So I’ve been using Bunpro on my computer, and today I saw the app for it on Google Play, so I decided to add it to my collection of Japanese language apps.
Except when I tried to log in with my ID and password, I couldn’t. After a few tries, I took a closer look, and saw that the app was called Bunpo, not Bunpro.
Intrigued, I went on a bit of a detective hunt. If you go to the Bunpo home page, you will find that there is a Contact Us heading, but there is no hyperlink on it. After digging a bit on Twitter, I found this tweet:
For reviewing different grammar points, I highly recommend Bunpo! The author Yuki is a friend of mine who lives in Kyoto and he created the app only a year ago. He’s trying really hard to make it a good tool for reviewing and learning grammar 🙂 Only on iOS atm though.
— Tomas Engström (@ConraDargo) October 7, 2018
Meanwhile, Bunpro lists four people on their website as being affiliated with their company. They also have an active community for users.
So, there’s first of all a size and scope difference.
Bunpo looks like a one person effort. Bunpro is more of a group effort.
But there’s also design differences.
Bunpo is a straight review grammar points. It gives you a concept, and then makes you create a sentence with a set of building blocks. Bunpro is SRS-based where it gives you a grammar point and then has you type to finish sentences around various grammar points.
Bunpo has a speaking function for example sentences built right in. Bunpro has spoken sentences too, but it’s not clear to me if they are everywhere, or just when you are introduced to a new grammar point.
Both ways are useful, I think. Bunpo is maybe easier to use as a reference for a particular grammar point, and the only way to go on your phone, but Bunpro offers a richer overall experience.
I’m happy I made my mistake, and found what looks like another useful language learning tool.