Pine's Ridiculously Long List of (Mostly) Free Japanese Study Materials
2026 Restart Edition
All my current study materials, because sharing found resources is caring. You may have seen the first version of this in the past, and I had a study lull due to circumstances since I last posted that. Taking everything into consideration, I made a few changes and updates to my list of resources.
Again, these are not JLPT-specific and are for beginners like me. Comparison is truly the thief of joy. I still hate my handwriting, and I still block every YouTube Channel I find that says learn X language in X short time period. I am not its target audience. I am still a slow learner, and that's okay.
As I said in the previous post, find a community because it truly does make a difference. Shoutout to Seitokai's Nihongo Discord!
This list contains the following: my textbook (paid), anki decks, dictionaries (paid and free), a game (paid), grammar and kanji guides, writing practice, watching (not YouTube) and reading resources.
Textbook: Tobira: Beginning Japanese I. This is one of the three resources that are paid. I really like this text book because it's colorful (which, it did matter for me) and physical (which, I did Marugoto, but I prefer turning the pages myself, if that makes sense). You could probably borrow this from z the library.
Genki and Minna no Nihongo are definitely more popular and would have more third-party supplementary material (like on YouTube), but I found they're catered more to university students or classroom learning which does not fit me.
Tobira has a self-study guide containing how they'd suggest you use their textbook to study on your own, and links to videos and audio materials which help you review vocabulary and explain grammar points found in the book. Disregard how their vocabulary videos has beginning spelled as begging. IDK how that got past quality control, but I mean everything else was sound.
Anki decks: And while I understand that Anki is not for everyone (and I suspect I am not too, but I am still in my trying-to-embrace-Anki-phase). Making a deck is a productive form of procrastination, but I digress.
Tatsumoto's Kana (Writing Sub-deck)
Tatsumoto's AnkiDrone Sentence Pack V7
Custom Tobira: Beginning Japanese I Vocab Deck
Dictionaries and similar:
A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar. The second paid resource in this list, sorry! The e-book sold on Amazon does not have good reviews as it's a scanned copy of the book, rather than a properly formatted e-book. I have the physical book copy.
Rikaitan browser extension I use on Firefox with installed JMDict English V4, JMExtra, 日本語文法辞典(全集), and Kanjium
Takoboto site (online) and app (with offline access) dictionary
Youglish site for pronunciation examples.
Stardew Valley Japanese Wiki because no one can stop me from playing this in Japanese even if my pronunciation will likely suffer but I don't care I will complete a playthrough in Japanese! The wiki is free, but the game isn't. I had been playing Stardew Valley years prior to my Japanese learning journey and I love it. Update 1.7 can't come fast enough, but in ConcernedApe and his team I trust.
Ultra Handy Japanese Verb Conjugator because help!
Immersion Kit provides audio and picture examples for Japanese words and phrases. It helps you look up things when you're immersing.
Game:
Wagotabi. This is the third and last paid resource in this list. It's a role-playing game which starts off in English, then gradually changes to Japanese as you play through and learn kana, kanji, vocabulary, and grammar points. It's fun and I have yet to beat my in-game rival because I don't know left from right yet. I am stuck LMAO. I barely know my directions in my native language of Filipino, you can't expect me to know this immediately in Japanese PLEASE.
Grammar: Because if you can't get your hands on a textbook or prefer to just read through the grammar points, there are available free alternatives online which I do refer to from time to time as well.
Cure Dolly Script. This is a transcript based on the YouTube series by Cure Dolly. Whether you're put off by the robotic voice the original creator used or you just want something to read along or refer to, this one is for you.
Sakubi: Yesterday's Grammar Guide
Kanji:
The Kanji Map is where you can search for kanji, their radical, and what other kanji can be related to them.
Handwritten Kanji Search as it says on the tin.
Writing:
Kakikata Generator for Japanese writing sheets. I like how customizable it is, which is very useful for me since there are certain kana characters I would really like to be legible.
Watching:
Famelack. I like the shop channel especially because all I can understand from it so far are the numbers. LOL
Slow Japanese with Yuki. If you're familiar with Comprehensive Input in Japanese on YouTube or in their website, you've likely seen her before. She's the same creator, but this is her post-CIJ venture.
Japanese Media Recommendations that I have yet to go through, but I have it in my bookmarks.
Reading:
Reader Ttsu for reading Japanese materials on a browser, used in conjunction with Rikaitan, since I couldn’t find an e-book reader that I can install a Japanese dictionary in.
