Genki Flow
Learn Japanese in 5 Minutes
Speak Japanese from day one. Each bite-sized episode builds your skills with real grammar, real sentences, and real pronunciation. Pause, repeat, and practice — the listener is the student.
56 episodes
Ep. 1: Your First Japanese Words
Learn essential Japanese greetings and introduce yourself with the XはYです pattern in this 5-minute lesson.
Ep. 2: Greetings for Every Occasion
Learn Japanese greetings for evening, goodbye, and apology plus talk about your nationality with the desu pattern.
Ep. 3: Your First Self-Introduction
Combine greetings, the desu pattern, and daily expressions into a full Japanese self-introduction.
Ep. 4: Asking Your First Questions
Learn the question marker か and essential question words: how are you, are you okay, where, and what time.
Ep. 5: Review 1 — Everything So Far
Drill greetings, self-introduction, daily expressions, and questions from episodes 1-4.
Ep. 6: The Topic Marker は
Understand what は really does — it marks the topic of your sentence, the thing you're talking about.
Ep. 7: The Subject Marker が
Meet が — the particle that marks the subject. Learn when to use が vs は and why it matters.
Ep. 8: The Possessive Particle の
Learn の — the Japanese particle that connects nouns and shows possession, from 'my family' to 'today's homework'.
Ep. 9: Demonstratives この, その, あの
Learn この (this), その (that near you), and あの (that over there) — Japanese demonstratives for pointing at specific things.
Ep. 10: Review 2 — Particles & Demonstratives
Review greetings, です, questions, は/が, の, and この/その/あの in this comprehensive drill episode.
Ep. 11: The Location & Time Particle に
Learn に — the particle that marks where things are and when things happen in Japanese.
Ep. 12: The Object Marker を
Learn を — the Japanese particle that marks what you eat, drink, read, and act upon.
Ep. 13: The Means & Action-Location Particle で
Learn で — the particle that marks where actions happen and the means by which you do things.
Ep. 14: More Particles — Range & Until
Learn から〜まで (from...to...) and まで (until/up to) — particles for ranges, distances, and time limits.
Ep. 15: Review 3 — The Particle Challenge
Test your knowledge of all 8 Japanese particles in a challenge format: は, が, の, に, を, で, から, まで.
Ep. 16: The Verb Unlock — ます
Your first action verbs in Japanese. Learn the polite ます ending and say I eat, I drink, I go, I read.
Ep. 17: The Power of No — ません
Learn to say what you don't do with ません — the polite negative verb ending in Japanese.
Ep. 18: Looking Back — ました
Learn to talk about the past with ました — the polite past tense verb ending in Japanese.
Ep. 19: When Things Were Different — でした
Learn でした — the past tense of です. Describe what things were, not just what they are.
Ep. 20: Review 4 — Verb Form Mastery
Drill all your verb and copula forms until they're automatic: ます, ません, ました, ませんでした, です, でした.
Ep. 21: Things Are Here — あります
Learn あります — to say that non-living things exist. Describe what's in your room, on your desk, in your bag.
Ep. 22: Living Things — います
Learn います — to say that people and animals exist. The living counterpart to あります.
Ep. 23: Negation & Non-existence — ありません・いません・じゃないです
Learn to say what doesn't exist and what things are not. ありません, いません, じゃないです.
Ep. 24: Review 5 — Existence & Negation
Walk through an apartment using あります, います, ありません, いません, and じゃない — everything from the last three episodes.
Ep. 25: い-Adjective Forms
Learn to describe things with い-adjectives — present, negative, past, and past negative forms.
Ep. 26: Good & Bad — いい/わるい
Master the irregular adjective いい (good) and its regular counterpart わるい (bad).
Ep. 27: な-Adjectives
Learn な-adjectives — a whole new category of describing words that connect to nouns with な and conjugate with です forms you already know.
Ep. 28: Becoming — くなる/になる
Learn to describe change — things getting hotter, neighborhoods becoming lively, wanting to become a teacher.
Ep. 29: Review 6 — Adjectives
Put it all together — い-adjectives, いい/よ irregular, な-adjectives, and becoming. A full apartment walkthrough with everything from episodes 25-28.
Ep. 30: Likes — 好き
Express what you like in Japanese. The pattern is simple, but there's a surprising twist about which particle to use.
Ep. 31: Skills — 上手 / 苦手
Express what you're good at and bad at in Japanese. Same が pattern as 好き, with a cultural twist about humility.
