The Duolingo Language App Has Finally Added Japanese, Which Is Great
Duolingo is one of the best free ways to start learning a new language, and they are finally responding to the calls of multilingual polyglots by adding Japanese to their curricula. Suhoy!
Japanese has been Duolingo’s most requested language since their launch in 2011, and now that it’s here, I can honestly say it doesn’t disappoint – it was a lot of fun testing it out ahead of today’s launch. I’ve been slowly learning Japanese for months using great textbooks like Genki, as well as other language learning apps like Rosetta Stone, and Duolingo’s take on the language is a great starting point wherever you find yourself.
You will start by learning hiragana, one of the basic Japanese alphabets that is important to know from the very beginning. He then moves on to the introduction, greeting, and other courtesies, and then to useful vocabulary. After that, he moves on to more active vocabulary and phrases such as exercise, food, shopping, itineraries, and even a little romance. It concludes with health lessons, subculture knowledge and Olympic preparation (handy if you’re planning to come to Tokyo in 2020). In addition, the Hiragana and Katakana alphabets are now available for learning in another Duolingo app, Tinycards for iOS .
However, as with other Duolingo courses, you must keep your expectations in check. You will learn a lot and walk away with a decent grasp of the basics, but you won’t be fluent or anything like that. It takes a lot of time and a lot of practice. However, it is a great starting point for anyone looking to learn Japanese. And the fact that Duolingo is trying to include more Asian languages - which I once criticized – is a giant step forward.
The new Japanese course is available for free with today’s app update, or you can download the iOS app for free here or for Android devices here . When it comes to such quality language lessons, it’s really hard to beat the “free” ones.