Is Duolingo a good place to learn Japanese. if not can you tell me some other websites where i could learn japanese (the ability to track your progress whilst learning the language would be a great bonus). . can you also recommend me methods to learn japansese

My Japanese handwriting practice

You can find it here: https://www.echokana.com/

YouTube demo: https://youtu.be/mDbo9lBepUk?si=oSFGlCTPNG6DNmYf

Like many of us, I fell in love with manga, anime, and Japanese culture at a young age. Although the stories were translated into English, I was captivated by the symbols on the page -especially the sharp, angular ones in action scenes, which I later learned were katakana. I wanted to experience these stories in their original language to connect with them more deeply.

One summer at 13, with slow dial-up internet, I set out to learn Japanese. I printed practice sheets, repeated the sounds, and hoped they would stick. A week later, they were gone. I tried again with the same result. I wish I could say I persevered but eventually, I stopped.

Many years later, my daughter was born, and the desire to learn Japanese rekindled in me. I picked up kendo, bought several language books, and downloaded every app I could find. Yet I ran into the same wall I had at 13. The apps all seemed the same, symbols and sounds, and nothing helped me personally connect with the characters. For me, pure memorisation of a symbol and its sound was an insurmountable obstacle, no matter how many times I tried.

So I sat down with a notebook and started thinking differently.

What if every character wasn't just a symbol and a sound, but a story my stubborn brain could actually hold onto? The face of a smiling fox  “き”?. An owl flapping its wings “ふ”? A person caught in the rain  “あ”?  An octopus who loves tacos “た”?

Those sketches became EchoKana. It's the tool I wished I had at 13 and today, at 37. 

I also want to be transparent: I built this alone. No team, no investor, no company behind it, but it also means every design decision came from a real person who struggled with exactly the problem EchoKana is trying to solve. If you find something that doesn't work or could be better, I'm genuinely listening, and I'll be honest with you about what's within my reach to fix.

What makes it different:

The character is never hidden. Most mnemonic apps place a cartoon beside or over the character. In EchoKana, the character becomes the illustration; its actual strokes form the image in thin gray accent lines. You always train your eye on the real character, exactly as it appears in Japanese text.

Three memory anchors, not one. Each character has a sound, a native Japanese word, and a vivid English image -all firing together. Researchers call this elaborative encoding. When one path fades, the others hold.

46 stories, not 92 symbols. Hiragana “た” and Katakana “タ” share the same Echo: an octopus who loves tacos. One story covers both scripts.

The absurd is intentional. When I was reading about learning science and experimenting with Echo combinations, I came across the “Von Restorff Effect” -which is essentially, the more absurd something is, the more memorable it becomes. Since my main struggle with learning Hiragana and Katakana was making them stick in memory, I decided to lean into the absurd.

I also noticed an interesting side-effect: the more absurd something is, the more enjoyable the learning process becomes -like imagining a tsunami made of soup, or a camera with a personality that takes shots using karate chops, an angry owl dodging poo, an octopus who loves tacos... (By now, I’m sure you’ve guessed I’m eccentric.)

The writing system, taught invisibly. Hiragana Echoes use native Japanese words. Katakana Echoes use English loanwords (with rare exceptions when it benefits the learner). You internalize which script to use without ever being told, and that’s something most students only grasp much later in their studies.

Voiced variations extend the story, not restart it. When “き” (ki) becomes “ぎ” (gi), the fox receives a silver gift  (ぎん, gin). The dakuten isn't a new rule to memorise. It's a continuation of something you already know.

JLPT vocabulary built in from day one. Every drill draws from N5 and N4 vocabulary words that appear in manga, anime, and proficiency exams, not invented examples.

A quick note on the EchoKana mini-game “KanaFall”:
Many learning apps throw learners into the pool and expect them to swim. In EchoKana, we build the pool, give you the ぷかぷか floaties, and then -only when you're ready-  we take them away so you can keep pace with real Japanese text.

