Minna no Nihongo (みんなの日本語, "Japanese for Everyone") is the standard beginner Japanese textbook used in many language schools across Japan and worldwide. Its 25 lessons cover the vocabulary and grammar patterns you need to hold real conversations. This site helps you learn and memorize all the Japanese words for beginners in the book — with furigana, audio pronunciation, example sentences, and flashcard practice.
Get the textbook
You need at least the main textbook. The translation notes are essential for self-study. The romanized version is only for learners who cannot read kana yet.
Minna no Nihongo: Beginner 1, 2nd Edition
The main textbook. Written entirely in Japanese — no English, no romaji. Lessons, dialogues, grammar drills, and exercises all in Japanese. Includes a CD with dialogues and exercises. Covers roughly JLPT N5 level upon completion. Note: the text can be small — a magnifier bookmark and tab index stickers for finding chapters fast can help.
Every learner needs this book.
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Translation & Grammatical Notes (English)
The English study guide companion to the main textbook. Includes vocabulary lists, translations for sentence patterns, example sentences and conversations, reference vocabulary, and grammar explanations. Japanese words are shown in kanji and kana.
Essential for self-study — the main textbook has no English.
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Romanized Translation & Grammatical Notes (English)
The same translation and grammar notes companion as above, but with romaji alongside the hiragana and katakana. Helpful if you can recognize kana but have not yet memorized all the pronunciations — the romaji lets you confirm readings as you go.
Useful while you are still learning to read kana fluently.
View on Amazon →What is the difference between the Minna no Nihongo books?
The main textbook contains all the lessons, dialogues, and exercises — but everything is in Japanese. There is no English anywhere in the book. This is by design: it forces you to learn through immersion.
The Translation & Grammatical Notes is the companion you study alongside the main book. It gives you English translations of every vocabulary word, explains the grammar rules, and provides cultural context. If you are self-studying, you need both books.
The Romanized version of the translation notes is the same companion book, but with romaji printed next to the hiragana and katakana. It helps if you can recognize kana characters but have not yet memorized how to pronounce all of them. Most learners move to the standard translation notes once they are comfortable reading kana.
In short: buy the main textbook plus the translation notes. Add the romanized edition only if you still need help reading kana.
Sample pages are shown below so you can see what each book looks like inside.
Translation & Grammatical Notes — tap to zoom
Romanized Version — tap to zoomLearn the Japanese words
Each lesson introduces new Japanese vocabulary. This site gives you two ways to learn them: browse the word list as a reference, or practice with spaced repetition flashcards.
Set your flashcard pace
The flashcard practice lets you match your study schedule to your class, tutor, or self-study plan. Set how many lessons to cover per week, and the system introduces new vocabulary cards at the right rate. If you are already on lesson 5, start there — earlier vocabulary will appear as review cards so nothing is lost.
Your flashcard progress is saved in this browser. Come back each day to review what is due.
All Word Lists
Browse beginner Japanese vocabulary by lesson.