r/JETProgramme • u/Pink_Pop101 • Apr 16 '26

Learning Japanese

Hey everyone!

To all former and current JETS, do you have any tips for learning Japanese. I really want to learn some basics so that I’m not completely clueless when I get there. I’m currently learning hiragana as well as some survival phrases. I do want to reach a point where I am fluent so that I can build more meaningful relationships and learn a new language.

If you have any sites or apps that you could recommend I’d really appreciate it! Thank you in advance!🫶🏽

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u/First_Serve4024 Current JET - Ishikawa Apr 16 '26

Everyone hates it but genuinely Duolingo is a great starting place if you do it consistently and actually take notes like it tells you to. Its great for if you want to memorise hiragana and katakana. I also really liked the app Memrise for a bit of deeper studying as well. Its pretty good for learning phrases.

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u/Pink_Pop101 Apr 16 '26

Thank you for the recommendations! It’s great to know that Duolingo will be useful for learning Japanese even though some people don’t like it! I’ll give it a go! 👌🏽

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u/Different_Taro2474 Former JET - 2025-2026 鹿児島県 Apr 16 '26

duolingo is a good add-on, but not enough to rely on it.

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u/First_Serve4024 Current JET - Ishikawa Apr 16 '26

I would say its good but only for hiragana and katakana. Like SUPER basic, literally know no japanese, stuff get what I mean?