39 Free Japanese Courses You Should Sign Up For Right Now

Big news over at eduFire. I migggghhhttt have had something to do with it (wink wink, nudge nudge, Monty Python reference), but there’s a huge number of free live Japanese courses starting in the next few days. I counted 35, total, not including the courses from me I just put up (where up to 99 of you can join a course). Here’s a list of all the courses, along with an explanation of how these courses work.

Free Japanese Courses

I’ve organized these by Japanese level, and start date (so the higher up on the list, the sooner it’s starting). There are repeats in the list, but that’s because some classes are offered for different time zones. Many of these classes are actually a series of classes (which means there are many more than the ones listed below). These should be free for another month or more, so get in early and take advantage of this deal as much as you can. Classes on eduFire are in testing right now, which means that you’re helping out by trying it out. Win-win for everyone, though I think you get more win than anyone :)

Beginner:

12/03 Beginners Japanese A02 – Where are you from?
12/03 Beginners Japanese A01 – Introductions
12/04 Beginners Japanese A04 – Tell me about your Family
12/04 Beginners Japanese A03 – What’s your job?
12/04 Basic Japanese
12/06 Basic Japanese
12/06 Introduction to Japanese Proverbs and Idioms
12/07 Beginner’s Japanese
12/07 Basic Japanese
12/08 Beginers Japanese 04: Tell Me About Your Family
12/08 Beginers Japanese A02: Where Are You From?
12/08 Beginers Japanese A03: What’s Your Job?
12/08 Beginners Japanese A01
12/08 Beginner’s Japanese
12/09 Beginner Japanese
12/09 Japanese For Beginners Jump Start
12/09 Japanese For Beginners Jump Start
12/10 Japanese Customs/Events
12/10 Japanese Customs/Events
12/10 Japanese Comprehension
12/10 Japanese Comprehension
12/12 Explore J-Pop & J-Rock
12/13 Japanese for Tourists / Travelers
12/13 Japanese for Tourists / Travelers
12/15 Useful Japanese Phrases
12/16 Master Hiragana & Katakana
12/16 Master Hiragana & Katakana
12/18 Beginner Japanese with Genki
12/18 Beginner Japanese with Genki
12/19 Explore J-Pop & J-Rock
01/06 Tofugu’s “Japanese for Complete Beginners”
01/06 Tofugu’s “Japanese for Complete Beginners”

Intermediate / Advanced:

12/04 Reading For Japanese
12/06 Intermediate Conversational Japanese
12/07 Intermediate Conversational Japanese
12/07 Reading For Japanese
12/17 Advanced Japanese Conversation
01/17 Business Japanese

Ones with ★’s are run by myself, but take a look at all of them, please!

Now, remember that a lot of these are repeating classes, or they are in a series, so in actuality there are a ton more classes than listed above. You have to poke around and find the ones that repeat every week. It just depends on the type of course. For example, my courses take place twice a week and last for a couple weeks (or a month, depending on the one you look at) These courses are taught by a bunch of different teachers, so go find the teachers you like! More are going to be added, so check out the classes page to see more (not to mention all the other non-Japanese classes going on as well).

How Courses Work

Online courses are really fun one-to-one, but I enjoy group classes even more. The culture is a lot different than from a normal classroom, and we tend to have a lot of fun (any of you been to a previous course?). It really depends on the teacher, but they can do power point presentations, have people come up on video/audio to practice, put people in groups to practice, etc., etc.

This was at the end of a course I did on the Top Ten Free Resources for learning Japanese. I did a poll at the end to see what people thought were their favorites. There’s different layouts, and I made this one custom to allow for a lot of chatting back and forth. Here’s another thing I did before class started, where five people got to play with the whiteboard feature.

There’s a lot of flexibility in this program, and although a lot of teachers are still getting the hang of it, and practicing, it’s also an opportunity for you to get some free Japanese lessons. So, if you’ve always wanted to start Japanese, now is your chance. Seriously. Best. Deal. Ever.

