JapanesePod101.com Blog

Hello Listener, Mothers don’t choose favorites. But we do! When it comes to apps, WordPower Japanese v4.0 has a special place in our hearts. And for good reason. WordPower Version 4.0: Not Just an Update, It’s Like a Brand New App WordPower for iPhone and iPad has been rebuilt from top to bottom and the reviews are coming in. This latest update turns WordPower into your complete Japanese language and culture course. We've changed the look and doubled the amount of words with the Japanese Local List. The Japanese Local List contains words and phrases specifically related to Japanese daily life and culture. Ever wonder what the most popular beverages are in Japan? Need to know the name of famous landmarks? You’ll... Show more

Today, we bring you another blog post from Motoko, JapanesePod101.com lesson creator, host and Office Party Planner! Motoko will be sharing more bilingual posts on our blog, so check back often and leave a comment! Hi everyone, Motoko here! Today, I’d like to let you all know what we did for Halloween here in the office. Unfortunately, Halloween has not been popular in Japan in the past, but it has been getting more and more popular recently. The most famous event would be the Halloween parade in Kawasaki, as well as some other costume parties in nightclubs in the city. People usually wear a costume and become their favorite characters, and can enjoy dancing and eating. Few people go to the neighbors and say “Trick or Treat!” like... Show more

Let’s play a game of Would You Rather? Would you rather have this... Over 300 Japanese learning CDs (yeah, CDs...remember those?) piled to the ceiling in your bedroom next to stacks upon stacks of expensive, outdated textbooks that teach you dry, humorless Japanese conversation. ...or this? The same amount of content, shrunken down to fit onto your smartphone or tablet. And all those lessons? They’ve been updated to teach you vocabulary, grammar and culture so that learning Japanese is actually fun! The answer is clear. You’d rather have the JapanesePod101 Mobile! The biggest Japanese course. All on your tiny mobile device. Introducing JapanesePod101 Mobile Beta! Take all of your favorite Japanese lessons and lesson... Show more

Today, we bring you another blog post from Motoko, JapanesePod101.com lesson creator, host and Office Party Planner! Motoko will be sharing more bilingual posts on our blog, so check back often and leave a comment! Hi everyone, Motoko here! In the beginning of summer this year, the Innovative Language staff went on a day trip. Today I’d like to talk about that. We chose peach-picking for fun, and soba-making so that everyone could try a traditional Japanese food! We made soba in a wonderful nihon-kaoku, a traditional type of Japanese house. Do you know what soba is? Soba is a famous type of noodle in Japan that is a greyish-brown color. It gets this color from a special type of flour called sobako that is used to make it. You dip the... Show more

Today, we bring you another blog post from Motoko, JapanesePod101.com lesson creator, host and Office Party Planner! Motoko will be sharing more bilingual posts on our blog, so check back often and leave a comment! Hi all, Motoko here. Today I'd like to tell you about the baseball game the Innovative Language team went to at the end of September. But before I do, which sports are popular in your country? And do you know which sports are popular in Japan? The answer is: soccer and baseball. Soccer came to Japan because it was popular in Europe. Baseball, on the other hand, can be written in kanji (野球), and that’s because it was introduced to Japan much earlier than soccer was. In fact, it came to Japan in 1872. It is said that... Show more

Today, we bring you another blog post from Motoko, JapanesePod101.com lesson creator, host and Office Party Planner! Motoko will be sharing more bilingual posts on our blog, so check back often and leave a comment! Hi everyone, Motoko here! Today I’d like to tell you about another listener meetup we had. The other day, we had two JapanesePod101.com listeners come to visit us. One was from Canada, and the other was from France. It was the second meetup for me, but I still felt nervous beforehand! Andre from Canada, and Becher from France paid us a visit. They met each other through their Japanese studies, and this was their first trip together – they were staying in Japan for two weeks. They told us that right before... Show more

Another Fall has come and gone and just like that, another iPhone model has hit the market, along with iOS updates for all. If you’ve updated your iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad to iOS 6 already and tried looking for your favorite InnovativeLanguage.com podcast, you may be scratching your head wondering if we’ve packed our bags and closed up shop. We haven’t. In fact, we continue to release new lessons every single week in over 25 languages! Here are some tips on where to find us and listen on-the-go!* Using the Podcast App To find these apps using iOS 6, you’ll need to download Apple’s Podcast app. (Here’s a quick link to the free download.) Once you have the Podcast app installed, you’ll be able to find us under Education or... Show more

Dear Reader, “You’ll Never Master a Language!” That’s what my foreign language teacher, Mr. Barry, told me many years ago. “I’m sorry, you just don’t have an aptitude for languages” is what he added. Well, he was wrong, and I knew it. I went on to master Japanese, a much harder language than the one Mr. Barry taught, obtaining a master's degree from a top Japanese university and founding a Japanese company headquartered in Tokyo. My name is Peter Galante, founder of Innovative Language Learning, and I’m here to tell you the story of how I proved them wrong. So how did I go from language class failure, to founder of a language learning company with over 200 million language lessons delivered? The secret lies in my... Show more

Hello Listener, Just one thing is missing from making your Japanese perfect. A native Japanese speaker. Someone who can correct your mistakes. Someone who understands your strengths and weaknesses and tells you what to study next. Someone to practice with. Ready to improve your Japanese? The NEW Premium PLUS subscription at JapanesePod101.com, like Premium, gives you unlimited access to the entire JapanesePod101 website. You’re getting: • 1750+ Audio and Video lessons and the lesson notes with every lesson, • Premium Tools such as 2000 Core word list, Spaced Repetition Flashcards, Line by Line pronunciation, Voice Recorder, and more. But here’s how you reach Japanese perfection: Premium PLUS gives you access... Show more

There’s absolutely no limit to the number of vocabulary words you could and should learn in the Japanese language. The fact is, the more words you know, the better you’ll be able to speak and communicate. That’s true of any language; even your native tongue! But when are you going to find the time to learn them all? Isn’t there a shortcut? Introducing Visual Dictionary Lite - Learn Japanese, presented by Innovative Language Learning! This new App for iPhone and iPad focuses your Japanese vocabulary learning to the words you need to know - the objects, places and people that you’ll encounter in your daily life. With Visual Dictionary Lite, you’ll be transported to a world where everything you tap and touch comes to life with native... Show more