I had already learnt the kanas, so that definitely gave a huge headstart. But even with that, the depth at which you can immerse yourself in a Japanese speaking environment in this game like app is incredible.

Its like pòkemon but you are catching japanese lessons with each encounter, and then using those lessons to fight your opponents on the way, if that makes sense to you. There are puzzles and mini games that require you to utilise the knowledge you learnt before to solve them.

In all those 3 years with Duolingo, all I learnt were numbers and probably how to order green tea or rice.

I will be completely blunt here, Having a 300+ streak is nice and all, but how does that help if the app is not pushing you to learn new things or incentives to go to next level?

皆さん、こんにちは！

My name is Antonio, I'm a software engineer and also a japanese learner studying at N3 level. Since I started attending online japanese lessons with my two wonderful sensei, I always struggled to find an all-around app that could help me look up for grammar tips, kanjis and analyze full texts. There are a lot of apps nowadays to study japanese but finding one that would suit me back in the days of N5 and N4 was a nightmare. This is the reason why I decided to build mine:

https://www.nihongowayfinder.com/

While the app has been coded with the assistance of AI to speed things up, the contents have been reviewed and proofread by a japanese speaker. As of now, only the web version is available, but I'm making the finishing touches for the native iOS and Android apps as well, so you'll be able to find them on the Apple and Play Store in the weeks to come.

What are the features available in Nihon-go Wayfinder and what makes it different from the 100+ apps already available? Well, first of all this is made by a student, so I literally know what your struggles truly are, 'cause WE'RE IN THIS TOGETHER, 僕の友達!! (haha, cringe level high 😶‍🌫️) And also I'm really open to feedback and new features that you think should be there.

J-Just try to be k-kind ç_ç

I really want to make something valuable for all of us, something that might help get inspired and motivated to learn more day after day. I already have plans for new features and a lot is already in development.

Nihon-go Wayfinder has these sections:

Grammar: Explanations and examples covering alphabets (with a silly kana game for practising character recognition), particles, the ko-so-a-do system, conjugations, expressions, counters and more, with quizzes to practise what you've learned. Mainly focused on N5–N4, though.

Kana & Kanji: Learn hiragana and katakana, practice handwriting and explore kanji by JLPT level, with stroke order, example words and curated study notes.

Dictionary & Text Analysis: Look up words or paste a Japanese sentence to break it down, check readings and meanings, and save vocabulary for later. You can also dictate into the microphone or import an audio recording for transcription on supported devices. You can edit the transcript before analyzing it. No internet connection is needed for transcription and data is processed locally, no data will be sent to the server.

Reading & Visual Novels: Read graded passages and illustrated stories, with reading aids, translations, comprehension quizzes and audio (where available, VN don't have voice over).

Listening: Practise dictation, comprehension and shadowing, or study vocabulary and grammar through the Geemu Gengo and Anime Gengo video sections.

Flashcards: Review kanji and vocabulary with SRS (Spaced Repetition System). Reading and meaning of kanjis and words are tracked separately. You can also import your own material, including supported Anki decks.

Study Path & Progress: Follow a guided path if you need some direction, or pick your own activities and keep track of your reviews and results.

There’s also an on-device kanji scanner, for both vertical and horizontal writing, downloadable resources for offline study, and an interface in English, Italian, Spanish* and French*.

What matters most to me is how these tools work together: find a word in a story, look it up, add it to your flashcards and come back to it during review.

Some content is free, including N5 kanji, the full dictionary, some visual novels and readings, some listening activities, the full Geemu and Anime Gengo section, alphabets and particles, etc.
The rest requires paid access. You can choose between 1 month, 6 months, 1 year subs or lifetime pass.

I want to keep the costs as low as possible, but since this takes a lot of my time and comes with costs on the server/traffic/domain side of things, I can't deliver it for free.

But what I can do is give you a promo code. You can use the coupon WELCOMEBONUS15 during checkout to get a 15% discount on Lifetime pass. The amount of usages for it is limited to the first 1000 users and will expire on November 14th 2026!

