I am new around here and I wonder if any of you has tried JapanesePod101 to effectively progress in the language. If so, do you recommend it to beginners? Any other online websites you recommend to dwell into the Japenese grammar/language?
Anyway… I guess I’ve taken my first step towards Japanese by completing some of the LingoDeer app lessons. And my second step by joining you after hearing so many good things regarding this community on youtube.
Hi! Welcome to the cult community of Crabigatorism!!
I haven’t heard Japanese101, but I can definitely recommend JapaneseAmmo on YouTube. She gives succinct explanations on a ton of different grammar points, and you learn some vocabulary on the way.
-I am currently using KameSame as a supplement to WaniKani. It’s basically WaniKani, but in reverse, where you get the English translation of a word and you need to produce the Kanji. You can even use your API token and KameSame will use your WaniKani progress to produce lessons. I would wait until you start getting items to the Master level, but it has been invaluable for me so far.
-If you can afford it, find a teacher on italki and take some formal lessons. Guidance in this process is key.
-http://www.japaneseverbconjugator.com- I love this website if I need to look up conjugations for verbs and adjectives!
I just started using it recently, and I’m enjoying it! They do pretty steep discounts on the premium membership, so that’s what I’ve been using! Try checking around or using Honey or something. I managed to snag it at 65% off about three weeks ago!
I’m almost done with the beginner lessons, and it has been great to play during commutes and also gives speaking practice. Each lesson has the lesson audio, a dialogue with terms you learned in the lesson, and then vocab audio tracks to practice pronunciation. Every lesson also has a pdf with grammar notes, vocab lists, culture notes, etc and tests sprinkled throughout! I can’t say if it’s a good main source for grammar, but there’s at least a ton of topics and lessons to do.
They do have word lists with an SRS element, but I personally just import the new words I come across into my Japanese Kitsun deck, At least they have the option. I’m pretty sure there’s a 30/60 day refund policy, so feel free to try it out if the money isn’t an issue.
Hi! I’ve tried it a year ago. I’ve used their offer to try their membership for free for a week or two. I didn’t really do much as I was busy but the content I listened to was great. Register using a throw away email though. Too bad their marketing department make it look like a big scam.
They also have plenty of content on YouTube. Risa is really fun to listen to.
I second what @trombonekun91said. JapaneseAmmo with Misa is amazing. She’s the best teacher I’ve seen. She has plenty of videos so it should keep you busy for a couple of months.
I took a couple of lessons on iTalki but it wasn’t worth it as my Japanese level was too low.
There’s a lot of Japanese content on Netflix and Amazon Prime. Watching reality shows is great to learn casual Japanese (Terrace House, The House, Ainori Love Wagon…). Some good drama: Midnight Diner Tokyo Stories, Hibana Spark, The Naked Director.
I had a 2-year membership a while back (and downloaded a lot of the audio files and pdfs for future reference) and I liked it. As the only grammar learning source, I don’t think it would be that great, but it was good listening practice coupled with repeated information that I could listen to during my long commutes. I don’t commute much anymore since moving so I haven’t used it for a while, which is a shame because I really want to know the resolution to the story about the twins separated at birth (I enjoyed the skits).
If you’re looking for audio/video resources, in addition to SambonJuku and Misa already referenced, I’ve used these:
Grammar Based: Game Grammar (fun, but maybe not the most efficient use of time) Learning Japanese Learning Kanji (JLTP test prep) Cure Dolly (Like the way grammar is conveyed, hate the presentation. Play at 1.5 to 2X speed for your sanity) Arai Channel (relatively new channel. Taught in Japanese) Nihongo no Mori (dunno what happened to their N4/N5 content)
A resource I found super super helpful was Human Japanese. I find deconstructions and text to be the most helpful for general stuff, and Human Japanese is an excellent and very affordable textbook like resource. It also has customizable quizzes included for vocab and so on.
I checked out Japanesepod 101 just to check it out. It was nice seeing the videos on how and when to use certain words etc and learn about the culture a bit. Never did make it through a lot of it but still plan to go through what I can for free. Before I did that or even checked out WaniKani I used (am still using) Duo Lingo, which I think helped me a lot as far as sentence structure and whatnot. Another app I’m using is Kaizen, which has conversation modules and teaches how to write kanji (as well as learning hiragana and katakana)
I’m a beginner as well, started learning Japanese this July. Pod101 was one of my first stops (after Duolingo) and I can definitely recommend them for listening practice.
I’ve only completed their level 1 course so far:
But since they’ve made it free of charge this year, I’d recommend you checking it out and making up your own mind.
I hear it is good for advanced and less for beginners. I listened to the free trial and didnt like the guy. It was just a little cringey to me lol but then again so was Pimsleur when teaching さああああああああああああ
Funny, buying and listening to their audiobook on audible was what made me learn Japanese and belive it would be possible. This was about 2 years ago now.
Well I didn’t actually start learning until almost half a year later.
So when I first got serious I started on their site and bought a membership.
However it became clear to me in around a month that it their way of learning is really one of the worst ways to go about it. Pretty much as bad as apps like duolingo.
Anyways, canceled my membership and fortunately since it had been less than 90days I got a full refund back.
I didn’t give it pretty much a chance. Registered tried it once or twice and not going to lie find it pretty annoying (my opinion). I study grammer with bunpro and listening with nihongo con teppei beginner and i enjoyed them much more.
I like JapanesePod101.
I struggle a lot with my listening skills, and find the way they do a dialogue at natural speed, then slowly, then natural speed again but with English translations helps me a lot.
…And if you do decide to go for a premium membership, a quick google will find you a 65% off voucher, which makes it much more affordable!
I can’t recommend it, it’s too expensive and you can find better free listening content.
My main motivation for purchasing it initially was for listening practice. I quickly found that there are many fantastic podcasts on spotify and other streaming services that I could use for listening. Seems like japanesepod tries to be a replacement for a traditional textbook. It was hard for me to focus on textbook studies and balance the additional grammar and vocab from japanese pod.
