Iago - Speak Japanese 12+

Very immersive!

I am a student learning Japanese in college, and I don’t technically need apps like this but this is actually a very helpful resource! I’ve been to Japan for studies and the Japanese used in this app is nothing like you would see in a textbook. Especially parts where Iako-san starts speaking sonkeigo, which is not used in textbooks very often but is seen in Japan everywhere! There are many apps that have you start from the very beginning, learning hiragana and katakana, but this puts you right in the middle, so if you’re a current Japanese language student, I would totally recommend it! Not so much for total beginners, though… But after that hurdle, I would wholeheartedly suggest this as a resource!

Fun way to learn

I want to visit Japan one day and be able to speak the language well enough so that I can converse. As a person who is genuinely trying to learn the language, I would like to be able to read or hear what each symbol sounds like. In some areas like the grammar section and some in the terms section of a lesson, there is some vocabulary that doesn’t give phonetics. I can’t properly learn the language if I can’t figure out how to pronounce a term correctly. And maybe I could use google, but I’d need to figure out what the term is first; which leads me back to square one. Im not using the Hiragana and Kanji setting either, so yes there are some phonetics and other times not. There are also terms that I don’t remember seeing in the practice section that show up in the chat section, and it throws me off sometimes. This a great and fun way to learn Japanese and I enjoy almost every minute of it. Aside from the things mentioned above I think it’s a great idea, and all it needs are a few updates here and there.

Edit: I went and learned some of the mechanics of the app, and while I can learn how to pronounce the terms and phrases when a new grammar piece shows up. This does make it a little bit easier to learn. I still sometimes see new grammar that pops up out of the blue though. Regardless, I like what the app is all about and I’m excited to see new features and more updates.

Developer Response ,

Hey W_col! We just added Hiragana & Katakana practice onto the app (with more beginner content coming soon!)

Good but needs bug fixes

This idea for this app is very good, but there are a few bugs that need to be fixed. For example, the sounds sometimes the audio will get very quiet and I won’t be able to hear what the person is trying to say. Other times the music is so loud that I can’t hear what they’re trying to say. They’re also visual bugs such as the app won’t line up to the phone screen correctly so answers will be off screen. I had this happen and I clicked all top three options were they were all wrong and the correct answer was off screen so I couldn’t finish the lesson. This also happens towards the top of the screen as well when you’re trying to read the top will be cut off so you can’t read it. I also think that there should be an area to learn very basic Japanese the way that a jump in I understand is for story sake, but it’s a little too quick and if you don’t know any Japanese, you are definitely gonna be lost. I think adding a section for learning how to count and very basic Japanese like how to say hello would be helpful. Overall, I think it’s a good app and if it just fixes these few bugs, then it will be a great app.