Listening and Speaking:
Ai LingoPlay
Ai LingoPlay is an AI-driven platform that allows users to practice languages through role-play. It simulates everyday conversations in settings like cafes, providing immediate feedback on language use. This helps improve speaking, listening, and comprehension skills effectively.
NHK News Web Easy
NHK News Web Easy features simplified Japanese news articles with audio. It helps learners improve their reading and listening skills by using basic language, making it great for beginners.
TSUNAHIRO
The website tsunagarujp.bunka.go.jp is a free resource for learning practical Japanese through videos showing real-life scenarios. It helps improve listening and speaking skills by demonstrating how Japanese is used daily. It’s ideal for foreigners in Japan who are new to the language and looking for everyday communication skills.
Easy Japanese Learn Japanese | NHK WORLD-JAPAN
NHK World’s Learn Japanese resources offer conversation and grammar lessons to help learners improve their speaking and listening skills. The content is suitable for understanding spoken Japanese and engaging in conversations.
Reading and Writing:
Japaan
Japaaan is a web magazine about Japanese culture. Using it for learning Japanese can improve reading skills, cultural understanding, and vocabulary about Japan. It’s useful for learners interested in Japan’s culture.
NIHONGOBLOG
NIHONGOBLOG is a simple Japanese blog by a UK-based Japanese teacher. It covers daily life and culture and is aimed at beginner to intermediate learners. Reading this blog can enhance your understanding of simple Japanese texts, Japanese culture and customs, and expand your vocabulary on everyday topics.
Yomimono Ippai
The website provides Japanese reading materials organized by level, from beginner to advanced, and includes PDFs and audio files. Using this site can enhance reading and listening comprehension across different levels, and help build vocabulary and contextual understanding from varied topics.
Tadoku
Tadoku.org offers a Japanese extensive reading approach, focusing on easy, enjoyable books without dictionary use to naturally improve reading and vocabulary. Their “four golden rules” promote a stress-free reading experience, also available through free materials and audio downloads on the site.
HiNative
HiNative is a Q&A platform where you can ask native speakers about language and culture. Using it for Japanese can improve your conversational skills, help you learn informal expressions, and deepen your cultural understanding. You can also ask native speakers to check your writing, which provides valuable feedback.
samidori
he website samidori.k.kyoto-u.ac.jp offers a Japanese language learning system focused on self-study for various levels. It provides lessons on basic Japanese including hiragana, katakana, and vocabulary, accessible via smartphones and tablets. This resource primarily enhances reading and writing skills in Japanese.
Marugotoweb
Marugotoweb.jp/en offers a structured way to learn Japanese through the “Marugoto: Japanese Language and Culture” textbooks. The website supports all language skills—listening, speaking, reading, and writing—through interactive activities and cultural content.
Tae Kim’s Guide to Learning Japanese
Guide to Japanese (guidetojapanese.org) focuses on teaching Japanese grammar in a structured way, making it great for improving reading and writing skills. It’s ideal for learners who want a deep understanding of the language’s structure, though it’s less focused on speaking and listening skills.
Cultural Understanding:
japan-guide.com
Japan-guide.com offers extensive information on traveling and living in Japan, including cultural and practical tips. Although not specifically designed for language learning, it can help enhance reading skills and cultural knowledge for students of Japanese.
Hirogaru-nihongo.jp
Hirogaru-nihongo.jp is a website that helps you learn Japanese by exploring different cultural topics. It focuses on improving reading and listening skills through articles and videos related to everyday life and culture in Japan. The site is ideal for beginners and provides tools like subtitles for videos to aid understanding
Apps:
Umi
The language learning app “Umi” is great for practicing listening, speaking, and reading. Japanese learners can watch video clips, including anime scenes, to see the target words in context and memorize them effectively.
Duolingo
The language learning app “Duolingo” helps Japanese learners study Japanese. Users fill in missing words, translate sentences, listen and answer questions, choose the correct answer, practice speaking, match words with pictures, read stories, and review vocabulary with flashcards.
Others:
Jisho
Jisho.org is a free Japanese-English dictionary that helps with reading and writing Japanese. It offers features like word and kanji lookup, example sentences, stroke order, pronunciation audio, and grammatical information. This makes it great for anyone learning Japanese at different levels.
Kanji alive
Kanjialive.com is a free online tool designed to help beginners and intermediate learners read and write Japanese kanji. It features searches by readings, meanings, or radicals, and includes animations for stroke order, mnemonic hints, and audio examples to aid pronunciation. This makes it particularly useful for improving reading and writing skills in Japanese.
