京都駅へようこそ！
Kyōto eki e yōkoso!
Welcome to Kyoto Station!
You step off the shinkansen onto the platform. The station is enormous, modern, buzzing with people. Who are you today?
Choose a persona
Pick someone to travel as, or be yourself. This shapes your conversations and what you learn.
Jo Forsyth
ジョー・フォーサイス
Business professional. Been coming to Japan for years. Photography, food, culture.
Intermediate
👤
Aki
あき
Student. Native Japanese. Your casual conversation partner.
Casual
?
You
Write a short description of yourself below.
Any level
👤
Tonia Martinez
トニア・マルティネス
Artist. First time in Japan. Curious about people and culture.
Beginner
👤
Nobu Kihara
木原 信
Professor, University of Sendai. Your sensei for formal and academic Japanese.
Sensei
A sentence or two. This shapes your scenarios.
How Japanese really sounds
Textbooks start with polite form (tabemasu). We start with how people actually talk (taberu). You learn to produce casual Japanese and recognise the polite forms you hear from service staff.
Casual — learn this
食べる
taberu
Friends, family, peers
Polite
食べます
tabemasu
Strangers, service, first meetings
Humble
いただきます
itadakimasu
Keigo, recognition only
You can switch register any time from the top right of every lesson page.
Explore Kyoto
You can change any of this later.