written as they would normally appear in Japanese, whether that be in hiragana, katakana or kanji.
Importantly, with only a couple of exceptions, every word written in kanji throughout the entire book has the reading above it in hiragana (known as ‘furigana’). Here's an example of what that looks like:
This ensures that you never run into a word and have no idea how to read it. At the same time, you gain lots of exposure to naturally written Japanese, so your eyes get used to dealing with kanji.
Apart from a couple of small points that relate only to written Japanese, both editions cover the exact same material.
Included in:
eBook, Self-Study Pack, eBook + Anki Pack, Self-Study + Anki Pack
eBook formats that work with your device
Each edition of 80/20 Japanese comes in the following eBook formats:
You'll get access to both formats, so you can download the eBook to all of your personal devices - no restrictions.
Included in:
eBook, Self-Study Pack, eBook + Anki Pack, Self-Study + Anki Pack
Soft Cover (Physical) Books
Love the way that it feels to flip through pages and hold a book in your hands? We do too.
You can add a physical, paperback copy of...
...to any package.
Ships to most countries worldwide.
Audiobook (MP3) & Audiobook Remix
Always on the go or just trying to make the daily grind more productive? Try the Audiobook!
Take control over how you study and practice your Japanese. Listen to the book from start to finish or Remix it!
Audiobook
The standard Audiobook is the complete book narrated from start to finish by the author. This includes all Japanese example sentences, exercises and answers, so you can hear and practice correct pronunciation.
This comes as a single MP3 file, or as a separate file for each chapter.
Audiobook Remix
The Audiobook Remix splits the standard audiobook into two parts:
Explanations only
Many readers of 80/20 Japanese like to binge-read or binge-listen to chapters of the book, absorbing the lessons within and then reviewing them again later, often multiple times. But when you just want to absorb the meat of the content, the stop-start nature of the exercises can get in the way.
The Explanations Only audio cuts out all of the exercises from the book for a smoother listening experience that lets you focus on the lessons, and not worry about putting them into practice until later.
Exercises only
This consists of all the exercises in the book, with none of the explanations in between.
In this version, for all of the exercises throughout the book you get...
Most exercises in 80/20 Japanese ask you to build sentences, so this format is perfect for practicing your sentence-building skills, testing your knowledge, and working on your spoken fluency and pronunciation.
Included in:
Self-Study Pack, Self-Study + Anki Pack
Exercises PDF
Working through exercises with a pen (or pencil) on a piece of paper can be so much easier.
This 100-page, printable PDF contains all of the exercises in 80/20 Japanese presented in a convenient layout for easy practice and revision.
Whether you have a physical copy of 80/20 Japanese or just the eBook, this PDF means you can complete and review exercises more easily wherever you are, without carrying the whole book around or having to unlock your phone or tablet every 30 seconds.
It pairs perfectly with the Exercises audio from the Audiobook Remix, and includes space for writing answers (in addition to the answers themselves).
As with the main book, this comes in both the Romaji Edition and Kana + Kanji Edition, so you can use the one that suits you, or switch between them as your reading and writing skills develop.
Please note: All exercises in this PDF are also included in the main eBook and Soft Cover books. These are not additional exercises - they are the same exercises in an easy-to-use format.
Included in:
Self-Study Pack, Self-Study + Anki Pack
Hiragana & Katakana Workbook
This comprehensive workbook is a printable PDF that will teach you all of the hiragana and katakana characters, with reading and writing exercises.
The Hiragana & Katakana Workbook includes:
It also comes with a full set of printable flashcards for individual characters and whole words (the same as in the Anki Pack below), so you can learn and test yourself quickly and easily.
Included in:
Self-Study Pack, Self-Study + Anki Pack
Kanji Reference Guide
This 61-page printable PDF lists every kanji character you will encounter as you work through 80/20 Japanese, in the order they appear.
For each unique kanji featured in 80/20 Japanese (518 in total), you are given:
Here's an example:
Included in:
Self-Study Pack, Self-Study + Anki Pack
Anki Flashcards
Anki is a digital flashcard app that uses a proven memorization technique called "spaced repetition" to make it significantly easier to remember things you learn.
The 80/20 Japanese Anki Pack features over 7000 flashcards designed specifically for use alongside the book to help you study more easily and retain more of what you learn.
