# Human Japanese — user reviews > 250 indexed App Store user reviews of Human Japanese by Brak Software, Inc., rated 5.00/5 from 1,341 ratings. - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/human-japanese/id304090210/reviews - App overview in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/human-japanese/id304090210.md - Rating breakdown: 5★ 1,307 · 4★ 24 · 3★ 3 · 2★ 4 · 1★ 3 ## Newest reviews (19 of 250) ### 5/5 — Good *2024-08-29, version 3.2.1* Very good thank you! どうもありがとうございます！ ### 5/5 — Amazing app for anyone trying to learn Japanese *2024-08-18, version 3.2.1* I can honestly say this app has been an amazing learning resource for learning Japanese. I never thought that learning a new language could be so fun and informative at the same time. The author of this app did an amazing job in the way he explains japanese language concepts. I took a year of japanese at university, paid over a thousand dollars, and I can honestly say, I've learned more, remembered more and had more fun with this app than I did in university classes. I recommend anyone who actually wants to learn Japanese to use this app, the small price is completely worth it. I can't wait to complete this app and move on to the intermediate one! Edit: I have finally completed this app. And once again I’d like to state my utmost appreciation for this app and its contents. ### 5/5 — Best way to learn Japanese *2024-05-28, version 3.2.1* This is a textbook written by someone who has a deep understanding of the commonalities between the Japanese and English language. It’s full of amazing insights and historical context that should make Japanese more intuitively understandable to native English speakers. It will teach you the syllabary (katakana and hiragana), as well as basic grammar for the formal (polite) manner of speaking, and a lot of vocabulary for common situations. There is a second (intermediate) app that gets into informal speech, kanji, and more complex grammatical constructions. A great pathway to understanding Japanese literature would be to use these two apps and then jump into the third app: Satori Reader, as well as WaniKani for more complex kanji. All of the Japanese examples are fully voice acted. It’s important to get used to hearing the language so you won’t sound strange when you try to speak it. Every chapter ends with multiple choice review questions so you can practice what you’ve learned to retain it better. It even encourages you to re-take these quizzes multiple times to master each question, since the choices are randomized each time. I’ve tried a lot of ways of learning Japanese, but these books have been by far the most insightful and useful resources I’ve found. I got a better understanding of the basics by reviewing the material in this book, and I’m loving the intermediate app as well. The intermediate app covers the vocabulary and grammar for a lot of situations that will be useful if you’re traveling in Japan, such as riding trains and speaking to customer service people, and it gives you a great foundation for understanding Kanji which should help when you move on to other resources like WaniKani. ### 5/5 — This is amazing *2024-03-06, version 3.2.1* I ve gotten a deeper understanding with the basics than any other application. This app was a friend of mine’s suggestion and he’s currently in Japanese school. ### 5/5 — The Gold Standard *2024-02-18, version 3.2.1* In my opinion, Human Japanese remains unparalleled and my go-to choice in my recommendations to people starting out with the language. All those years ago when I first used the Intro+Intermediate apps, it was my foundation, my staple with my budding Japanese journey. This beats any novice textbook in my opinion. All these years later I found myself returning to Human Japanese to refresh myself with Japanese. From the bottom of my heart, I thank the development team for creating a truly special piece of work, at a fraction of a cost it would take textbooks to attempt to even come close to this. If you're on the fence, just do it, you wont regret it. Always and forever, ありがとうございます。 ### 5/5 — Great *2023-12-24, version 3.2.1* Great application to learn Japanese; the author has a deep understanding and it shines through in the lessons. Originally downloaded it for iPhone, able to use it on my M1 macbook as well. ### 5/5 — Very Good *2023-08-24, version 3.2.1* HJ is still relevant and accurate despite its years. If you can’t complete this and HJ Intermediate and head over to Satori Reader to continue there, you will have done yourself a service in learning the Japanese language. Don’t forget Wanikani for Kanji learning which also integrates with Satori Reader. Brian the developer is very pro active in responding to your questions. Highly rated. ### 5/5 — Excellent, but… *2023-08-22, version 3.2.1* Why have you abandoned the human Japanese app? I just revisited it and was willing to pay an additional $15 in order to have the iPad version. Complete but, why should I bother? Although it should work for both the iPad and the iPhone, you made us pay twice. OK, I’m willing. Oh wait, you no longer care about this app. It’s really too bad since it is quite possibly the best Japanese learning language app ever. It’s really a pity that you don’t bother to answer any questions in app reviews. Completely incomprehensible. ### 5/5 — In Depth *2023-08-10, version 3.2.1* Start learning Japanese with something like Mondly/Dual Lingo for absolute basics. Once those don’t get you very far, hop onto this and learn the actual concepts in greater detail. ### 5/5 — Great explanations *2023-07-24, version 3.2.1* I truly do love how everything is explained here. There are so many things that confused me with Japanese up to now, which this app really helped