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REVIEW: NihongoMaster.com – Free, Fun Lessons & Dictionaries to Learn Japanese Language Online!

It is really rewarding to learn a foreign language. Culture, travel, new ideas… It is just like an adventure.

Perhaps some of you are interested in Japanese. I suppose some are very serious because of your favorite mangas, and others just want to learn simple greetings to travel in Japan. Anyway, learning a new foreign language can’t be a bad thing for anyone.

Some of my foreign language textbooks

English is my second language (I’m a Japanese native) and it enables me to be an international blogger. What’s more, I became friends with so many people in foreign countries! I know how fun it is to use a foreign language.

However, it has a lot of difficulties at the same time. In my opinion, there are 3 types of problems to study a foreign language.

1: Too Hard

“My second foreign language class was really a nightmare. The teacher was severe, so I couldn’t sleep well because of the Spanish exams. I managed to get a C.” – My friend at University

A new language is simply difficult because the ideas and sometimes the letters are completely new for us. That’s a pleasure to learn a foreign language, too, but when you are obligated to study it – especially in case you have exams to get a grade at school – it is just bitter.

2: Language School/Class Problems

“When I lived in Japan for a year for my job, I tried to study Japanese in a course on weekends. I thought that it was a great opportunity, but… I gave it up. I didn’t attend the class on one weekend because I wanted to rest, then, the next grammar lesson was too difficult for me. I was leaving the course when I realized.” – An American lady who I met when I was traveling in Australia

If you are lucky enough to find a good language school near your home, you don’t need to worry about getting textbooks and you’ll have friends there. But you must go to every class to keep studying.

And there are so many cases that there is no school or class near you. If you decide to study by yourself, other problems hit you.

3: Materials to Study

“Where can I get a dictionary and a good textbook for a beginner?” – anonymous

The situations are getting better because it is not a must to visit a big bookstore today. There are always people looking for good textbooks on the Internet. And you will manage to find some on your screen.
But when the books and dictionaries are expensive – It often happens especially when the language is “minor” – your desire to learn the language tends to go down in your bucket list.

If the first step is easy, free and fun?

Learn Japanese Online – Nihongo Master is a website to learn Japanese online.

It is completely free to sign up, see many lessons and use the dictionaries.

Nihongo Master is different from any existing textbooks. Written from the viewpoint of learners, it is easy and fun for learners to study Japanese

Let’s see how it is like with me!

1: Just Fun, NO EXAM

The first lesson is for real beginners; You don’t need to know anything about Japanese when you start Nihongo Master.

As you see, the lessons are a little like animes, so you can study with relaxing.
When you have any achievement such as completing some lessons, you are rewarded with special badges instead of tiring exams!

2: Anywhere, Anytime. With Friends. NO HARD SCHEDULE

You can study Japanese COMPLETELY at your own pace. It is all right to proceed very slowly as well as being a fast learner. Also, you can go back to completed lessons anytime you like.

What’s more, there are many communities at all the levels; You can make friends who are learning Japanese! When you are studying in a lesson, just hit the “Discuss” button and you can jump to the community of that lesson where you don’t need to hesitate to ask any question.

3: All-In-One, NO RISK

Not only the lessons, there are English-Japanese, kanji and Japanese-English dictionaries FOR FREE! The lesson pages have audio for pronunciations and videos of how to write the letter, too. You don’t have to buy anything! Sign up, and it will never be in vain.

I suppose that you have found how Nihongo Master solves the problems and make it enjoyable to learn Japanese.

In addition, I’d like to refer to 4 things that attracted my attention.

1: Fun Communities

I was browsing the communities, and I found that there are so many users from all over the world; Some are from the US, but I saw others from Europe, South America, Oceania, South East Asia, Arabia and even Africa. Don’t worry, the conversations are mostly in English, so you can make friends with anyone there!

I have learned how fun it is to become friends with people living in far lands through blogging.

Nihongo Master users are doing the same thing in the communities and they have many things to share; Some seem to be manga/anime fans, but not limited. When they become friends, they gather on Facebook and so on, too. It cannot be anything but fun.

2: Nihongo Master Blog

Personally, Nihongo Master Blog is so interesting to read. My best post is this.

Foreign words and letters are popular as logos on T-shirts and sometimes tattoos. I have a lot of T-shirts with English and French words, and the opposite happens in Western countries.

But remember, sometimes we MUST learn the meanings of the foreign words, or this tragedy comes to us!

3: Good Quality

I just used the free dictionaries and they have enough words from basics to modern words. (I am a Japanese native, just in case!) Let me repeat this. For Free

The Introductory lessons starts from writing the 5 vowels in Japanese. Japanese is completely different from English and any other, but the first step in Nihongo Master is so simple. Trust them, and you’ll learn Japanese well.

4: Prices: Free

It is completely free to sign up with your email address or FB, take the lessons, use the dictionaries and join the communities in Nihongo Master.

If you become a Premium Member, you can use optional services such as advanced lessons. (Personally, the study list will be helpful that remembers the words you searched, and so on.) Premium membership costs $20 for a month, $100 for 6 months or $160 for 12 months, and I believe that it is much reasonable than any Japanese language school and maybe textbooks.

In conclusion, I recommend Nihongo Master for Japanese learners because the first step cannot be lower.

Personally, I find some similarities between Nihongo Master and my sites. Tokyo Direct Guide is completely free to use, well-organized and simplified for beginner travelers to Tokyo, too.
The world has too much information today and we often get confused with it. It is not easy to tell which person/site is right.

But at the same time, today’s high technology enables us to get much information for free. Learning a foreign language has become that easy and reasonable.

If you want to know simple greetings in Japanese for your travel, Tokyo Direct Guide has a page for it here. But becoming familiar to Japanese language is exciting even for a trip, isn’t it?

Big thanks to Nihongo Master staff members!



2 thoughts on “REVIEW: NihongoMaster.com – Free, Fun Lessons & Dictionaries to Learn Japanese Language Online!

  • Thanks for the post Kozue.

    I’d recently heard about Nihongo Master so searched for review of it and found your site.

    I have one of those brains that seems to simply refuse to learn other languages, but that doesn’t stop me trying to increase my vocab and grammar all the time.

    I’ve been exploring Japan off the beaten path (ie well beyond Tokyo!) since 2000 and I know from others that not being able to speak Japanese can be seen as a potential barrier to someone enjoying travelling in the country.

    In my experience, even a handful of key phrases can make all the difference.

    Anyhow, I’ll keep trying to learn more while my brain allows it!

    Keep up the great work!

    Rob

    Reply
    • Hi Rob!

      I know how hard it is to learn a foreign language because English was so difficult to me. And learning a foreign language never ends, but I’m sure it gives us a lot of chances and fun.

      Good luck!!

      Reply

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