I am often asked for advice from students who are interested in learning Japaense but are not sure if they are ready to take a Japanese language class (after all, we have heard a lot how difficult the Japanese language is). For these students, I put together some resources for self-studying the Japanese language.
Self-paced language learning apps
These language learning apps offer a Japaense language course. Some people have a bitter memory with the self-paced language learning app (especially those who tried Rosetta Stone many years ago), but there have been a lot of new innovative learning approaches in these self-paced language learning apps (especially Duolingo). Below is the list of famous self-paced language learning apps with the Japaense language course. The price varies from free to about $20 per month.
- Duolingo
- Busuu
- Pimsleur
- Mondly
- FluentU
- Drops
- Memrise
- Rosetta Stone
- Mango Languages
Elementary Japanese courses on MOOC
MOOC stands for “massive open online course” and it has been a popular alternative educational platform in higher education. Many universities contribute to the contents of various MOOC sites such as edX and Coursera. Below are some of the famous elementary-level Japaense MOOC courses. The price ranges from free to about $200.
- Japanese for beginners 1 (Coursera / St. Petersburg State University)
- Steps in Japanese for Beginners (exX / Waseda University)
- Japaense I (MIT Open Courseware / MIT)
- Online Japanese Beginner Course (Udemy / Attain Corporation)
- Skillware (many courses by indvidual teachers)
YouTube
Many good Japanese lesson videos are available on YouTube too. Here are just a few examples, but I am sure that there are many more.
- Uki Uki NihonGO! (by the Japan Society)
- Learn Japanese with JapanesePod101.com
Online language tutors
Online language tutors have become very popular among those who have decided to study a new language during the social distancing restrictions due to the pandemic. The following are popular online tutoring or language exchange platforms. It usually costs about $10-30 per hour.
- Speaky
- Preply (online tutoring)
- My Language Exchange
- Sanako
- TalkAbroad
- Linguameeting
- The Mixxer
- italki: Learn a language online
- Boomalang
- Conversifi
Japanese learning websites
There are several websites popular among learners of the Japanese language.
- Tofugu
- Japaense in Anime & Manga
- PuniPuni
- KidsWeb Japan
- Tae Kim’s Guide to Learning Japaense
- Jisho