Anyone tried this app? I saw a video mentioning this but not sure if it’s useful. I’m still at n4 and do intend on studying n3 this July so i don’t know what this level is but i heard it should be at a beginner to n3..
I enjoy the content and found it very good reading practice that’s easier than “real” books. You can try the first chapter of each story for free, to see what it’s like.
It is a really good app, I like to go through it to get the gist of the text even though I’m not as advanced as their beginners material
It’s great, especially for reading.
It’s great for learning grammar as all grammar points in a sentence have an explanation attached. There also are special grammar lessons that focus on specific grammar points. It’s also great for getting used to sentence structure in Japanese and getting exposure to a lot of new words. I’ve gone through all the available content over 3 months and it was an awesome stepping stone towards being able to tackle native material by myself.
Their grammar explanations are better than Genki in my experience.
It’s good. I’m at a low N2 level but I still use it just to get easy, comprehensible Japanese in addition to actual books etc. They have many ranges of difficulty, so I recommend it.
It is an excellent resource. The insights provided make it really feel like you’re working with a reading teacher at times. I don’t like that it’s on a subscription model, but the level of quality is absolutely there to justify the price tag. Unfortunately, like with any reading material, the most important motivating factor will always be interest, so like some have mentioned, check out the first chapters of each story to find some good options before you actually sign up and start your paying membership.
Great introduction to reading. I used to read stories and then listen to the audio on repeat in the background constantly. The voice acting is good, the explanations are clear, and the stories were interesting.
I think it’s the perfect gap between starting out and just knowing vocabulary and sample sentences, and reading actual native content.
It’s really good like others have said but I want to highlight some points so you can make a better informed decision.
1) The release of content is quite slow. Each one is fantastic but I remember going back to the app after a while and not having much new to read. This problem can be also because you want to read something at your level but they need to release content for every level so it could take time before you get something new you’re able to read.
2) The difficulty spikes quite a bit. The books are split into difficulty groups but I’ve found that the gap can be pretty massive and you can go from reading gently to having a really hard time. This isn’t the apps fault, after all it’s your own ability that’s stopping you, but at the very least it means the amount you can read at just the right level to challenge you is quite small.
3) It’s a paid subscription. Not the worst thing, they have to make money and I would say that although the subscription is a little higher than I like, it’s still probably worth it. Should be a factor everyone takes into consideration.
I used it a lot after finishing Genki I and II and a couple of anki decks + RTK, and it was still rough. But it did get way easier. It’s a great entry to reading Japanese material as there are a lot of grammar points explained quite thoroughly.
Only one of the stories really interested me personally, but I read them all multiple times over, but your mileage may vary, of course. I would easily recommend the app for anyone starting to get into reading and is nervous to make that jump from graded readers to say a light novel.
Before I unsubscribed, they added a feature to allow you to listen to the stories in a playlist format for listening practice, which I thought was a great addition.
My last point is that if you have any questions while reading, you can post in the discussion box below, and Brian will answer you pretty much 100% of the time. Be it grammar questions or just a compliment about the app.
I found it a great next step between finishing Genki and reading actual light novels…would 100% recommend
I highly recommend it as a bridge between beginner/intermediate textbooks and reading native material. I’ve been using it for a year or two now. The annotations are very well written and each story has high quality voice recordings as well if you want to shadow or just listen. As others have said, the release schedule is a bit slow. So if you have a lot of time to spend with the app, I suppose it’s possible to finish all of the content pretty quickly.
solid, do the free content and see if you like it
I’m subscribed. I like it. Currently up to Genki chapter 18. The easy stories I find pretty approachable, and I think by the time I finish Genki it will be even more so.
It’s not that expensive, so you could always buy it for a month and see how you like it. The first two chapters of every story are also free so you can sample that way.
Its pretty fun and definitely can be useful. I stopped paying for the subscription because the chapters are all so short and nothing is hard like a light novel is. So, I just opted to read light novels with a mouse over dictionary setup instead.
I really like it! I’m still a beginner (N5), but the stories are interesting to me. Also I really like the audio/grammar notes that comes with the reading.
It’s from the people who made human japanese, which I started my studies on. They’ve basically moved on from human japanese to this satori reader for many years now. I was a beta tester during its infancy and it seemed pretty competent and definitely still has the same quality of touch as their apps did.
I wish all content was in the style of satori reader. That is its biggest plus and weakness.
I really recommend it. It improves my reading and understanding of grammar A LOT. Also Brian (the founder of Satori Reader) explains things better than any teacher I’ve come across. He is really gifted in teaching.
They always have a huge discount around 4th of July and Black Friday. So keep an eye on it.