Todaii Japanese site and app for easy news reading. Has a one-time lifetime paid option to unlock all the features. It has audio that plays along as you read.
Mangaz for manga if you're into that. Features independent and/or older, more niche work. Also has adult content if you're into that. This site disappeared for a bit because of that whole payment processor issue which like, plagued half the internet last year, but they came back! Not completely beginner friendly, but it's fun to look at!
Tadoku for easy reading materials which really is for beginners.
Open Access Readers is a list of reading resources gathered by the University of British Columbia.
Watanoc is a free web magazine written in simple Japanese.
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Seeing people I know and like using AI is making me understand the protagonists of those old time sci fi dystopia's.
"Oh I don't normally use AI, I just wanted it to plan my trip"
You lived on this planet for decades, you know what you like, there are hundreds of websites where you can type into any search engine " things to do in [area]" and have at least a hundred different options.
"Oh I only use it so I can figure out what to make during the week with what I have"
The most popular website as you type in "recipes" into google have sections where you click dinner- quick and easy and those usually rely on staples + 1 or 2 items. I found 30 recipes on chicken alone.
"I had a writing idea, so I typed a few sentences into Chat GPT and I was able to write 20 pages with it."
Fandoms have a serious problem with how creators are being treated these days.
Fandom creators spend hours of their free time to create something to make fandom thrive...for free and for the love of the game.
And what do they get? A wholeass heap of fuck all. No reblogs, no comments, no nothing. And people are surprised that creators are dropping out left, right, and centre??
"Why is there no long fic anymore?" "Why did my favourite writer stop?" "Why is my favourite artist not posting anymore?"
I implore you to ask yourself: "What's the last thing I did to support my fandom? Does my favourite creator know they are my favourite? When was the last time I left a comment under something?"
the thing about ai witch hunt is that instead of spreading awareness about why and how ai can be harmful, people focus their energy on harassing other people instead. so instead of actually achieving something, fandom space and the internet as a whole just became twice as toxic because people have found a ✨noble way✨ to tell other people to off themselves and get praises for it. you’re not helping. you’re part of the problem
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I can read a fanfiction and I will picture settings a certain way. A house, a field, any event....
Then, when I move on, those scenes are completely different.
I can go YEARSSS without reading a specific fic. But, once I do, my brain automatically pictures the scenery exactly how it did the first time I read it. Idk, that just fucks with me lol
i get so emotional every time i think about fanfic culture. it's just so beautiful that people are writing and anonymously posting these thousand-word stories about characters we all love and not even getting any money or public fame from it. it's literally just for the love of the game.
shout out to everyone who participates in fanfic culture, be it reading or writing fanfics. you are contributing to such a lovely thing <3
I know you've covered rude bot comments on ao3 before but have they always been this bad?? My friend received this comment on their fic and it's absolutely horrific and stupid, claiming they're a pedo and have a criminal record and stuff
they are bots. always assume their goal is to harm you and your works, so they will stoop as low as they can. don’t let them get to you. don’t give them what they want. they may be disgusting and vile, but they’re not worth your attention and at the end of the day all they can ever be is just a pathetic troll with no life. report them to ao3 and keep doing what you love.
more about bots and scams on ao3’s comments section here
Well there is actually, they’re friends. They’re friends and they love each other and it doesn’t mean any less than if they were dating and they loved each other. They’re friends and that means devotion and affection and loyalty and love, and there is no point in which that love reaches a level that immediately indicates that their relationship must be romantic.
The best writing advice I ever got was that you should write dialogue without tags or any interruptions first, and add that in later. because you can see the scene in your head and writing just the dialogue first helps you envision what the characters would actually say without worrying about all the extra stuff, and it helps your dialogue end up sounding more natural and consistent.
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People need to write more Megaman X/Classic crossover stuff where x meets his family and zero meets his. Think of all the angst, think of all the fluff, think of the drama! I want to see zero and bass interaction with each other. I want to see X gong out with rock and roll and meet blues. I want Zero to meet the other wily bots and realize they are not just destructive machines created by a madman but actual people. I want x to hang out with the other light bots !
Or maybe have the classic character hang out in the future, think of the possibilities!
4: "If you could put this character in any other media, be it a book, a movie, anything, what would you put them in?":
I'm honestly not too sure.
14: "Assign a fashion aesthetic to this character":
Anything crimson red or has darker colors (but not too dark) or which adds to the "mysterious" vibe.
24: "What other character from another fandom of yours that reminds you of them?":
This might be partly due to seeing a piece of fan art done by a friend and talking about it with her, but... Knuckles from the Sonic franchise.
