Should I get the monthly or yearly subscription for Bunpro? Or is the lite package good enough? Because I will be starting uni and I’ll be pretty busy, so I might not be able to invest too much time into Japanese, although I will be continuing with WaniKani. I was thinking of starting with grammar once I finish level 3 here and I was wondering if the paid version of Bunpro is worth it. Can anyone who uses Bunpro regularly give me a feedback, please? Thank you~!
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I think it’s best to see if Bunpro works for you before you commit to anything else. Why don’t you subscribe for a month first and see if it’s something you would want to continue with? Then, you can decide which plan to get.
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Hm yes, that makes sense
I wanted to know other people’s experience with Bunpro and if they personally find it helpful or not
I wish tofugu started a grammar module of sorts, this website is really nice~
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Doesn’t it give the first month free? Either way its alright. Its good practice I think, and it’s got like genki and tobira lessons and other fun stuff
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I was about to say it, Bunpro offers a month of free trial to test the full features. I think that Bunpro, as a concept, is interesting in itself, you have a whole lot of example sentences to study your grammar and the reviews, along with the concept of ghosts (you fail a review, it still moves up in the SRS queue but you get 4 ghost reviews where you have to review the item correctly to keep it going), really help retain the grammar points. But I think that it is not sufficient by itself, it complements well the use of textbooks (be they Genki, Minna no Nihongo or Tobira) but if you use it as your only tool for grammar study, then you either need to study most supplementary material or do your own research on the side. It is best if you use it with the dictionaries of japanese grammar (The Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar covers most points from N5 to N4) or the textbooks. If you need a free alternative to start studying grammar, you can use Tae Kim’s guide to Japanese Grammar
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I’ve the lifetime subscription but I barely use it since I don’t really have the time to go through a ton of reviews. I’ve turned back to textbooks as my main source for learning grammar and figured that I’ll use Bunpro to reinforce that when I’m less busy with work. Bunpro by itself didn’t work for me even with the link to readings and explanations they had.
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Thank you, I’ll check out tae Kim’s guide!
I’d disagree with the idea that Bunpro complements Minna No Nihongo. I’ve been trying to use it in this way and it’s a very frustrating experience.
Although there is a Minna No Nihongo lesson order on Bunpro, it doesn’t actually match up with what is taught in the books. The exercises assume that you have done the lessons in the Bunpro order, and so you are met with a lot of grammar points that you haven’t yet studied in MNN. Even when the grammar points are the same, the word order is also quite substantially different. While I can see this will be useful in the longer term, as a beginner it’s quite disorientating.
As a result, even though I have an annual membership, I’ve found that I’m using it less and less because I felt like I was just producing what the system wanted to hear, rather than actually learning. So I personally wouldn’t recommend it for my particular use case (trying to use it to support what I’m studying in my textbook) but, as others have said, do try the free month and see if it works for you.
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They have a project called “EtoEto” for grammar, but it’s lost in limbo for years and no updates have been given xD
About Bunpro, I’m not a fan of their SRS, as there’s better ways of approaching grammar exercises (with SRS incorporated). I do like the way they display the grammar points very much. I think it’s best used when followed with an actual textbook. No wonder they have “Paths”. It makes sense. Give a textbook a try and use Bunpro on the side (the free month). If it works, keep up with it. It’s relatively cheap.
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I recently purchased bunpro for one year. I’m studying for the N4 exam, and it took about a month to cover what bunpro lists as N5 grammar points. I could have done it faster (I already passed the N5) but I didn’t want to overload the SRS. I am using it along with Genki- because I’m going through it with a Japanese tutor once a week.
I already have a pretty familiar understanding of the grammatical concepts, lots of exposure to the grammar and N4 vocab level. Occasionally I’ll come across a word I don’t know, but it’s not all that often. Bunpro definitely helps quiz me on noticing the sentence structure remembering the differences between i adj, and na adj and noun and verb with whatever grammatical point I’m using. I find that I remember how to do it one way, but not EVERY way, and this really helps solidify it in my mind. Also, I like doing similar structures together because I really didn’t notice stuff. For example verb てから(after doing)、 and~から(because) and how they mean TOTALLY different things. In isolation, I could produce it just fine, textbook style. But mixed up my brain wasn’t processing how different they were. So it helps for me to really differentiate the grammar in my head.
I do some quizzes online, and I can tell that for JLPT stuff, my brain is looking at the questions a bit differently. Its making me in the habit of looking at the proceeding word to the blank, and the conjugation it needs for whatever grammar point it is looking for. I’m more able to identify why the wrong answers are wrong, or why the right answers are right. I think that it likely is going to help me with the sentence scrambles which are the bane of my existence because I am getting into the habit of looking at the interrelation of some grammar points.
