What are the best and worst ways to get fluent in Japanese? In this video, I'm ranking 24 of the most popular Japanese apps and study methods on a tier list. .
. from S for "Sugoi" (Japanese for Super) all the way down to F for fail. at the end, I'll crown one method as the best of the best, raising it to your plus And one method as the absolute worst.
So to make sure your favorite app doesn't end up in here, needs to check three boxes: First, If one of these methods doesn't expose you to real Japanese natural sentences, phrasing, a real Japanese voice, It's an F tier. Number two, it must help you remember and build over time. if a method feels like you're starting over every week, it's getting knocked down.
And number three, If it doesn't make you keep coming back and having fun, going straight to Ftir. No exceptions. get the worst one out of the way.
If you're using this app as one of your study methods, You should really watch the rest of this video. So you can actually learn Japanese, Not only are the voices bad and the translations sketchy. it doesn't give you any context, And it definitely doesn't track your progress.
That's why Google Translate is after. Next is a method that a lot of people actually love. Anime.
And this is personally one of my favorite ways to learn Japanese right But if you think you can actually learn this language as a beginner using anime, you are probably wrong unless you use some of the techniques later in this video. but combined with those techniques it can be such a powerful tool. And that's why it's going in a tier.
Now it's time to rank this app. might get a lot of hate for this video because the internet loves studying Japanese using Anki flashcards. This might be the most powerful and efficient way to learn Japanese.
Using spaced repetition. is renowned as one of the best ways To consistently force your mind to remember something. but although it's effective, it is not fun to do these flashcards.
and depending on the deck you select, Most beginners that install this app just get fed random flashcards with no context, no grammar, you will make no progress. And if you've ever tried to create custom Anki flashcards using the content that you wants to learn, You basically need a computer science degree to make it happen. combined with something like anime, it can be a great tool, after studying Japanese for four years, I found something better.
So for me it's going in a tier. Next are four of the most popular ways people learn kanji and reading. which is one of the hardest things about studying this specific language, So let's see if there's some secrets to getting fluent faster.
First are learn kanji apps. There's a bunch on the internet, and I personally use one in Conwy. Most of them will just feed you kanji, maybe help you practice writing them and learn both of the readings.
A lot of people actually skip on learning kanji as beginners, just want to watch my anime and hear what they're saying. I don't need to learn kanji, But I think this is a mistake Because after my first two years of studying Japanese, My progress. It was slowing down a lot.
After the beginner phase. But once I started learning kanji, all of the things that I was hearing made visual sense because I could connect what I'm hearing it to. The kanji I was learning.
made memorizing new words a thousand times easier if you know the character for English and you know the word for language, you put them together And now you know a new word without even studying So although it takes time, I think you need to include one of these apps in your study protocol, but these apps alone still won't make you fluent. So as much as I want to put them in here, I'm bumping them to a tier for now. Next we have a popular one called Right at Japanese.
helps you write and remember main Japanese alphabets hiragana and katakana. It is useful and fun But it should only take you less than a week. to learn these alphabets.
Anyways, and can easily be replaced with a free YouTube video. It's probably not worth your time. So it's going in C tier.
Next is G show. literally just a dictionary. great for looking up stuff.
but it's not nearly as powerful as some of the things on this list. I'm putting it in D. A lot of people like to read manga practice reading Japanese.
which can be a great idea because a lot of manga is actually made with fairly simple middle school or high school level Japanese. although I think this is also a fantastic supplement. Similar to anime, it cannot be your only study method.
I'm putting it in C tier. Next we have lingo, deer and bassoon, and any other bootleg Duolingo apps A lot of these cost a little bit of money and can be marginally better than Duolingo Update I haven't used these apps in years and after using them again and filming this video lingo. There is exactly like Duolingo.
There is no difference But Busuu actually uses real pronunciation and has nice grammar explanations, However, both of these courses are extremely slow. and only gets you to a beginner level where you can do things like visit a restaurant. don't know about you, but I think you should learn that in month one, not month six.
that reason these are both going in C tier. now that we've covered reading are four of the most popular ways practice talking to people in Japanese. And one of these is making it to sit here.
first using online tutor websites like I taki or reply. Where you can pay for an hourly Japanese tutor over video call. I've personally done this a couple of times and it definitely helped me with my speaking confidence.
a lot of these teachers are professionals. So they know how to get foreigners comfortable speaking Japanese, the only reason it's not an S tier is because of the price. Compared to most of the apps on this list, they cost 10 to $15 per month.