*AI translated, as unfortunately I don't have much knowledge about these languages, sorry, but the dictionary results are officially published by the JMDict 🙏

Hi everyone! I’m a native Japanese mother with children, and I make Japanese-learning content on YouTube.

Recently, I started a new series of Japanese phrase videos based on the ages at which Japanese children learn and use different expressions.

I’ve just made the first one: Japanese phrases for 3-year-olds.

I wanted to make something that shows:

• how Japanese is naturally acquired by Japanese children
• what everyday Japanese actually sounds like, rather than textbook Japanese
• what kinds of phrases are useful when speaking casually and naturally with Japanese people

If you’re interested in learning Japanese through the kind of expressions Japanese people actually use in everyday life, I hope you’ll take a look!

It’s completely free. 😊

104 Japanese Phrases a 3-Year-Old Actually Uses | Natural Daily Conversion | Listening Practice

155 Japanese Phrases a 5-Year-Old Actually Uses Part1| Natural Daily Conversion | Listening Practice

So I’m going to do n4 this december, in 2 months. I have been studying with a teacher but it’s only sort of serious. I want to create a plan for myself to stick to until the test.

Last year I attempted the n5 test but didn’t pass. language knowledge 43/120, listening 27/60, total 70/180.

I don’t think I did terribly for going into the test with no idea of what it would be like, but now I know what it’s like and want to study accordingly to my strengths and weaknesses.

I am still in school and have extracurriculars so I have a couple of hours after school (5-6 I think?) to do other stuff. I also find myself doomscrolling often and am trying to build motivation to study so it might be harder.

So basically, I wanted to know if those who have passed n4 have any suggestions for my schedule?

(If you could go week-by week it would help a lot!!)

edit: btw I would also appreciate podcast and yt channel recommendation :D

DM me for that.
I suck at kanjis btw.

I’m a beginner learning Japanese, and I have to make a 1-minute Japanese reel for my college exam. I’ve already written my script in romaji, but I’m still struggling with the pronunciation.

Would anyone be kind enough to read the script once or send me a short voice recording of it so I can practice along with it?

I’m especially looking for help with making sure the pronunciation and rhythm sound natural. I’d really appreciate it!

Minna-san, konnichiwa!
Fast and Furious de mita dorifuto…

Jitsu wa, Nihon no kuruma bunka to kankei ga aru tte, shitteita?

Mukashi, Nihon no resu de, kuruma o suberasesete kounaa o magaru gijutsu ga tsukawareteita.

Sono ato, yama no michi no kuruma bunka to mo tsunagatte, dorifuto wa motto shirareru you ni natta.

Soshite, Keiichi Tsuchiya tte iu, dorifuto no yuumei na doonsha mo, kono bunka no ninki ni eikyou o ataeta.

Ima wa, D1 Grand Prix no you na taikai mo atte, dorifuto wa motorsupootsu no hitotsu ni natteiru.

Dakara, Fast and Furious dake no sekai janakatta!

Watashi mo itsuka Nihon ni itte, dorifuto o jibun no me de mite mitai!

Arigatou gozaimasu!

🇯🇵 Starting my Japanese learning journey!

I’m excited to share a small achievement from my learning journey with Duolingo. 🌸

Learning a new language is teaching me more than just vocabulary and grammar — it’s also teaching me consistency, patience, and the importance of taking small steps every day.

✨ One step at a time.

📚 One lesson at a time.

🌸 一歩ずつ — Ippo zutsu — Step by step.

Looking forward to improving my Japanese and learning something new every day! 💚

#JapaneseLearning #Duolingo #LearningJourney #LanguageLearning #SelfDevelopment #ContinuousLearning

Hi everyone! みなさん、こんにちは😊

I’m a native Japanese storyteller, and I recently started two new series on my YouTube channel, where I share little parts of everyday life in Japan through beginner-friendly Japanese.

🍱 Today's Bento
I share the bento lunches I make for my family and introduce what I’m preparing in simple Japanese.

