With a dizzying array of available options, it can be hard to tell what the best online Japanese course is. One of the most popular audio resources, especially for beginner and intermediate learners, is JapanesePod101. But is this the right Japanese course for you, and does it deliver on its promises? We asked our reviewer, Jessie, to sign up to the product for a week and see if she thought it lived up to the hype. Here is her detailed analysis:
JapanesePod101 is an online learning system for students of Japanese. It has been designed to supplement textbook courses, such as the excellent Japanese From Zero, particularly as a means of improving listening comprehension.
The program is primarily made up of an enormous collection of professionally-produced audio and video lessons, each one presented by a native speaker. The clips and their accompanying transcripts and lesson notes are all completely downloadable, so you can practise whenever you want on any device.
Other features include:
- Thematic vocabulary lists
- Spaced repetition flashcards
- Common word lists
- A grammar bank
- A searchable dictionary.
You have the option of choosing a personal Japanese teacher (with the Premium+ package) who will create a tailored learning plan based on your strengths and weaknesses. You can then message your teacher whenever you like with any language-related questions.
This way you won't need to waste your valuable iTalki lessons on any irritating grammar problems that come up - instead you'll be able to focus purely on conversation practice!
We believe that beginner and intermediate learners should consider getting JapanesePod101.
Although there are lessons for advanced learners, they are not as plentiful or as useful as the grammatical explanations and role-play videos that can be found in the lower levels of the website. If you think that you are above B2 level in the CEFR scale, then we suggest that you have a look for other listening resources. But if you haven’t reached that level yet, JapanesePod101 will almost certainly be of use to you.
It is a particularly suitable choice if:
Interested?
Read on to discover all of the tools and features that you get inside JapanesePod101!
The JapanesePod101 dashboard can appear quite confusing at first. There are a large number of tools and materials on display, and you may not know where to begin. In actual fact, the website’s layout is very user-friendly once you get used to it, and each section is neatly organised for you to find your way around easily.
We thought it would be useful to fully explain what each part of the website looks like and what you can expect to gain from them:
AUDIO/VIDEO LESSONS
This is the core of JapanesePod101’s learning program: several thousand podcast-style lessons covering an enormous range of topics – grammatical explanations, role-play dialogues, thematically-grouped vocabulary, pronunciation tips, and many more.
We really like that are lots of lessons that cover the cultural aspects of learning Japanese – it’s no good just having a firm linguistic grasp of the language if you don’t understand anything about the people that speak it!
If the prospect of sifting your way through thousands of video lessons sounds overwhelming, don’t worry! The lessons are divided up into Sections and Pathways (all filterable by media type and skill) so that you’re able to find exactly what you need:
What’s nice about this system is that you are able to jump about in between different pathways and different levels (perhaps your grammar stronger than your listening skills – in which case you would benefit from more advanced grammar lessons). Other products often force you down a linear learning path which can be frustrating as certain skills develop faster than others.
But what does the average JapanesePod101 lesson actually involve? Here we show you what an average lesson looks like:
GRAMMAR BANK
Some older reviews have criticised JapanesePod101 for not dedicating enough of their content to grammar. This is a fair point – grammar is the skeleton of any language, and you really can’t say or understand anything without it.
However, we can happily report that JapanesePod101 has taken this feedback fully on board and has responded by creating sizeable Grammar Bank, as well as adding a number of grammar-dedicated lesson pathways.
As you can see, there are a plenty of topics – in both Japanese and English – to sink your teeth into (bearing in mind that the picture above only shows the grammar items for the “Absolute Beginner” level).
VOCABULARY LEARNING TOOLS
JapanesePod101 comes with a number of valuable tools to help you quickly build a large vocabulary pool:
if you have ever tried to learn a language before you will know how frustrating it can be to develop an uneven vocabulary bank.
You can natter away on certain familiar subjects, but when something outside of your comfort zone comes up it can difficult even forming a coherent sentence. The solution to this is thematic vocabulary lists.
Work your way through each section – even those that you think don’t really have much connection to your everyday life – and you’ll be able to talk on any subject.
JapanesePod101 has an incredible selection of thematic word lists that cover mundane topics like “the body” and “jobs”, to more esoteric things like “sounds that animals make” and “Star Wars terminology in Japanese”.
1-ON-1 LEARNING
Purchasing a Premium+ package gives you access to JapanesePod101’s ‘1-On-1 Learning’ feature.
As soon as you have signed up for this option you are assigned a professional teacher who will henceforth play an active role in your Japanese-learning activities.
This is how it all works:
Before we even begin to discuss the various packages and their respective prices, we wanted to give you three tips that could save you a considerable amount of money if you purchase a JapanesePod101 subscription:
Students currently enrolled in school or university are able to get 20% off any 12-month Basic or Premium subscription by filling in this form
Even if you aren’t a student, JapanesePod101 often has several generous discounts on offer for all potential customers – you can see them here
Once you create an account you are given the (one-time!) choice of experiencing the Premium plan for a month for just $1. We strongly recommend that you do this: it is the best way to see if JapanesePod101 is the right product for you without committing yourself.
As well as the free lifetime account, there are three separate subscription levels that give you access to the following combinations of features:
Obviously, the right package for you depends on your budget and what you intend to use JapanesePod101 for. That said, we believe that for most people the best option is the Premium package. This is because it gives you all of the tools and materials analysed above (minus 1-on-1 Learning) for a very reasonable price.
You can often find some very generous discounts for JapanesePod101 subscriptions.
In this section we keep an updated list of the best offers available at the present time. To activate your coupon, simply click on the deal you’d like to take advantage of and you’ll be taken to the discounted JapanesePod101 Plan Picker!
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