with. I know it's unlikely but I do wish there was an update so that everything could be read portrait, rather than having to rotate my phone each time. ### 5/5 — Excellent app! *2023-04-26, version 3.2.1* Self learning Japanese, this has been an excellent addition! ### 5/5 — Really great Japanese program *2023-03-16, version 3.2.1* I was referred to the program from a Japanese learning group. So far enjoying the course. He makes things easy to understand. Best course for an awesome price. ### 5/5 — Best app *2023-02-09, version 3.2.1* One of the best apps for learning Japanese. ### 5/5 — Better than a college class *2022-10-20* If you are an English speaker and want to learn Japanese, BUY THIS APP!!! I took Japanese 101 in college and I enjoyed it BUT, my teacher was Japanese and as such, there was a bit of a bridge to cross for my teacher to relate concepts to us because for her, it was instinctual. This program was written by a native English speaker who sees the problem from our side of “the bridge” and he gives much better explanations and relates it more naturally to us because he is one of us. If you complete this beginner app, you will speak and understand more Japanese than I did after a full semester of college level Japanese. Seriously, buy this. It’s good. ### 5/5 — Great *2022-09-28, version 3.2.1* This app and the author’s more recent app Satori Reader have some of the best explanations of grammar I’ve seen online. If there were to be any improvements it would be great to be able to toggle all of the romaji into kana. ### 5/5 — Really engaging and explains everything! *2022-04-01, version 3.2.1* Having come from Duolingo and Genki textbooks as my main learning sources I have been craving a deeper explanation and understanding of why Japanese is the way it is. This app fully delivers in a way that is accessible to anyone, with very clear and engaging dialog to read along with. I’m only a couple of chapters in but I’m blown away by how well this is geared to my way of learning. I need things to “click” to really understand and that usually requires a bit of insight into what’s really going on under the hood. This app helps everything click without asking you to make the mental leaps yourself. It’s also refreshing to have a pay-once app, rather than endless subscription model. So pleased I paid for this. It came recommended from the “Abroad in Japan” YouTube channel so I had faith it would be great, and it totally is! ### 5/5 — Ichiban App! *2022-03-23, version 3.2.1* I have to say that this is an enjoyable, informative, and successful way to learn Japanese. Nice cultural and historical insights into Japan, excellent descriptions of hiragana and katakana, good progress quizzes, and perfect progression. Great stuff! ### 5/5 — One of best Japanese learning apps *2022-01-23, version 3.2.1* Learned about the app from a mention by the host of “Abroad in Japan,” Chris. He made the point that Duolingo is good for vocabulary and practice but is lacking in areas that “Human Japanese” is very good in. As a user of Duolingo, that critique of it matched my experience. I really like it, use it daily but feel my grammar is not progressing. HJ has lived up to the description. I am half way through the first app using it as a review. The lessons are clear, engaging, with a bit of challenge so you feel you progressing. I see there is an intermediate HJ and the same group produces Satori Reader (wish that was less expensive). ### 5/5 — Wow… *2022-01-05, version 3.2.1* Only been using for a few hours but out of all the physical textbooks and apps I’ve downloaded… I’ve learned more in the few hours than I have all previous content combined… sure you have to pay for it… but it is INSANELY worth it, DuoLingo is not an alternative if you want to really learn… this is it. This is what you need! ## Most critical reviews (10 lowest-rated) ### 1/5 — Broken in iOS 15 *2021-11-20, version 3.2.1* Have to force quit app all the time because it opens to a blank screen. ### 1/5 — Can't access the app I paid for *2020-08-31, version 3.2.1* Was loving this app before i was locked out of it. Now I'm being asked to pay for it again at an inflated price. Great product, awful company ### 1/5 — Practically useless! *2013-08-24, version 2.1.1* I once had a 5 star rating for this app, but not anymore more. Rule 1: You should NEVER learn ます (MASU) form first! Barely anyone you meet in person talks like and hence useless unless you're trying to be a geisha or something... Now that I've gone into learning more advance Japanese, everything revolves around the casual/dictionary form of verbs. Whilst a bit more difficult at first, once you learn it, it only takes 5 mins to learn to convert it to ます form should you need to be polite. And when in doubt, just at です at the end of everything. In my opinion it's way more better to get your message across than to be polite, and you're a beginner anyway, so you'll be forgiven. And if they don't, it's their problem. For example, I asked a girl if she had Facebook: 「あなたはフェスブークがありますか？」 and she replied 「ある！」which meant yes, but I couldn't even understand this even though it was so basic. This course is way too un-comprehensive, not enough vocabulary, NOT EVEN ANY KANJI YET, and after going through this course which basically took years cause there was too much of the author chit-chatting and la-dee-daing, too many chapters and a lot of concepts were difficult to grasp, I could only say basic and practically useless things like: "I saw a red dog at the bookshop yesterday": 「きのう、わたしはほんやであかいいぬをみました。」