One of the most common approaches today when it comes to studying a foreign language is through apps. They often serve as the starting point for many to genuinely become interested in studying a particular language.
With various apps offering innovative proposals that resemble games, many end up falling in love with this study style and adopt it as an important part of their learning. But as with everything, not all apps provide a good service; there are several apps with flaws, errors, and even incorrect translations.
Thinking about this, we decided to bring a list of what we consider to be the best applications today when it comes to studying 日本語. In this article, we will explain some details about these applications and their respective ratings in their app stores.
Table of Content
1 Lingodeer
It is an application aimed at learning Asian languages. The main ones are: Chinese, Japanese and Korean. Although it also includes the possibility to learn other languages.
In 2018 it was almost entirely free, today it's still partially free, but after completing some lessons they ask you to subscribe to a plan.
It is an exceptional app for those who want to build a foundation in the língua japonesa, as it separates useful vocabulary and grammar for beginners, providing a good understanding for those who have never studied japonês.
It's an app that we highly recommend! It is available for Android and IOS. Its average rating is 4.5 in its stores.
2 Kanji Study
The next app is for kanji enthusiasts. As the name suggests, Kanji Study is an app focused on mastering Kanjis.
But it doesn't stop there; it also has a dictionary function, which from our perspective is one of its best features. Since part of it is in Portuguese and the definitions in the dictionary are great and coherent, it has the option to copy and add words to favorite lists,
send to Anki (another app), and much more. It has various functions and also teaches you the radicals of different kanjis, as well as how they are written.
In addition to allowing you to make specific searches in the dictionary itself, for example, if you type (n3) it will show you the main words you need to know from JLPT N3,
if you type (C) it will show you the 64,455 most common words in the Japanese language.
Part of his service is free, and there are subscription plans.
It is available for Android.
Its average rating is 4.9 in its stores.
3 Takoboto
Takoboto focuses on being a dictionary, but it has an important differentiator which is the grammatical points, as the owner of Takoboto acquired JGRAM, an old grammar site of the Japanese language, with a good part of the data included in Takoboto. This means that Takoboto not only provides you with a huge vocabulary base but also shows you
various elements of grammar.
Another detail included in the app is the sentences; most of the words have example sentences, which is extremely important for a deeper understanding of the words. In addition to that, it also has a website that carries the same functions.
It's free! And it's available for Android.
Its average rating is 4.8 in its stores.
4 Japanese Grammar
The Japanese Grammar app, as the name suggests, is aimed at learning grammar. It covers everything from basic grammar N5 to N1, in addition to having parallel lessons for beginners.
The app covers various grammatical points by levels and besides an excellent explanation of the topic, it presents example sentences. One downside might be that it is entirely in English.
This app may be a bit complex for beginners, but given that you have a foundation in the Japanese language, it becomes exceptional in its purpose.
Your average rating is 4.7 and it is free. It is available for Android and IOS.
5 Aprender japonês
Learn Japanese is an app focused on vocabulary, teaching words and phrases, such as weather, colors, clothes, actions, etc.
It is said to have around 9000 words in its database, which you can learn. The greatest advantage of this app from our perspective is that it has most of its content translated into Portuguese. In addition, it also includes the sounds.
His average grade is 4.7. It is available for Android.
6 Netflix
We all know Netflix as a streaming service to watch series, movies, and shows. But it is also very useful for learning 日本語, as it has a large collection of content spoken in Japanese, something that is essential for learning Japanese is consuming content made for natives and in its original language, and Netflix allows you to achieve this goal; a good part of the videos has subtitles in 日本語, thus improving your reading in the language.
Besides the possibility of watching without subtitles, thus improving your listening in the language.
His average grade is 4.4. It is available for Android and IOS.
7 memory
The Memrise is quite popular in language learning, it is an app with various functions and a very intuitive gamification system for language learning, even having several ways of memorization. But it is an app that is more aimed at the beginner audience, given that it focuses more on simpler elements of the language.
Your average rating is 4.7.
It is available for Android and IOS.
8 Rosetta Stone
Just like Memrise, Rosetta Stone has a lot of popularity among language learning apps. It offers a range of lessons with both short and long periods.
In addition, like many other apps, it has a level order for beginners and intermediates.
Along with various learning tools, with practice in Listening (Audição) and Speaking (Fala). A possible disadvantage is that it is paid after some lessons.
Your average rating is 4.7.
It is available for Android and IOS.
9 Anki
Anki is not originally an app focused solely on learning Japanese, but rather on memorizing information. It's like a filing system where you place a document and then return to look at it again.
This means that you can memorize the things you put in it, that is, it is empty until you go and plant a seed (information) in it.
He would be more for recalling what he learned than for learning properly.
He is undoubtedly one of the most used apps by Japanese learners.
It is available for Android and iOS (in its iOS version it is paid).
Another detail is that it is also available for download on operating systems (that is, computers).
Your average score is 4.7.
10 LingQ
The author of this app is renowned polyglot Steve Kaufmann, fluent in 20 languages.
It's an app with a great proposal. The idea is to learn the language through 'podcasts' and audios created by natives where you have the text of what is said, the audio, and a dictionary from the app itself, which is also available in português.
It has a vast content divided by levels from basic to advanced in the language and receives constant updates.
A possible disadvantage is that there are several limitations for those who do not subscribe to the app's paid plan.
Your average rating is 4.7.
It is available for Android and IOS.
Did you like this list? Do you have suggestions? Leave them in the comments.
Don't forget to share with friends who are learning 日本語 and happy studying!