A Japanese grammar practice app a lá Duolingo.
Free: ☑ Yes; ☐ No (offers paid version)
Difficulty level: beginner | intermediate | advanced
Interaction with others: ☐ Yes; ☑ No
Available on: ☑ iPhone/iOS; ☑ Android; ☐ web
Version tested in this review: Android
Internet connection required: ☐ Yes; ☑ No
The Bunpo app is a relatively new study resource for people looking to improve their Japanese grammar. It has a simple layout that’s easy to navigate, as shown:
Bunpo divides grammar points by JLPT level and then further into smaller groups by topic or grammatical function. As grammar study is its main function, I’ve marked this as less suitable for absolute beginners at Japanese, even though the app offers kana and kanji practice as well. It also has a library of often used words (basic words) it’ll run you through, but this is, in my opinion, non-essential, since Bunpo has a rad dictionary that’ll let you tap words during practice, and the app will show you the English translation.
This only applies to the words highlighted in green, though - anything else, you’re on your own, which I find a tad sloppy, honestly.
When you open a grammar category, you’re presented with a list of grammar points. Clicking one begins the lesson, which starts with an introduction to the grammar point with example sentences. Very neat! Once you’ve gone through a few pages of this introduction, you’re taken to the test or practice part of the lesson. This is the part that’s similar to Duolingo: The various exercises involve you choosing the correct word out of a few possible selections and putting words in order. This is good for grammar practice, but it’s not infallible, as I discovered by accident:
I chose the word つまらない rather than 楽しい, which is entirely grammatically correct - just not what Bunpo wanted me to say. This resulted in me having to do this lesson all over again in order to have it marked as completed. I haven’t run into other examples of this “error” yet, but I’m sure they’re there. I hope they will be fixed in a future update, either letting the app accept multiple correct answers, or removing the “incorrect” ones.
Bunpo is a really cool app and I have a good feeling that it’ll continue to develop positively, but for now, there are a set of serious drawbacks that prevents me from rating it higher than 3 stars.
They claim that their app features all Japanese grammar points in the description on the App/Google Play Store. - This is simply not true. While obviously requiring a humongous effort, I don’t think they should write this just yet when the app appears to still be in its early stages of development. I’ve written an email to them about this and received a response 2 days later assuring me that more grammar points will be added in future updates, so I’m hopeful!
The app lags. - I suspect this may have something to do with the fact that the app is available offline (bless!), but there’s some loading time that can get annoying if you’re looking for just a quick review session.
Pricing? What for? - The app is free, but its App Store description says there’s a paid subscription mode. I haven’t been able to figure out exactly what one would be paying for; perhaps paid features are still in the works; I certainly don’t see them in my Android version. If someone has been able to figure this out, please leave a comment or message me!
Lack of information. - They have a website, yes. But it’s a Wordpress with a single page and a “learn more” link that leads nowhere. I do hope as they continue to develop the app that they’ll also make more detailed information about it more readily available to people who do not wish to download it before they’ve read more.
I’m hopeful for the continued development of this app, as more grammar resources are always welcome! However, it just seems sorta half baked still.
Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with or paid by the people behind Bunpo in any way. This review is my own honest opinion of the app.
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