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Japanese Resources Part 1: Online and mobile

There are many learning resources compared to when I first started learning Japanese. Below I’ve listed resources I have used many times over the years. There are other resources out there, but these are the ones I can vouch for and recommend. I will also do one or two other parts featuring additional resources. Let me know if you have any questions in the comments or feel free to list your favorite resources as well.

An example of a term searched in the Midori app.

An example of a term searched in the Midori app.

 

This is a great app for looking up words (using romaji, kanji, or kana). It shows you the stroke order for kanji, gives lots of sentence examples, and does contain grammar concepts. There is a section called “listsd” that has kanji listed by grade level, frequency, and JLPT level. You can also find words by JLPT level and by parts of speech. This app is not free and costs $9.99. While not cheap, this is well worth the money if you want a portable dictionary on the go. This is a good app to have regardless of level.
italki's front page

italki’s front page

I’ve already reviewed this site, but after a few months of using it I can say confidently that I would still recommend it. Get inexpensive Japanese lessons and help from native speakers and other language learners. My Japanese has improved a lot since April and I think a large part of it is because of the private lessons I take. I take two lessons a week with two different tutors. One tutor helps me with grammar and speaking, while the other focuses on reading. italki is great for all levels of language learners and is a good way to jump-start your learning if you’re not sure where to begin. You don’t need to spend money to be part of the community. There are tons of people looking to help you with your Japanese if you help them with their English.
Front page of Japanesepod101.com

Front page of Japanesepod101.com

It’s been awhile since I’ve used this because I tend to use it off-and-on. It’s a really great service and is most useful (in my opinion) when it comes to its podcasts. These are great for commuting or doing mindless tasks. I’m not a huge fan of the rest of the website, so it’s not worth getting some of the more expensive subscriptions. If you are looking to practice more listening and speaking, while improving your grammar and vocabulary — just stick to the podcasts. This is a good website for all levels of language learners.
iKnow front page

iKnow front page

iKnow is a great vocabulary builder using what it calls a scientific algorithm to help you remember more words. It should not be your only source because it doesn’t teach you grammar or kanji. You do learn both in context, but you’ll need to back it up with kanji or grammar-focused resources. I use it everyday and suppliment it with private lessons on iTalki. I lean the kanji for vocabulary I’m studying on iKnow on my own. iKnow is available on through your web browser and mobile devices (tablets and phones, including Apple and Android). You can pay monthly, annually, or pay a one time lifetime fee. This is a good website for all levels, but I recommend having some grammar knowledge to be able to understand how each vocabulary word is used in the sentence. You will need to know kana as well before jumping into the Japanese core words. There are 6,000 words broken up into six series. Within each series are 10 steps comprising of 100 words. They do have two courses for learning hiragana and katakana, so you can start there if you need to. This is a Japanese company so you pay in yen, so beware of foreign transaction fees. If you purchase through the mobile app (as opposed to the website) the money is in USD. The mobile version offers a 3-month plan at $31.99 and a 13-month plan at $79.99. You can do month-to-month through the website, but you’ll get your money’s worth on the annual.
Front page of Lang-8

Front page of Lang-8

 A good way to practice what you are learning is to write. Lang-8 is a community of language learners who correct each other’s writing. You can have your writing checked by native speakers for free. I tend to use the site infrequently because I have other means of checking my writing. You can become a premium member to get more features and more corrections, but unless you tend to write more than 500 entries then you can do without the premium membership, which costs $7 a month or $63 a year. I’d recommend giving Lang-8 a try if you are further along in your studies and can write basic sentences. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes, that’s how you learn!
An example of jisho.org's text reading assistance feature

An example of jisho.org’s text reading assistance feature

This is a web-based dictionary with a minimalist look to it. Aside from doing what it’s supposed to do very well (be a dictionary), it also has a rudimentary translation feature. Although it doesn’t translate like Google Translate does (creating a whole sentence), it does provide help for figuring out what a sentence means. This is a great way to pick up new vocabulary. It also has access to other web-based dictionaries if you haven’t quite found what you are looking for. This is a free web application. You can type in romaji, kana, or kanji.
That’s a few of my favorites for mobile and online Japanese learning. Anyone want to share another that has worked for you? We’d love to hear from you.
Adrienne
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2 Comments

  • Thanks for this resource! Up until now I’ve been usingTofugu.com, which is amazing, and they have an ultimate hiragana guide and katakana guide that make it really easy to learn to read Japanese. My goal is to learn the language so I can read more manga ? How long did it take you to learn?

    • I’m definitely still learning. I’ve studied off and on for a few years, but have really seen my Japanese take off over the past couple of months thanks to italki and iknow. I read Tofugu’s blog but have not tried their system. There are a couple of learning methods out there that look interesting and will include resources I haven’t tried (but may be of interest to others) in the next part of the series.

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