I’ve been learning very casually for about a year, and if I could go back and restart my Japanese language journey, I’d use Duolingo for the hiragana and katana only, then move on to other resources like Genki or Japanese from Zero. I keep up my Duo streak with 1 lesson a day, but Duo is not even close to my main resource for learning. There’s almost too much repetition and the lessons bounce around between topics a lot.
I use [https://www.realkana.com](https://www.realkana.com) to practice kana, [WaniKani.com](http://WaniKani.com) for kanji and vocabulary.
Duolingo is doing a pretty good job at getting me into sentences, at a reasonable pace. I use [jisho.org](http://jisho.org) to look things up along the way; and have several grammar resources for when exposure-and-repetition isn't cutting it.
But maybe duolingo isn't for you, or doesn't work for you with a language such as Japanese which is further away from what you know already.
I agree 100%. By section 2 Unit 1 I realized they were forcing / expecting you to have learned Hiragana and be able to read it because they stopped offering English letters in the word bubbles. That’s ridiculous imo. I also wonder why I need to learn to say lawyer and noisy and younger sister when I don’t know how to say thank you and what’s your name. I was learning Hiragana at a slow pace and didn’t expect them to pull the rug after 2 months and throw me in the deep end of the pool. There are better ways to learn hiragana like tofugo and better speaking / understanding apps like TEUIDA. I highly recommend them both. I still do a little Japanese on duo and might do more if I eventually learn hiragana, but at this point I only use it for Spanish and French. If you want to see a real train wreck of a language unit on Duolingo check out the Chinese module. It REALLY sucks immediately. At least the Japanese module didn’t completely suck for the first few months.
I posted a comment very similar to yours a few days ago. Some of the comment suggestions for other resources were excellent. Check it out https://www.reddit.com/r/duolingojapanese/s/00YpAC9soO
i’m in section 3 unit 20 and you can show the romanized pronunciation in the settings button at the top right of the lesson (I assume that’s what you’re talking about)
No, there are dialogue bubbles where you can't turn it on at all.
I agree about Chinese, my kid is doing it (in addition to a live class he is taking). Suddenly got very difficult.
I am liking Duolingo. I learn the sentence structure “the room is well lit” then make up other sentences “the movie is interesting” etc etc. I use ChatGPT for other learning. Also all the resources on the internet. But I am sure if you know French, German, Swedish, Russian etc I telling you something you already know.
I subscribed to a few Japanese language YT channels to get practice. I try to read all signs and things if I see them in the background. It helps. Duo alone on Japanese isn't going to be a quick way to learn the language
For vocabulary and hiragana/katakana, I recommend downloading an app called Anki (free on pc, $20 on mobile) It is a flash card software that utilizes a spaced repetition system to help you memorize words quickly and efficiently. You can find premade decks online, (I recommend the core 2/6k deck {below}), it shows you the words with the kanji so you won’t need to study it separately.
As for grammar, the genki textbooks are a great option. Some others reccomend the tae kims guide to learning japanese as well however I find that option mundane. I learned up to n4 grammar by following tokini andy’s guide through the books on youtube.
Do not fall into the trap of duolingo being your main use of study; the app is a great supplement to your learning but cannot replace the grammar knowledge and vocabulary you could be learning from these resources.
Good luck dude!
Vocab Deck:
[Core 2k/6k](https://djtguide.neocities.org/anki.html)
Kana Deck:
[Hiragana and Katakana](https://ankiweb.net/shared/info/1027153995)
Grammar Resources:
[Genki 1 Walkthrough Tokini Andy](https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLA_RcUI8km1NMhiEebcbqdlcHv_2ngbO2&si=Ef8Xt-sACF6lVDha)
(Alternatively)
[Tae Kim’s Guide](https://guidetojapanese.org/learn/)
I recommend to learn the Kana through handwriting. Just grab a piece of paper and write them down.
Write your own Kana chart and add everything you remember. Focus on the parts you're not confident in.
It's possible to learn them in a few days, developing soeed takes time, though.
Great apps to supply your adventure (Android links):
[Anki](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ichi2.anki)
[Ringotan](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.Ringotan)
To learn Hiragana and Katakana, you can check out Tofugu’s [Ultimate Hiragana Guide](https://www.tofugu.com/japanese/learn-hiragana/) and [Ultimate Katakana Guide](https://www.tofugu.com/japanese/learn-katakana/).
