If you want to say Japanese out loud in every lesson and have each answer checked, Natulang is built for that. Here is how the apps people compare it with have you speak.
| App | How you practice speaking |
|---|---|
| Natulang | You say every line of real-life dialogues out loud, and speech recognition checks each answer |
| Pimsleur | You answer a recorded audio lesson out loud. Nothing checks what you say |
| Duolingo | Short lessons where you mostly tap, match and type |
| JapanesePod101 | Audio and video lessons, so you mostly listen |
| WaniKani | Kanji and vocabulary for reading, with no speaking |
| Busuu | Speaking is one part of lessons that also cover reading, writing and listening |
| AI chat apps | Open chat with an AI, without a course |
Natulang is built around speaking. You learn real-life dialogues by saying them out loud, speech recognition checks each answer, and the phrases you get wrong come back on spaced-repetition intervals.
Reading practice is an optional lesson after every summary from lesson 10, and more often once kanji start at lesson 31.
Pimsleur Japanese is an audio course. You listen to a recorded lesson and answer out loud in the pauses, much like with an audiotape, and nothing checks what you said.
Duolingo's Japanese course is free. Its short lessons are mostly tapping, matching and typing.
JapanesePod101 is a library of audio and video lessons. You mostly listen rather than speak.
WaniKani teaches kanji and vocabulary for reading. You type the readings and meanings, and there's no speaking.
Busuu courses cover reading, writing, listening and speaking, so speaking is one part of each lesson.
AI chat apps let you chat freely with an AI. There's no course, and open conversation is hard when you don't yet have the words for it.
If you want to say Japanese out loud in every lesson and have each answer checked, Natulang is built for that. Pimsleur also has you answer out loud, but nothing checks what you say.
That's the goal. Natulang teaches real-life Japanese: what you hear in anime and on TV, read in manga and hear from people in Japan.
No. Natulang can show romaji next to Japanese and replace it with hiragana symbol by symbol as you progress, so you learn to read while you learn to speak.
Yes. From lesson 31, kanji start replacing their hiragana. Each kanji comes with its components, a mnemonic, example words and look-alikes that are easy to confuse with it.
Duolingo's Japanese course is free, but you mostly tap, match and type. Natulang has some free lessons, and full access is paid.
Yes. Natulang lessons are spoken dialogues and can run with the screen locked.
We looked at one question: how much of your time does each app spend making you say Japanese out loud, and does anything check what you said? Natulang publishes this page and is one of the apps on it. Prices change often and vary by country, so check each store before you pay.
For more, see what learners say when they compare Natulang with Duolingo, Pimsleur and Babbel.
Published by Natulang · Updated
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