Lady ordering food in a Japanese restaurant.

Learning Japanese?

Meet NativShark.

Log in. Press Study Now. Achieve your dream.

Risk-free. No payment information required to sign up.

Why choose NativShark?

Study anywhere, any time.

NativShark is designed to work seemlessly on your phone, tablet, and computer.

Whether you're at home, the park, or on your lunch break, the path to your language goals is always the click of the "Study Now" button away.*

Save time & money

The average NativShark learner takes about 5-6 months to learn more than what they could get from 2 and a half years at university.

For a fraction of the cost.

No more stress

NativShark creates your learning plan for you, so all you need to do is log in and hit the “Study Now” button.

We'll be there for you, both at the start of your journey + years and years down the road.

Natural Japanese from day one

NativShark sets you up for success by teaching you what textbooks and other apps don’t.

No more getting lost when you step out into the real world.

It's the last core resource you'll ever need.

A path to high proficiency

NativShark has years of learning content available to be studied and gets weekly content updates.

Everything you see in NativShark builds upon itself and is reintroduced to you throughout your journey, allowing you to get a deeper understanding of all pieces of the Japanese language without dropping you off before you reach your goals.

A comprehensive approach

NativShark teaches you all parts of the Japanese language.

We cover the writing systems, vocab, listening, and grammar while going over how language is used in everyday life, Japanese media, and academic fields.

We also teach Japanese culture, history, and so much more.

No more getting lost when you step out into the real world.

Straightforward

The path is simple:

Log in. Hit Study Now at least once. Then go use your Japanese!

We also send free study tips, guides, and 30 days of free mini-lessons to your email when you sign up to help kick off your learning.

It's the last core resource you'll ever need.

What people are saying

See it on Discord ↗
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Watch Party
Komi Can't Communicate
Episode 5
Bananarama

I'm about to finish Phase 1 of Nativshark, and just tested out of first-year Japanese at university! Thanks to the Nativshark team for making this amazing platform!

See it on Discord ↗
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Watch Party
Komi Can't Communicate
Episode 5
Kasper | カスパー

I genuinely feel like NativShark is setting a new standard for how language learning should be... It's just a really amazing system

Kasper | カスパー
Kasper | カスパー
See it on Discord ↗
See it on Discord ↗
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Watch Party
Komi Can't Communicate
Episode 5
Seltox | セルトックス

Studying how I thought was best is what led to me starting and ultimately failing to learn Japanese like 3 times over the last decade. Letting someone else control the whole thing is what let me finally start succeeding, and it's ultimately what I personally find to be NativShark’s greatest strength.

Seltox | セルトックス
Seltox | セルトックス
See it on Discord ↗
See it on Discord ↗
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Watch Party
Komi Can't Communicate
Episode 5
ThatOneGuyJoeii

Officially at one year of studying Japanese. Really proud of myself, only missed one day the whole year. ... Thank you to everyone who has helped me on my journey over this last year!

ThatOneGuyJoeii
ThatOneGuyJoeii
See it on Discord ↗
See it on Discord ↗
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Watch Party
Komi Can't Communicate
Episode 5
steele | スティル

The thing i'm enjoying the most rn about the lessons are the notes about living in Japan. ... I'm already grateful for the warm atmosphere that the lessons are giving off as it pertains to learning how to navigate Japan through language.

steele | スティル
steele | スティル
See it on Discord ↗
See it on Discord ↗
Movie reel image
Watch Party
Komi Can't Communicate
Episode 5
Danny | ダニー

Today I had a language exchange with a Japanese speaker and we used a mixture of English and Japanese. I felt so much more confident when he complimented my pronunciation, but the hardest part of it was putting together a sentence in real-time without the luxury of texting and being able to think about it. It was a good experience, though!

Danny | ダニー
Danny | ダニー
See it on Discord ↗
See it on Discord ↗
Movie reel image
Watch Party
Komi Can't Communicate
Episode 5
Justin | ジェステン

A little over 14 hours of effort and I already have Japanese I'm comfortable using around my family. ❤️ these little hits afforded by Milestones!

Justin | ジェステン
Justin | ジェステン
See it on Discord ↗
See it on Discord ↗
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Watch Party
Komi Can't Communicate
Episode 5
David | デーベッド

You all are doing such a great job with the platform already and I want you to know it's very much appreciated! Thanks to NS I can now finally start watching anime in japanese and not be completely lost xD

David | デーベッド
David | デーベッド
See it on Discord ↗
See it on Discord ↗
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Watch Party
Komi Can't Communicate
Episode 5
Laura | ラウラ

Finished part one of Bookworm. That‘s 72 chapters, 1.946 iPad-sized pages, ~10% of the entire series done, 215 custom flashcards (so far) and 1 day and 18 hours logged on Nativshark (first 14 chapters were before the immersion tracker). I’m really proud of myself for sticking to one chapter a day since February almost every day even with starting a new job. Making numbers go up has never been more fun!