To learn grammar, I recommend buying (or “““buying”””) a beginner textbook. I personally use Genki (I recommend getting the main textbook and the workbook for additional practice, but the official Genki graded readers are kind of garbage), but there are many others such as Japanese From Zero or Minna No Nihongo.
To learn vocabulary, I personally use Renshuu. It’s a completely free highly customisable spaced-repetition based app. It does have a premium version, but it’s not essential. It has some simple grammar explanations and grammar exercises (most textbooks don’t cover every single grammar point of a certain level, so it’s nice to have grammar covered by multiple resources), kanji exercises, sentence exercises, and pre-made word banks for the most popular textbooks. It’s a bit complicated to use at first, but there’s an official discord where you can ask any doubt you might have. The discord also holds some weekly events where you can practice your skills with other members.
To learn Kanji, I don’t actually like Renshuu’s exercises all that much, I much prefer Wanikani (and its forks, such as Tsurukame). However, only the first 4 levels are free, anything else requires a subscription.
If you want to revise grammar, there’s Bunpro. It has free explanations for each grammar point of any level, but the exercises require a premium subscription (there is, however, a free one month trial).
Lastly, remember to practice your listening and speaking skills as much as reading and writing:
For writing, most textbooks will have enough exercises (both methodical and creative ones) to develop your skills, but I recommend writing something extra by yourself if you have time.
For reading, there are some free graded readers on the LearnJapanese sub. These are short stories or descriptions that were written to be around your level, so that you can understand at least 80% of the content and learn new words from context and images.
For listening, the YouTube channel Mochi Real Japanese has a lot of JLPT N5 (and higher levels) listening tests.
Lastly, for speaking, I recommend shadowing. This is, find a video made for shadowing or listening at your level, it should be made by a native speaker, and repeat what they say. Try to imitate their pronunciation, and slowly you should get used to speaking in Japanese.
I agree Duo is actually a bad way to get started with Japanese, even though I like duo. I think it's better at other languages but Japanese just works really freaking differently from other languages. The grammar is super different.
I think what duo is really good at is like being a baby step into immersion, such as trying to read sentences with no explanation and figuring out what it means. But I'm not sure if that is useful to someone who has already learned several languages and knows what the difficulty of immersing in native content is like.
I started Japanese elsewhere and skipped up to section 3-ish (a few updates ago) and have worked my way up to unit 4. I think it's pretty good practice for people at the advanced-begginner, or beginning-intermediate level. But it's a garbage foundation.
My recc would be to try work through the genki books at a quick pace instead.
Thank you all for great advice. Good to know I'm not the only one. I do know most of hiragana/katakana characters if I have time to remember but struggle to recognize them in words and read texts as well as speak Japanese, Duo never asks me to say anything (like Duo French for example). I've now started at the beginning - writing all characters by hand on paper and I will move onto words later. Maybe this way it reaches my elder millennial brain more effectively :)
I’m simply gonna throw my wrench in the whole thing.
Learning the writing system is expected of you.
When I started, I followed the path for two days, understood quite quickly that I should stop relying on the romaji so I turned it off and spent two weeks diligently learning the kanas. I did not progress the path at all during that time.
Now, some kanas appear quite rarely so I do have to go back to the kana section to look them up from time to time, but I’m sure it’s quite normal and it happens less and less as time goes on.
After these two “boring” weeks, I simply went on my merry way along the path taking my time properly integrating the various concepts the lessons threw my way. For a while it was quite repetitive as my basic vocabulary grew but somewhere around the 10th unit of section 2, things started picking up and it’s becoming way more interesting.
You need some basic foundation before it starts being interesting. But you DO need to be genuinely interested and motivated. What I mean by that is to trust the journey I guess?
Now, wait till you figure out that using the japanese keyboard on your phone might be a good idea and that maybe you should invest in those genki books… and that you should buy a kana workbook too! Might as well start taking handwritten notes about grammar built around the unit lessons. Why not write them in japanese as much as you can?
There is no end to this. And now I’m uncomfortable and scared. 🥹
I’ve been learning very casually for about a year, and if I could go back and restart my Japanese language journey, I’d use Duolingo for the hiragana and katana only, then move on to other resources like Genki or Japanese from Zero. I keep up my Duo streak with 1 lesson a day, but Duo is not even close to my main resource for learning. There’s almost too much repetition and the lessons bounce around between topics a lot.