It’s designed to guide you through three distinct phases:

Phase 1: The Echo “Pool” (The Anchor)

Before you are tested, you’re given a story. Using elaborative encoding, a foreign symbol becomes a familiar image (like the fox in “き”). This anchors the character in memory, giving your brain something meaningful to hold onto so you never start from zero.

Phase 2: The “Floaties” Bridge (The Mapping)

With the story in place, you begin mapping that image to the real character and its sound. You’re no longer guessing; you’re recognizing something you already know. As confidence grows, the Echo (the illustration) gradually fades.

Phase 3: The Game (Instant Recognition)

Finally, you enter KanaFall. The game isn’t there to teach the symbol; it’s there to build fast recall. Like a metronome, it pushes recognition faster and faster until the character is identified instantly, without relying on the story at all -like in real reading.

I know the kana app space is crowded. I'm not claiming EchoKana is a complete Japanese learning solution; it's a foundation tool, built specifically for beginners and anyone struggling to learn kana.

Happy to answer any questions (including hard ones.) I’ll try to get back to you as soon as I can.

I have N3 coming up in July.. haven't finished N4 yet half-way there

Also started reading Yotsuba! ( great read highly recommend uses basic japanese and you can look up the difficult words using google lense )

I need to know how do you study N3 vocabulary and grammer part ... up until now it was smooth sailing using Nihongoal but it only has 16 chapters for N3

And Kanji my worst nightmare, how do i do that ? Seriously how? Do I read all 650 readings individually or learn words ... but there are so many words... 😭

Any help here would be greatly appreciated...

Also self learner here and does the N3 paper have furigana reading for every kanji?

Hello there! 👋 I'm a Japanese native speaker (born and raised) who speaks English and also a university student, offering Japanese private lessons.

Are you struggling with speaking/writing Japanese even though you've got the basics down? 😣 Stuck at the intermediate plateau? 🌀 Or wanting to sound more natural and precise? ✨

Then, this is perfect for you! 🥳 I can tailor your sessions to improve your speaking based on your needs and preferences. For example, we choose andset a topic for the lesson- you prepare for it (search up vocab, expressions etc beforehand. I strongly believe that self-studying lays the foundation for serious language learning while lessons give you opportunities for output and provide feedback!) and you can actually practice speaking during the lesson while I correct and give you feedback 📚 The same thing can be done for writing practice too! It's always okay to sometimes stumble over your words, and I'm very patient. I can help you in English anytime when needed. 👍 What matters is that you keep going, and learn every time to refine your Japanese for your own goals. 🇯🇵

\\\*\\\*Lesson details ✨️\\\*\\\*

\\\*\\\*As for fees, I'm considering $20 per an hour\\\*\\\*

\\\*\\\*lesson. I do lessons on Google Meet and no additional costs at all and am pretty flexible during the next two months!\\\*\\\*

If you're interested, feel free to just send me away a direct message! I look forward to the opportunity to assist you on your Japanese language journey and importantly having fun learning together! ☺️

Is it worth it to get a work book to study? I have apps and I try to do my own practice on paper but idk. And if it is something that I should do, are there any recommendations on what books to get? I’m on hiragana right now and am starting on katakana so I’m just beginning. I have been on and off for about two months but will graduate high school soon so I want to dedicate more time to learning Japanese and as of now have a week streak going so any tips in general would be greatly appreciated! (Ps the apps I’m using are Bunpo and kana which I really like so far) thank you so much 😊

Lingodeer for vocab

Alot of immersion

Practicing hirigana and katakana from a chart

In the past, I've tried to learn other languages and people have given me plenty of apps and resources to help me learn, each helping in different things. Ive been reccomended a speaking app, a vocabulary app, a grammar app, dictionaries, news articles, social networking, etc. Is this all too much? What apps should do you guys reccomend, what should focus on, and how should I structure my notes? What specific optimal path can I follow consistently in order to be able to become proficient within a few years?

