(Full disclosure: I’m also posting this on the Bunpro forums)
At the beginning of this year I decided to get back into Japanese in full force. I started with Duolingo, then I found WaniKani, then I found Bunpro. I soon realized Duolingo wasn’t nearly as useful as I had thought and so I’m now concentrating on WK and BP, which I’m finding very effective (so far).
The problem is I’m missing a tool like Duolingo, wherein I’m asked to either write or translate full sentences. The ideal app would take my WK and BP levels and give me sentences that I should be able to either understand or write at the given point, both kanji and grammar-wise. I doubt anything like that actually exists, but I’d really like a way to use the knowledge I’m getting from WK and BP together somehow.
Does anyone use a third tool/app that allows for something like this?
I saw the threads here about Kamesame, but that seems just like something similar to WaniKani, rather than full sentence reviews.
I’m using Lingodeer and it asks the user to translate simples sentences that are taught during each lesson. But the exercises aren’t challenging, the app give you a sentence in English and you just need to choose the best alternative among four sentences.
Another type of exercise is translating an English sentence into Japanese. You are given a group of words/particles and just arrange them in the correct order. And that’s it.
I’m not sure if you just haven’t gotten far enough into LingoDeer or if there’s a setting you need to toggle, but at the end of most lessons I get two questions that ask me to translate an entire sentence into Japanese purely by typing, with no hints at all.
If anything, the Core 10k deck on Kitsun has 10000 sentences using the 10000 most common words and all have audio practice. An audio of the sentence is played and you get tested on seeing if you understood what it was said.
Yeah, I’ve seen LingoDeer around, though I haven’t tried it myself, figured it was pretty much the same as Duolingo, but maybe it’s worth taking a closer look.
Kitsun sounds interesting, especially to help with understanding spoken Japanese, I’ll definitely check it out, thanks.
This though. Not to mention that depending on your personal goals, you might better consider just getting a tutor from italki or preply and get practice with more real/natural sentences where the tutor is scaffolding content to you.
You say full force, however I see no mention of any textbooks, listening and speaking exercises, or tutors (e.g. italki). Could be that you’re not mentioning this as you’re specifically asking for apps, with other tools already at your disposal. If so: Apologies!
There are plenty of tools out there, and whatever works for you is the correct way to go – though I don’t think there’s a “Holy Trinity” of apps which will cover all bases. If there were, everyone would be using those.
LingoDeer is similar to Duolingo, except a lot more useful.
In the beginning, if you aren’t a beginner, it’s slow and annoying to have to go through it all again but as you level up, having to actually type the sentences in, proving you know something, is so much more effective (for me; maybe it is different for you?) than clicking Duolingo boxes. I also found there are a lot of ways to cheat in Duolingo and because my brain got caught up in just moving on, I cheated a lot and didn’t learn much with Duolingo.
DL was poop when it first started in Japanese. It has definitely gotten a TON better since then, but its core is still the same.
LingoDeer also has a companion app with games that can become really challenging, really fast. If you get a lifetime subscription, assuming they still offer it, that app access comes with it. Not sure how it works without lifetime (I did lifetime back in Dec).
Actually, even if you have a LingoDeer lifetime subscription, you still have to buy the subscription to LingoDeer+ separately. That said, if I recall correctly, I got both of them at like 70% off and so lifetime sub for both apps worked out cheaper than a single year of Duolingo Plus would cost.
Hmm. I got them both at the same time for lifetime. I wonder if it was a special deal and I “upsized” my lifetime sub? I actually think that’s how it worked. I went for lifetime and they said “for a few dollars more, you can get access to this other cool thing! Why not do it now!”
I don’t regret whatever it cost though as it’s pretty cool and works well.
I have used both Duo and LingoDeer (where I have a lifetime sub), but I have to say I’m finding Busuu to be overall better than either one, especially with the ability to have your answers corrected (and correct the answers of others).
So far the only gripe I have with it is that it’s been calling は the subject particle, but I’m sure it has to get more detailed on that later. Busuu is supposed to be able to take you up to CEFR B2 in Japanese, which is well beyond what Duo or LingoDeer can do.
So I read this comment and had tried Busuu, Lingodeer, and Duolingo. For Busuu, I had completed A1 in just 3 days. It is more focused on vocabs but not enough grammar. Past A1, the material provided is too little. Immediately abandon the software. Luckily it was on my trial period.
I like both Lingodeer and Duolingo and use them every day.
I don’t have any idea how you could complete A1 in 3 days. I spent at least 2-3 weeks, even though I already knew all the material, just to get through it all. It still takes time to do the lessons… (unless you spent like 12 hours a day for 3 days).
Why? The maximum streak achievement is for 365 days. After that, it’s pointless. Once I hit 365 (I think I’m at 280 or something) I’m going to stop using the platform unless I get switched to the new Japanese tree and find it at all useful. I’m a bit OCD about getting all those achievements.
