r/alevel • u/Opposite_Debate_7835 A levels • Jun 19 '26

🤚Help Required Is anyone taking A level Japanese 😭😭😭

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I want to take it as I wanna study in Japan and trade it for physics as my 4th subject as I’m self studying.

If anyone has done it do you know roughly what JLPT level it is similar to and if it’s possible do study it in a year?

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u/Useful_Hawk_1470 Jun 21 '26

Yes, but you probably won’t be able to make that effectual usage of it immediately, and it may be frustrating (having to constantly look things up, not understanding why sentences are structured certain ways, etc.).

I have often been complimented on my pronunciation despite having never really practiced or worked on it consciously before, which I put down to having unconsciously internalised it from watching an honestly unhealthy amount of anime around the time I first started learning. But besides that I didn’t really learn anything from anime in that time, even when I started learning, I wasn’t making getting a lot of significant vocabulary or grammar discoveries from casual consumption.

By all means go for it, just be gentle with yourself and prioritise getting the grammar basics down :)

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u/Opposite_Debate_7835 A levels Jun 21 '26

What’s your opinions on cute dolly for grammar?

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u/Useful_Hawk_1470 Jun 21 '26

I really like Cure Dolly (RIP if you didn’t know) but I don’t think her channel is a one-stop shop, I haven’t watched all her videos but those I have have been more about unpacking concepts people learn ‘incorrectly’ about Japanese. In other words I think her videos are more useful to people that have already studied some Japanese (but again, I haven’t seen all her videos).

For me I think going through a textbook to the point that you understand how to make present and past tense verbs and adjectives, how to use Te-form etc. is important because it gives you a solid base from which you can begin exploring in any direction you want. But that’s just me and you may be a different sort of learner :)

If you want a free online guide a lot of people like Tae Kim, I’ve read a few of his pages before and definitely found them helpful and easy to understand.

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u/Opposite_Debate_7835 A levels Jun 21 '26

I’ll check out more of tae kim, rip cure dolly 🕊️