They were both introduced in the third installment of their respective series, start off as enemies towards their respective characters (Sonic/Rock), which is fueled both by a misunderstanding about them and manipulation by a mad doctor) and are both aloof in nature.
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So you can avoid them stealing things from you, the artist/writer, etc.
Pro GenAI websites/Programs:
Facebook
Instagram
X/Twitter (Remember, Grok gives people cancer)
Threads
Pro Writing Aid
Grammarly
Duolingo
Google Docs
Microsoft Word/all Microsoft products Takes from and will feed their machine.
Youtube (taking advantage of people who are hearing impaired. ==;;)
Adobe Products. All of them. If you HAVE to use them (Some businesses require it), save offline because there is a film of at least some privacy protections there, so if you have to sue, you can say it violates US privacy law. Remember, contracts do not circumvent US law.
Corel won't feed the machines, but still uses AI stolen from other artists. Which sucks since Corel Draw is the second best overall for vector programs. (Plus I love Painter, but I bought the offline version to avoid AI). (Canadian company)
Canva Takes and feeds their machine.
Deviant Art Not only supports AI, but put a tool in and said they are going to steal your work if you like it or not for their machine.
Sketchup went Pro-GenAI. The thing is that you can do the same thing in Blender these days with precise measurements.
Autodesk has stated they are Pro-Gen AI here. It is not clear if they will use your models to feed their machine. But be on guard. They make Maya and 3Dmax. You can replace it with Blender.
Neutral ground:
Tumblr (there is a way to opt out [Link] and they don't have an active AI machine.) https://www.tumblr.com/dookins/743519550598987776/heres-how-to-disable-third-parties-like-ai
Etsy allows GenAI, but still has some (minor) restrictions. I'd still be cautious. (Also be cautious of drop shippers). Complaints about too much AI and AI images+patterns made by Ai still exist on the website. They lean slightly more pro-AI, but still won't let it run completely amok, say like Facebook. They won't feed your work into a machine, but also don't ban it through robots.txt.
Bluesky They don't use an AI algorithm except for in the "Discover" section of their website, but while they are anti-GenAI strongly, they don't seem to block the Gen AI bots from entry, so you'd still have to use Nightshade or Glaze (links below). There is no opt-out because they don't need an opt out. (Leaning towards strong position on AI, but I wish they would block GenAI bots).
Searxng- If you super want to screw over Google, in general, and have some tech savvy, you can set up your own search engine through searxng. It's easier on Windows and Linux than it is on a Mac. (Mac you need Docker), but if you're determined on privacy, Searxng adds a layer of privacy. Some of it sometimes uses bits of AI, but most of it doesn't and you can fuss with the settings so it doesn't spit out AI results. At sheer minimum Google will stop spitting out weird videos on Youtube at you because in your private browsing, you searched for the origin of ball bearings while not logged in for a book and Google likes to break privacy laws.
Strong positions against AI:
Scrivener (Creator vowed against AI) Writing program. There is an active forum, and versions for Mac, Linux and PC. It is paid, but at ~60 USD, it's cheaper than most programs. There is usually a holiday sale around Christmas. It has a learning curve, but with an active forum with the programmer of it there to ask obscure questions it's not a dead zone. They often take suggestions and implement them over time. (Especially if you rank the importance, applications, etc) US company.
LibreOffice Open source and free Spreadsheet and Word processor program that can replace Microsoft Word. Some people might have seen older versions where it was called Neo Office (now extinct) and Open Office. LibreOffice is still populated, plus the forums are super helpful if you get stuck. The UX is pretty intuitive if you've used Microsoft Word. Scrivener, BTW, supports exporting to odt (the native file) as well as .doc, and this can open both. The slight thing is that sometimes it doesn't export to .doc smoothly. And I DO wish more magazines, and agent (big clue here) supported .odt files since it is free. Part of the reason .odt isn't as supported is because Microsoft and Adobe have a deal with the devil with each other, so Adobe's Book formatting program InDesign doesn't support ODT. (BTW, if you have a good open source replacement for InDesign that supports ODT, let me know.)
Dabble (as suggested by SF stories, see reblog) is a writing program. Similar to Scrivener. Has vowed against AI and to resist it. 108 dollars a year for Basic. It is almost twice the price of Scrivener who lets you update for fairly cheap. 29 dollars a month, v. 59 dollars for the whole program (Scrivener) for the same features of Premium. You choose.
yWriter is a free Writing program and like Scrivener, and has vowed against AI Last I looked it had some UX issues, but some people swear by it. The learning curve is higher than Scrivener which is saying something.