These teachers cost at least $15 per hour, So although it's one of the most effective methods, it's also one of the most expensive. is why I bump it to be tier, The next one might be the opposite of online tutors is online gaming. can use a VPN or set your game server to be in Japan.
Playing with Japanese people. This is a super fun way to learn Japanese. but is really only good for intermediate and advanced people.
Especially if you set your game to Japanese. It'll look a hundred times more cool, but it will be really hard to play the game and if you factor in purchasing a console or a game to learn Japanese, You're probably better off with the online teacher, But after I set my Minecraft to the Japanese, I ended up learning a lot. and it was really fun.
So it goes to eight year. But now it's time for the final two strategies to talk to people online. this app absolutely changed my life.
More than anything else on this list, but before I put my personal opinion on how this changed my life, let's make sure it checks our three boxes. does give real language input because you can read Japanese people's posts see their photos, videos and even voice messages. Listening to real Japanese It has to help you remember and build over time.
which the app itself probably doesn't do a good job at. But if you make friends talking about things you're passionate about, You will repeatedly bring up the same topics and hear the same words. But my third checkbox is where this excels.
If you just wanted to watch anime or read a manga, not a real person involved, so you can always translate it. Pull out your phone and it's not But if you're communicating with another human me, using Google Translate to try to understand what they're saying puts up a barrier between you, the culture and the other person that you're trying to talk but the biggest thing that will change your life. If you use one of these apps Is the motivation and the accountability.
Having a handful of Japanese friends that text you every day makes it impossible to skip studying that that's why hello talk and lag mate. In and any other app like this. Are the first apps going to sit here.
however, it's still best for casual chatting. and there's no learning structure at all. it's still not as good as some of the techniques we'll be ranking in this video Next we have three hugely popular ways people try to learn Japanese.
let's see if they're actually effective Instagram Reels or TikTok. It must give you real language input, which I'd say if you find the right creators, it definitely does. It also has to feel good, which, if you've seen Japanese Instagram, is really fun to watch.
but a good study method should help you remember and build over time. Because if you watch one video one time, You're probably not going to learn anything substantial unless you again use an app like Anki or the better versions I'm getting to later. the biggest problem is Instagram will always find a way to distract you So it's an FDR I'm sorry.
But what about the opposite of Instagram using text books. These are old but reliable. a lot of them won't come with a Japanese voice.
Don't give you a lot of motivation still require your own discipline to set your own pace review old words. not to mention a set of textbooks can cost 50 to $100. which could buy you a lot of study apps, which is why it's going around Ktea or D tier.
speaking of hardcore studying, are a lot of apps and websites out there to study for the JLP, is the Japanese language certification test. if that's what you're going for it. You need a job in Japan can be very useful, those apps are definitely test focused.
little boring and although effective at teaching you grammar and vocabulary. if your goals are like me and you want to watch anime without subtitles make Japanese friends, This probably isn't for you. So it's going in C But what if you like listening to music.
I know when I was a kid in school, teachers used music to teach me and help me remember so many things. I think Japanese kid songs could be good for beginners and helping you remember, Once you get intermediate or advanced. Most of the music lyrics.
Are too poetic and not practical at all. It's a great way to immerse, but not nearly as practical So it's going in C tier. Next is one of the most expensive apps on this list, But I think it's one of the main reasons I became fluent in Japanese.
it's called Pimsleur. it's basically just daily audio podcasts that you not only listen to, but speak out loud which takes a couple of days of getting used to. But if you commit to it and listen to it every day like I did, I think it will absolutely help you become fluent in Japanese, especially helping with your pronunciation.
I think it's one of the best things you can do as a It does have two major problems though. Number one, there is zero reading or kanji. So if you want to learn how to read, which I think you should, you will have to install another app.
It's also kind of expensive, but in my opinion worth it. and pretty repetitive to listen to it for 30 minutes every day. The course only lasts for a couple of months, so it's not going to get you past the beginner phases.
So if you've already started studying Japanese, it might be too late for you. if you're a beginner and you want to learn listening and speaking, Install this app after this video. But for everybody else, it goes.
And here Next is another podcast called Japanese Pod 101. com. if you've used YouTube to study Japanese, you have absolutely fallen in love with reset from Japanese Pod one and one, just like I have.
