Learning Japanese Like It's JavaScript

"You shouldn't just memorize syntax!" they said. Well, I did anyway. And it worked.

The Pandemic Grind

Picture this: March 2020. The world's falling apart, I'm stuck at home, and I decide to learn programming. Everyone's giving the same advice: "Don't just memorize syntax! Focus on understanding!"

But here's what I actually did.

I made Anki cards for everything. for loops, if statements, the entire Array.prototype API. I memorized binary search implementations line by line, then did cloze deletions on the missing pieces. I'd drill these cards every morning like a monk chanting sutras.

People thought I was crazy. "You're just rote learning!" Maybe. But something magical happened after six months of this madness. When I sat down to solve LeetCode problems, my fingers knew what to type before my brain caught up. The patterns were there, muscle memory embedded so deep I could focus on the actual problem-solving instead of fumbling with syntax.

Fast forward to 2024: I'm applying the same obsessive approach to Japanese. And it's working again.

Why Languages Are Just Human APIs

Think about it. When you're learning React, you don't start by reading philosophy papers about component architecture. You copy-paste some useState examples, break them, fix them, and slowly internalize the patterns.

Japanese works the same way:

• Kanji = JavaScript keywords. Fundamental building blocks you need in muscle memory.
• Grammar patterns = Functions and methods. Predictable structures you call over and over.
• Immersion = Real projects. Where you discover edge cases and learn to debug in real time.

The controversial part? I'm not starting with "natural communication." I'm drilling fundamentals until they're automatic. Just like I did with algorithms.

The No-BS Guide to Actually Getting Good

Here's what's working for me after two years of grinding through 2,000+ kanji with RTK (Remembering the Kanji). The approach is simple but not easy:

1. Pick Your Battlegrounds

I run three Anki decks in parallel, each with a single responsibility:

The key insight? Don't make each card do everything. RTK cards don't need perfect pronunciation. Kaishi cards don't need perfect English meaning. Each deck has one job.

2. The Notebook Method (Analog Drilling)

This is where it gets tactical. I use a physical notebook with a three-column system:

Day 0: Write hiragana (left) + English meaning (middle), leave kanji column blank.
Day 1: Fill in kanji from memory, then start new cards on the next page.
Repeat: Each page becomes a two-day cycle with delayed recall for the hardest part.

Why physical? Same reason developers still use whiteboards for system design. Something about hand-writing activates different neural pathways. Plus, it's harder to cheat.

3. Immersion as Integration Testing

Here's where the programming analogy gets weird but useful. You know how you can write perfect unit tests but still have bugs in production? Language learning has the same problem.

My solution:

• Anime with English subs = Reading documentation to understand the feature
• Same anime, no subs = Running it in production and debugging by ear

I'm not trying to understand every word yet. I'm building my ear for the rhythm and flow, letting my brain start recognizing patterns even when I can't parse them consciously.

4. Grammar Mining (The Cloze Method)

Instead of passively reading grammar guides, I turn examples into active recall cards:

私は昨日 [___] に行きました。
(I went [___] yesterday)

Answer: 学校 (school)

It's like turning JavaScript documentation into fill-in-the-blank exercises. You're not just reading about how map() works, you're practicing when to use it.

Tools That Don't Suck

For Drilling:

• Kaishi 1.5k Anki Deck - Core vocabulary with audio
• RTK vol.2 - Kanji meaning recall
• Kana Driller - Quick hiragana/katakana practice

For Grammar:

• Tae Kim's Guide - No fluff explanations
• Genki textbook PDFs - For mining examples into Anki

For Immersion:

• Crunchyroll/Netflix anime - Start with stuff you've already seen
• Duolingo - Actually decent for maintaining streaks and warming up

The Uncomfortable Truth

Most people quit language learning because they expect it to feel natural quickly. But learning Japanese is more like learning Docker than learning to ride a bike. There's an unavoidable period where everything feels mechanical and awkward.

The secret isn't avoiding this awkward phase. It's leaning into it.

When I was memorizing binary search for the hundredth time, it felt stupid. When I'm drilling the same kanji pronunciation patterns for the fifth day in a row, it feels stupid too. But that's exactly when the magic happens. The patterns sink so deep they become unconscious.

What's Next?

I'm four months into this system and starting to see the compound effects. Kanji that used to look like random scribbles now have personality. Grammar patterns I've drilled show up in anime and I catch them without thinking.

The plan for the next six months:

• Scale up to 40+ new cards per day across all decks
• Add conversational practice once core patterns are solid
• Start reading simple manga with furigana
• Maybe try writing basic sentences (the equivalent of coding small projects)

Final Debug

Learning Japanese like JavaScript means accepting that memorization isn't the enemy of understanding. It's the foundation.

You can't write elegant code if you're constantly looking up basic syntax. You can't have fluid conversations if you're mentally translating every particle.

Drill the fundamentals until they're automatic. Then use them to build something interesting.

The patterns will click. They always do.

Resources:

• Learning to Code with Anki
• learnjapanese.moe routine
• Kanji Phonetics Guide