掲示板 Forums - What should I use to fully learn Japanese, renshuu or NativShark

I have a question, renshuu and nativshark are both popular websites for learning Japanese, but I want to excel in Japanese learning all the rules, grammar, alphabets, etc. The problem is, I don't know which one to use to learn all that and excel in Japanese. Can you guys please tell me which one to use? Please respond!!

Thank you for your response, just to be sure, I'll let other people answer so I I can finally make my decision.

Thanks! Although, won't I be pretty much a quarter of the way done? I can't try out the pro features on the beginner lessons.

You guys are saying you can get up to N1 with renshuu but what exactly do you have to do in order to reach that?

So, I'm not really the best person to answer your question about how to use Renshuu to get from zero to N1 because I was already at an intermediate/high-intermediate level when I first started using Renshuu (and have and continued to use a variety of other resources/methods in addition to it), but I will go out on a limb and try anyways, and anyone more familiar with these steps can correct me if I am wrong.

It explains the order to start with if you are new to Japanese if you click the question mark button at the top and find under "Top Questions"--> "I'm a beginner. What do I study first?" You'd want to learn hiragana and katakana first, then go to the "Japanese Basics" lessons, which are grammar lessons that teach you sentence structures and grammar constructions. I'm not sure if there's also a vocabulary schedule that goes with the Japanese basics lesson, maybe someone else can answer that. But you can easily see and preview these just by clicking "Resources"-->"Japanese Basics."

Skimming through a couple of the "Japanese Basics" lessons, it looks like the answer to all of those questions is "yes." For each grammar point there's some pretty thorough explanation, and then you get a chance to quiz your understanding with a grammar quiz (there are questions like dragging and dropping the words into the correct order, etc).

Once you know hiragana and katakana and have gotten through the basics, for each JLPT level you'd probably want the following schedules:

• vocabulary
• grammar
• kanji
• (sentences)

For example: N4 vocabulary, N4 grammar, N4 kanji, N4 sentences.

There are official Renshuu study materials for all of these. Sentences is example sentences using the grammar for that level. I personally don't feel it's quite as absolutely necessary as the other 3, but probably helpful.

While I don't know anything about Nativshark and also can't personally attest to whether you can use Renshuu for your whole Japanese foundation to get from zero to N1, what I can say as an advanced learner is that Renshuu is still useful to me even after I passed N1 twice and formerly worked as a professional Japanese interpreter/translator for a few years.

It's also one of the two online resources to learn Japanese that would come to mind immediately if anyone asks me what online resource I would recommend to learn Japanese.

The other one I recommend is Adam's Japanese Level Up. I haven't used his resources myself but I've taken a look at them and I do think they (and also his general approach/method) are excellent and really well done. You can also use those to get all the way up to an advanced level (people who have done so usually end up able to speak and understand Japanese, but just a little weak on advanced grammar). However, those resources are VERY expensive. So between the two, the better value for your money is Renshuu, period.

I haven't used Navishark, so I can't comment on it, but I've used Renshuu for a few years.

You can go from zero to JLPT N1 and beyond with Renshuu. It covers vocab, grammar, kanji, sentences, listening and a lot more. It also has crosswords and games to keep things interesting. A lot of that you can get for free, but Renshuu pro is definitely well worth it if you commit to learning Japanese.

Some important considerations that might influence your decision:

- As of writing this, you can get a lifetime of Renshuu Pro for less than what one year of NativShark costs.

- Renshuu is highly customizable to how you want to learn. This makes it very powerful, but it also may take a little bit extra time to get used to compared to other apps.

I would also echo that getting to JLPT N1 in two years is probably not realistic for most people. Some studies claim, that Japanese learners that don't already know kanji require 3900 hours of study to reach JLPT N1 level. That would be equivalent to making learning Japanese your full time job for two years.

Glad you decided to stay with renshuu, I think you made a good choice. I just wanted to add a little about NativShark, since other responders didn't seem to know about it.

There are things I did like about NativShark, especially how it gave interesting information about Japanese culture. But as for learning Japanese, it seemed to focus on learning how to say things in Japanese as a visitor. Great tips if you're going to visit Japan, but less helpful if you really want to focus on grammar and vocabulary so you can say what you really want to. Outside of ordering food and drinks at a restaurant and asking for an English menu, etc.

Also, NativShark offers a 7 day free trial, but nothing free beyond that. You get locked out unless you pay. Their fees are rediculous as well. For lifetime access (if you'd like to keep being able to review what you've learned, etc.), it's a whopping $1,500! Ouch!

I find renshuu more engaging, very customizable, many more features, SIGNIFICANTLY better priced (for pro, but also available free), and I don't get spammed with email from renshuu... another thing I didn't like about NativShark! Also, マイコー is the creator, developer, teacher, etc. on renshuu, and he answers questions and fixes bugs, etc. if you have a problem. You won't get that from NativShark. Even if you do give them $1,500!

Hope this info is helpful to you and others.