Hi, I wanted to start learning Japanese soon and wanted to start off doing so with apps on my phone for easy access to get into some sort of habit.
I’ve googled a bunch for other posts and there have certainly seemed to be very useful recommendations but there’s just so many different ones I’ve seen that I’ve been overwhelmed and uncertain what to choose to start getting my feet wet.
What I’d ideally like is some very beginner level app that is interactive to some level on a daily basis. Please give me your recs, thank you!!
9 comments
Wanikani for kanji, Bunpro for grammar.
Memrise, wanikani, bunpro, todai, Duolingo
I’ve only been on Duolingo and it’s been great, I’m almost to a whole month of daily learning now.
I recommend renshuu over everything else. Also, duolingo isn’t recommended.
Drops is a pretty good alternative to duolingo
IMO you should just try them out and see what you like. None of them are perfect and none of them can do everything. What you need may also change over time.
If I had to pick just one, I’d say Renshuu. It’s pretty comprehensive, is nicely organized for beginners in terms of a learning path, and has some fun little games to play so it’s not just doing flashcards. It’s also cute and has some “gamification” in a very mild way that’s optional but can provide some extra motivation.
Honorable mention goes to FlicKuma! I really feel like that boosted my hiragana reading in short order.
I currently use JPDB, Satori Reader, Ringotan, and Renshuu as my daily apps. For now I can’t see myself wanting to change it up. I feel like these will carry me at least through ~N3 level studying in terms of apps.
I really like doing daily lessons with Mango Languages. If you’re a student or have a local library card, often you can get free full access to everything in the app. No ads.
Duolingo isn’t usually recommended as a first resource for learning, but its hiragana/katakana section isn’t bad, and learning those is the first place to start from the very beginning.
If you build a base using other tools, the actual lessons can be good for practice/reinforcement of grammar concepts and sentence building because it is very, very repetitive. I wouldn’t recommend it as your first resource. Usually, it’s best to try out a few and get a feel for what “clicks” the most for you personally, and you’ll probably end up using a wide variety of resources and change them as you go.
It’s a long journey and takes dedication, especially if English is your native language. Japanese is *very* different, and you’re essentially building a whole new scaffolding as you go. A good place to start is reading a basic overview of japanese sentence structure [like this one](https://8020japanese.com/japanese-sentence-structure/) so you get a feel for just how different it is. This will give you a bit of a bird’s eye view of what you’re working towards before you dive into specific grammar concepts or individual vocabulary/kanji.
Unlike with closer-related languages, there are no legs up for native english speakers when learning japanese. If you’ve never interacted with the language before, you’re starting from the bottom, but if you dedicate time in every day with your chosen apps/resources, you’ll get there. Good luck!
I’m also a beginner trying to figure this out. Currently using Memrise, Bunpo and Renshuu.