日本語
Japanese for kids: learn it from your child's own day
By the Parler team · Updated · Read-aloud voices: Japan
The short answer
Children learn Japanese best through everyday life and family: saying いただきます before meals, ただいま coming home, talking about school. Use these small daily phrases, read simple hiragana books together, and let your child tell stories about their day. Parler turns those stories into illustrated pages in Japanese, read aloud with each word lighting up as it is spoken.
Japanese is spoken in Japan and by Japanese families around the world. Children learn it to talk with grandparents and cousins, to prepare for a trip or a move, because a parent is Japanese, or because they love Japanese stories and shows.
For an English-speaking child, pronunciation is one of the easy parts. Japanese has a small set of clear sounds, and most words are spelled the way they sound in hiragana. The grammar is different, though. The verb comes at the end of the sentence, and small words called particles show who did what.
The writing system takes time. Japanese uses three scripts together, and children in Japan learn them step by step over many years. Start with hiragana, enjoy picture books written in it, and let the rest come later.
What’s different
What to know about Japanese for a young learner
- Three scripts, one at a timeJapanese mixes hiragana, katakana and kanji. Hiragana is for everyday Japanese words and grammar, katakana is mostly for words borrowed from other languages, like ボール for ball, and kanji are characters borrowed from Chinese. Japanese children start with hiragana, and so can yours.
- Picture books are written for beginnersJapanese books for young children are usually written all in hiragana, with spaces between phrases. That makes them a great first reader. When kanji do appear, they often have small hiragana above them to show how to read them.
- Use the daily greeting phrasesJapanese family life has set phrases for daily moments: いってきます when leaving, ただいま when coming home, いただきます before eating. Saying them every day gives your child real Japanese with no extra study time.
- Polite and casual speechJapanese changes depending on who you talk to. Family and friends use casual forms, while teachers and strangers hear polite forms ending in です and ます. Children's books often use the polite forms, so your child will hear both naturally.
- Long and short sounds matterIn Japanese, holding a vowel or a consonant a little longer changes the word. おばさん is aunt and おばあさん is grandmother. Clap out the beats of words together to make this easy to hear.
First words
Japanese words for everyday life
Start with the words for their own day: home, family, school and play. They come up every day, so they stick.
| Japanese | English | Say it |
|---|---|---|
| いえ | house | ie |
| ドア | door | doa |
| まど | window | mado |
| ベッド | bed | beddo |
| つくえ | desk | tsukue |
| いす | chair | isu |
| だいどころ | kitchen | daidokoro |
| みず | water | mizu |
| Japanese | English | Say it |
|---|---|---|
| おかあさん | mother | okāsan |
| おとうさん | father | otōsan |
| おにいさん | older brother | onīsan |
| おねえさん | older sister | onēsan |
| おとうと | younger brother | otōto |
| いもうと | younger sister | imōto |
| おばあちゃん | grandma | obāchan |
| おじいちゃん | grandpa | ojīchan |
| Japanese | English | Say it |
|---|---|---|
| がっこう | school | gakkō |
| せんせい | teacher | sensei |
| ほん | book | hon |
| えんぴつ | pencil | enpitsu |
| ノート | notebook | nōto |
| ランドセル | school backpack | randoseru |
| きょうしつ | classroom | kyōshitsu |
| ともだち | friend | tomodachi |
| Japanese | English | Say it |
|---|---|---|
| うれしい | happy | ureshii |
| かなしい | sad | kanashii |
| つかれた | tired | tsukareta |
| こわい | scared, scary | kowai |
| あそぶ | to play | asobu |
| ボール | ball | bōru |
| おもちゃ | toy | omocha |
| こうえん | park | kōen |
Family phrases
Japanese phrases to use at home today
| Japanese | English | Say it |
|---|---|---|
| おはよう | Good morning | ohayō |
| こんにちは | Hello | konnichiwa |
| ありがとう | Thank you | arigatō |
| いただきます | Said before eating | itadakimasu |
| ごちそうさま | Said after eating | gochisōsama |
| いってきます | I'm off (when leaving home) | ittekimasu |
| いってらっしゃい | Have a good day (to someone leaving) | itterasshai |
| ただいま | I'm home | tadaima |
| おかえり | Welcome home | okaeri |
| おやすみ | Good night | oyasumi |
あさ、ともだちと がっこうへ いきます。
In the morning, I go to school with my friend.
Questions
Japanese for kids: questions
Short answers. The help center has more on using Parler.
Visit helpWhat age should my child start learning Japanese?
Any age is a good age. Toddlers can start by hearing daily phrases and songs, and many children are ready to learn hiragana around five or six, which is when Japanese children learn it too.
Which Japanese does Parler's voice use?
Parler reads aloud in standard Japanese as spoken in Japan, the form used in schools, books and on television. It is understood everywhere Japanese is spoken.
Is Parler free?
Yes, you can start free. First Page is free with 5 pictures a month for one learner, and the Storybook plan has a 14-day free trial with 30 pictures and no card needed. Words, translations, voices and reading scores are free.
Can my child learn Japanese if we don't speak it at home?
Yes. Use the set daily phrases at meals and when leaving home, read short hiragana books with a clear voice reading each word, and learn alongside your child. A few minutes every day adds up.
How long does it take a child to learn Japanese?
With daily practice, most children use simple greetings and everyday words within a few months and can read hiragana within a year. Kanji take many years, even for children growing up in Japan, so steady small steps are the goal.
Keep reading
- What's the best age for a child to learn a second language?Is there a best age for a child to learn a second language? Earlier helps with accent, but it is never too late. What changes with age and what matters more.
- How can our whole family learn a language together?How to learn a new language as a whole family: start with family words, label the house, use dinner phrases, hold a weekly language hour and let the kids teach.
- How can my kids learn some of the language before a trip abroad?A simple 4-week plan to help kids learn some of the language before a trip abroad: a phrase a day, role-play at home and short books about the trip itself.