It’s very helpful especially for the beginners. The grammar explanation and kanji’s are very good and easy to use
20 comments
I enjoy the content and found it very good reading practice that’s easier than “real” books. You can try the first chapter of each story for free, to see what it’s like.
It is a really good app, I like to go through it to get the gist of the text even though I’m not as advanced as their beginners material
It’s great, especially for reading.
It’s great for learning grammar as all grammar points in a sentence have an explanation attached. There also are special grammar lessons that focus on specific grammar points.
It’s also great for getting used to sentence structure in Japanese and getting exposure to a lot of new words.
I’ve gone through all the available content over 3 months and it was an awesome stepping stone towards being able to tackle native material by myself.
Their grammar explanations are better than Genki in my experience.
It’s good. I’m at a low N2 level but I still use it just to get easy, comprehensible Japanese in addition to actual books etc. They have many ranges of difficulty, so I recommend it.
It is an excellent resource. The insights provided make it really feel like you’re working with a reading teacher at times. I don’t like that it’s on a subscription model, but the level of quality is absolutely there to justify the price tag. Unfortunately, like with any reading material, the most important motivating factor will always be interest, so like some have mentioned, check out the first chapters of each story to find some good options before you actually sign up and start your paying membership.
Great introduction to reading. I used to read stories and then listen to the audio on repeat in the background constantly. The voice acting is good, the explanations are clear, and the stories were interesting.
I think it’s the perfect gap between starting out and just knowing vocabulary and sample sentences, and reading actual native content.
It’s really good like others have said but I want to highlight some points so you can make a better informed decision.
1) The release of content is quite slow. Each one is fantastic but I remember going back to the app after a while and not having much new to read. This problem can be also because you want to read something at your level but they need to release content for every level so it could take time before you get something new you’re able to read.
2) The difficulty spikes quite a bit. The books are split into difficulty groups but I’ve found that the gap can be pretty massive and you can go from reading gently to having a really hard time. This isn’t the apps fault, after all it’s your own ability that’s stopping you, but at the very least it means the amount you can read at just the right level to challenge you is quite small.
3) It’s a paid subscription. Not the worst thing, they have to make money and I would say that although the subscription is a little higher than I like, it’s still probably worth it. Should be a factor everyone takes into consideration.
I used it a lot after finishing Genki I and II and a couple of anki decks + RTK, and it was still rough. But it did get way easier. It’s a great entry to reading Japanese material as there are a lot of grammar points explained quite thoroughly.
Only one of the stories really interested me personally, but I read them all multiple times over, but your mileage may vary, of course. I would easily recommend the app for anyone starting to get into reading and is nervous to make that jump from graded readers to say a light novel.
Before I unsubscribed, they added a feature to allow you to listen to the stories in a playlist format for listening practice, which I thought was a great addition.
My last point is that if you have any questions while reading, you can post in the discussion box below, and Brian will answer you pretty much 100% of the time. Be it grammar questions or just a compliment about the app.
I found it a great next step between finishing Genki and reading actual light novels…would 100% recommend
I highly recommend it as a bridge between beginner/intermediate textbooks and reading native material. I’ve been using it for a year or two now. The annotations are very well written and each story has high quality voice recordings as well if you want to shadow or just listen. As others have said, the release schedule is a bit slow. So if you have a lot of time to spend with the app, I suppose it’s possible to finish all of the content pretty quickly.
solid, do the free content and see if you like it
I’m subscribed. I like it. Currently up to Genki chapter 18. The easy stories I find pretty approachable, and I think by the time I finish Genki it will be even more so.
It’s not that expensive, so you could always buy it for a month and see how you like it. The first two chapters of every story are also free so you can sample that way.
Its pretty fun and definitely can be useful. I stopped paying for the subscription because the chapters are all so short and nothing is hard like a light novel is. So, I just opted to read light novels with a mouse over dictionary setup instead.
I really like it! I’m still a beginner (N5), but the stories are interesting to me. Also I really like the audio/grammar notes that comes with the reading.
It’s from the people who made human japanese, which I started my studies on. They’ve basically moved on from human japanese to this satori reader for many years now. I was a beta tester during its infancy and it seemed pretty competent and definitely still has the same quality of touch as their apps did.
I wish all content was in the style of satori reader. That is its biggest plus and weakness.
I really recommend it. It improves my reading and understanding of grammar A LOT. Also Brian (the founder of Satori Reader) explains things better than any teacher I’ve come across. He is really gifted in teaching.
They always have a huge discount around 4th of July and Black Friday. So keep an eye on it.
It’s very helpful especially for the beginners. The grammar explanation and kanji’s are very good and easy to use