… lame. It's useless, no where near enough to hold any kind of conversation. But the biggest thing for me was I had to and still am unlearning a lot of what I was taught by this app which is causing a lot of confusion and frustration. Seriously, everything taught in this app should take no more than a week to learn. There are many other resources elsewhere like Tae Kim's Learning Japanese which is way more practical and efficient than this rubbish. ### 1/5 — Great app low score due none universal support *2012-02-12, version 2.1.1* The app is great, the low score is due to split iPhone/iPad versions, make sure you buy the right one the first time. ### 2/5 — Weird *2021-03-20, version 3.2.1* The amount of English grammar mistakes on this app is quite unnerving. You can tell by the way the sentences are phrased that the developer isn’t a native English speaker. The humour is also horrendous and unnecessary. Some chapters are good and some are completely irrelevant to someone learning Japanese. ### 2/5 — Needs update *2014-03-09, version 2.1.1* iPhone 5 optimisation and new content should be added. It has been 3 years. ### 3/5 — It's decent *2021-09-26, version 3.2.1* Grammar explanations are what makes this app shine. It's better than most books out there even if at times verbose. Severely lacking in terms of practice and retention, so it's mostly good as a reference. The worst part is that the iPad version is an entirely separate paid app. The fact it's the exact same UI on iPhone and iPad makes it even more irritating. It's a tacky business model. I wouldn't have bought the app had I noticed. ### 4/5 — Great learning content; app needs a major refresh *2024-12-01, version 3.2.1* Human Japanese provides a wealth of fantastic educational content presented in a sensible, clear manner. It’s a boon for those returning to studying Japanese after a long break, including those like myself who were once well into the intermediate phase of learning. The app itself however feels woefully outdated in terms of design and functionality, and it’s not a good experience on iPad. The overall UX feels about a decade out-of-date. ### 4/5 — Great app *2021-03-08, version 3.2.1* By far the best app for learning Japanese. The whole experience is great in presentation of the information and the logical progression. The only downside is there are no exercises to solidify your understand minus the short tests at the end of the chapters so you need to take it upon yourself to make ways to practice the information. ### 4/5 — Good app *2019-11-24, version 3.2.1* Cool app, good content, but it’s pretty annoying that it doesn’t let you use portrait mode ## Most praised reviews (10 highest-rated) ### 5/5 — An amazing start *2025-10-01* This app(as its title suggests) is grounded in human experience. For me the in depth explanations of how the language works is far more important that throwing works at me and expecting me to understand. I also love that there is a free version to get your foot in the door to see if this style is for you. Still have lots more to go through and very excited. But with all learning this is just one of many resource in my repertoire. But definitely one of the more helpful and grounded. TLDR: it is amazing and explains its self well. But make sure to use all resources available to you not just one. Thanks for listing your my Ted talk! ### 5/5 — Hidden gem for self-learners *2025-08-25, version 3.2.1* Thank you for this app! Super balanced study plan with culture notes. I used light version first, but buying a full version more to express gratitude and support to authors. This app is a perfect start with 0 knowledge and involving enough to keep going. ありがとうございます！ ### 5/5 — Great! *2025-08-20, version 3.2.1* Great program! I’ve wanted to learn for years but it always seemed so intimidating. This really breaks the language down and makes learning both hiragana and katakana pretty simple. I never feel like I’m in over my head. ### 5/5 — Informative app *2025-03-08, version 3.2.1* Using this app in combination with other approaches to learn Japanese. Finding the explanations helpful ### 5/5 — Perfect Digital Textbook *2025-02-08, version 3.2.1* This is an awesome textbook app, with great pacing. It’s clear and concise, making it interesting along the way. It does seem a bit dated (the app is quite old), but that shouldn’t matter. Definitely try the free Lite version first to see if it works for you, and then consider paying. I definitely like that it’s a one-off payment rather than these other ridiculous apps that have subscriptions without ever updating their services. There’s also a great Anki decked based off of this textbook, - just search Human Japanese in shared decks. I’d definitely recommend using that as an other accessory to your learning. ### 5/5 — Worth It *2025-02-05, version 3.2.1* It’s $20 - Just get it! Well worth the money, even if it doesn’t cover as much as something like Genki. It’s simple, has great content & keeps you hooked. ### 5/5 — For perfectionists *2025-01-04, version 3.2.1* Please fix “master the question” 😭 ### 5/5 — Excellent introduction *2024-12-02, version 3.2.1* Lovely chatty style and encouraging author. Easy to follow, lots of repetition and helpful quizzes with each chapter. Doesn’t overwhelm you by introducing too much at once, paced really well. ### 5/5 — Wow what a great resource! *2024-10-28, version 3.2.1* Ive only just started, but this is exactly what most apps arent but should be: well designed, thoughtful, and help you do something without any unnecessary frills like badges and gamification. If you enjoy learning about things by starting from fundamentals, this is for you. ### 5/5 — Great app, and fun too *2024-09-23, version 3.2.1* The cultural notes (explanations) really set this app apart and make it super enjoyable to learn and move through the lessons. It’s relaxing and enlightening. Top notch. --- *Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-06-10.*