11 Best Websites to Learn Japanese (2023)

FAQs

11 Best Websites to Learn Japanese? ›

JapanesePod101.com is a great way to learn Japanese and get some exposure to Japanese culture. The course creators are constantly creating new and interesting lessons that are actually useful if you live (or want to live) in Japan.

JapanesePod101.com is a great way to learn Japanese and get some exposure to Japanese culture. The course creators are constantly creating new and interesting lessons that are actually useful if you live (or want to live) in Japan.

Con #2: Some Grammar is Not Entirely Correct.

Even though Duolingo Japanese has been released for some time now, there are some phrases that do not seem correct or sound natural. This usually happens with plurals, particles, and certain inconsistencies that happen during translation.

You Can Learn Japanese to a Good Level After Just a Few Months. Chris Broad (Abroad in Japan) shows that it's possible to survive in Japanese with as little as 6 months of studying.

Japanese is one of the most difficult languages for English natives to master. This is because it does not have a lot of likeness in structure to English. Approximately it will take 88 weeks, or 2200 hours of studying, to become fluent.

Learn to Read Hiragana

It is one of three Japanese writing systems you need to learn to be able to read. The other two are katakana and kanji, but hiragana is where everything starts. The ability to read hiragana is going to be a prerequisite for most beginner Japanese textbooks and resources.

Whilst you cannot get fluent in Japanese using Duolingo, you can master the two alphabets, Hiragana and Katakana.

How far can Duolingo get you in Japanese? ›

For such a complex language, Duolingo's Japanese course is fairly short. Although each skill has up to 6 levels, realistically you could complete the course to crown level 1 in a fairly short time. Compared to some of Duolingo's other popular courses, like French and Spanish, there's nowhere near as much content.

Duolingo will only cover the basics of Japanese. It may take 6 to 8 months to go through the tree once if you spend less than 15 minutes per day of it.

As aforementioned, watching anime will be an incredible addition for Japanese learners to gain access to the language in context. However, in order to truly benefit from the experience, you'll most likely need to know some Japanese already so that you can focus solely on new expressions and words that appear.

The good news is, it's possible! You can absolutely use anime to boost your Japanese studies, to a degree. While it'd be unwise and difficult to attempt to learn Japanese entirely from anime, there's no reason you can't leverage a love of anime to help you learn Japanese if you're smart about it.

Watching and listening to Japanese anime helps you learn because it's a form of language immersion. You'll pick up vocabulary by listening to native Japanese speech. And your brain will work hard to understand the language using the words you know to figure out the meaning of words you don't know.

In fact, Japanese is one of the most difficult languages to learn for a native English speaker. If you want to speak enough Japanese to make friends in Japan and carry on simple conversations, you can master casual Japanese in under a year, especially if you are skipping over hiragana and katakana.

The average length of time to learn advanced Japanese is 2-3 years. At the intermediate level, you can understand most of what your teacher says, and you can follow along with TV programs. When it comes to using the language with other Japanese speakers, however, you still have some limitations.

Learning Japanese isn't easy and it will take time. It's probably fair to say that you can expect a commitment of at least three years in order to achieve something resembling fluency. The average learner gets to the advanced level in three or four years.

If you're worried that you won't be able to come to Japan to study if you're over 30, then fret not. It's likely you will be asked more questions about why you want to come to Japan to study. But if you're motivated and want to come for the right reasons, then it shouldn't be a significant barrier.

Yes, it is absolutely possible to learn Japanese on your own! If you've got an internet connection and a good reason for learning Japanese, you can start learning right away!

What is the hardest language to learn? ›

Across multiple sources, Mandarin Chinese is the number one language listed as the most challenging to learn. The Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center puts Mandarin in Category IV, which is the list of the most difficult languages to learn for English speakers.

In general, it is recommended that learners spend 2 hours per day studying Japanese. This rate of study will enable a learner to achieve general professional proficiency in Japanese in a time frame of 6.2 years. Increasing or decreasing study hours will shorten or extend the time frame respectively.

