It's meant for children in Japan, so you are getting authentic Japanese content at a child's level. Some of the things that I appreciate:
You can pick up little bits of culture and history along the way.
You can easily show and hide furigana on the web interface.
There is a button to have the article read to you in order to practice your listening. The voice is pretty robotic, but I like the practice.
Each news article is a simplified version a full-on "grown-up" article from the NHK, and that regular article is linked to at the bottom of the page. This makes for a nice transition -- once you get more comfortable with the kids' articles, you can try out the regular articles, and you can go in having some idea what they are about if you read the kids' ones first.
For anyone who is starting out, don't be disheartened if it's not really "easy" for you -- that will take a while. It's just a lot easier than the adult news.
Regarding the dictionary app: I prefer the app Nihongo on iOS. Looking up words works similar to Jisho, but the UI is less buggy. The app also includes audio recordings from native speakers for many words, instead of relying entirely on text-to-speech.
I just noticed that part of the description for Nihonho in the post is in German. Maybe because the link I shared was for the English version of the AppStore? Anyways, here is a link that hopefully provides the English description. It would be nice, if you update the link and text in your post.
I’ve been learning for the past two years. The first year on my own, and then I took two courses at university. I found that learning on my own seems to be way more effective than the classes at university. I mainly focus on speaking and understanding the language, so I try to watch Japanese TV (recently I dropped the English subtitles), listen to simple podcasts, and watch videos on YouTube. I don’t want to completely neglect reading and writing, so I’m also learning kanji using Heisig’s method. Though it will probably take me until mid-next year to work through that book.
I've been out of practice for a while (darn that real life!), but I'm trying to get back in the swing by reading NHK's Easy News articles (https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/easy/) on a regular basis. Hopefully soon I can try to read more of the "regular" news (普通のにゅーす) linked at the bottom of the articles.
It took me about ten minutes to write that, and I'm sure it's full of mistakes :) I thought it would be good for newbies who stumble into here to see that they don't need to be advanced to post. Feel free to criticize -- I'm here to learn.
I've been studying for a few years, but exclusively reading and listening, not speaking or writing, so I can't piece much together without effort. For anyone just starting out, bear in mind that those are separate skills and you need to practice them all if you want to be proficient.
I'll probably do a lot more lurking than posting, but I figured we all need to chip in occasionally to help these new communities grow. 頑張って！
I'm glad that you feel comfortable enough to post! It can be difficult taking the first step for many as it's scary for all sorts of reasons. In fact, I have a feeling my Japanese is likely lacking compared to other lurkers here, but I also wanted to help contribute in any way I could.
I think the point you make about reading/listening/writing being different skills is an important reminder and helps contextualize one's goals when learning Japanese or any other language. Some may want to read books or manga, while others may want enough to get by when going on a trip to Japan. There are also plenty of other reasons for one learning Japanese, and they're not mutually exclusive. Having these goals are helpful in that they can provide meaningful indicators for progress.
I appreciate you chiming in, as well as any other lurkers just taking a peek here as well.
When providing critique, it would be appreciated if you include a suggestion alongside it. Constructive feedback becomes even more valuable when accompanied by potential solutions or alternatives.
I personally had more luck with Renshuu. It's a Japanese only learning app, and it's more geared towards general Japanese rather than primarily for tourists to get by.
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