There are flashcards for each of the following (click to see details):
This deck includes recognition (Japanese-English) and production (English-Japanese) flashcards for the 800+ unique words used throughout 80/20 Japanese, which were chosen primarily based on their usefulness in everyday Japanese.
The flashcards are presented in the order they appear in the book, so you can keep up with the new vocab as you work through the lessons, and build a seriously useful Japanese vocabulary in the process.
If you can't yet read 'kana' as they are collectively called, never fear! These flashcards will ensure you can.
There are two sets of flashcards for each:
Since our brains process words as a whole, not individual characters, the second set gives you plenty of opportunity to practice doing just that, so you can quickly get your kana reading abilities up to speed.
This kanji flashcard set lets you focus on the one thing you really need to be able to do with kanji - read them.
These flashcards include every word in 80/20 Japanese that uses at least one kanji character - that's nearly 600 words and 518 unique characters.
Questions show the word written only in kanji, with the answer showing the hiragana reading and English meaning, like so:
This deck ensures you learn to read kanji as they are used in the real world, without wasting time on rarely-used readings, or worrying about hand-writing pages and pages of characters (which in 2024 is a skill you'll hardly ever need).
Like the vocabulary decks, the kanji are presented in the order they appear in the book, and tagged by chapter and sub-chapter for easy organization and targeted study.
There comes a time when you move on from the simpler polite verb forms to the more complicated informal ones. The book shows you all the rules for conversion, and these Anki flashcards will allow you to easily practice recognizing and producing each verb form until you just know them. It includes flashcards for:
No more fumbling about trying to find the right conjugation while people stare at you impatiently. Work through these, and you'll never have trouble conjugating verbs on the fly again.
This is where you get to practice applying all of the grammar lessons covered in the book.
The Sentences deck contains every single example sentence and exercise featured in 80/20 Japanese so you can practice putting all of it to use.
That's over 1200 sentences.
And they all appear in the same order as the book, meaning they build on each other logically, one new concept at a time.
The flashcards have also been meticulously combed through and formatted to minimize confusion:
The point of these sentences is not to simply memorize them. It’s to give you copious amounts of practice building and understanding Japanese sentences.
That's the most important skill that will help you communicate in Japanese.
Practicing what you learn is vital to being able to actually apply what you know. These sentence flashcards make that easy.
Other features of the 80/20 Japanese Anki flashcards
Audio for every flashcard
Hear and practice correct pronunciation for every Japanese sound, word and sentence featured in the flashcards.
Powered by Text-To-Speech and meticulously checked for accuracy, the near-native Japanese audio ensures you always know how each word is supposed to sound.
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Choose your character set(s)
All of the flashcards for vocabulary, sentences and verbs are provided in multiple character formats, including:
Detailed User Guide
Included is a detailed Anki User Guide specifically for this set of flashcards, ensuring you can start studying as quickly as possible:
Additional information about Anki itself
Included in:
eBook + Anki Pack, Self-Study + Anki Pack
Your book is truly incredible. Your book is the only resource that I have found that actually explains what is going on and why. It’s like you already know what is going on in our heads as we teach ourselves Japanese. Your super power ability to empathize with the learner is so far ahead of any Japanese learning tools I’ve discovered over the past year.
Anthony C.
I *love* the flashcard set you created. It is so much easier to practice and repeat material when having flashcards that can be used when commuting e.g. In particular, the "Sentences" section is pure gold. It has been so helpful improving my Japanese skills.
Christer O.
I've been listening to the audiobook and reading through the eBook version. It's an amazingly well thought-out book. I've tried learning Japanese in the past, but always got frustrated with books that just expect you to memorise rote sentences with little to no explanation. It's great to finally see decent descriptions of terms I had previously encountered but had no idea about - for example, the て form of verbs. Exactly what I needed!
Matt R.
80/20 Japanese is right for you if...
80/20 Japanese might not be the best resource for you if...
What You'll Learn
Everything covered in 80/20 Japanese, chapter by chapter.
80/20 Japanese provides in-depth explanations and loads of exercises to help you master the most important Japanese grammar concepts. You'll learn all about:
But it's not just about what you learn - it's how you learn it.