Around 30,000-50,000 words will give you native level reading proficiency, equivalent to a college-educated Japanese. Of course, this level is only attained by a tiny fraction of non-native Japanese speakers.

Which language is easier to learn– Korean or Japanese? Korean is considered to be much easier than Japanese. There are more letters in the Japanese alphabet than in Korean. Japanese also contains more complicated Chinese characters and difficult grammar.

The truth is that anyone with even moderate intelligence can learn a language. Language acquisition is a matter of exposure and practice, not intelligence. You don't need: A high IQ.

It measures language ability in 6 levels (C2, C1, B2, B1, A2, A1 from fluent to beginner). C2 level holders are regarded as fluent as a native language speaker, or are referred to as business level.

These three systems are called hiragana, katakana and kanji. If that sounds overwhelming, don't worry! Hiragana and katakana are easy enough to learn – and will be a big help if you're thinking about travelling to Japan, or learning basic Japanese.

Between Japanese and Mandarin, Mandarin presents more of a challenge because it's a tonal language, which means the pronunciation and tonal inflection of a word can change its meaning.

Hiragana is the most commonly used, standard form of Japanese writing. It's used on its own or in conjunction with kanji to form words, and it's the first form of Japanese writing that children learn.

JapanesePod101 offers a Free Lifetime Account, which is truly free and you do not have to enter credit card information. With the free account, you get access to 100+ lessons, new lessons weekly, vocabulary and phrase lists, and more.

What is the best way to learn Japanese online for free? ›

No problem. Learning Japanese has never been easier thanks to a vast array of online resources including websites, videos, podcasts and even apps to help you speak and understand the language.

Is Rosetta Stone really worth it? Rosetta Stone is worth it if you're a beginner and want to immerse yourself in a new language. Rosetta Stone teaches you vocabulary using audio and images and it helps you actively practice the language. It's not really a good option for more intermediate or advanced learners though.

Japanese is one of the most difficult languages for English natives to master. This is because it does not have a lot of likeness in structure to English. Approximately it will take 88 weeks, or 2200 hours of studying, to become fluent.

Learning Japanese provides a 'gateway' to other languages with a similarly-high level of difference from English. Chinese, Korean and Arabic, for example, would all become easier to learn if you have an understanding of Japanese.

Yes, it is absolutely possible to learn Japanese on your own! If you've got an internet connection and a good reason for learning Japanese, you can start learning right away!

Hiragana looks more cursive than katakana or kanji. It is used to write native Japanese words, conjugation endings, and grammar particles. Hiragana consists of 46 characters with each character representing a syllable. And is the writing system that Japanese language learners most easily learn.

Use Full Sentence Flashcards

But for Japanese beginners, flashcards will work best with full sentences as opposed to individual words or characters. Construct a deck of simple sentences so you get used to the context that surrounds much of the language, as well as the order in which you find words in a sentence.

While immersion is a key to learning, the good news is, you don't have to actually live abroad to do it. You can practice on your own, at any level!

In fact, Japanese is one of the most difficult languages to learn for a native English speaker. If you want to speak enough Japanese to make friends in Japan and carry on simple conversations, you can master casual Japanese in under a year, especially if you are skipping over hiragana and katakana.

Which is better Rosetta Stone or Duolingo? ›

In short, Rosetta Stone just offers more flexibility than Duolingo. With Rosetta, you can jump around from course to course, or lesson to lesson. You're not forced to follow a strict schedule. This is in comparison to Duolingo, which dictates the order in which you complete modules.

It takes the average learner 50 hours to complete a chosen language with the Rosetta Stone Library Solution. If you set aside five 30-minute sessions a week, the average learner would complete their learning in 20 weeks.

Rosetta Stone states that it takes the average learner twenty weeks (or thirty minutes a day for five days a week) to master a level. Latin American Spanish, for example, has five levels. That means the average learner could complete all levels in less than two years.