I’ve been studying Japanese on my own for 20 years and haven’t gotten very far. We’re going to Japan soon so I decided to try a different strategy. Now, I listen to this podcast every day while walking my dog and it’s been so helpful as a refresher for the things I used to know and has made me feel a lot more confident about speaking to people while I’m there. I even emailed Alex a question and he gave me a very thorough and well thought out answer.

I wish that I had known about this podcast months ago when I started my Japanese learning journey. Thank you for making this. This is the first podcast I’ve found that earnestly instructs you on how to speak the language in easy-to-grasp terms. I love how the whole thing is sorta conversational because it makes it easier to follow along and just listen/absorb. I’m sharing this with all my language learning friends and I hope this podcast keeps pumping out episodes.

Listen at 1.25x speed. You’ll thank me later.

Hi Alex, I’ve listened to all of your episodes but appreciate this last one especially. My husband and I just returned from Japan last month, and we had some awful tourist experiences. One especially where we purchased tickets to see a traditional arts performance in Gion Corner. (Sadou, ikebana, koto, bunraku, miyako odori) Several groups and persons arrived late, finding their seat in the MIDDLE of performances, rather than waiting during applause. And not only that, but talked very loudly to find their seats, late into the performance. It was incredibly disheartening and disrespectful, and I wish there could have been more awareness at that time. I felt so sorry for the performers on stage who so carefully prepared everything with so much detail and care. I hope everyone listens and thinks about this episode. It will help preserve the richness of Japanese culture.