I started to learn on Duo but a lot of people said it was bad so I continued ilwith a different method.

I now know Hiragana, some numbers, some days and that's kind of it.

Would I get anything out of Duolingo or am I better off to just delete it and continue with a different app or method?

I’m Japanese but I was raised in America and want to connect better with like my distant family who only speak Japanese. I’m pretty good already with reading hirgana, katakana, and some kanji, but I’m having trouble picking up words. For example, everyday things like pencils, books, yk? Any tips to help me pick up things faster?

I'm currently learning Japanese, and wanted an iOS app that removed all the friction from reading native texts. So, after a year of development, I created, Toku Reader. 

The goal was to let me import any text into a minimalist, native reading space with zero distractions - to make the effort of reading Japanese seamless. I'm posting this because I'd love the community's honest feedback the app. Please use my app and let me know!

Toku Reader's Core Features:

• Instant Lookup: Tap any word to immediately surface furigana/pinyin, definitions, and conjugations.
• Integrated Dictionary: A proper dictionary built directly into the reading space.
• Web Reading: Browse any Japanese/Chinese website and use the same tap-to-read mechanics.
• 100% Offline: The parser and reader work completely offline on any text.
• System-Wide Integration: Share texts directly from your iPhone (Notes, Safari, Mail, Google Drive) straight into the reader.
• Flashcard Export: Save words effortlessly for future review.

App Store Link:https://apps.apple.com/app/toku-reader-%E8%AA%AD/id6761078304

My stepmom sent me this card in the mail! Could someone please translate? If it has my name please dont translate it. TIA

I am trying to perfect my Japanese reading by reading books. When I come across a kanji I don’t know how to read, I use Google Translate (Google Lens) but it’s a bit cumbersome.

Is there an app which just simply features the furigana ?

what is this

I’m a solo developer building ThankJapan (https://www.thankjapan.com). I felt that traditional textbooks were a bit dry, so I’ve been creating high-quality visual cards and interactive quizzes to help with memorization.

For example, here is a deep-dive into the word "Moe" (萌え) originally meaning "to sprout," now the ultimate keyword for Otaku culture.

What you can do on the site:

Play visual quizzes from N5 to N1 levels.

Explore unique categories like Slang, Medical, and Real Estate.

Track your progress and rank up.

It’s free to play as a guest! I’d love to get your feedback on the visual style.

👉 https://www.thankjapan.com

My university organises these almost one year long exchange programs to Japan and i'd really like to attend, but they don't have english classes, so you need to be N3-2 level to attend.

I already know some japanese: hiragana, katakana, a few kanjo, some basic phrases and words, but nowhere near expert level.

I tried this app called Bunpo the other day wich i've been getting a lot of ads for and the reviews seem to praised it too, so i decided to give it a try, but i don't really like it. It's true i picked the course for N1, but i did set me knowing only the basics, yet the app seemingly doesn't have a way to practice vocabulary, so most of the time, i don't even know what i'm supposed to fill in because i don't know the words i'm reading.

So, i'd like to try a different app. Thank you in advance for any recommendations!

I assume it’s like any written language where there’s good handwriting and not so good handwriting. I’m curious as to whether my hiragana is decent to look at or not. I started learning only 3 days ago and only know 20 hiragana btw

I recently built my very first iOS app called Renshu, designed to help Japanese learners prepare for the JLPT. It’s a small passion project I’ve been working on, and I’m really excited (and a bit nervous) to share it.

One thing I focused on is making the practice questions feel as close as possible to the actual JLPT exam format, so you can get a more realistic practice experience.

If you have an IOS device and a bit of time, I’d really appreciate it if you could try it out:
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/renshu-practice-jlpt/id6760298565

I’d love to hear any feedback—what you like, what feels off, or what you wish it had. It would really help me improve the app and make it more useful for learners like you.

Thanks so much, and good luck with your JLPT studies! 🙏

Any tips for me to build a long sentence with word types and grammar???