The key to the effectiveness of 80/20 Japanese is the logical order in which the lessons are presented.
By teaching everything in the right order, 80/20 Japanese ensures that every new concept and sentence pattern you learn makes total sense.
In total, 80/20 Japanese covers more than 100 topics over 12 chapters. This can be broken into four parts:
1. The Japanese crash course
The first four chapters are designed to achieve two main things:
- Build a solid foundation
- Get you conversational as quickly as possible
It's vital to get the basics right from the beginning. Having a proper framework that you can apply to everything you learn makes it much easier to make sense of each new concept - even the more advanced ones.
Of course, getting the basics right is no good if it's all just impractical theory.
We learn faster and more effectively by doing, which is why Chapter 4 in particular is all about giving you practical knowledge that will allow you to actually hold a meaningful conversation.
Here's a more detailed breakdown of the first four chapters:
Above all else, if you want to communicate in Japanese, you need to be able to recognize and pronounce the sounds that make up each word.
Chapter 1 walks you through all the unique sounds of Japanese so you can be sure that people understand you when you speak.
Next, you will learn the fundamental structure of Japanese sentences, with a particular focus on the particle system. Doing this early is the key to avoiding getting stuck in beginner mode for way too long.
See, most books and courses skip this vital step, and instead start with specific phrases and sentence patterns. The result is that you end up knowing how to say a bunch of random things, but have no idea why they make sense, or how you can deviate from the standard pattern to say something that's... you know... actually useful.
By giving you a better understanding of how Japanese sentences and particles work right from the beginning, 80/20 Japanese helps you build a solid foundation that will apply to everything you ever learn about Japanese grammar.
Adding to your understanding of how Japanese functions, Chapter 3 covers the essential cultural understanding you need to speak Japanese effectively.
These are easy but important lessons that are applicable every time you use Japanese.
This chapter is focused on getting you up to speed with conversational Japanese, fast. It introduces a variety of concepts that you can immediately use in real life situations, including:
2. Master the core building blocks
Now that you have a solid base to work from, it's time to look closer at each of the major pieces of the grammatical puzzle.
Over these next five chapters, you’ll develop the ability to properly use and combine the core building blocks, allowing you to speak and understand Japanese with greater flexibility and precision.
Here, you will learn how to count from 1 to 100 million and beyond.
More importantly, you'll learn how to use numbers in sentences by converting them into counters so you can, for example, count your friends as people instead of, say, birds or sheets of paper.
This chapter introduces some of the most common counters, and shows you how to use all counters in a sentence.
This chapter covers everything you need to know to talk about the three main aspects of time:
- Timing = When things are done
- Period = How long things are done for
- Frequency = How often things are done
For each, you'll learn all the essential counters and expressions, and how to use them in sentences.
Here you will learn all the different ways to conjugate adjectives (past tense, negative, etc.), as well as the different ways these can be used in sentences, both polite and informal.
We'll also apply the lessons about adjectives to "noun + desu" sentences, and discuss in detail everything you need to know about adverbs.
The main verb tenses, plus some useful verb-based expressions, are introduced in the polite form in Chapter 4.
This chapter goes into more depth on all things verb-related, including the main verb types, informal verb forms of each tense, the potential (can do) form, and more.
The te-form of verbs is insanely useful - so much so that it gets its own chapter.
Here you will learn how to convert all verbs (and adjectives) into the te-form, as well as the most useful ways to apply it.
This includes things like the "is doing" form for describing things happening right now, commands and requests, and linking multiple actions together in a sequence (eg. I did this, then that).
A dozen more te-form expressions are introduced later in Chapter 12.
3. Add complexity and depth
With the core components of the language covered, it's time to step it up a notch.
These next two chapters will expand your range of expression substantially, and set up to easily learn any new concept the language might throw at you.
This chapter really takes you to the next level. It teaches you all about noun phrases, which have a wide range of uses and give you the ability to talk about things in far greater detail.
For example, instead of saying something simple such as, “I ate lunch in Shinjuku with my friends”, noun phrases allow you to say much more interesting things like, “I ate lunch at a new restaurant in Shinjuku with some friends that I met at high school“.
Noun phrases are incredibly powerful, yet fairly simple to put together, especially in Japanese. This chapter covers them in detail.
