JapanesePod101.com Blog

Hello Listener, Winter blues getting you down? Feeling a little drowsy and lazy? Neglecting those Japanese studies ‘til tomorrow? Aw. Looks like you’ve caught the Japanese Winter blues. There’s only one way to bounce back! You’ve got to Spring Forward! ...Meaning - Right here, right now, you’re forgetting a whole bunch of Japanese vocabulary by doing nothing! They’re gone! Poof! And all that great Japanese progress? It slammed on the gas pedal in reverse while you’re feeling blue. Stop feeling blue, start feeling awesome. You’ve got to Spring Forward with Japanese! And luckily... Spring’s only a few days away. That means more sunshine, warmer days, and even more fun, fast, and easy JapanesePod101 lessons that get... Show more

Hello Listener, Social media is all the rage nowadays. Networks are popping up left and right. And dropping off as well. Anybody remember MySpace? *crickets* Hello? Ah, well... In the meantime, JapanesePod101 has made its way to Google+! In case Facebook isn’t your cup of tea but you’re looking to squeeze in some extra Japanese learning in between reading your friends’ updates, pay us a visit! You can also stop by to ask a Japanese related question, or just say hi! Or if you’re on every social media network (like us!) and just want to expose yourself to more and more Japanese... What’s interesting at Google+ 1) Circles and Streams: Create a circle exclusively for Japanese learning. Selecting to see the stream from... Show more

What’s old and boring? Daytime television. New and exciting? The InnovativeLanguage.com page on iTunes! That’s hundreds of Audio and Video lessons instantly available. Right here, right now! It’s no secret: We love iTunes. You can discover amazing content on iTunes like our fun and effective audio and video lessons. After all, it is where we got our humble start 6 years ago. And over these 6 years, we’ve gained supporters all around the globe, including Apple! With their support, we’re now able to bring you InnovativeLanguage.com on iTunes. The new page makes it easier for you to find the language learning solution you’ve been searching for and it brings together all 21 of our Language Learning 101 Podcasts and 19 Survival... Show more

Listener, have you ever been in love before? Here at JapanesePod101, we may not be able to teach you a thing about romance, but we can show you how to fall in love with the Japanese language. Because when you fall in love with Japanese... it will never leave you. Just like with real love, it will only get better. Sure, Japanese has lots of grammar. Words you can’t pronounce? You bet. Sound hard? Wait, stop. The question of whether it’s “hard” or “easy” is not important. If you love something enough, obstacles don’t stand a chance against you. ‘Til death do you part, you and Japanese are in it for the long haul! Since Valentine’s Day is all about love, fall CRAZY in love with Japanese. The greatest advice of all: Love what... Show more

Hello Listener, You’ve probably thought about it at least once. You know...about who is really behind the voice of your favorite JapanesePod101 lessons. Who are these mysterious multilingual strangers? Where do they come from? What are their hobbies? Or maybe you just want to match a voice to a face. Here’s your chance to see the faces and learn a little more about our mix of native Japanese speakers who bring you our weekly lessons. In fact, you’d be surprised to know just how international the team is! Almost all of them have lived and studied abroad at some point. Given their love for language and international experience, we knew they’d be perfect to teach authentic Japanese the easy, fast, and fun way. Ready?... Show more

Hello Listener, Remember sitting in class that one time and understanding everything? The teacher was saying this and that, and you were like “Yeah, Yeah!” Life was great. For some of us, that was waaay back in 5th grade. Then we got lost along the way because things got complicated and nobody explained it in simple terms. And this can happen while learning Japanese too. We’re here to ease the pain. The “Learn Japanese Grammar Video” series is a brand new video series that breaks Japanese grammar rules down at a comfortable pace. If you’re a visual learner, this is the perfect series for you! Go from Japanese Grammar Newbie to Ninja with this series. Each video lesson covers: Explanations of grammar formulas and rules ... Show more

Welcome to the New Year! This is the year of DECISION2012. If you haven’t yet decided to make 2012 an amazing year for Japanese learning, then here’s something to think about. What’s the difference between speaking fluent Japanese and knowing a few words? A decision. A decision to become fluent. Yes you’re right – it won’t magically turn you fluent. But nobody speaks great Japanese by accident either. Nobody gets fluent by twiddling their thumbs and hoping “Maybe, I think, I’d like to try it..but I don’t know.” They decide to become fluent. Then they do it. They rampage through dictionaries, workbooks, audio lessons and any other material they can find. They speak and read and write and make mistakes, and make mistakes,... Show more

It all started with JapanesePod101.com, back in December of 2005. 6 years later, Innovative Language Learning is up to 22 language sites, 2 million registered users, and 4 million app downloads. But what does it all mean? It means we couldn’t have done it without you. It means we’re very lucky to have a community of language lovers. It also means the world sees beauty in languages and cultures, and people wish to communicate with one another. And we’re happy to help. Here are some key stats: December 2006 – 10,000 members December 2008 – 100,000 members April 2010 – 101 Million lesson downloads November 2011 – 2,000,000 members So how exactly does a Japanese podcasting website grow? And how does it spread out to... Show more

Hello everyone! みなさん、こんにちは！ With 2011 almost coming to a close, we'd like to let you all know about the great lessons we have coming up for you in 2012. Here is our 2012 lesson schedule: JapanesePod101.com 2011 Lesson ScheduleMondays: (rotation) → Absolute Beginner Season 2  / Upper Beginner Season 1 Tuesdays: (rotation) → Upper Intermediate Season 5 / Audio Blog Season 5 Wednesdays: No Lessons Thursdays: Throwback Thursday: Old lessons from the archive Fridays: Visual Grammar Bank video series (Absolute Beginner) Saturdays: No Lessons Sundays: News (2~3 times a month) Mondays will see a second season of the popular Absolute Beginner Series, along with a brand new series, Upper Beginner (which focuses on keigo used... Show more

Good design is important. It communicates in ways text can’t. It is the visual delivery of what a website is about. With this in mind, the Innovative Language Learning website has been redesigned. We’ve thought about how we could best portray who we are and how we can help language lovers like you. And after long hours of tinkering in the lab, here is the result! Ready? Go! Visit the Innovative Language Learning Homepage! Select your language. Lifetime of learning. The mobile way. The sleek new design gets right to the point – you want to learn a foreign language. We help you master over 38 languages – including some rare ones like Mongolian and Swahili – in the fastest, easiest, and most fun way. ... Show more