Japanese Uncovered
A beginner Japanese course built around a story you won't want to put down, so you finally understand native speakers and hold a real conversation.
Even if every app and class has left you stuck, and you think you're just not a language person.
Then a one-time payment, not a subscription.
From 侍の宝 (Samurai no Takara), the story at the heart of the course.
From the desk of
Olly Richards
Creator of StoryLearning · Author of the bestselling Short Stories series (2 million+ books sold)
Can I be honest with you?
I've learned 8 languages. And I've failed at most of them, spectacularly, before figuring out what works.
So I know exactly what you're going through right now.
You downloaded the app. You did the daily streak. You memorised arigatō, konnichiwa, sayōnara. You even took a class or two.
And for a while, it felt like progress.
But then you tried to actually use your Japanese, with a real person, at real speed, and the whole thing fell apart.
I've been there. Staring at someone, nodding politely, pretending I understood. It's not fun.
But here's the thing I wish someone had told me years ago:
There's a reason you're still stuck. And it has nothing to do with talent, age, or how many hours you've studied.
It has everything to do with how you've been learning.
Let me show you what I discovered instead.
Ganbatte,
Olly Richards
Creator of StoryLearning
Inside one chapter
From the first time you press play to the moment it all clicks.
The Story
"Watashi wa totemo tanoshimi desu!" Kuroe wa iimasu. "Watashi mo desu," Arekkusu wa kotaemasu..."
A native speaker reads the opening of 侍の宝 (Samurai no Takara). You won't understand the words yet, but the romaji, a romanised version of Japanese, lets you follow along, and you can hear the natural rhythm and melody of spoken Japanese.
And you want to know what happens next. That's the feeling.
Script
This is the part most people dread, and the part our students love most. Ai, a native Japanese speaker from Tokyo, walks you through hiragana and katakana, Japan's two phonetic writing systems, stroke by stroke, character by character.
Each chapter introduces new characters connected to the story you're reading. By the end of the course, you'll be reading Japanese script fluently, no longer relying on romaji.
This is the moment students say: "Wait, I can actually read this."
Grammar
You've already heard this exchange in the story. "Watashi wa totemo tanoshimi desu!" says Kuroe. "Watashi mo desu," replies Arekkusu. Olly zooms in on the one character that changed: は (wa) became も (mo). Wa marks the topic ("as for me..."); mo means "also" or "too." Swap one particle and "I'm looking forward" becomes "me too."
No grammar tables. No abstract rules. Just real sentences from the story you just read, pulled apart so you can see how they fit together. You learn grammar naturally, using words you've already met in the story, not by memorising rules.
7 days free. Cancel anytime.
Pronunciation
Ai is a native Japanese speaker from Tokyo. She shows you exactly how to produce the sounds of real, spoken Japanese: the five pure vowels, the crisp consonants, the natural rhythm and pitch. Japanese pronunciation is surprisingly regular, so once you learn the sounds, you can read anything out loud correctly. Not robotic textbook pronunciation, the real rhythm and music of spoken Japanese.
Culture
Japanese culture, from keigo (the politeness system built into the language) to the etiquette of everyday conversation, and the traditions behind the food, festivals, and daily routines you'll meet in the story. Because you can't truly speak a language without understanding the people who speak it.
The Payoff
You listen again. And this time, sentences that were opaque at the start of the chapter suddenly make sense.
You can hear where one word ends and another begins. You understand why the characters said what they said. You're not translating, you're understanding.
And just like that, you've started reading Japanese, writing hiragana, understanding grammar, and hearing the rhythm of the language.
Every chapter, the same rhythm
This is what learning through stories looks like.
The magic of StoryLearning is what makes words unforgettable, chapter after chapter, all ten of them. It's the last Japanese course you'll ever need.
Everything you just saw is in your 7-day free trial. Full access to the entire course: story, videos, exercises, the lot.
A personal tour
Watch Olly give you a personal tour of Japanese Uncovered:
Real students, real progress
Nisha G. NairIndia"I believe regular consistency with StoryLearning has got me to lower intermediate (A2/B1) in 3 months, which other courses could not do in 2.5 years."
PamHouston, TX"I've learned so much in the last 4 weeks than in the last 4 years of learning on my own. I am actually understanding native speakers!"
Gigi GilmourStudent"I believe the StoryLearning course is equivalent to two semesters at a university. The quality of the material is at a university level."
The StoryLearning Method
Stories aren't just entertainment. They're the oldest learning technology we have.
