Recently I started learning Japanese using Duolingo. I am a complete beginner and have no knowledge on the subject.
I feel like I’ve learned a lot, how to order food or ask for directions, but I can’t help but think it might not be accurate. I don’t have any Japanese friends or know anybody who speaks the language.
Is Duolingo accurate? Or would I make a fool out of myself if I used my new knowledge in Japan?
10 comments
Didn’t use it for long, but it is decent enough for basic conversations. Do not worry about making mistakes – it is an important part of learning the language! From my own (limited) experience, Japanese people are generally supportive of foreigners picking up their language. 頑張って！
if it’s just “hello” and “where’s the train station”, then it’s fine. but it tops out quickly and you should pick something better up. genki 1 and the tae kim guide online are both common beginner texts. i doenloaded a pdf copy of the tae kim guide and kept it on my phone while in japan so i could read things and study without access to internet.
As someone with basic knowledge (studied it for 4 years in school) but didn’t maintain it and is using duolingo to get back into it again I feel like it’s a good tool to get practice everyday but it’s also good to have some other sources. Duo is good but it’s also really picky with it’s answers when several can be correct and it doesn’t explain all the little nuances and such.
Buy a proper textbook and watch JLPT N5 test prep videos on YouTube. Duolingo in Japanese is a really chaotic start to a decidedly difficult language learning journey.
> accurate
In learners’ resources language is always a bit stiff and innatural. Try to read some dialogues in your mother tongue aimed at learners and you’ll se what I mean. You’re not going to learn “actual” japanese until you are able to start reading or listening material aimed at natives.
idk, i use like 4 or 5 apps
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2Z20ZPIDak
Duolingo is fine but I really would not recommend using it as anything other than a supplemental resource.
Start with Genki and go from there. It’s a fun little app, but there are far better resources out there to spend your time on.
I used duolingo to study Japanese and while certain parts are accurate (matching words to hiragana/kanji), etc, there were too many instances where I would translate a sentence perfectly from English to Japanese (checked by a native speaker) and not only would it say it was wrong, the “correct” sentence duolingo produced was incorrect.
Edit: spelling
I think that sometimes the duolingo gamification makes you focus so much on gems and points and etc that you don’t actually “learn” the language, you learn how to play duolingo.
​
I’ve found out that [https://minato-jf.jp](https://minato-jf.jp) is a much better way to start (and it’s totally free).
You don’t have all the gamification stuff but it also follows the method “try first, explain later”, and it does have “some” structured explanation on the grammar notes and some “real”(80s videos) conversation examples.