This page is a work in progress: expect regular updates to content and format.
NihonGo Now!
NihonGo Now! Click to explore high-quality beginning- and intermediate-level courseware packages (4 volumes including video and audio). These lessons take a performed-culture approach (PCA) to learning Japanese. You will learn the basics of Japanese by rehearsing and performing scripts in Japanese.
This link will take you to the NihonGo Now! Youtube Channel where you can access audio and video content.
NihonGo Now! textbooks (Levels 1-2) are available in eBook form through the BYU library website:
Level 1, Volume 1: Activity Book
Level 1, Volume 2: Activity Book
Level 2, Volume 1: Activity Book
Level 2, Volume 2: Activity Book
BYU subscribes to two platforms for supplementing foreign language studies.
Click the Mango or Pronunciator logos provided below to explore.
Mango is an online platform offering instruction in over 70 different languages.
You can explore the site as a guest or create a free account to save your progress.
Type Japanese into the "Pick a Language" box to see what resources are available.
You can also get a Mango APP for your handheld device.
Pronunciator is an online platform offering instruction in over 80 different languages.
Try it with "instant access" then type Japanese in the "I want to learn _________." box.
If you want to save your progress, sign up for a free individual account.
You can also get a Pronunciator APP for your handheld device.
Online Resources
Katakana and Hiragana (Charts for Learning the Japanese Writing System)
Freely available tadoku books to read onsite, download as PDFs or print to make your own books. Level 0—Level 5.
多読 日本語学習読本. Freely available tadoku books designed to encourage fun reading. Click the links below to access reading materials in different levels of difficulty: Level 0, Level 1, Level 2.
Excellent Dictionary Apps for Your Mobile Device
Shirabe Jisho Includes the ability to write text with your finger, multiple grammatical forms, and sample sentences for each entry
Jisho Japanese Dictionary Includes finger writing lookup and besides the dictionary it provides a ton of short news articles to practice your Japanese reading skills and some materials for working on your Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) N levels.
Mondo Includes many short magazine and news articles about various aspects of Japanese society, culture, politics, etc. There is also a listening feature that allows you to hear the texts read by a native Japanese speaker.
Reverso translation tool. Similar to Google Translate.
These books are located in the Japanese Section of the Asian Collection on HBLL Level 4. (Click images for details).
Because of construction in the library, The Asian Language Reading for Fun Shelves have temporarily been relocated to the Music Periodicals Reading Room on Level 4 (ask at the Level 4 Help Desk if you have trouble finding them). We have a growing collection of Chinese, Japanese, and Korean materials that are divided into different levels of difficulty. Level 0 is the most simple, Level 6+ is native level reading.
The purpose of this collection is to help you find materials at your reading level that you can read widely without the aid of a dictionary. As your reading skills improve, you can move up to higher levels.
Many of these materials are relatively short and can be read in a single sitting. To make them available to as many patrons as possible we encourage you to read them onsite. However, 5 items can be checked out at a time for a period lasting one week (except for Level 6+ which can be checked out for the regular amount of time).
