Hello! I have been learning Japanese on and off for a year now and have only started to get more serious about it since April. I’m still very much a beginner for sure, but after a few hundred hours in, as I am confident that I should be able to pass JPLT N5 (well, at least according to the check lists and my learning resources) and approaching N4 to pass the JPLT exam being held this December, I want to share some of my thoughts on my progress and the learning resources that I have tried.
Duolingo:
I did some research about a year ago here, and apparently the general consensus is that it is not a good resource. I started out with it to see for myself what was so good and what not about it (due to its popularity), and I came to the conclusion that it definitely isn’t the best one out there, especially if you’re serious about learning the language. I learned all the materials up to the second check point and found out that the explanations on grammar were very limited. The forum discussions have a lot of wrong explanations by fellow new learners as well. I ended up with many flaws in my knowledge, even in basic grammar, that I eventually found out from other resources.
The number of sentences and examples for new words is also limited and repetitive. I also eventually realized that more often than not, I knew the correct answer immediately even without looking at the Japanese sentence to be translated and only at the word soup because I had been doing it over and over again to the point it became muscle memory.
My progress was actually extremely slow for the amount of time I put into it every day, to the point where it felt like a sunk cost in comparison to how much I learned from other resources in the same amount of time.
Conclusion: It is definitely a fun way to scratch the surface and see if the language is for you or not. It’s also nice to keep yourself motivated with the day streak and league system to compete with other learners (although flawed because it can be abused relatively easily). You should steer away and move on to something else ASAP if you want to be serious about studying, though.
Genki:
I took a course in college where they went through L1 – L6 in Genki 1 earlier this year, and I progressed way faster, and the detailed explanations in the book were infinitely more helpful than Duolingo. The materials are very well organized and written. The book itself is not good for retaining new vocabulary and kanjis though, and I also felt slightly overwhelmed due to the sheer number of new words and exercises to be done from the workbook. Which led me to find a new supplement to fill up that missing hole, and I decided to settle on…
Anki:
As a programmer who likes to tinker around with software, I fell in love immediately with the app and how customizable it is. The SRS system was extremely beneficial in retaining the vocabs from Genki, as well as its versatility as a study companion on the go, as I frequently have long flights and trains without internet. I am on iOS so I had to pay $25 but I do think it was worth it.
I have been using these [core 2k3](https://anacreondjt.gitlab.io/docs/coredeck/), [Tango N5 Omega](https://ankiweb.net/shared/info/1679429599), and [Tango N4 Omega](https://ankiweb.net/shared/info/1585001017) decks. I tried WaniKani a bit as well, and while it was really nice with all the mnemonics and radicals, I preferred Anki’s customability and enjoyed the extra challenge of learning the kanjis with my own imagination (and I don’t want to waste my $25, lol).
Bunpo:
I felt like I still needed access to something more comprehensive to review grammar without having to carry the entire Genki book with me everywhere or scroll through hundreds of pdf pages, so I paid for the $30 lifetime subscription and have been plowing through the N4 grammar points every day. Nice UI, easy to use, SRS is not as diverse as Anki, but it is understandable as it is not meant to be customizable with user-made content.