Major Japanese Apps VS Master Speaking Japanese - Which one actually helps you speak?

Are there too many apps to select the best one for you?

If so, this is for you!

As an Applied Japanese Linguist with over 20 years of teaching experience, here is my summary of major Japanese Apps.

• Duolingo is for tasting the Japanese language. It’s free and gamification is fun!
•  Pimsleur is for listeners. You learn by listening and are not allowed to take notes.
• Rosetta Stone is for visual learners. You learn by describing lots of images.
• Human Japanese is for readers. You start with ‘hiragana & katakana’ and read lots of texts in English.
• Anki is for memorising Japanese vocabulary. You use flash cards repeatedly.
• Wanikani is for memorising Japanese Kanji. You follow the kanji lists.

If you’ve been using some of these apps, well done on your learning routine and your amazing work!

🌸What Delays Your Learning?

Do you want to learn effectively because you have a busy life?

You should avoid:

1. Multi-language apps - These are not suitable for learning Japanese effectively. All my students who mastered many languages after 1 year of self-study told me that learning Japanese was different.
2. Repetition without understanding expressions - You are not a parrot. You want to be able to expand the usage in a variety of scenarios.
3. Learning expressions irrelevant to you - You don’t need to say, ‘I’m American.’ if you are British at a Japanese hotel speaking with the host.  
4. Having a conversation without a rehearsal - Learning Japanese is like learning Karate. Just watching YouTube videos as your knowledge is not enough to be able to perform it at a match with a karate player. It’s possible to speak French just by knowing some expressions without daily practice, but it’s not the case in Japanese.
5. Watching interactions between avatars with digital voice - Japanese people totally value how you bow and are sensitive about your tone of voice. So, a non-human conversation is not a good model for you.

🌸What Accelerates Your Learning?

If you want to improve your Japanese effectively, I’d recommend you to:

1.   Select an app designed for Japanese language by professional - Selecting an app designed by a professional Japanese teacher is a great start! Understanding Japanese mindsets behind expressions is essential to accelerate your Japanese learning journey and speak like a native culturally and socially. That’s why I always say ‘Mind=Expressions’.
2.   Practise repetitively after clear understanding of expressions - Space repetition is important for keeping your memory, but this is only effective if you have a clear understanding of new expressions.
3.   Practise in real life settings - Children pick up a language by understanding a certain scenario and analysing how it’s described. Once you are in a useful setting for using new expressions, you naturally understand them and are motivated to express yourself. 

4.   Practise speaking daily without a partner before a conversation - Q&A style conversation practice with new expressions will be helpful before speaking to a native Japanese speaker. It’s like a rehearsal before a real conversation, so you’ll be ready to talk with confidence.

5.   Watch how native speakers interact - Japanese people value how you behave, especially appropriate body language. Also, copying native speaker’s natural tone of voice helps your speaking.

 To go further, you need a tool to express yourself daily. You need real communication practice.

🌸Why Master Speaking Japanese Is Different

Master Speaking Japanese is designed to maximise and accelerate learning specifically for Japanese with the support of real native speakers. You’ll finally speak confidently, naturally, and personally.

Key Features:

1. Human Interaction

◦ Learn from native-speaker videos (including your teacher!).

◦ Get expert tips and feedback to study smarter, not harder.

2. Real-Life Lesson Videos

◦ See authentic gestures, tone, and everyday conversations.

◦ Learn how to behave politely like a Japanese native.

3. Personalised Speaking Practice

◦ Practice conversations based on your life (e.g. ordering ramen, not sushi).

◦ Q&A structure helps you think and respond naturally in real time.

4. Clear Grammar & Vocabulary

◦ Understand grammar deeply—with cultural context and nuance.

◦ Speak using vocabulary that fits your real-world situations.

🌸Lesley is an English and Italian teacher and said

‘I self studied for 20 years but I still couldn’t really speak Japanese.

This felt like a brick wall separating me from Japanese speakers.

It’s amazing that this course explains the important details needed to understand and usage properly in the clearest way!

So,I started speaking Japanese confidently from the second lesson.

Now, I can speak with my Japanese violin teacher in Japanese!’

🌸Ready to Speak Japanese for Real?

Keep using your current app—but if you're serious about taking your Japanese to the next level, connecting with Japanese people and expressing yourself naturally, try Master Speaking Japanese.

💟Get started today!

💟Join live support sessions with me, your teacher :)

💟Or Gift a month Japanese Course for your loved one!

Let’s grow together!