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LANGUAGES INCLUDED
51
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SWITCH BETWEEN LANGUAGES
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ALL PREMIUM FEATURES
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Yes
Yes
AI VOICE COACH
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Yes
MINIS
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Yes
BONUS CONTENT
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MOBILE AND WEB-BASED APPS
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COMPATIBLE WITH AMAZON ECHO DEVICES
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SHARE WITH 3 HOUSEHOLD MEMBERS
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CARPLAY® AND ANDROID AUTO™ DRIVING MODE
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Yes

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This language is also available to purchase in Digital formats

Why Learn Japanese?

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Japanese is spoken by approximately 122 million people in Japan. There are also speakers in the Ryukyu Islands, Korea, Taiwan, parts of the US, and Brazil.

Spanning 17 centuries of development, the Japanese language originated with the Kanji alphabet in the 5th century AD. Early usage of Japanese was difficult to implement, which paved the way for two phonetic alphabet systems, Hiragana and Katakana. While Hiragana integrated with the Kanji alphabet to show syllables for suffixes and particles, Katakana was primarily utilized for non-Japanese words. In present-day Japan, all three writing systems work together; it’s not uncommon for Kanji, Hiragana, and Katakana to appear in a single sentence or paragraph.

Given its somewhat complicated origins, Japanese is one of the more difficult languages to learn. However, with the Pimsleur Method™, you can learn Japanese and start speaking the language in no time at all.

The Pimsleur Method encourages a gradual learning pace to start, with the goal of getting you to speak, understand, and read Japanese. Unlike other Japanese courses, Pimsleur builds a solid foundation to learn Japanese with Graduated Interval Recall, Organic Learning, Core Vocabulary, and the Principle of Anticipation – all four principles in tandem to study Japanese the right way and effectively build a working structural knowledge of the language.

Pimsleur’s flexible learning applications put plentiful possibilities at your fingertips to help you learn the Japanese language. With our on-the-go app, you can take Japanese lessons even offline, whether you’re in Tokyo or Toronto. Pimsleur’s mobile-friendly convenience allows you to take Japanese lessons in the car while you’re doing laundry, taking a walk, or during many other day-to-day activities. Best of all, you can learn Japanese at your own pace, in about 30 minutes per day.

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The Best Way to Learn the Japanese Language

Developed by Dr. Paul Pimsleur (1927-1976), the Pimsleur Method promotes sure, steady progress in your effort to learn Japanese. Based on the four core principles mentioned above, you’ll gradually learn to speak Japanese with helpful Voice Coach AI pronunciation feedback, challenging core Japanese lessons, digital flash cards, Speed Round games, and more. You will also learn to manage everyday conversations between friends, family members, or colleagues who are at the same level in an organization.

Remember when you first learned your native language? It was by listening to other people speak the language. Children and toddlers are hard-wired to learn new words and phrases simply by listening. And that’s the approach Pimsleur uses with our Japanese courses.

Eventually, you’ll be able to speak effectively with native Japanese speakers. And you’ll not only pick up important words and phrases – you’ll also converse with the pace and cadence of Japanese speakers, from casual encounters to in-depth social conversations.

Why Choose Pimsleur for Japanese Lessons?

Pimsleur will teach you to learn the Japanese language, whether you’re brand new to the language or brushing up on what you learned in high school or college. You’ll find this experience to be enriching, educational, and enjoyable. Once you’ve mastered our Japanese courses, feel free to choose any other program from our extensive library of 51+ languages.

Speak Japanese with Confidence. Read like a Native.

Common Questions About Learning Japanese

Is Japanese a difficult language to learn?

Learning any new language is a challenge, and Japanese has a reputation as a relatively difficult language to pick up. However, Pimsleur’s innovative and immersive techniques – centered around the Pimsleur Method – helps you learn the Japanese language easier than you might think. Plus, unlike other Asian languages like Thai, Vietnamese, and Chinese, the Japanese language has a small core of sounds (less than 50) to concentrate on.

Our oral and aural (listening) focus, as opposed to simply reading and writing, makes Pimsleur the ideal learning platform for acquiring Japanese. The language relies on pitch accents, making pronunciation a very important skill to master. Another reason why Japanese can be learned quickly is that the language has no gendered verbs. You’ll discover these fascinating facts and more as you study Japanese with Pimsleur!

How long does it take to learn Japanese?

The Japanese language’s consistent grammar rules, minimal slang, and other no-nonsense guidelines help accelerate the learning curve. And when you take Japanese courses with Pimsleur, you’ll enjoy helpful, user-friendly resources to help you build confidence as you learn Japanese. In as little as 30 minutes a day, with Pimsleur’s Japanese lessons, you can start speaking that language in a few days – some of our learners can utter basic sentences on the first day! In fact, all Pimsleur learners are asked to – or will be able to – participate in a small conversation at the end of the first lesson. Like any other educational endeavor, how fast you learn depends on your guidance & instruction. With P

What are the main challenges when learning the Japanese language?

Japanese has an entirely different alphabet than Indo-European languages like English, Italian, French, and other related tongues. Plus, the typical subject-verb-order sentence structure in English doesn’t apply to Japanese, which utilizes a subject-object-verb format. But don’t let that scare you – when you learn Japanese with Pimsleur, you’ll turn challenges into learning opportunities, thanks to our 30-Minute Lessons, and enjoy fun exercises like Digital Flash Cards, Speed Round Games, Build Your Streak, and more.

How important is pronunciation in learning Japanese?

Pronunciation is a very important aspect to keep in mind as you learn the Japanese language. One thing to keep in mind is that the language only uses a handful of vowels (like English), and they’re pronounced crisply and sharply. One advantage with Japanese pronunciation is the vowels are always pronounced the same, unlike English vowels, which can vary considerably, even with similar words. Our learning platform capitalizes on this fact, particularly with our Voice Coach AI pronunciation feedback tool, which helps you quickly learn the nuances of Japanese. All of our Japanese lessons work together to help you listen and learn to speak Japanese the right way.

Is the Japanese course suitable for complete beginners?

You bet! Even if you’ve never even seen a Japanese restaurant menu or read manga & anime, you can learn Japanese quickly with Pimsleur. That’s because we take you to the heart of the language and help you learn the Japanese language like a child – by listening. What’s more, the Pimsleur app allows learning whenever and wherever you happen to be. Novice learners may not have a set learning schedule, but that’s okay! You can learn Japanese in the car, while taking a walk, and more.
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