Stories came first. They still work best.
Stories are how you learned your native language.
Nobody handed you a grammar table when you were two. You learned through immersion, through context, through stories told to you by your family and friends. Stories that held meaning and made you care what happened next.
That's exactly what StoryLearning does. Here's the science behind why it works so well.
Dual Coding
You don't sit through a story, you live it. Learn through narrative and your brain encodes more deeply, forms stronger memories, and recalls far more than it ever does from a list.
The scienceDual Coding Theory shows memory is strongest when you encode information both verbally and through imagery. Stories create vivid mental pictures, which is why you remember story words but forget flashcard words.
Context
You don't remember random words. You remember the moment the mysterious manga arrived at the hotel, the look on Alex's face when he realised someone was watching. Words attached to a story stick, because they mean something.
The scienceContextual Learning Research consistently shows that words learned in meaningful context are retained two to three times longer than words learned in isolation. Every word in StoryLearning arrives with a scene, a character, and a reason to care.
Comprehensible Input
Instead of handing you a rule to apply, StoryLearning lets you meet a pattern naturally, then shows you what you just discovered. You work it out, so you own it. That is why you never forget it.
The scienceDr. Stephen Krashen, Professor Emeritus at USC and one of the most cited linguists in history, proved that language is acquired through comprehensible input, understanding messages in the target language, not through grammar study. StoryLearning is built on this principle.
And the experts agree
"Olly's top-notch language-learning insights are right in line with the best of what we know from neuroscience and cognitive psychology about how to learn effectively. I love his work, and you will too!"
You have options. Here is how Japanese Uncovered compares with the usual ways people try, and keep failing, to learn Japanese.
| Language apps | Evening classes | Private tutor | Best fit for you Japanese Uncovered | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Understand real native speech | ✗ | ~ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Learn words in context, not lists | ✗ | ~ | ~ | ✓ |
| Go at your own pace, any time | ✓ | ✗ | ~ | ✓ |
| Driven by a story you actually enjoy | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
| One payment, no monthly or hourly fees | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
Who you'll learn from
Your StoryLearning creator
I'm Olly Richards. I've spent my life working out how people actually learn languages, and StoryLearning is the result: the method behind Japanese Uncovered and my bestselling Short Stories series.
It has helped over 100,000 learners across our courses. For Japanese, I brought in two people special to teach you.
Your Japanese teacher
Nick is an online language educator and course developer from the UK, now living in Tokyo. With a high degree of fluency in Japanese, he works with learners of all levels, helping them overcome struggles and break through plateaus on the way to fluency.
He's the teacher you'll spend much of your 60+ video lessons with, guiding you through the story, vocabulary and grammar.
Your pronunciation & script teacher
Ai is a native Japanese speaker from Tokyo. She speaks English fluently and works with early-level learners to help them build the confidence and competence to speak, read and write Japanese from day one.
Ai takes you through pronunciation and the Japanese script, hiragana and katakana, making complex ideas feel approachable and fun.
StoryLearning isn't for everyone, and that's by design. Here's how to know.
This is for you if
It's probably not for you if
Where this leads
Picture yourself ordering in a Tokyo cafe and being understood the first time. Following an anime or a Japanese film without reaching for the subtitles. Reading a manga for the pleasure of it, not as homework.
That is the other side of this. Not perfect, not overnight, but real. And far closer than years of apps ever got you.
A few words from the 10,000+ people now learning Japanese with StoryLearning.
"I've had years of classes & Rosetta Stone in French, Italian, Arabic & Polish. At most I achieved 'tourist-talk.' Just 10 weeks of beginner StoryLearning and I have solid conversational skills & confidence to try them!"
"I didn't consider myself a language person. I was worried I'd never really get it. But having completed the course, I now feel confident reading and speaking for real. Thank you, Olly."
"The best language course I have ever purchased! I have tried everything to better my speaking skills but nothing sticks like StoryLearning. Simple to understand, fun, motivating, and encouraging!"
"I believe the StoryLearning course is equivalent to two semesters at a university. The quality of the material is at a university level. The lessons are a lot more fun than sitting in a lecture hall."
"I love the way we can learn things that are in the context of a story, and remember it because of the story. This is beyond my expectations."
"I can't even begin to describe how much this course has changed my life. In 2 months, I have learned more than in all 4 years I took in HS and college. I am actually understanding native speakers! Thank you Olly Richards!"
"This course is by far the best I've ever come across. As an ex English Language Teacher, I have very high expectations & this course exceeds these. The story-based approach makes all the difference, I'm actually reading and understanding the language."