Have any of you participated in any of these classes? I know for a fact that some of you have…

Related posts:

  1. Win an iPhone 3GS by Learning Japanese
  2. 8 Ways to Win Unlimited Japanese Lessons (and counting)
  3. 10 Ways to Hack Google to Become an Awesome Japanese Learning Resource

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  • WOTDsctoo
    >>Have any of you participated in any of these classes? I know for a fact that some of you have…

    Haha, I guess you're looking for testimonials. XD

    I've taken a couple classes, and they were pretty fun / informative. The one's by Koichi were the most fun (although I've only taken one that wasn't from him). Having the large audience lends the lesson a tooon of energy. :)
  • SarahXin
    Thanks for posting these!!!! :D
  • Serena
    Wow, this is a great !
    ありがとございます!
  • Ank
    Too bad about all the time differences. I've not really had the chance to participate in one, since I live in Europe and that's not necessarily the time zone people are taking into account when doing double classes -.-
  • There should be quite a few, you just have to search for them, which is kind of a pain right now
  • KitsuneDragon
    That is so cool! Hopefully I can participate those :D But I've never been to those online classes so idk how it is. Can anyone tell me there experience? Do you need a webcam?
  • Depends on the teacher - I don't require one, because I tend to do more students and do things more lecture style. Just look at the description of the class, and most people will tell you if it's required or not.
  • KitsuneDragon
    oh ok, thanks for the reply ^.=.^
  • Moelypoly
    I've participated in 5 Japanese classes on eduFIRE thus far. I immediately signed up for 40+ more sessions after those first 5. They were more than great! Great set-up and very easy to use for new comers. And best of all...THEY'RE FREE! I mean you can't ask for a better deal in this economy O_O

    eduFIRE has a great community of people, all of whom are very helpful. I say try the classes out, you have nothing to lose and a wonderful wealth of knowledge to gain!
  • WOW, you've done a ton. I agree, though. Amazing deal :)
  • I Love EduFire :')

    Now if only all tutors knew about Private vs Public classes.
  • Seriously, right?
    That's definitely something eduFire should reword, though, I think
  • That isn't a bad proposal, Ideas board maybe?
  • Good idea! Go for it :)
  • sophiebee
    Thanks for this great post. I've joined a few classes which should be intersting. There was alot that I wanted to attend but they were allready filled or the wrong time for me. Hopefully my first class won't be too confusing to use.
  • oh nose! Hopefully more will be added soon.
  • J.A.
    Yo, Koichi, I have a question, Is it ok for me to use the microphone on my computer instead of a headset? And when we register in edufire, do we have to use our real name? :) thanks for reading.
  • Yep, that's what I do usually.

    You don't have to use a real name, though I think it's normally encouraged.

    Look forward to seeing you there, I hope!
  • Just a quick question...

    Anyone getting the reference of the image at the top?
  • Fredy
    No. :(
  • Catherine
    signed up after continually hearing about it. On exploring, it does look good and perhaps a little impulsively I've signed myself up for a few courses. I like the fact that a) it's free and b) it's proper japanese lessons for free. Any classes I'e found round here have been well over £100 so this is pretty cool! The different time zones really suck though. One of the courses I'm interested in (two in fact) are at 3:00am. Crazy...

    ps. It's only Japanese ones that are going free for a bit aren't they?
  • I registered for one of your classes! I can't wait :3
  • I just did Nana's intermediate Japanese class. I liked it because Nana is a tough mofo. It wasn't too difficult, but she just pressed hard, and only spoke in Japanese, and got you to speak.

