Best apps to learn Japanese: build the right study stack

Documented shortlist

Affiliate disclosure. Links to LingQ and LingoPie in this decision area are affiliate links. We may earn a commission if you buy through them. This does not affect our recommendations. How we fund the Lab

Side-by-side evidence

Product facts use the documented vendor records; pricing has its own verification date below. Regional offers may change.

Scroll across to compare product details. Prices and billing terms should be confirmed on the official site.

Stage 1: move from kana into basic sentence structure

Use romanisation only as a short bridge. A credible beginner route should move into hiragana and katakana, introduce particles and word order, and show how polite and plain forms change meaning and context.

Busuu, Pimsleur and other broad products can support pieces of this stage, but verify script treatment and the exact Japanese course depth. A speaking-first audio course does not replace literacy, and a recognition-heavy interface does not replace production.

Stage 2: give kanji and vocabulary their own system

Kanji study benefits from a deliberate sequence and repeated recall, but isolated characters are not the final target. Store readings and meanings with real words, then meet those words again in sentences.

WaniKani publishes a dedicated kanji-and-vocabulary system; Bunpro focuses on grammar and review. These specialist jobs are different from a general course and should be evaluated against the stage you are actually in.

• Learn kana before relying on a kanji tool.
• Connect characters to vocabulary and sentences.
• Keep the review load small enough to leave time for input.

Stage 3: add supported reading and listening

Japanese text needs script-aware lookup, furigana control and explanations that do not destroy reading flow. Satori Reader is designed around supported Japanese reading; LingQ can pair text and audio and handle imported material. Video can add context, but subtitle quality and difficulty still determine whether the session is study or passive viewing.

Choose material whose main situation you can follow. Increase speed, topic complexity or reduction of support one variable at a time.

Stage 4: choose conversation or JLPT evidence

If conversation is the goal, schedule retrieval and interaction. If JLPT is the goal, inspect the tested skills and use appropriate practice; the JLPT does not directly test live speaking.

A general ‘advanced’ label cannot decide this branch. Define the observable task, then choose the tool or teacher that can provide the relevant feedback.