Japanese
Last Updated: August 15, 2025
Learning Japanese? Here's a great collection of Japanese language learning resources to help you get fluent in Japanese! Start learning Japanese today.
Japanese Language Learning Links
- Alison Japanese – offers several free courses.
- Ba Ba Dum – interactive flashcards available for several languages.
- BBC Languages Japanese – although it is no longer being updated, it's still a good resource.
- Easy Japanese – “Learn language from the streets!” They have other languages available. It's one of my favorite YouTube channels.
- italki – perfect for a more personalized language learning experience. They also have an app and you can pay per lesson!
- Linguanaut Japanese – another free language resource with other languages available.
- NHK World Japan – news outlet, but they also have a channel so check your local listings. Check out their YouTube channel, too! Japanology is one of my favorite cultural shows. The other is Somewhere Street, which is like a walkthrough tour of many cities around the world.
- Pimsleur – language immersion course. A bit pricey, but well worth it!
- SquidTV Japan – listings of Japanese television channels and radio stations.
- Tofugu – Japanese culture and language blog. One of my absolute favorites!
*Hey, this page contains affiliate links. There's no extra cost to you, but I receive a small commission when you decide to use them. They help me keep this party going.
Japanese Language Learning Apps
- Beelinguapp: Learn Languages with Audiobooks – free with in-app purchases. Available for iOS and Android, I love this app. You can read and listen to books in two languages.
- Duolingo – FREE. I know many folks who don't like Duolingo, but it has its upsides. It's easy to start, just download the app or head over to their site and start learning. I especially love chatting with the bots and trying to earn more lingots (in video game speak, cash, coins, and rubies) to unlock more culture lessons.
- Mango Languages – subscription required; $19.99/month or FREE with any participating library. I used to get this for free from my local library, and one day they suddenly stopped supporting it. It's similar to Duolingo, but it focuses more on visual and audio. The monthly subscription is $19.99, but you'll have over 70 languages at your fingertips. I love those in-between lessons, it will give you cultural tips. I love those in-between lessons that give you cultural tips. You can access Mango Languages via web and download lessons through the app (iOS and Android) on to your phone or tablet.
- Polly Lingual Japanese – free with in-app purchases. This used to be called Daijoubu and now is part of a language suite where you can learn other languages also. I have this on my AppleTV as well as on my iPhone for easy access and learning on the go. If you want to unlock all 13 languages, you'll need to get the Polly Passport. The annual fee is $9.99. I love this subscription because I can also access it on other devices. It's also one of the cheaper options out there. One thing to note is that you can also hire a Polly Ambassador who are live video tutors. Their rates and experience are listed clearly.
- Speak and Translate by Apalon Apps – free with in-app purchases. Available for iOS only.
Movies in Japanese
Japanese Language Learning Books
Use Your New Language As Often As Possible!
Learning Japanese (日本語) and other tonal languages has been a slow process, but I love Japanese culture so much that I'm willing to do what it takes to communicate with people in their language. I started by ordering my food at the local sushi spot. A young lady there corrected my pronunciation and even gave me cultural anecdotes. It was scary initially, but I'm learning to SPEAK.
*Hey, this page contains affiliate links. There's no extra cost to you, but I receive a small commission when you decide to use them. They help me keep this party going.
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