Ep. 32: Wanting Things — ほしい
Express what you want in Japanese. ほしい is an い-adjective, which means you already know how to conjugate it.
Ep. 33: Wanting To Do — ～たい
Express what you want to do in Japanese. Built from the ます stem and conjugates like an い-adjective — you already know the rules.
Ep. 34: Review 7 — Likes & Wants
Build your own self-introduction in Japanese using 好き, 上手/苦手, ほしい, and ～たい. Your first real personal expression.
Ep. 35: Doing — する
The most versatile verb in Japanese. する means 'to do' — and the real magic is that it turns nouns into verbs.
Ep. 36: Ability — できます
Learn how to say what you can and can't do in Japanese using できます and できません in this 5-minute lesson.
Ep. 37: Let's — ～ましょう
Learn how to make invitations and suggestions in Japanese using ましょう and ましょうか in this 5-minute lesson.
Ep. 38: Right? & Probably — ね / でしょう
Learn how Japanese sentence-ending particles ね and でしょう change the feeling of what you say — seeking agreement, softening statements into predictions.
Ep. 39: Te-form: Connecting Actions
The te-form is the biggest grammatical unlock in N5. It's not a tense — it's a connector that lets you chain actions side by side, the way English uses 'and then'.
Ep. 40: Please — ～てください
Learn how to make polite requests in Japanese using the te-form plus ください. This 5-minute lesson covers the most natural way to say 'please do this' in everyday Japanese.
Ep. 41: In Progress — ～ている
Learn how to describe actions in progress and ongoing states in Japanese using the te-form plus いる. This 5-minute lesson covers the most common use of ている in everyday speech.
Ep. 42: Review 8 — Te-form & Actions
Drill できます, ましょう, ね/でしょう, te-form connecting, てください, and ている in this 6-grammar review episode closing the Te-form Unlock Arc.
Ep. 43: Permission — ～てもいい
Learn how to ask for permission in Japanese using the te-form construction てもいいですか — and how to hear the answer.
Ep. 44: Not Doing & Coming — ～ていない/～てくる
Learn how to say what's not happening with ていない, and how to add direction and change to any verb with てくる — including the phrase every Japanese household says at the door.
Ep. 45: Going To Do — ～に行く
Learn the に行く pattern to say what you're going somewhere to do — go shopping, go for a walk, go to eat — in this 6-minute Japanese lesson.
Ep. 46: Purpose — ～ために
Learn how to express purpose in Japanese using ために — the grammar of goals. Say 'in order to' with nouns and verbs.
Ep. 47: Review 9 — Te-form Extensions & Purpose
Drill てもいい, ていない, てくる, ～に行く, and ために in this 8-drill review episode closing the Te-form Extensions arc.
Ep. 48: Too Much — ～すぎる
Learn how to express excess in Japanese with ～すぎる. Attach it to adjective stems and verb stems to say 'too sweet,' 'too bitter,' 'ate too much,' and more.
Ep. 49: Sensations — がする
Learn how Japanese expresses sensory experience with がする — sounds, smells, taste, and physical feelings. The sensation is the subject, not you.
Ep. 50: After — ～のあとで
Learn how to sequence events in Japanese with のあとで — after dinner, after work, after a meal. A spatial metaphor for time built into the grammar.
Ep. 51: And/With — と
Learn three uses of the Japanese particle と — listing things, doing things with someone, and expressing natural results. One particle, one core idea: beside.
Ep. 52: Review 10 — Expressions & Sequencing
Drill すぎる, がする, のあとで, and と in this 8-drill review episode closing the Expressions & Sequencing arc.
Ep. 53: Time & Counter Expressions
Learn the native Japanese counter つ — usable for almost any object — and how to ask what time something happens. One episode, two tools that unlock daily conversation.
Ep. 54: Frequency & Degree Adverbs
Learn four Japanese frequency adverbs — いつも (always), よく (often), たまに (sometimes), ぜんぜん (not at all) — each anchored to a vivid scene.
Ep. 55: Location & Togetherness
Learn how to say where things are and who you're with in Japanese — 近く, 隣, 前, 友達と, and 一緒に — through a real café scene where you're the protagonist.
Ep. 56: Requests & Help
Learn how to ask for help and make polite requests in Japanese. お願いします, てもらえますか, すみません as an opener, and the politeness spectrum from urgent 助けて to considerate 助けてもらえますか.