Japanese Pod 101 at a Glance

Japanesepod101 is a website that provides a daily Japanese lesson podcast.  Each podcast goes over something different ranging from beginner Japanese to upper intermediate Japanese.  They also have specialty podcasts aimed at Japanese onomatopoeia, Japanese culture classes, and yujijukugo (4 character kanji compounds).  Their podcasts are more focused on 'real' Japanese and not textbook Japanese.

Learn the Japanese language on the go

Podcasts have become a really popular way to deliver content on the internet today.  JapanesePod101 uses podcasts to deliver it's lessons so that you can study on the train or in the car.  They have multiple podcast streams depending on your subscription:

The free stream - provides just the lessons (about 12-15 minutes)

The basic stream - provides lessons plus pdf lesson notes and a kanji practice sheet.

The premium stream - provides lessons plus it breaks down each lesson into several parts including just the dialog, vocabulary review, and grammar review.  The premium account also lets you use their online resources such as JLPT prep, word banks, grammar banks, and interactive voice recorder.

Japanese Language Lessons Using Real Japanese

The Japanese lessons use a variety of speakers with different accents and speech patterns.  They have used over 9 different voice actors (including a 9 year old boy).  Also, the Japanese is not 'textbook' Japanese.  They use a lot of casual words and phrases in their podcasts.  They also include a lot of 3-way conversations to simulate real life situations.

They often include recent events in their podcasts as well.  There are a few podcasts on famous baseball players and they even have a few video podcasts where they went to a baseball game and interview a few people.  They have a new podcast every day, so there is always something new to learn.