When you feel like you've maxed out on learning with Rosetta Stone, you might need to push yourself into situations where you're actively using the language instead of reacting to an app. While Rosetta Stone will help you build a solid foundation, it won't make you fluent. When learning a language at your own pace with software, it's important to have realistic expectations. Rosetta Stone is the best full-featured language-learning software, and it's our Editors' Choice for paid programs. Use Rosetta Stone faithfully for a few months and you'll learn to speak, read, write, and understand basic words and phrases. It's well structured, clear, and moves at a deliberate pace. But is it any good? The answer is an emphatic yes, especially if you're new to a language and want to develop a strong base of vocabulary and grammar. There are about ten billion more language apps on the market, so if you have a favorite, please post it in the comments below.Rosetta Stone is undoubtedly one of the most famous language-learning programs. I use the free version of this one almost every day. The UX is super simple and the Kanji definitions give you alternate definitions and example use cases. The free version is pretty robust and, like iKana, is a great recall tool to whip out on the train. Kanji intimidates most beginners (and a few not-so beginners) but this app quizzes you on the most common Kanji and vocabulary found at each level of the exam. If you’re on the JLPT track, or are a Kanji drill masochist, this app series was made for you. Not sure if this is the one I’ll use on the train, but if you’re the kind of student who wants to dig into the cultural underpinnings of the language, you might dig this one. The dictionary is also intuitive and smooth (I know this sounds like a small thing, but downloading a crap dictionary and not being able to use it when you need it is a total drag). It gives legitimately interesting cultural information and well-written grammar structures. The UX is sexy, but isn’t terrifically interactive. I’ve only downloaded the Lite/free version (premium for iPhone is 9.99) and it’s basically an e-book with quiz games at the end. My co-worker recommended this app and I have to say so far it’s pretty good, but not rocking my world. Rosetta Stone has a much sleeker UX, but the price totally reflects that dev work. Seriously- I don’t want to earn berries or open secret mystery surprises- (Dear busuu, please update your experience, KTB). The content is really well-chosen for each lesson, which makes the learning process feel natural.ĭownside: The interface is a little cheesy (think Farmville). For beginners this is a cheap and easy way to play with the language. Unlocking a single course cost $4.99, or all of the courses for $16.99. It’s way more intuitive, has an internal social network, and loads of free lessons to try out before you pay into the premium app. It compliments your current study method and keeps you rolling.Īll told, I kind of wish I knew about busuu before I bought Rosetta Stone. If you already have the Totale iPhone app then yeah, of course download this. You can’t really select what aspect of the language you study because RS has decided that its cumulative method is best. It’s a robust app full of useful vocabulary and phrases, but isn’t as intuitive as I’d hoped it’d be. I bought the Rosetta Stone Totale subscription when I knew I was moving to Japan, and the app is free when you purchase for the year (about 235.00USD). This is the beginner app to bust out when you feel like you should be studying, but are to lazy to really study. iKana is a simple and effective alpha practice app that uses basic recall methods to check your memorization of Hiragana and Katakana. Step one: anyone starting out in Japanese needs to learn the alphabets. Every app has good and bad points, and I’ve yet to find one that covers everything I want perfectly, so having a mix makes a lot of sense and keeps my ADD happy. I have an iPhone so I can’t test the Android versions, but someone who has one will certainly step up and share in the comments below. Here are the handful of the best apps I’ve come across, either through nerdy research on tech blogs or just asking my friends who’ve been here longer than me. I spend about ten hours a week on the train, and have dedicated a chunk of my daily commute to learning Japanese on my nifty array of apps. A while ago, I wrote about some of the unlikely things you should know before you move to Tokyo, and number one for me was all the time you spend on the train.
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