Does anyone use Japanesepod101?

Japanese
#9

I didn’t know Misa had a step-by-step course that builds on top of prior lessons like that, so maybe it’s superior, IDK. But yeah, the way I used it was to listen to the full podcast (often in the shower), then read the notes at the bus, then write my own notes at home. If I didn’t have time/motivation to write down my own notes, I’d often just go on. I rarely reviewed, and when I did, I mostly just reviewed my notes. The reason for this is that they re-use a lot of stuff you previously learned, so doing it every day almost is like SRS. But if I ever felt overwhelmed with the current material, I would back up, review my prior notes, and see if I needed to create notes for other lessons I didn’t write up notes for.

If you do use JapanesePod101, do not follow their “Mastering Japanese” path; the difficulty can spike quite significantly in some of the lessons. I’d recommend just following the particular pathway corresponding to your level rather than something that mixes from various levels like that

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#10

I had a similar experience. I found JapanesePod101 really useful during the beginner/intermediate stages of my learning career. I like the way that they present a dialogue, which would have parts that were incomprehensible at the beginning, but by the end of the episode, I felt like I understood everything clearly. :blush: I also agree that the paid features were worth it.
(I agree with the other comments that “absolute beginner” was not that useful… Maybe it’s useful but just binge-listen to it in a week.)

3 Likes
#11

I subscribed for two years and listened to a lot of the content. I had a hard time retaining it. There are pockets of well-made content in there in between a lot of rote stuff. It feels like they recorded most of the content years ago and are just barely keeping the app running. Not a horrible deal for two years at $80, but I got a lot more out of Pimsleur.

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#12

My issue is there is a ton of frankly uninteresting banter as well as time wasted promoting their other services. I just use Speechling’s random listening comprehension a bit daily. With these settings.

speechling settings
speechling settings856×830 43.2 KB

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#13

Another good resource that is free is just animelon.

https://animelon.com/about

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#14

I hope the site continues to grow and more and more series are added, such an underrated tool for beginners (and really anyone) to learn from.

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#15

I follow Nihongo no Mori as well.

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#16

What helps me is that there is a set of Anki flashcards in their shared decks section that helps me review. I think this helps immensely since it is a ton of content, and I take parts from the lesson transcript and add it to the flashcards.

#17

I really like Pimsleur, it was the program that really helped me build a foundation for and confidence conversational Japanese. I do agree that the content can be hard to retain. Currently using it with flashcards.

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#18

I would say it’s pretty accurate. There were times that I would listen religiously, but felt I wasn’t retaining the information. A lot of really advanced grammar and vocab is sometimes mixed in with beginner lessons where the focus is actually a very basic grammar point.

But personally, at this stage in my Japanese I really don’t mind the mess. When I speak to a Japanese person, they’re not thinking of speaking to me in N3, N2, etc. It’s a mix of everything. So I take that approach.

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#19

I tried this long ago, back in 2012ish. The main issue I had with it was that there was just too much fluff. 30sec ~ 2min of helpful, usable content per cast, and the rest is just whats-his-name going on tangents forever and ever… I couldn’t stand it. I did finished the first 146 lessons as well as the dojo lessons, but honestly never felt like it helped me all that much even after all that. I was just too annoyed by the main guy to retain anything but a few vocabs here and there.

In contrast, I used Pimsleur Method at a later time and felt that those were massively more helpful and was able to start speaking and using right away, and I wish they took it to higher levels. They stopped way too early… I’d have used that up to N1 if they’d done it.

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#20

Hi everybody.

I use Japanesepod101 as my main source for learning Japanese and I absolutely love it.

As said by someone, I am surprised that people either don’t mention it or speak negatively about it. It is very helpful for starting learning Japanese. I am halfway through the “beginner” path. So I did around 300 lessons there and almost all I know comes from there.
There is a lot of content (maybe too much). But if you stick to the curated paths it is OK.

Each lesson is 10-15 minutes. With a dialog or around 1 minutes that you listen 3 times. In each lesson you learn new vocabulary (5 to 10 words) and one new grammar point.

For me it is the best source I found. I don’t like a lot of sources that people recommend a lot (Tae Kim for example).

Now I use only Japanesepod101, WaniKani and Bunpro. I tried a few other things that doesn’t work for me.

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#21

JapanesePod101 is fun but it’s very inefficient - so it’s more like “edu-tainment”. There’s only like 5 minutes of real Japanese content in each 20 minute episode and the other 15 is them just chatting in English. Not great if you’re low on time.

Each Pimsleur lesson on the other hand is 100% content - 30min episode means 30min of practice. Pimsleur only has 5 levels though and their “advanced” level is lower intermediate at best. But agreed with the other folks that it helps you build confidence and speed. They also do a subscription service now that’s like $20/mo, which is reasonable. They have around 30 lessons for each of the 5 levels and pacing is good at one per day, so you’re looking at $100/total to go through the full course.

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#22

What I find interesting is that a few people on this topic also seem to use pimsleur which I think it great as well. There is just so little of pimsleur that you can’t really expect to get very far with it other than building a solid speaking foundation, and it took them literal decades to release levels 4 and 5. Both Pimsleur and Japanesepod101 have been really great sources for me when paired with raw Japanese watching and reading, but I understand if it’s not for everybody.

#23

The problem I had with Japanesepod101 is that I was afraid to be overwhelmed by the cheer numbers of lessons and video on this site.

I gave it another try today. Just one lesson at random for now (Don't Text and Drive in Japan - JapanesePod101) and it seems pretty nice. Good explanation, grammar in context, vocabs and dialogues with a lot of details both in the podcast and in written form.

But it confirms what I was afraid of. Too much content. Where do I even start?

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#24

I recommend picking a pathway from the main dashboard and following it through. That particular lesson can be found in the Nihongo Dojo: Beginner pathway (I’ve done 95/100 of the lessons, and I think it’s well structured). If you feel that you fully know everything in that lesson, it may be better to just pick it up from the Beginner Season 6 pathway (which is only 25 lessons).

Basically, the Nihongo Dojo is a mixture of their best 4 “seasons,” each of which is 25 lessons. So lessons 75-100 are season 6 (the second link I sent).

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#25

I am doing the same pathway (71/100 currently). And I’m enjoying it. I did before the absolute beginner.

I also recommend to stick to their pathways. All the lessons are structured and built upon the previous one.

#26

The level bounces all over the place within the upper level playlists. Oh, and Peter offends me by just living. I am listening to at least one podcast a day until the discounted year of premium I purchased expires.

It IS forcing me to make 2-20 flashcards a day (the food recipe ones were harsh). Typically I gain 3-4 new words a day from there, which is fine by me.

The grammar explanations are barebones to say the least. Again due to Peter and his inability to speak coherent English, let alone Japanese.

The way is see it is: I listen to Japanese while taking a walk every day. Even if the content and such is spotty at times, it is better than doing nothing. I would not use JPOD101 for anything more than a filler/multitask-able kind of resource. And never ever pay full price; They have more sales than a furniture store.

#27

I used to use it and I thought that there were some good finds in there. While some of the content made during its formative years are not the best, the newer seasons are quite good. (disclaimer: I only listened to the lower intermediate and above seasons).

There used to be a site where an individual reviewed each individual season from Jpod101 and gave his opinion on whether was it worth the listen. I just tried to find it but it seems the website is down and no longer available. Regardless, just try to dig around for mentions about it and you may find it replicated somewhere.

I thought the content was refreshing in all honesty. There were conversations/announcements in the grocery stores/theme parks which I rarely encounter in books/media I consume.

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#28

true :smile: