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Learn hiragana and katakana, study the JLPT N5 to N3 kanji lists, get grammar explained one point at a time, and practice listening and reading with furigana and native audio. More than 1,300 free lessons and articles, plus the Nihongo no Tane podcast and daily email lessons.

New FREE Japanese Lessons

October 26, 2026

Japanese Passive and Causative: られる, させる and させられる

One verb, three voices: 食べられた, 食べさせた, 食べさせられた. One question sorts them: who did it, who made it happen, and who had no choice? With audio and a self-check.

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Japanese Passive and Causative: られる, させる and させられる
October 26, 2026

Free JLPT N5 Practice Test: 20 Questions with Answers and Audio

A free JLPT N5 mini mock test: vocabulary, grammar, reading and listening, with native audio, furigana on every kanji, and every answer explained.

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Free JLPT N5 Practice Test: 20 Questions with Answers and Audio
October 26, 2026

から, ので, のに and ため: Four Ways to Say Because in Japanese

Four Japanese words that all look like “because”. One question sorts them: is it your reason, a polite reason, a reason that let you down, or a goal? With audio and a self-check.

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から, ので, のに and ため: Four Ways to Say Because in Japanese
October 14, 2026

Japanese Reading Practice: Tengu Legends (天狗の昔ばなし), with Furigana and Audio

Read two Japanese tengu legends line by line, with furigana on every kanji and native audio: a boy who learned the sword from a tengu, and a lost child who came home.

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Japanese Reading Practice: Tengu Legends (天狗の昔ばなし), with Furigana and Audio
October 12, 2026

こと vs の: When to Use Each to Turn a Verb into a Noun in Japanese

Japanese turns a verb into a noun with こと or の, and usually either works. One question settles the rest: is it an idea, or is it happening in front of you?

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こと vs の: When to Use Each to Turn a Verb into a Noun in Japanese
October 7, 2026

Japanese Reading Practice: The Three Warlords and the Cuckoo (戦国時代の武将), with Furigana and Audio

Read the first half of a true story from Japanese history line by line, with furigana on every kanji and native audio: Nobunaga, Hideyoshi and a cuckoo that will not sing.

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Japanese Reading Practice: The Three Warlords and the Cuckoo (戦国時代の武将), with Furigana and Audio
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New FREE Japanese Lessons

October 26, 2026

Japanese Passive and Causative: られる, させる and させられる

Japanese can take one verb and turn it three ways. 食たべる (to eat) becomes 食たべられる (to be eaten) when it is done to you, 食たべさせる (to make or let someone

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Japanese Passive and Causative: られる, させる and させられる
October 26, 2026

Free JLPT N5 Practice Test: 20 Questions with Answers and Audio

This is a free mini mock test for the JLPT N5, the first level of the Japanese-Language Proficiency Test. It has 20 questions in the same five kinds you will

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Free JLPT N5 Practice Test: 20 Questions with Answers and Audio
October 26, 2026

から, ので, のに and ため: Four Ways to Say Because in Japanese

English gets by with “because”, “so”, “even though” and “in order to”. Japanese has a word for each, and four of them look so alike that learners use them interchangeably:

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から, ので, のに and ため: Four Ways to Say Because in Japanese
October 14, 2026

Japanese Reading Practice: Tengu Legends (天狗の昔ばなし), with Furigana and Audio

This is the first half of 天狗てんぐの昔むかしばなし (Tengu Stories), the third story in Learn Japanese with Yokai 2: The Tengu. The tengu is the long-nosed, red-faced goblin of Japan's mountains,

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Japanese Reading Practice: Tengu Legends (天狗の昔ばなし), with Furigana and Audio
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