If you are like me, being slightly obsessed with Japan, you will at some point or another consider learning Japanese. Maybe it is that Anime you love or you are thinking about visiting Japan and just want to get a little ahead of the game, making sure your trip will be a success. After all, Japanese people still often do not speak any other language, especially in less touristy places.
So how do you do it? How do you get good at Japanese and even better, without spending a crazy amount of money?
Finding a Teacher or Class
Well, as you may have guessed, starting to learn a new language and getting good at it is easier said than done. Traveling back in time a few years, I used to live in Dublin, Ireland trying to self-study, but somehow I just could not get better. Buying every book in the shop and watching countless youtube lessons my brain just somehow refused to remember things. So I thought, having a real person teach me might help me improve or at least retain some of it. However, when I was looking for a teacher or class to join, the only person I found lived a few hours drive away. Making me think this was pretty hopeless.
And yes, there were online lessons, but at that time the thought of doing lessons via skype felt weird and awkward. Of course, fast-forwarding to where we are now, most of us have gotten used to moving our meetings and chats online, as we stayed at home due to the Coronavirus. And so did I, which helped me to finally overcome my initial disdain, so I set out to find a teacher online. I quickly realized there are quite a few options, talking about finding that needle in the haystack.
Suddenly I had too many choices. However, after good consideration, I tried a few different places and to my surprise, I absolutely loved some of them!
The Problem with Traditional Face-to-Face Classes
To be honest, now that many things have moved online I am realizing how convenient virtual classes are. Easy to schedule, there is none of that often inflexible structure we find in traditional education.
Because let’s be frank, for me it is a mix between being busy and lazy. For example, I would sign up for a Thursday evening class, but one week there would be an important dinner that I did not want to miss and another week I would just be too tired to leave the house. So either I would never sign up for the Japanese class or would drop out at some point.
Because the thing is, if I was missing a class or if I just did not understand the topic, the group would move on without me. Making it difficult for me to catch up. Which would lead me to be frustrated and getting slowly demotivated until I eventually would stop going. And I have a feeling, as you are reading this, you may be able to relate to that.
So Why Study Japanese Online?
You can probably already answer that one. For me studying online is giving me the flexibility I need and as an added bonus, because no classrooms are needed, these lessons also often come at a fraction of the price. Yay!
So let me share with you the sites I found, fell in love with, and personally use. One that offers affordable private classes and another one offering flexible group lessons.
“Preply” The Best Online Portal for One-to-One Lessons
I love Preply because you find your own tutor, which means you can match with someone having the same interests making studying so much more fun!
Just choose the language you would like to learn (yes, there is not just Japanese) and you will see many tutors eager to teach. With most of them having years of teaching experience. They often have a small introductory video you can watch, to get to feel for who they are as well as an idea of their teaching style.
The Platform is easy to use, with a built-in virtual classroom and chat function. Booking lessons is simple, just check your tutor’s availability, select the time you like, and off you go.
Another bonus with Preply is, that the tutor sets the price and can be from as little as 9$ per private lesson. The rates are per hour, but you can also book 45min or 30min lessons. This not just lowers the price, it also might be more sustainable for your brain. For me, 45min is the perfect amount of time, as if I do an hour I often feel a little overwhelmed.
So if private lessons are what you are looking for then make sure to check this one out! Sign up here and you will not just get your first lesson for free but will also receive a 30% 70% DISCOUNT if you decide to buy more lessons. (This is a referral link, which means we both get a discount if you use it. Of course, you can sign up directly, but you won’t receive the 30% 70% discount.)
Amazing Japanese All Online Group Lessons
As previously mentioned, I also do like group classes. For one I think it is nice to have other students that I can exchange with and also I often learn through their mistakes. By pure chance, I recently found this amazing site called “Japanese Online Institue”, where you can study in small groups together. With group sizes between 2-8 people, nice and small to make sure that you will get enough speaking time.
However, I must warn you, at first you might be a bit put off by the almost prehistoric design and usability. Reminding me a little of the old version of MSN Messenger from 2001. Also, their (I think) manual payment allocation system might make you a little hesitant at the beginning, wondering if this was worth your time and money. But please give it a go, because the idea behind it is brilliant and will give you that extra kick learning Japanese.
Why do I love this so much? Because it works. With a unique system offering set lessons, rather than set groups you can select different grammar lessons throughout the week according to your needs. You just book the Lesson with the grammar point you like to study and you can retake lessons as many times as you want. Which for me makes all the difference in studying, as sometimes I just need a little longer. This gives you total freedom in creating a lesson plan that works for you, as you can easily skip or redo any module if you feel like you want more practice. No wasting time and money. The perfect system, especially for people who want to refresh grammar, as you can easily fix knowledge gaps but they also do offer survival Japnese as well as JLPT preparation.
With an irresistible trial deal of 3 classes for 9$!!! Yes, that is 3$ a class. It is almost impossible not to give this a try, right? So if you feel like checking this one out, go to the Japanese Online Institue and sign up. As an added BONUS you can add my Username “CINDY-CH” when you sign up and receive a FREE lesson if you decide to continue studying with them. How amazing is that? (Again you can of course sign up without the referral, however, there will be no Freebie.)
Which One is Right for Me?
It depends a bit on your preference. However, I found a mix of both, private and group lessons, works best for me. In my once-a-week private Japanese lesson, I focus on speaking more fluently, am getting individual feedback, and can work on areas I struggle with. Whereas, in my group lesson, I focus on grammar that is either new or that I feel I have not fully understood. Which is why mixing the two works really well for me.
So if you do consider trying online classes, I would definitely encourage you to give both of these language learning sites a go and see what works best for you. Especially as Preply gives you that FREE trial lessons it would be crazy not to try it.
Get Your Lessons Now!
So whether you want to understand your favorite Japanese anime, planning to travel to Japan in the future, or are just fascinated with this beautiful language, this is your chance. So check them out, give it a go and let me know how you got on, bonus points for telling me in Japanese…
