Japanesepod101 for Learning Japanese

Thinking about learning a few phrases before your trip to Japan? Japanesepod101 might be just what you need! There are thousands of lessons from Absolute Beginner to Advanced levels.

I’ve been using Japanesepod101 since 2017 as a way to keep up my listening skills when I’m outside Japan. I try to do one lesson a day. The lessons take less than 15 minutes and are usually fun and interesting.

Absolute Beginner Courses

For Absolute Beginners, there is a Before You Travel: Survival Phrases course that I highly recommend. It has 100 lessons, which cover everything you need to know while traveling. You’ll learn basic greetings and how to ask for the bathroom, order in a restaurant, discuss prices, and get directions.

If you don’t have much time, you could get away with doing the first 25 lessons, which include the most useful phrases for traveling.

 

 

If you have more time before your trip, you could also do the Absolute Beginner – Fun and Easy course. The 25 lessons cover introductions, showing appreciation, and apologizing. The Basic Japanese with Hiroko course has 25 video lessons about Japanese manners and how to avoid making cultural mistakes.

Lesson Format

Each lesson is set up the same way. There is a short dialogue followed by an explanation of new vocabulary and grammar points. There is also a cultural explanation when necessary.

The dialog includes an audio track and transcript in English. Any new vocabulary can be added to a deck of flashcards for you to study later.

Japanesepod101 Price

It’s free to join and try some of the lessons. The free membership doesn’t have access to all the materials, but you can explore the site and decide if you like it or not.

I have the Premium Membership because I like to have access to all the lessons, as well as the flashcards, PDF downloads, grammar dictionary, and review quizzes.

The price is always changing, depending on the current promotion or coupon code. I recommend waiting for a discount and not paying full price. They’re always offering some amazing special!

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