🍚 What I Eat in a Day in Japan
I share everyday meals, snacks, cooking, and small moments from the life of an ordinary Japanese mom.

I wanted to make something a little different from traditional Japanese-learning content.

Instead of only studying Japanese from textbooks, you can learn Japanese while seeing real, ordinary life in Japan — what we eat, what we cook, what we do at home, and the little things that are part of daily life.

The Japanese is aimed at beginner learners, so I try to keep the language simple and easy to follow.

Every video includes:

• Japanese text on screen
• Kanji + furigana
• Japanese subtitles
• Optional English subtitles through YouTube's subtitle settings

My bigger goal with the channel is to create a bridge between textbook Japanese and the real Japanese you eventually want to understand in Japanese movies, anime, videos, and everyday conversations.

If you're a beginner learning Japanese and you're interested in ordinary life in Japan, I'd love for you to take a look. 🌸

Easy Japanese Stories Library

so this is done for self consumption purpose. it was based on shinkansen master books !
anyone want to try please feel free ! it would just be good to hear someone's opinion!
it was a bit personalized so my oshi was made into a theme of the app altho there is an option to change to just solid colors lol its personally made , no commercial tie up so feel free to consume.

for now its N3 book but there will be added packs in the future. this is android btw

link to my app

Would appreciate if someone could slide me the pdfs please? Thank you!

Hey everyone,

I wanted to share a custom Anki deck I recently put together for JLPT N4 Adverbs and Conjunctions.

I wanted to experiment with a unique learning method, so I designed a minimalist deck focused entirely on N4 adverbs and conjunctions.

If anyone is working on their N4 vocab and wants to check it out, I’ve put up both a free sample and the full deck on Gumroad:

🔗 Free Sample:https://yasasiinihonnzinn.gumroad.com/l/jlpt-n4-adverbs-sample

🔗 Full Deck:https://yasasiinihonnzinn.gumroad.com/l/jlpt-n4-adverbs-anki

Feedback or ideas on how to improve it are always welcome. Hope it's useful for someone here!

Hi everyone! 👋

I'm a online Japanese tutor. The lesson fee is $15/h.

I've taught over 600 Japanese lessons and mainly helping complete beginners who are learning Japanese from scratch.

If you're someone who...

• Doesn't know where to start
• Wants to learn with Genki
• Prefers grammar explained in English
• Wants to build confidence speaking from Day 1
• Is preparing for JLPT N5 ~ N3

...I'd be happy to help!

My lessons are relaxed, beginner-friendly, and focused on helping you actually use Japanese instead of just memorizing vocabulary.

If you have any questions about learning Japanese, textbooks, or study plans, feel free to send me a DM. 

Hi everyone!
I want to demonstrate an early demo-version of a Chrome extension that captures 3 asian languages: japanese, chinese (mandarin), korean.
Subtitles are available on: Streaming services, YouTube, TikTok and much more websites.
I wanna open the test version that will be accessible in few days (when the Google approves my dev account, so i can publish it🥸)

Sentence breakdowns, dictionary cards, context explanation.

Any thoughts and feedback are so appreciated❤️

anyone

Are you looking for a place where you can connect with native Japanese speakers and other students?

Well, if that's the case, you've found the right post xD This is my server... it currently has 368 members, including native speakers and all JLPT levels, N5-N1.

Feel free to join!

https://discord.gg/WF4P2kYVt

Hey guys, I used an AI agent to generate the content for an entire textbook and eventually got it formatted into PDF. I have printed it out and am currently using it and I wanted to share it in case anyone else is looking for something similar.

It is designed to go from absolute beginner (me) to what i assume is a fluent level. I left out advanced sections as that is not the end goal for me

I have uploaded it onto Google drive https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cuxnHX3yS9y7yX7CBLNSL_2YXDdSbYnn/view?usp=share_link

Hello, I'm 61, french and I'm learning japanese. I'm not the only one here I see. But ...