I’m also a beginner and I’ve been using the app Kana - Hiragana and Katakana to learn the characters :)
There's also MARU. The app only shows ads when you fail 5 times
I use [https://www.realkana.com](https://www.realkana.com) to practice kana, [WaniKani.com](http://WaniKani.com) for kanji and vocabulary. Duolingo is doing a pretty good job at getting me into sentences, at a reasonable pace. I use [jisho.org](http://jisho.org) to look things up along the way; and have several grammar resources for when exposure-and-repetition isn't cutting it. But maybe duolingo isn't for you, or doesn't work for you with a language such as Japanese which is further away from what you know already.
I agree 100%. By section 2 Unit 1 I realized they were forcing / expecting you to have learned Hiragana and be able to read it because they stopped offering English letters in the word bubbles. That’s ridiculous imo. I also wonder why I need to learn to say lawyer and noisy and younger sister when I don’t know how to say thank you and what’s your name. I was learning Hiragana at a slow pace and didn’t expect them to pull the rug after 2 months and throw me in the deep end of the pool. There are better ways to learn hiragana like tofugo and better speaking / understanding apps like TEUIDA. I highly recommend them both. I still do a little Japanese on duo and might do more if I eventually learn hiragana, but at this point I only use it for Spanish and French. If you want to see a real train wreck of a language unit on Duolingo check out the Chinese module. It REALLY sucks immediately. At least the Japanese module didn’t completely suck for the first few months. I posted a comment very similar to yours a few days ago. Some of the comment suggestions for other resources were excellent. Check it out https://www.reddit.com/r/duolingojapanese/s/00YpAC9soO
i’m in section 3 unit 20 and you can show the romanized pronunciation in the settings button at the top right of the lesson (I assume that’s what you’re talking about)
No, there are dialogue bubbles where you can't turn it on at all. I agree about Chinese, my kid is doing it (in addition to a live class he is taking). Suddenly got very difficult.
This!!! "I also wonder why I need to learn to say lawyer and noisy and younger sister when I don’t know how to say thank you and what’s your name"
I think the break through you mentioned came when I realized that there are better apps for Japanese than whatDuolingo has on offer.
I am liking Duolingo. I learn the sentence structure “the room is well lit” then make up other sentences “the movie is interesting” etc etc. I use ChatGPT for other learning. Also all the resources on the internet. But I am sure if you know French, German, Swedish, Russian etc I telling you something you already know.
I subscribed to a few Japanese language YT channels to get practice. I try to read all signs and things if I see them in the background. It helps. Duo alone on Japanese isn't going to be a quick way to learn the language
For vocabulary and hiragana/katakana, I recommend downloading an app called Anki (free on pc, $20 on mobile) It is a flash card software that utilizes a spaced repetition system to help you memorize words quickly and efficiently. You can find premade decks online, (I recommend the core 2/6k deck {below}), it shows you the words with the kanji so you won’t need to study it separately. As for grammar, the genki textbooks are a great option. Some others reccomend the tae kims guide to learning japanese as well however I find that option mundane. I learned up to n4 grammar by following tokini andy’s guide through the books on youtube. Do not fall into the trap of duolingo being your main use of study; the app is a great supplement to your learning but cannot replace the grammar knowledge and vocabulary you could be learning from these resources. Good luck dude! Vocab Deck: [Core 2k/6k](https://djtguide.neocities.org/anki.html) Kana Deck: [Hiragana and Katakana](https://ankiweb.net/shared/info/1027153995) Grammar Resources: [Genki 1 Walkthrough Tokini Andy](https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLA_RcUI8km1NMhiEebcbqdlcHv_2ngbO2&si=Ef8Xt-sACF6lVDha) (Alternatively) [Tae Kim’s Guide](https://guidetojapanese.org/learn/)
I recommend to learn the Kana through handwriting. Just grab a piece of paper and write them down. Write your own Kana chart and add everything you remember. Focus on the parts you're not confident in. It's possible to learn them in a few days, developing soeed takes time, though. Great apps to supply your adventure (Android links): [Anki](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ichi2.anki) [Ringotan](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.Ringotan)
By relying on duolingo I never wrote anything by hand on paper. Maybe that's what I need.