"I've tried a lot of courses and methods over the years. This is the first course that really helped me to comprehend the language. The story pulls you in, and the grammar suddenly makes sense in context."
"This program changed the way I learn languages. In school, I struggled to understand or speak. Now I'm naturally learning vocab, grammar, reading, writing, listening, & speaking in a super fun way. Highly recommend."
"I always wanted to learn a new language but traditional textbooks were so dry and boring. Within just 2 months, I find myself actually reading and understanding real texts. This course surprised me. Thank you Olly."
"Very impressed so far! Olly explains and breaks down the rules of the language so well, with lots to learn right from the start. I have learnt more in 1 module than in months of free apps!"
"If you tell me a good story, I'll follow you anywhere. What better way to learn a language than through asking what happens next? This is a challenging, well-designed course that never bored me. And I learned a great deal."
The story at the heart of it
侍の宝 (Samurai no Takara, The Samurai's Treasure). Alex and Chloe, university friends studying Japanese in England, land in Tokyo to meet their old friend Tadashi, when a mysterious manga arrives at Alex's hotel with no sender's name, the first clue to a samurai's hidden treasure.
Suddenly they're on the shinkansen to Kyoto, chasing cryptic hints through Gion, Kiyomizu-dera and Nijō Castle. The story pulls you deeper into the language with every chapter, and you won't put it down until the treasure is found.
The same student, real text from the course. Watch how much more you understand as the story unfolds.
"Watashi wa totemo tanoshimi desu!" Kuroe wa iimasu.
"I'm so excited!" Chloe says as the plane lands at Narita. You understand this almost immediately, a name, an emotion, the romaji guides you through it.
"Kore wahontou nihen desu ne," Arekkusu wa omoimasu.
"This is really strange, isn't it?" Alex thinks, staring at the mysterious manga that just arrived at his hotel. You didn't study that sentence. You just... feel the tension build.
"Nihon no densha wa hontou nihayakute tanomoshii desu," Tadashi wa ureshisou ni kotaemasu.
"Japanese trains are really fast and reliable," Tadashi replies happily on the shinkansen to Kyoto. Compound adjectives, particles stacking, but you follow it, because the story carried you there.
One payment, lifetime access
10chaptersEvery chapter with complete native Japanese audio throughout.
60+videosGrammar, vocabulary, script and culture, all taught in the context of the story.
Plus everything that helps it stick
All of it is yours the moment you join, and free for your first 7 days.
No payment today, and no catch. Here is exactly how your free week works.
You're in. The entire course unlocks, the story, all 60+ videos, every exercise, with nothing charged to your card.
Try it for real. Start the story and meet Nick and Ai, and find out whether this is finally the method that clicks for you.
Decide with zero pressure. Most people know by now. If it's working, simply carry on, there's nothing you need to do.
Changed your mind? Cancel in one click before the week ends and pay nothing. No forms, no awkward emails.
Seven days to be sure. The only thing you risk is staying stuck.
No payment today. Take the whole course for a free week, and you're covered by a full-year guarantee after that.
I'm confident Japanese Uncovered will work for you. But I also know that confidence comes from experience, not promises.
So here's my guarantee: Try the course. Work through the chapters. If at any point in the next 365 days you decide it's not for you, email us and we'll refund every penny. No questions. No awkwardness. No hassle.
You have a full year to decide. That's how confident I am that you'll love learning this way.
Olly Richards
A private Japanese tutor runs $50 or more an hour. A year of evening classes runs into the hundreds. Japanese Uncovered is a single payment, and your first week is free.
Lifetime access, one payment
$397$297
Less than $1 a day over a year, and equivalent to two university semesters.
Start with a 7-day free trial. Full access. Cancel anytime.
Start now and you could read your first Japanese story today.
"The best language course I have ever purchased. Nothing sticks like StoryLearning."
A few things people often ask before starting their free trial.
One decision left
You've read this far. That tells me something.
It tells me you haven't given up on Japanese. That somewhere, underneath the frustration of apps that don't work and classes that didn't stick, there's a part of you that still believes you can do this.
You can.
The spark you feel right now, the one that made you read this page. It fades. Not today, maybe not tomorrow. But it fades.
Start the trial while it's still here.
7-day free trial. 365-day guarantee. Nothing to lose, except the momentum you've built today.
Your future, Japanese-speaking self will thank you for it.
Olly Richards
Creator of StoryLearning
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