Laura | ラウラ
Laura | ラウラ
See it on Discord ↗
See it on Discord ↗
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Watch Party
Komi Can't Communicate
Episode 5
MrWalrusGumboot | スコット

Just want to say you guys (and the wider team) are awesome! It’s so nice to see you taking on suggestions from the community and integrating them so quickly and effectively. The progress made in the year I’ve been a member has been huge. I’ve tried just about every learning tool out there, and NS [NativShark] is my first recommendation to anyone interested in learning Japanese. Just wanted to express my appreciation, thank you!

MrWalrusGumboot | スコット
MrWalrusGumboot | スコット
See it on Discord ↗
See it on Discord ↗
Movie reel image
Watch Party
Komi Can't Communicate
Episode 5
River | リー (they/them)

One big reason I got so interested and involved with NativShark was the early transparency about being mindful of not burning out and readjusting expectations, to me it really set the tone as a company, product and group of people that I could put my trust in

River | リー (they/them)
River | リー (they/them)
See it on Discord ↗
See it on Discord ↗
Movie reel image
Watch Party
Komi Can't Communicate
Episode 5
phoebe | フィービー

Hit my first 1-0-0 on NS the other day! 🦈 💯 though I did miss a few days and want to be spending more time on it per day, I’m so glad to have found fun structured learning that keeps me consistent. without NS I’m sure I would’ve given up like 2 months ago lol have got a looong ways to go but slow and steady 🐢

phoebe | フィービー
phoebe | フィービー
See it on Discord ↗
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Make progress
Your extensive learning path

We teach the entire Japanese language from scratch. Concepts build upon one another, taking you to an advanced level.

Keep tabs on your progress along the way, see what you've studied recently, what's coming up today, and your overall study stats.

Support for the journey
Free comprehensive guides

We don't only teach you the language, we also support you to make the learning journey easy.

See our library of guides and support articles, including the Japanese learning essentials guide, how to make stress-free progress, and how to learn with the media you love.

Join the club.

Building a consistent study habit is a core pillar of success in reaching your language goals.

match

Unlit Match

Beginning

Every day you log into NativShark and complete your reviews, it will count as a day towards your Days Studied achievements.

lit match

1 Day

After studying for a day, your match will be lit.

lit candle

3 Days

Keep it up for 3 days, and you'll move that flame over to a candle.

clay oil lamp

7 Days

Studying for a whole 7 days buys you an oil lamp to replace your candle.

Torch on fire

28 Days

28 days of study means you're ready to carry this torch to your achievement!

kindling for campfire

60 Days

Get your days studied up to 60 days, and you're ready to start your kindling fire.

campfire

166 Days

After about 24 weeks or 5.724137 moon cycles, you'll notice your kindling fire is now a comfy campfire.

A fiery bonfire that represents having a 365 day streak on NativShark.

365 Days

One Year

Your campfire turns into a bonfire. Very cozy. Very toasty.

volcano erupting

550 Days

Your toasty bonfire turns into a toasty volcano.

comet burning up in atmosphere

730 Days

Two Years

You're relaxing on your volcano when you see a comet in the sky. That is the comet that you earned from studying for 730 days, two full years. That's quite the achievement. Good work.

burning sun

1,095 Days

Three Years

Your comet reaches the sun and melts into it. You've studied for 1,095 days, or 3 years. Feel free to stare at the sun on your screen. Can't recommend doing so with the real-life version, even with sunglasses.

supernova

1,460 Days

Four Years

Your sun turns into a supernova. You kept up your studies for so long that you out-studied the lifespan of your sun. Impressive.

black hole

2,920 Days

Eight Years

Your supernova moves onto the next phase of its life and turns into a black hole. We knew you really absorbed information, but enough to spawn a black hole? With dedication of this level, there's nothing you can't do.

For those who find such things motivating, we've got some fun rewards along the way to mark your progress.

The more days you study, the further you climb!

Begin your journey today.

Risk-free. No payment information required to sign up.

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Frequently asked questions

Does NativShark teach me everything I need to learn Japanese?

Will NativShark prepare me for the JLPT?

What makes NativShark different from any other resource?

What if I already know some Japanese?

Can I cancel or pause a subscription?

Is there an app?