Ellipsus is an online writing program and vowed against AI. The main feature I like (which Scrivener doesn't have) is the ability to change spellcheck based on region/language. It is a requested feature of Scrivener, but lower priority. So if you have a Brit, you can get the spelling for the character. They are a British-based company.
Cara.app (The creator of the website sued GenAI there is no chance they'll convert) is an artist website. Cara is trying to institute an auto Glaze/Nightshade into the website if given enough funds. People see it as a soft replacement for deviant art. (which went fully AI) If you believe in human art, please donate if you can. Zhang Jingna, the Creator,is Chinese-Singporean. She lives in Singapore.
Clip Studio Paint added AI, but saw the light and decided to protect artists instead because of protest and removed it. There are tutorials and a good forum if you get super stuck. Based in Japan, so the UI and UX is really clean.
Davinci Resolve Pro is a film editing software that's super good. There is a free version and a paid version. The forums are responsive. The programmers aren't always present. There is a healthy group of tutorials. US company. Clean UX. It does take a little bit of time to remember the shortcuts.
Tahoma2D is anti-AI and open source animation program. Takes a little getting used to, but is good for animations and doesn't crash as often as Animate. Programmers are in the forums and some bugs are fixed within hours. The forums are super responsive and helpful.
Krita open source and free, no AI. I'd rank it secondary to Clip Studio Paint (which is paid) I haven't tried the forums, but it's pretty intuitive and can stand for a lower level replacement for Painter, and do a lot of the basics of Photoshop. It's usually ranked higher than the equally open source Gimp.
Writer P AKA Writer+ (app for when you're on the go) is a simple word processor app for your phone that doesn't use AI. The original programmer stopped updating, so Writer+ person took over and isn't out to make a profit since it's free in the spirit of the original app. It has subfolders you can use. Since it was programmed before GenAI it doesn't have AI. Intuitive, easy to use. Fairly easy to upload the files through three dots->share. The files can save to your card or phone with some settings fussing. Simple word processor.
Inkscape is a free vector program and no AI. It is harder to use than illustrator and has less features. But if you're doing smaller vectors for one-offs with less complexity, it'll do you after some learning curve. Best of the lot. I hate Affinity Designer which is the same thing, only paid. (Neither Affinity program was worth the money paid)
Affinity (Designer, etc) swore to be AI-free and does Vector and Photos. The UX is messy, I dislike the program and regret paying for it. Inkscape and Krita are better UX and do the same thing. The forums aren't as friendly since there has been an onslaught of people seeing it's supposed to be a replacement for Photoshop and Illustrator, but the programmers aren't present. The people on the forums are often on edge about this assertion. And the capabilities of the program don't outshine basically Krita or Inkscape capabilities (both free). What is usually intuitive is not. UK company. If you're going to pay for a program, go for Clip Studio Paint which rivals Corel Painter.
Blender is a 3D art program and does not use GenAI. It can do 2D animation, but Tahoma is easier to use in this regard. It's open source and free. Plus there are plenty of tutorials. The forums can be touch and go sometimes, but there are plenty of sub Blender communities that might be responsive. It can also do animation.
Handmade vowed against AI and promised to never sell itself for stock prices to prevent AI (as a replacement for Etsy.)
Discover a world of creativity and craftsmanship through Handmade, an innovative platform connecting passionate artisans with discerning buy
Proton (to replace Google Suite) as suggested by SF Stories (see reblog) Vowed against AI. They are missing a spreadsheet, but have online and offline capabilities, plus a built-in VPN.
But you need a pro website...
Look up robots.txt and AI bots: https://www.cyberciti.biz/web-developer/block-openai-bard-bing-ai-crawler-bots-using-robots-txt-file/
Use cloudflare:
Use Nightshade:
https://nightshade.cs.uchicago.edu/whatis.html
which will poison the algorithm
Use Glaze:
Take Away:
The thing is you think you doing it alone will do nothing, but the more AI feeds on itself, AI images, the worse they become, and the less detailed so, denying it the images, adding poison or not being able to read the human text is eventually going to lead to an AI collapse.
Analysis shows that indiscriminately training generative artificial intelligence on real and generated content, usually done by scrapi
And why not help that along?
I don't want to give cancer to poor people [Link] or make the planet burn faster [Link]. So GenAI collapse is everything I dream of. GenAI apocalypse is not.