And although the YouTube videos are fantastic, the podcast is also pretty good. There's honestly an overwhelming amount of content which might make it a little difficult to decide, what playlist or series to listen to. Each lesson also includes transcripts, PDFs, printable workbooks for you to do after you listen also have spaced repetition flashcards Inside the website.
if you're a fan of podcasts, it's cheap and I recommend it be tier. A lot of people ask, should you move to Japan to really learn Japanese? Well, let's find out.
Before I give you the best ways to immerse at home, here are four great options you want to go outside and learn, number one could technically cost $0, but will definitely cost you time, effort, and emotional damage. But having a real life Japanese friend is even more motivating than having an online one with something like I will talk. and I love my Japanese friends.
And for that reason, it's going in here. Do not make the mistake of going to Japan without trying an izakaya is what everybody says. But is this actually good for learning?
will say this will cost 20 to $40 per night, which is more expensive than a Japanese tutor. and although the alcohol will help your confidence. This is not a great way to learn Japanese.
So it's going to be tier for Orion beer, Next is a surprisingly effective way to learn Japanese dating apps. and I think your Japanese level needs to be at least intermediate to advanced because a lot of the girls that will choose to swipe on already speak English and are just there to practice their English with the foreigner, they won't want to talk Japanese to you which puts it about the same level as the user is. But if you can't travel to Japan, here are three quick options to immerse at home.
Number one. Putting sticky notes around your house with the words that you're learning. Number two, Mirroring or shadowing.
as you listen to Japanese content, You repeat what the speaker is saying as they're saying it. this is really hard. or I think the most powerful one is thinking in Japanese.
Narrating your life in your head as you go about your day. But these alone are not going to teach you Japanese, is why I'm putting it in high tier. Now you are about to level up your Japanese Because the next four things I'm ranking on this list made me fluent in four years.
Starting with one. A lot of people don't talk about ChatGPT. Now don't even try using the voice conversation.
But what it is good for is generating lessons that you're interested in. giving you really detailed grammar explanations and examples end is an incredible thing to pair with Anki to create flashcards Using pictures of your manga. Screenshots from your anime.
conversations that you had with your Japanese friends. where words or grammar came up that you didn't understand. But I didn't feel like I was progressing very much So I ended up returning to the next steps on this list, which is why ChatGPT goes in.
See here. Next is an app called Me Goku. I think there are other websites and apps similar to this, basically it's a paid version of the Anki That is way more powerful.
as you're watching Netflix, anime or your other content. It'll show you subtitles in Japanese, with the option to add English subtitles. If you don't understand, then can select a word you don't know.
It'll break down that word, the sentence, the kanji, anything that you want using its AI and automatically create a flashcard for It even has all these options to show you translations, examples, sentences, photos, and even reads it with actual voices from a dictionary. also can rank the word's usefulness based on what you want to learn. this is one of my favorite ways to learn Japanese as an intermediate to advanced learner.
So it's going in this tier. Now it's time to address the bird. Is Duolingo good for Japanese?
First, it must give you real Japanese language input, which we all know. Those sentences are a little wonky, and it definitely has some robotic pronunciation. Number two, it must help you remember and build over time.
Which I think the owl does a great job of threatening, I mean motivating you to continue learning Japanese. I've heard so many advanced Japanese learners dogging, or should I say birding on Duolingo I think if you're in your first month trying to learn the alphabet and basic sentences, I think it's a great start. but if you've been on Duolingo for more than a couple of months, It's time to uninstall and try the final thing on our list.
YouTube. This place right here, is one of the best places to learn Japanese. You can search up lessons.
You can watch fun travel videos, golf videos, anything that you're interested in in Japanese, Especially when you combine it with something like me, Goku or Anki It can be an incredible free way to entertain yourself listening and watching content you can find at your level with real Japanese speakers, all for $0. that's why it's an S tier, but it's not going in to your plus. But before we pick the best of the best.
I'm putting Google Translate in the worst of the worst. It's not there to study. It's there to give you an excuse to not study.
But tier plus was a difficult because everything in tier is a fantastic way for you to get fluent in Japanese. for me, if it wasn't for this app, I would not be fluent in Japanese. I wouldn't know the culture and I would not have been motivated to move to Japan.
Hello Tok has to go straight to steer, plus and if your goal is to move to Japan yourself and make Japanese friends like me, Definitely drop a comment about other things that you want to learn. hope that this video helped you, and I can't wait to see you in the next one.