I do find some of bunpro frustrating-- sometimes it will take ANY form (plain, polite) as long as the grammar is correct, sometimes it will only take one or the other. I sometimes feel the explanations or hints are sort of lacking, but I’ve gotten use to it enough to deal with it. I’m not sure how much I like the English prompting for the grammatical point. I turned it to hide, but most of the time without the hint there are so many grammatical options that could fit that I need it to know which one I need to input.
I’m not sure how long I’ll use bunpro, but for now I really like what its doing for me. And a single year seemed worth the purchase. I’m not sure if I’d use it for a lifetime membership, but for where I’m at I like it.
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I’m guilty of not trying it with Minna no Nihongo, I have both beginner books (and have went through half of the first one before starting BP a year later) but now I have already studied the grammar points for almost the two books using BP+Dictionnary of Basic Japanese Grammar, because I go by JLPT order and not using the paths. I plan on picking them back up to actually finish them, so thanks for your opinion! I tend to mix very-JLPT-oriented approach (only studying JLPT-related items) with native material so this approach works well for me, but I can see how it might be hard for a beginner.
Can you elaborate on there’s better ways of approaching grammar exercises (with SRS incorporated)? Does it mean looking for a grammar deck by ourselves and adjust the deck by ourselves?
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I mean something like what a normal workbook would do, but virtual and with SRS. Conjugating passive without working on particles that need to follow it is not really knowing passive tense.
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I’ve found BunPro very helpful. For all of N5 I did it without anything else. Currently I’m in Japanese class and going through N4 there, while also going through BP’s N4, they don’t match up in which order things are taught, but I’m fine with that.
Considering how easy it has been to start reading and recognizing the grammar I’m studying in BP, I feel it has really helped me a lot and I plan to use it all the way through to the end of N1 (when BP have it all; currently N1 is only started not finished) if I decide to learn all that grammar. (I might decide to stop earlier because of my goals with Japanese.)
Use the one month free trial and see how it works for you. Some love it (like me), some find it a useful supplement, and for some it doesn’t work much at all. Find out which camp you fall in, it is impossible to predict before trying.
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It’s a good tool to have around… Think about it like a mock test tool, except you get to keep doing that mock test, and it’s a really big one at that. No matter what, I’d say you would need a text book side by side with it to learn all the grammar first, then have some form of work book to practice what you learned, as well as making your own tables or charts (like verb conjugation forms etc). I’m currently using it myself on the free trial still. I might get it just but I’ll try to research more if there’s an alternative way, if making my own Anki deck seems more viable and not too difficult (or if something pops up in this thread as an alternative tool).
Invest your time or money? Sounds like you are willing to pay but don’t expect to put much time into it. It’s an SRS system that requires a certain amount of time (much like once the WK the system kicks in).
The number of example per grammar point was worth it alone for me. The productive input methods (instead of recognition) make it more difficult but it’s necessary for anyone looking toward writing/speaking goals. It’s not as much of a JLPT prep though organized by N levels due to not testing same conditions (which is fine by me, there are plenty of practice material already available). For those expecting this will replace outside resources or tutor explanations, they may be let down (not a realistic expectation anyways). But if you have a textbook/class with grammar path, it’s probably best.
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I bought lifetime and I use it every day. I have my nit-picks, similar to what Kazekaitou described, but aside from that, I’ve found it very useful and very helpful with my studies. They’re constantly working on and improving the site, which gives me high hopes for its direction. They’re also super open to feedback, if you ever just wanna pop on over to their forums and say hi 
I do want to note though, that supplementary materials are definitely needed if you want to get the most out of it. They do include links for each grammar point to extra explanations, and most grammar also has textbook pages too, of the most commonly used books.
And as s1212z mentioned, time is a factor. So if you’re thinking of jumping in, make sure you’re prepared for that. If you’re going to be taking classes, I’d check out the textbook paths for sure.
The attitude is often love/hate when it comes to this site, so 1000% take advantage of the free month. Good luck!
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On top of what everyone else is saying, I’d caution that you’re still very early in WaniKani and so still aren’t at a typical work/time load there. When calculating how much time you might have for a grammar SRS, make sure to include that - or to make sure you’re fine taking your time on it. (Since knowing grammar and starting to read is generally really good for retention, you probably want to split what time you have between activities.)
In fact, when are you actually starting uni? If it’s very soon, you may want to see just how much time you have to commit to Japanese learning overall before you add too many things to your plate. (I’m fairly confident I would not have had the time for all of this in college…)
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Uni starts in a week for me, and even I’m quite doubtful regarding the amount of time I can put in to Japanese
But I don’t mind taking an exceptionally longer time to learn the same things as others, I am fine with incredibly slow progress because I am aware that I will be very busy
I’m keen to get at least a little foundation in on the grammar part because that will make it much easier for me to relate to/retain what I’m learning on WK
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Thank you! Bunpro is certainly useful, but it’s not working out very well for me. Unlike Wanikani & iKnow. I’ll be buying that dictionary 
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