Although I’m not too much in the latest trends, I do know Japanese culture seems to be extremely popular, especially amongst the younger generations. Kids read manga, watch anime and this naturally creates a urge to learn Japanese. But the thing I do know is that Japanese can seem very complex to people whose primary language is English. You have to learn characters, words, phrases, and grammar but they also have 3 different writing systems. So, to maybe help you a bit, I decided to search for Japanese learning apps. While browsing the internet I stumbled upon a list of learning apps I thought was quite useful.
Best 10 Apps for Learning Japanese by AppGrooves
So, to try and contribute, I picked a couple of them, used them for some time and reviewed. I hope my reviews will make your choice easier.
Drops – 5-minute Vocabulary Lessons
Although not completely free, Drops has a free version that gives a decent amount of information. As a person who knows next to nothing about Japanese, I found Drops to be good no matter if you are a beginner or advanced student. The reason is short 5-minute lessons that I think are most useful for enhancing your vocabulary. The learning experience is highly visual with images shown next to each word on a flashcard, so you can directly associate it with its meaning. This approach reminds me how children learn, thus if you are a total beginner, it’s a good way to start.
Now, if 5-minute lessons aren’t enough and you want to learn more, you’ll have to pay for further lessons. It all comes down to how much you actually want to learn. If you want only the basics, I think the short lessons should suffice. But if you want more, I found Drops to be worth the buck. So, it’s all up to you.
Learn Japanese – Well-Structured Lessons
The second app, Learn Japanese, also comes with bite-sized lessons that are well-structured and easy to complete. I like that it offers you a chance to learn to read Japanese characters like Hiragana and Katakana including diacritics and digraphs. I found lessons to be highly interactive, and the interface is easy to use, making the learning experience all that more engaging.
Learn Japanese has the similar approach as Drops. When you begin, you have a single topic for free and the app later asks you to upgrade. Same as with Drops it’s all up to you, but I’ll say this. While Drops is more for overall learning, Learning Japanese is great if you only want to nail down basic words. So, if you only want to the basic vocabulary mastery, consider investing in Learn Japanese.
LingoDeer – Read, Write & Speak Japanese
LingoDeer is a bit different as it provides the good-for-everything approach to learning. Also, I believe I used this one the most on-the-go if I was going somewhere for example. The reason for this is you don’t need an Internet connection, which is definitely a plus. You can simply download the lesson and listen later. If you’re planning to fly to Japan, you’ll probably like this feature. The app is well-made as it provides the sense of progress. You work your way up as you learn words and sentences and develop your grammar skills. As I said, this app provides a little bit of everything and might be a good choice if you want a quick and basic understanding of the Japanese language.
As previously mentioned, the app is great for traveling. But here I found a minor yet unexpected flaw. I won’t say it’s a deal breaker but as of this moment, you can’t LingoDeer app on a laptop, PC or Mac. This probably won’t bother most of the people, but just in case you’re planning to learn at your laptop or desktop and not by holding a mobile device.
These are my 3 choices for learning Japanese. If you like Japanese culture or have someone who’s into it, the apps might help you to get a better understanding of the language. All in all, give them a shot and if you have any feedback, let me know. Thanks for reading.
