The introduction of katakana and kanji feels abrupt with the lack of explanation.

On top of that, most of the questions are multiple-choice, so it is easy to think that you have learned all the kana despite knowing it on a surface level.

Regarding hiragana, katakana and kanji, the focus is on recognition.

Full explanations are available on the Duolingo website but not on the app where it’s needed most. This method does not work with Japanese grammar since it’s completely different from English. Duolingo relies on an inference to learn grammar (by seeing a sentence pattern repeatedly, you will eventually determine what it means). The competitive side of me loves this feature!

You can compete against friends or other learners on the Duolingo leaderboard.

It encourages you to make language learning a daily habit! Setting aside 15 minutes a day for language learning is a much more effective way to study and retain new information.

Achieving streaks on the Duolingo app is a fun way to stay consistent with your learning.

Duolingo teaches words and phrases based on a range of topics. When learning a new language, the amount of vocabulary to learn can feel overwhelming. You can repeat it as often as you want, which makes for excellent shadowing practice. In the beginning, romaji is mainly used, but as you progress more, Hiragana, Katakana and Kanji are introduced.

It starts teaching from the building blocks of the Japanese language Hiragana and Katakana.

The great thing about Duolingo is that the creators have ensured that with the Japanese course, you can obtain a basic Japanese vocabulary and grammar equivalent to an upper beginner level (JLPT N5). This application offers different language practice exercises, varying from translating vocabulary or phrases from Japanese to English and vice versa, writing or rearranging sentences to filling in the blank activities. Each lesson covers a different topic and introduces relevant Japanese vocabulary.įor those learners that already know some Japanese, you can take a proficiency test to jump ahead to later lessons.

This course is designed to help you learn the basics of the Japanese language through several interactive lessons. It has been in the language teaching market for years, but it wasn’t until a couple of years ago that the Duolingo team launched a Japanese course. Duolingo is one of this guide’s most popular free language learning apps.

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