Japanese learning blog
Practical guides on speaking, grammar, pronunciation, listening, and study planning, written for learners who want to use Japanese in real life.
All articles · Page 99
What Is Unihongo? The AI Japanese Tutor in a 3D Classroom, Explained
Unihongo (unihongo.com) is an AI Japanese tutor built for speaking practice: you talk by voice with an AI Sensei in an immersive 3D classroom and receive corrections in an AI session report. It is free to use with a free account, which includes a short daily allowance of live conversation with the AI Sensei, roleplay missions and scored pronunciation lines; current limits are listed at unihongo.com/pricing.
11 min readNora (HelloNora) Alternatives for Japanese Learners: A Fair Comparison
The main alternatives to Nora (hellonora.ai) for Japanese speaking practice are Unihongo, Pingo AI, Langua and general assistants such as ChatGPT. Nora is an AI language tutor built around spoken conversation, so the right alternative depends on what you want to change: the practice format, the kind of feedback, the device, or the amount of free access. This article is published by Unihongo, and it describes every product, including our own, from its public website as of September 2026.
13 min readPingo AI Alternatives for Japanese: Unihongo, Nora, Langua and Kanshudo
Pingo AI is a mobile app for practising spoken conversations with an AI tutor in more than 25 languages, including Japanese. For Japanese specifically, the main alternatives are Unihongo for voice lessons in a 3D classroom, Nora for conversations with personas and stories, Langua for conversation with detailed feedback reports, and Kanshudo for grammar and kanji study. This article is published by Unihongo, and every description comes from each product's public website as of September 2026.
13 min readLangua Alternatives for Japanese: AI Speaking Tutors Compared
Langua is the AI conversation tutor from LanguaTalk, and it offers Japanese among more than 20 languages. Learners who want an alternative for Japanese usually look at Unihongo, Nora, Pingo AI and Talkpal, which all provide spoken practice with an AI but are built around different ideas.
13 min readKanshudo and AI Speaking Tutors: How to Use Both for Japanese
Kanshudo is a Japanese study system for kana, kanji, vocabulary and grammar, with lessons, flashcards, games, readings and a dictionary, and it describes itself as an intelligent Japanese tutor. A learner who searches for a Kanshudo alternative for speaking usually needs an addition, not a replacement: keep the study system for reading and kanji, and add an AI speaking tutor such as Unihongo for output.
12 min readChatGPT vs Gemini for Learning Japanese: Prompts, Voice and Setup
ChatGPT and Gemini can both work as a Japanese tutor, and for grammar explanations and written practice the difference between them is small. What decides the result is your setup: a general assistant teaches well only after you tell it your level, how to correct you, and what situation to play, while a dedicated tutor such as Unihongo has those parts built in.
13 min readDuolingo Alternatives for Japanese Speaking: What to Add or Switch To
The most useful Duolingo alternatives for Japanese speaking are AI speaking tutors such as Unihongo, Nora and Pingo AI, and human tutors on a marketplace such as italki. Most learners do not need to leave Duolingo: many use it for a daily habit, the Japanese scripts and early vocabulary, and add a speaking tool when they want longer conversations.
13 min readAI Apps for Japanese Speaking Skills: Which Tool Trains Which Skill
To improve Japanese speaking skills, practise the five parts of speaking separately: retrieval speed, pronunciation, listening and turn-taking, politeness levels, and real situations. AI speaking apps such as Unihongo, Nora, Pingo AI, Langua and LinguaLive give daily spoken practice for these skills, while HelloTalk and italki add practice with real people.
13 min readAI Tools for JLPT Study Compared: Which Tool for Each Test Section
No single AI tutor covers the whole JLPT, so the practical answer is to choose tools by test section. Study systems such as Kanshudo, WaniKani, Bunpro and Renshuu cover vocabulary, kanji, grammar and reading, a general assistant such as ChatGPT answers grammar questions, and Unihongo lets you use the grammar you have studied aloud, a skill the JLPT does not test.
13 min readJapanese Contrastive Wa: The Hidden But in Kōhī wa Nomimasu
Contrastive wa singles out one item and limits your statement to it, so kōhī wa nomimasu means coffee, at least, I drink, with an unspoken but about other drinks; the same wa appears in negatives, paired contrasts, ni wa and minimum amounts.
13 min readJapanese Ga Particle Uses: The Subject Marker From Basics to Clauses
The Japanese particle ga marks the subject by pointing at it: it identifies who or what in questions and answers, introduces things that exist or are noticed, as in oto ga suru, and marks the subject inside subordinate and relative clauses.
12 min readJapanese Ni Particle Uses: One Idea Behind Place, Time and Target
The Japanese particle ni pins an action or state to a single point: the place where something exists, the destination reached, the clock time, the person who receives, the purpose of a trip, the result of a change and the doer in a passive sentence.
12 min readPractical guides
Turn Japanese knowledge into speaking confidence
Practice with Unihongo's AI Sensei in an immersive 3D classroom, with roleplay missions, pronunciation coaching, useful feedback, and learning games that build your vocabulary while you play.