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A Solid Supplemental Review of Japanese Alphabet
I am in an intro Japanese class, this app was a great addition to my class work and helped me improve recognition of the characters. It was also helpful to get accustomed to different digital Japanese fonts used in the app for my brain to recognize characters written in other styles outside of traditional academic textbooks. I like the speaker, I thought the voice recordings were spoken clearly without any accent and there is the option of repeating the words. While this app does not break down the linguistics of Japanese or how to write the characters it is great app for reviewing both alphabet sets. Simple app, friendly coloring and not complicated! 👍🏽Show lessJellopaunch
Superb
It’s incredibly simple to use and really well done - you start reading words and sounding things out naturally when you see the letters you’ve learned being used in words, and that helps you learn the other letters in that word that you struggled with.
The only times you see ads are when you’ve made 5 mistakes, which is ingenious - it never disrupts your flow, it gives you an incentive to improve and it makes the ads that do appear “fair enough” - it’s just great.
Designed for one simple task that it performs brilliantly.Show lessJmc1982
It’s Perfect
This App has helped me understand the basics of a language faster than my Japanese teach possibly could with her best efforts. The easy flash card nature and multiple choice is forgiving for a forgetful mind and make you feel a lot less stupid and discouraged when getting an answer wrong. Along with the audio and word meaning options, it’s hands down the best app I’ve used to learn Japanese.
However, the one thing I desperately wish to see is more of the language. Diacritics and Diagraphs are the next step after learning the core alphabet of Hiragana and unfortunately I have to use a separate and inferior app to learn those when I’d much prefer the style and ease of this one.
Not sure if the developer keeps this updated, but I really really wish they would include more of the language.Show lessJameson1307
Perfect for drills, 2 small complaints
I agree with another reviewer’s points: simple but perfect. Only punishment ads for errors but no time limit to force more errors. Learning by testing basic vocabulary is very valuable. My only complaints: sometimes it can take a few drills before the new unlocked kana ever even show up(ら felt like it took forever! I guess because it has no examples?) and that both ends of longer English words are completely cut off when they appear on the top part of the screen. They will format just fine on the 4 choice buttons, but when you need to choose the kana for words like “name card” and “high school” all you get is like “ame car” and “igh sch” at the top prompting area.
Overall very satisfied. Creator should add a voluntary ad watch button for people who want to support more :)Show less8th grade(1 year)
Helpful for Review / Vocab!
This app is great for reviewing Hiragana and Katakana as well as training to recognize the different symbols quicker. Eventually it starts helping with vocabulary as well first teaching you how something is written/pronounced and then moving on to the actual definition, which helps split the learning into digest-able chunks. You can always click each hiragana/katakana to look at the words you’ve learned that use that character. It would be super awesome if it taught basic kanji too, but the app is already great as it is.
Also, it only shows you ads when you make enough mistakes, so as you get better, you’ll slowly notice that you’re seeing less and less ads as well! :DShow lessAwePANDA
Humble Beginnings
I had never dared to touch Hiragana or Katakana before but this app has really helped to reinforce how the characters look and sound like when learning, as well as asking different types of questions, which is really useful. I’m about to start Katana (because obviously I’m a masochist) and I have no doubt that I’ll still be using this app.
The only suggestion I would make is that it would be nice to be able to select rows of characters we want to try sometimes instead of just having one option for a test.
(Also massive props for using ads in a way that doesn’t detract from the app and actually makes it better :D )Show lessSkoodwood
This app is just what I need (one recommendation)
I don’t write app reviews. Over the years I’ve maybe written 5 at most. This one deserves a review. It simple, it’s perfect for what it is. You aren’t bogged down with ads because the developer is an amazing and generous person. Seriously, I appreciate you and your way of developing this app. You only get “punishment ads” if you get five questions wrong you get an ad. There are no time limits which the other similar apps tend to have. That is a huge turn off for me. I have dyslexia, it takes me a second to take everything in. Not having a time limit helps a lot.
I also enjoy the use of basic words. It would be nice for beginners if their translation was on there maybe even just in small font. Most of the words I already know but occasionally I forget and it would be nice to have a simple reminder. That honestly isn’t a big deal my one and only suggestion really is that it would be amazing if when given a word if in the answer section you had to pick each hiragana/katakan. Some what like a fill in the blank of that makes sense. Instead of just selecting the completed translation already spelled out in the answer box. Seriously though, this app is amazing and I really appreciate you for making it as clean and simple as possible.Show lessHdbdhehheheh
On the go, forced slowing, realkana alternative
This app is great, not too much to ask from a kana app other than being simple and not littered with ads. As for ads, this app utilizes a neat system of multiple failures makes you watch an ad, so the better you get the less ads you see. I personally rarely culminate that many mistakes except when they throw sneaky vocab at you, which is a clever way for them to make you fail for that sweet ad money which I totally get. It also runs on what appears to be RNG which I love, because it generates a random set of practice questions and you can’t proceed until the current row of kana appears a certain number of time. Great app overallShow lessJoey gggdyyhvx
Good for quick little quizzes!
I mainly use another source for learning hiragana, but found that this app is great for putting the knowledge to the test! Plus, it'll give you words to practice writing after you pass each quiz/exercise.
There is one thing I've noticed though, and that's the audible pronunciation. Sometimes it feels inconsistent and unclear, and sometimes one hiragana character's pronunciation will sound too much like another one that should have a different sound. Maybe the developer could re-record some of them if possible.
Overall, I really like this app! I'm about to start the Katakana section and look forward to any updates. Definitely give this App a try! 👍Show lessJustKasey
Best and most helpful
Thanks to this little app I have kept myself from forgetting any of the basics; not to mention it is a superb learning tool. I hope the creator chooses to make more/improve this more. If only this could teach kanji as well.. but then it wouldn’t be free.. right? Anyways, This is quite an amazing app and I recommend it to anyone who is struggling with learning Japanese characters, anyone who just wants to learn them, or anyone who just wants to get in a little more practice. I love how the title screen starts in all English and turns into Japanese as you progress. Not to mention how they turn up the pressure; the “punishment ads” are hilarious in concept and really do motivate you like nothing else does. Of all the programs I downloaded for basic Japanese learning this one shines through as the best, most helpful and most creative.
P.S. remember to go to settings and turn on the word meaning drills if you start to get too comfortable; that alone kept this relevant far longer than I ever anticipated. Thanks!Show lessMooseLovesTwigs