As a key building block of the Japanese language, particles are of course covered right from Chapter 2, with more added along the way as needed. This chapter provides a far more detailed look.
The lessons in this chapter are not essential to being able to speak Japanese, but they will give you a deeper understanding of how different particles work. This will help you avoid the more subtle mistakes that even some advanced Japanese speakers sometimes make.
This chapter also answers one of the biggest questions that even confuses people who have been studying Japanese for years – the difference between the particles “wa” and “ga”.
4. Learn a boat-load of useful expressions
By this point, you will have a very good understanding of Japanese.
This final chapter simply builds on everything you know by introducing 40+ useful expressions, all explained – with examples – in the context of everything learnt throughout the rest of the book.
This chapter is broken into five parts:
12.1 Very Useful Expressions
A few of the most useful expressions not introduced in earlier chapters.
12.2 Conditional Expressions
Several different ways of saying the equivalent of "if..." and "when...".
12.3 Te-Form Expressions
Adding to the most important te-form expressions covered in Chapter 9, this section introduces 12 more expressions that make use of the te-form.
12.4 The Passive Voice
To talk like a Japanese person, you need to be able to use indirect language. This section will show one of the most important ways to do that, with detailed lessons on the passive voice, a verb form that turns a sentence like, "He saw me", into, "I was seen by him".
12.5 Other Expressions
Another 24 common expressions - enough to get you to approximately JLPT N4 level.
I've tried other sources but nothing has engaged me and kept me motivated to study Japanese like this. It's crazy how in one month I've gone from only knowing a few words to actually being able to put together a lot of sentences. It helps a lot how you teach Japanese from an English speakers viewpoint.
Shahdad S.
I've tried lots of other less successful learning tools. I'm only a few chapters in but it's already given me the clearest, most understandable explanation of the particle system.
Love the logical break down of the concepts. I really appreciate the order you are teaching things. It is very clear and straightforward.
Matthew D.
I'm an ecologist/research student but also did a degree in classics (i.e. Latin and Ancient Greek) a few years back and your ability to explain grammar simply, concisely, and empathetically beats anything I encountered in the many ancient language textbooks I used (written by professors and linguists no less!).
Philip E.
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Including flashcards for hiragana, katakana, kanji, vocabulary, verb tenses and 1200+ full sentences
$99
Self-Study + Anki Pack
Including both editions of the eBook
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Including flashcards for hiragana, katakana, kanji, vocabulary, verb tenses and 1200+ full sentences
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I had no idea somebody could so simply explain the grammatical reasoning behind another language, in such a clear and concise way. Your method of talking it through with a few examples and just as many exercises to aid mental stimulation without it becoming like "homework" or tedious, is very well executed.
Jay C.
I have been searching for a very long time for a resource that is clear and easy to follow. With your book I feel that I have made more progress in the last week than I have in the last 6 months without it.
You have reignited my excitement for learning a language that I love.
Ben T.
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Includes the complete Table of Contents, so you can see exactly what you'll learn.
About the Author
Hi! I'm Richard Webb. Author. Fluent Japanese Speaker.
I learned Japanese the way most people do - through formal classes, lots of textbooks and sheer force of will. Even though I eventually achieved fluency (I have passed the highest level of the Japanese Level Proficiency Test (JLPT) and have worked for two Japanese companies with virtually all communication in Japanese), for years I looked back at my experiences and wondered why it felt so incredibly hard to learn Japanese at the time.
Japanese shouldn't feel like a confusing mess - because it's not. It's an incredibly logical, intuitive and flexible language. It just happens to be very different from English.
There is a way to break down the barriers that stop most of us from properly learning the language. I was lucky enough to have the time and opportunities to crack that code and I want to share that with you.
Hi! I'm Richard Webb.
Japan and the Japanese language have been a huge part of my life. I first went to live in Japan when I was 15, and have since spent over 6 years living in the country. I have a degree in Japanese, studied linguistics at a Japanese university, passed the highest level of the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT), and worked for two Japanese companies where virtually all communication was in Japanese.
It was a long road and it wasn't always easy, but learning to speak Japanese has been one of the best things I've ever done. It's opened many doors, and allowed me to have some amazing experiences.
I hope that this book helps you get as much out of Japan and Japanese culture as I have.
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