# SABUchan

> Learn Japanese from dramas and anime using dual subtitles and spaced repetition. (iPhone/iPad app by Chris Man.)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/sabuchan/id965622344 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [Chris Man](https://appshunter.io/developer/877580495)
- Category: Education, Utilities
- Price: Free
- Rating: 5.00/5 from 2 App Store ratings · 1 written reviews indexed
- Age rating: 4+
- Requires: iOS 12.0 · 184 MB
- Languages: English
- Released: 2015-03-28
- Data updated: 2026-06-10
- Monetization: free
- User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/sabuchan/id965622344/reviews.md

## What is SABUchan?

Do you want to learn Japanese from Drama and Anime?  Do you spend a lot of time on rewinding the video for each sentence?  Do you hate to look up dictionary and prepare flash cards?

SABU is an unqiue App designed from the ground up for you to learn Japanese from Drama subtitles.  It dramatically reduces your time to understand a Japanese Drama from hours to minutes.  It is the only tool you would ever need for your coming years of journey to learn Japanese.


LISTEN-LEARN

SABU is not just a video player.  It displays dual-subtitle on the same screen.  The primary subtitle would display Japanese and the auxiliary subtitle is for your native language.  You would get the gist of the Japanese sentence at once.

For the individual words, SABU associate the Japanese subtitle with a built-in dictionary and web search engine.  It's just a swipe of finger to get the meaning.  No more copy-and-paste to your dictionary application.  More than a dictionary, it can even recognise conjugations, Japanese numbers, individual Kanji and Japanese names.  With a click of button, you can hear the pronunciation of the word.

To help you to listen, all forward and backward are based on sentences with timing information from the subtitle file.  You can easily repeat each sentence with just a click of button.


VOCABULARY-FLASH CARDS

Every word you learnt can be added to SABU's vocabulary database. There is a flash card system to help you memorise the words.  And the cards prepared are associated to the drama itself.  So, not only you have the meaning on the flash card, you see where the word comes from the drama.  You can listening to the part of drama too.  All flash cards will appear according to how well you memorise it. ( SuperMemo Algorithm 2 )  You can also easily export the vocabulary database to CSV so you can import in other flash card applications like Anki.


SPEAKING-SHADOWING

You can record you speaking for each sentence and compare them to that of the video as you would do with a Linguaphone device.

TYPING

There is a testing test in SABU where you can actually type the Japanese subtitle.

STATISTICS

Keep track of your progress!  The more you spent on learning a language, the faster you improve.  SABU would keep track of your efforts in daily and monthly basis.
 


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FEATURES:

• play sound track of video in background
• slow play ( 0.8X )
• dual language subtitle on the same screen
• AB repeat mode
• sentence repeat mode ( once or loop )
• file repeat mode ( loop )
• forward / backward sentence by sentence
• remote control to play/forward/backward
• editing of subtitle ( adjust and mark timing, sync main and aux subtitle, delete line, copy line from text or mp3 lyric tag, time shift editing )
• swipe to check japanese meaning in english
• search subtitle for words
• search dictionary for words
• seach subtitle files from Internet
• copy-and-paste from selected words in subtitle 
• flash-card system with spaced interval repetition
• similar vocab and dictionary lookup during flash card quiz
• listen to the word or the original dialogue in quiz, dictionary lookup for other words in the diagloue
• export vocab to CSV
• typing test
• record and play your own voice
• statistics for daily and month usage
• supported movie ( mp4, mov, mpv, 3gp )
• supported music ( mp3 )
• supported subtitles files ( srt, ssa, lrc )
• Airdrop files from iPhone to iPhone

DICTIONARY FEATURES:

• Japanese conjugation / inflection recogised
• Kanji Dictionary
• Japanese name Dictionary 
• Japanese numbers and counters recognised
• IOS built-in dictionary search
• Wikipedia search
• Web search


***********************************

There are tons of features in SABU, please visit our web site www.sabujapanese.com to discover all of them.

If you have an enquries or feedback, please feel free to contact us at the following email address.

sabu_app@yahoo.com.hk

## Key features

- Dual language subtitles
- Integrated dictionary and web search
- Spaced repetition flashcards
- Sentence and word repetition
- Speaking and typing practice
- Progress tracking statistics
- Background audio playback

## Recent user reviews (1 of 1)

All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/sabuchan/id965622344/reviews.md

### 5/5 — Amazing app for learning Japanese

*2015-05-09, version 3.2*

Excellent

## Frequently asked questions about SABUchan

### How does SABUchan help me learn Japanese?

SABUchan uses dual subtitles to display Japanese and your native language simultaneously. It also features an integrated dictionary for quick word lookups and a flashcard system with spaced repetition to aid memorization.

### Can I practice speaking with SABUchan?

Yes, SABUchan allows you to record yourself speaking sentences and compare your pronunciation to the original video audio, similar to shadowing techniques used in language learning.

### Does SABUchan have ads?

The provided data does not specify if SABUchan contains advertisements. However, it is listed as free to download and use.

### What kind of vocabulary practice does SABUchan offer?

SABUchan includes a flashcard system that utilizes the SuperMemo Algorithm 2 for spaced repetition. Words learned can be added to a vocabulary database, and flashcards are linked to the drama context.

### How does SABUchan track my learning progress?

SABUchan provides statistics to monitor your learning efforts on a daily and monthly basis, helping you see how your time spent learning correlates with your improvement.

### Can I export my learned vocabulary from SABUchan?

Yes, SABUchan allows you to easily export your vocabulary database to a CSV file. This enables you to import your learned words into other flashcard applications like Anki.

### What devices is SABUchan available on?

SABUchan is available for iPhone, iPad, and iPod devices. It is designed for iOS users looking to learn Japanese.

### How often is SABUchan updated?

The latest version of SABUchan is 6.2, and it was last updated on October 28, 2020. This indicates a moderate update frequency.

## Version history (last 1 release)

### 6.2 — 2020-10-28

- minor fix on Setting screen, Web lookup and file sharing

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## More apps by Chris Man

- [SABU](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/sabu/id877580492)
- [WEBU](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/webu/id991018826)

All apps by Chris Man: https://appshunter.io/developer/877580495

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*Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-06-10.*