    I think the class isn't too hard for anyone whose studied for a year or two. And I definitely recommend it.
  • Mau
    hey Koichi, I'm new to edufire and I'm really excited about these classes, I enrolled for few but I have a question. I clicked "register for this class" and then in my profile it appears that I enrolled with all of the classes that particular teacher is giving. Is that normal? O.o Like for example: I registered for tomorrow at 10pm and in my profile it lists that same class but with all the other times and days... ^^;
  • That's because the class you enrolled for is actually a series of classes
    (most likely). I listed off approx 40 lessons that are available, but many
    of them are actually a series of classes :)

    Some classes may be a "one-off" class that repeats, though, and if this is
    one of those then you'll probably want to unenroll after you take the class.
  • Mau
    ohhh ok, XD thanks! Now I get it.
  • Thanks for this post. I am actually looking forward to studying some distance-learning Japanese language courses.
  • Wow great courses can you provide certificates for these courses?

    Thanks
  • Great courses can you provide certificates for these courses? if you provide certificates it is good online course.

    Thanks
  • maners
    funny, i saw the "wink wink, nudge nudge, say no more" vid no more than an hour ago.
  • Zhana
    hey!! :P
    i wanna learn Japanese too!
    Ihave katakana down, but that's about it... i wanna find a good class starting around now (specifally by you if possible cuz u r awesome) and if edufire's free why does it say Cost: __USD?? i'm really confuzzled here lol. any help?
  • Somce classes are going to cost money, most japanese classes are still free
    though. This article's pretty old, which means classes have since come out
    of beta testing, and are out in the real world, which means teachers have
    the ability to affix a $$$ amount to them. Here is Japanese:
    http://www.edufire.com/classes/japanese

    Cheers!
  • Zhana
    Thank you!! I really had no idea though because I had never been on edufire before. Pity.
    P.S i just signed up for your Japanese for Complete Beginners class :P i missed the first one because like I said I just signed up. Thankfully and somewhat coincidentally I just got through with Hiragana and should be just fine for the second class! Can't wait!

    Yours,
    Zhana
  • i just wanted to learn jap...
    AAARRGHH!!!
    I just finished enrolling in this Japanese second language course for school, i'm in year 11, and its going towards my end of year grades how i do. i'm doing vce in victoria, australia, they wrote on the VCE website that it would be better to have had previous tuition in the subject, however not completely nescerrary to become successful in the subject-i was so excited!!! and now i enrol via this distance ed program because it isnt a subject in my school, and i looked at the work and i think i'm gonna puke!!!! AAARRRGHHH!!! they expect us to know all of this vocabulary and some kanji too!! anyways, i am gonna have to study a lot if i want to catch up...otherwise i'll fail my grade...T_T
    to anybody who took the time to read this to the bottom: thankyou for acknowledging my desperation and sorrow...i just felt like i had to tell someone...
  • acknowledged :)
  • Thanks for providing that list, i won't be able to devote time for that as of now but surely would refer this list when i decide upon the same. Thanks anyways.
  • but tell me first how should we learn "japanese language",the toughest language courses for free,what a joke,who handles this ,i think may be some japanese!
  • I've joined a few classes which should be intersting. There was alot that I wanted to attend but they were allready filled or the wrong time for me. Hopefully my first class won't be too confusing to use.On exploring, it does look good and perhaps a little impulsively I've signed myself up for a few courses. I like the fact that a) it's free and b) it's proper japanese lessons for free. Any classes I'e found round here have been well over £100 so this is pretty cool! The different time zones really suck though.
  • I've joined a few classes which should be intersting. There was alot that I wanted to attend but they were allready filled or the wrong time for me. Hopefully my first class won't be too confusing to use.On exploring, it does look good and perhaps a little impulsively I've signed myself up for a few courses. I like the fact that a) it's free and b) it's proper japanese lessons for free. Any classes I'e found round here have been well over £100 so this is pretty cool! The different time zones really suck though.
  • Grant
    Koichi Could the tofugu team post more videos? I
    I ges people might have truble reading the prent on the sight becouse of its sie.
    myself included/

    P.S.
    the Email is not working so just post a responce here
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