Some background: I’ve been trying to study Japanese for a few years now. At first with Genki and then Lingodeer but I never clicked with either of them no matter how many times I tried and kinda just dragged my feet for almost three years.
About a year ago I found out about Human Japanese. It’s an app (well two apps, split into beginner and intermediate) that teaches you the basics of the language. It’s basically just a textbook but with some app features tacked on like quizzes at the end of each chapter and recordings for each example sentence.
But what I really like about it is that it really goes into the details of certain grammar concepts that I think many beginners are confused by. So for example, it thoroughly explains the difference between wa and ga, what kondo means and the difference between koto, mono and no.
I’ve since moved on to reading story’s on satori reader (which is by the same company) and I’m starting to read some simple manga now.
I just wanted to recommend this app since I genuinely never thought I’d even make it this far with Japanese and I really think it deserves more attention!
4 comments
Human Japanese has Extra Credits and continues with Nutshell Grammar in Satori Reader
I didn’t compare the grammar in HJ+NG with JLPT grammar. Anyone who did the comparison?
I’m learning using Human Japanese and I like it a lot!
I tried Human Japanese in the beginning of my studies but I felt it a bit… slow moving? With Genki, by chapter 3 you’ve already seen all kana and are starting to see kanji, but HJ takes several lessons to introduce all kana, which means you learn a lot of words in romaji. And kanji, if I recall correctly, only starts in the “intermediate” version.
This is not a criticism, it probably works better than Genki for some people.
Human Japanese is wonderful and full of charm. It is a bit slower going, but it feels very personal like you’re the only one in the world it’s made for.
I feel like what I learned there stuck with me a lot more than genki