Learning Japanese; How To Speak Japanese

You are here because you want to learn how to speak Japanese. There are many courses which claim to help you with learning Japanese. We have reviewed most of the learning Japanese courses available, assigning a rating of 1-5 stars. We present reviews on any learning Japanese course which scores more than 3 stars during our review process, with the highest-scoring program presented first. We choose not to present any program which scores 3 or less, as our goal is to help you find great programs which will meet your objectives and help you learn how to speak Japanese in the fastest time. We want to help find the best programs on how to speak Japanese.
    Summary of Reviews
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Top Ranked Program

Rocket Learning Japanese Premium®

 Our Rating: (5 / 5)
Five Stars
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The best way to learn how to speak Japanese is through “immersion”, and Rocket Japanese Premium® is the closest we have found to achieving that! The powerful and unique MegaVerb(TM), MegaVocab(TM), and MegaAudio(TM) tools make learning Japanese on-line fast in a fun and easy way! This program covers all the bases on how to speak Japanese, is available for immediate download, and includes access to a Private Learning Japanese Forum and lifetime membership to the Rocket Learning Japanese Lounge(TM). Lifetime upgrades are included also. The interactive tools are first rate, and the focus is on showing you how to speak Japanese as fast as possible so you can use your new language to learn it, instead of learning Japanese to use it – an interesting approach that works! It also has the lowest price of any of the programs presented here, which is an added bonus. Overall, an extremely well put together course, with attractive pricing, which comes with our highest rating. rocket-japanese
     
Review Highlights:

  • Interactive audio course – 32-lessons will quickly get you speaking confidently, fluently, and naturally. A lot of thought has gone into the content and context to teach how to speak Japanese
  • Custom grammar lessons – over 100 hours of comprehension lessons on how to speak Japanese. These do work quite well, and in our opinion are structured better than any of the other courses we have reviewed
  • MegaVocab(TM) software tool – a unique tool which really accelerates learning Japanese and expands your vocabulary at amazing speed
  • MegaAudio(TM) software tool – this simulates immersion – the fastest and easiest way to learn how to speak Japanese
  • MegaVerbs(TM) software tool – will help you quickly master verbs and tenses, even with irregular verbs
  • Private Learning Japanese Forum, available 24 hours a day – something you might find useful as it can be quite motivational to track your progress against others
  • Lifetime membership to the Rocket Learning Japanese Lounge(TM)
  • 60 Day 100% satisfaction guarantee means you can try the program absolutely risk free
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Current Pricing: $99.95 (reduced from $299.95 for a limited time) MoreInfoBlue
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FREE 6-Day Introductory How To Speak Japanese Course: One of the things we really like about Rocket Languages® is that they provide a totally free 6-Day course, delivered daily via e-mail, which really allows you to evaluate their learning Japanese program with no obligation. That’s a sign of real confidence in their product. If you would like to get the free 6-day course on how to speak Japanese, just click the blue button on the right. smiwantthecourse
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Other Ranked Programs

Transparent Learning Japanese Complete Edition®

 Our Rating: (4 / 5)FourStar
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Transparent’s approach to teaching you how to speak Japanese is to provide you with a full range of multi-media tools – programs, online resources, mp3 files, audio lessons, virtual environments, immersion videos. Their view is that everybody learns differently, and they are trying to cover all the bases. Honestly, we found it a little bewildering, but you certainly have choices! Their Byki® tool is very interesting. It’s memory algorithm technology is claimed to tailor learning based on the user’s strengths and weaknesses. Interesting stuff!! Transparent Languages have been around a long time, and unlike some of the other older competitors, they have spent the time updating their courses to take advantage of new technologies. We applaud them for that, as they are not treating their product as a cash-cow, instead they are continually investing to make it better. No question, this is a comprehensive course, with lots or resources. And because immersion is so important, we liked their 30 virtual reality scenarios. Overall, a strong course! complete_150_japanese
     
Review Highlights:

  • Online resources – Transparent Languages® are pretty good at updating resources on their website regularly, so you can always expect updated resources
  • Everywhere audio lessons – lots of mp3 resources, so you can take your lessons with you anywhere better than any of the other courses we have reviewed
  • Byki(TM) tool- a unique tool which claims to tailor learning how to speak Japanese based on individual strengths and weaknesses, based on memory algoritm technology
  • Linguamatch(TM) tool – this simulates immersion – with 30 virtual reality scenarios – we liked this a lot
  • Lexicon(TM) translation dictionary – access to full dictionary so that, as you come across new words, you can instantly look them up
  • Written skills – dealt with in the course also, many courses focus just on conversation, or spoken vocabulary – this course takes it a little further to focus on the written language. Nice – if that’s what you’re looking for!
  • Satisfaction guarantee – 6 months
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Current Pricing: $179.95 MoreInfoBlue
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Other Ranked Programs

Rosetta Stone Learning Japanese 3 (L1-3)®

 Our Rating:(3.5 / 5)ThreeHalfStar
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The Rosetta Stone® approach  to teaching you how to speak Japanese is based on an immersive environment, and a sequence of learning which they have thought through quite well. They use combinations of words and images in a manner which is designed to assist with memorization. They do not use translation or grammar rules, which we found a little strange. You will hear, write and pronounce a lot of words. Their voice recognition tool needs a bit of work, although it has improved. The whole program, which they refer to as adaptive immersion(TM), feeds you many words and phrases, along with images. You will learn many words and expand your vocabulary. You won’t get much help on tenses and conjugation, which we feel is an integral part of learning any language to conversational level. Their thesis is that an adult can learn a language in the same manner as an infant, which we do not agree with, as an adult is already thinking in their native language, whereas an infant has no language until they absorb their first one! You will expand your vocabulary significantly with this program. Very restrictive licensing – it is hard to transfer from one computer to another (if you upgrade your computer, for example) and you can’t have it on a desktop and laptop at the same time!! Pricing is not competitive at all – this is an expensive course for what you get.
     
Review Highlights:

  • Dynamic Immersion(TM) – eliminates translation and grammar explanations. This will help you learn many new words, but it doesn’t really get you there with respect to complete sentences, particularly in tenses other than the present tense
  • High graphics interaction – you are presented with lots of images, along with written and verbal meanings, great for memorizing individual words in your new language
  • Adaptive review – this feature adjusts the timing of review activity for lessons based on your performance in first review of the lesson, and is quite well done
  • Satisfaction guarantee – 6 months for CD version only if purchased through company website (at a much higher price)
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Current Pricing: $485.10 (Amazon discounted price) MoreInfoBlue
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Review Summary:
Program Rating Price
Rocket Learning Japanese Premium®

Five Stars

 $99.95 (limited time)
Transparent Learning Japanese Complete Edition®

FourStar

 $179.95
Rosetta Stone Learning Japanese 3 (L1-3)®

ThreeHalfStar

 $485.10
Pricing subject to change   Full Reviews
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Rocket Languages®, Transparent Languages®, and Rosetta Stone® are trademarks or registered trademarks. All trademarks, trade names, or logos mentioned or used are the property of their respective owners. Every effort has been made to properly capitalize, punctuate, identify and attribute trademarks and tradenames to their respective owners.
     
We hope you have found these reviews useful in helping you find out how to speak Japanese. 

We are not associated with or endorsed by any of the programs we review on our site. While in some cases we may receive compensation for referrals we do not allow that to influence our recommendations. We have reviewed all of the courses we feature to the extent necessary to evaluate the features and qualities of each program.

Accordingly, we would classify ourselves as reviewers of these learning Japanese programs rather than bona fide users.We welcome your feedback.