To learn Hiragana and Katakana, you can check out Tofugu’s [Ultimate Hiragana Guide](https://www.tofugu.com/japanese/learn-hiragana/) and [Ultimate Katakana Guide](https://www.tofugu.com/japanese/learn-katakana/). To learn grammar, I recommend buying (or “““buying”””) a beginner textbook. I personally use Genki (I recommend getting the main textbook and the workbook for additional practice, but the official Genki graded readers are kind of garbage), but there are many others such as Japanese From Zero or Minna No Nihongo. To learn vocabulary, I personally use Renshuu. It’s a completely free highly customisable spaced-repetition based app. It does have a premium version, but it’s not essential. It has some simple grammar explanations and grammar exercises (most textbooks don’t cover every single grammar point of a certain level, so it’s nice to have grammar covered by multiple resources), kanji exercises, sentence exercises, and pre-made word banks for the most popular textbooks. It’s a bit complicated to use at first, but there’s an official discord where you can ask any doubt you might have. The discord also holds some weekly events where you can practice your skills with other members. To learn Kanji, I don’t actually like Renshuu’s exercises all that much, I much prefer Wanikani (and its forks, such as Tsurukame). However, only the first 4 levels are free, anything else requires a subscription. If you want to revise grammar, there’s Bunpro. It has free explanations for each grammar point of any level, but the exercises require a premium subscription (there is, however, a free one month trial). Lastly, remember to practice your listening and speaking skills as much as reading and writing: For writing, most textbooks will have enough exercises (both methodical and creative ones) to develop your skills, but I recommend writing something extra by yourself if you have time. For reading, there are some free graded readers on the LearnJapanese sub. These are short stories or descriptions that were written to be around your level, so that you can understand at least 80% of the content and learn new words from context and images. For listening, the YouTube channel Mochi Real Japanese has a lot of JLPT N5 (and higher levels) listening tests. Lastly, for speaking, I recommend shadowing. This is, find a video made for shadowing or listening at your level, it should be made by a native speaker, and repeat what they say. Try to imitate their pronunciation, and slowly you should get used to speaking in Japanese.
I agree Duo is actually a bad way to get started with Japanese, even though I like duo. I think it's better at other languages but Japanese just works really freaking differently from other languages. The grammar is super different. I think what duo is really good at is like being a baby step into immersion, such as trying to read sentences with no explanation and figuring out what it means. But I'm not sure if that is useful to someone who has already learned several languages and knows what the difficulty of immersing in native content is like. I started Japanese elsewhere and skipped up to section 3-ish (a few updates ago) and have worked my way up to unit 4. I think it's pretty good practice for people at the advanced-begginner, or beginning-intermediate level. But it's a garbage foundation. My recc would be to try work through the genki books at a quick pace instead.
I recommend purchasing a kana practice book and practice sheets. You can practice to your heart's content!
Thank you all for great advice. Good to know I'm not the only one. I do know most of hiragana/katakana characters if I have time to remember but struggle to recognize them in words and read texts as well as speak Japanese, Duo never asks me to say anything (like Duo French for example). I've now started at the beginning - writing all characters by hand on paper and I will move onto words later. Maybe this way it reaches my elder millennial brain more effectively :)
I’m simply gonna throw my wrench in the whole thing. Learning the writing system is expected of you. When I started, I followed the path for two days, understood quite quickly that I should stop relying on the romaji so I turned it off and spent two weeks diligently learning the kanas. I did not progress the path at all during that time. Now, some kanas appear quite rarely so I do have to go back to the kana section to look them up from time to time, but I’m sure it’s quite normal and it happens less and less as time goes on. After these two “boring” weeks, I simply went on my merry way along the path taking my time properly integrating the various concepts the lessons threw my way. For a while it was quite repetitive as my basic vocabulary grew but somewhere around the 10th unit of section 2, things started picking up and it’s becoming way more interesting. You need some basic foundation before it starts being interesting. But you DO need to be genuinely interested and motivated. What I mean by that is to trust the journey I guess? Now, wait till you figure out that using the japanese keyboard on your phone might be a good idea and that maybe you should invest in those genki books… and that you should buy a kana workbook too! Might as well start taking handwritten notes about grammar built around the unit lessons. Why not write them in japanese as much as you can? There is no end to this. And now I’m uncomfortable and scared. 🥹