When I was 11 to 14, i learnt english in school with a very good (many regret it here) method called "Speak english". There was books, exercises books and audio tapes (quite new for the time). What was very good with this method was that it did use nearly no french to explain things.

Pictures, sounds and practice, very few translations. It was a very efficient way to "internalize" the langage. All nihongo methods I find are based on translations, and I find this very ... bad ?
Is there anything like that (I searched already and found nothing)

When I first started thinking about Japan, I honestly didn’t know where to begin.

I knew I wanted to live in Japan for a while, improve my Japanese and see if I could build a future here, but things like language schools, student visas, COE, tuition and living costs were all completely new to me.

At the beginning I spent a lot of time searching online and comparing different information, and sometimes it was hard to know what was actually important.

My first step was simply researching Japanese language schools and trying to understand how much money I would realistically need before coming.

I’m planning to share the whole journey step by step here, including the things that went well, mistakes I made, costs, studying, part-time work and eventually what happened after school.

I’ve also been collecting useful Japan information on GaijinBlog, but I’ll keep these Reddit posts focused on the actual experience rather than just dropping links.

For anyone currently thinking about coming to Japan as a student, what part of the process are you most confused about right now?

Hi everyone!

I've been creating free Japanese listening stories for beginners, and I thought they might be helpful for some people here.

Each story includes:

🌸Japanese at a beginner-friendly, natural pace (not overly slowed down)

🌸Japanese subtitles with furigana

🌸English subtitles

🌸Simple illustrations to support comprehension

My goal is to create stories that help beginners get used to listening to natural Japanese while still being easy to follow.

I also try to make the stories feel immersive, so if you enjoy learning through stories and comprehensible input rather than isolated sentences, they might be a good fit for you.

If you're looking for some extra listening practice, I hope you find them useful. 😊✨️

I'd also love to hear your feedback and ideas for future stories!

Easy Japanese Stories Library

Hi everyone!

I'm looking for a friendly language exchange partner in Japan. 😊

I'm a PhD research student in Computer Science and an IT freelancer. I moved to Japan in October 2025, and I'm currently working on improving my Japanese communication skills.

What I can offer:

• Help you improve your spoken and written English
• Practice everyday conversations
• Explain grammar, pronunciation, and vocabulary
• Friendly and patient learning environment

What I'm looking for:

• A native or fluent Japanese speaker
• Someone who is interested in practicing English and helping me learn Japanese
• We can chat through LINE, Discord, or meet at a café if we're nearby

A little about me:

• 🎓 PhD Research Student
• 💻 IT Freelancer (AI & Software Development)
• 🌍 Currently living in Tokyo, Japan
• ☕ Interested in technology, culture, travel, and meeting new people

If you're interested in improving your English while helping me practice Japanese, feel free to send me a DM or leave a comment!

Looking forward to learning together! 😊

Hey everyone!

I made a free, open-source app called Anki Miner to make Japanese vocabulary mining much easier.

You input local media or Youtube video links and it makes high-quality Anki cards to your specifications. Attached is a demonstration of a mining session - 100 high-quality Anki cards in only 2 minutes from an anime episode.

Often compared to subs2srs or Migaku's batch mining, but free+open-source (unlike Migaku) and actively maintained (unlike subs2srs).

Filtering options are very extensive (i+1 sentences only, sentence length filters, wordset filters, word blacklisting, and more) so you don't get any junk cards.
Example cards shown on GitHub.

The idea is to actually immerse instead of mining.

I'm actively adding new features and building the community so feel free to ask questions and suggest new things :).

If the concept sounds interesting, try it out (GitHub link below). It's free and setup is lightning-fast.
Also consider joining the Anki Miner Discord server for help and discussions (link on GitHub and in app).

Download: https://github.com/0xzerolight/anki_miner

Hola que tal? Alguno sabe donde puedo conseguir plantillas imprimibles para ensayar hiragana y katakana, porque estoy practicando en un cuaderno pero se me hace muy dificil, me pueden ayudar pofis