VLJ Words Lite vs Ringotan
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
VLJ Words Lite
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◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ Let's learn Japanese with the intelligible method! ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ With this app, you can experience how easy it is to learn Japanese by the original learning method (*1) with cards of various colors and shapes, which represent Japanese grammatical structure of each part of speech. *This free application with limited well-selected contents, is a part of the new cloud-based Japanese language educational service "Visual Learning .Japanese", which is provided by NTT ExC Partner Corporation. Please use “VLJ Words” app(*2) which comes with full contents, not this app; “VLJ Words Lite”, if you are the students of the VLJ course provided by your company or your school. 【Main Functions】 In this app, practical words from mainly beginner level to middle level are included. Users can learn not only meaning, various conjugations of verb and honorific expressions but also the pronunciation of native Japanese speakers.(*3) Users can also freely register any words which are not covered in this app in "My Word Bank." You can check well-selected 200 words in this lite version. (“VLJ Words” App, which is for students in the VLJ course, includes Hiragana and Katakana, more than 2,000 words and more than 200 Kanjis, which are from mainly beginner level.) (*1) This method is called “The Ezoe Method”, which is a Japanese learning method developed with nearly 40-year devotion by the Shinjuku Japanese Language Institute. By visualizing sentence structures with original cards learners can understand Japanese in a very intuitive way. (*2) ID and Password will be required. (*3) All words and descriptions are translated into 8 languages below English Japanese Traditional Chinese (繁體中文) Simplified Chinese (简体中文) French (français) Portuguese (português) Arabic (العربية) Vietnamese (Tiếng Việt)
Ringotan
Master Japanese Kanji by practicing writing. This app uses advanced input detection and spaced repetition to help you learn quickly and effectively. Focuses on the physical act of writing characters, not just recognition.
- Learn Kanji by writing
- Advanced input detection
- Spaced repetition system (SRS)
- Focus on writing, not just reading
- Frequent updates with new features
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Learn Kanji by actually writing it! Ringotan is the first app built from the ground up to teach you how to WRITE Japanese Kanji, not just read them. By combining advanced input detection with industry-standard SRS (spaced repetition) algorithms, Ringotan ensures you learn as fully and quickly as possible. ----------------- Ringotan is free for a limited time. We update frequently, so be sure to check back for new features!
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: Ringotan at every 3 days against VLJ Words Lite's every 8 months. On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
VLJ Words Lite ships an update every 8 months, Ringotan every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on October 1, 2026 and October 9, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | VLJ Words Lite | Ringotan |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | — | 4.9 (567 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | — | 95.7% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | — | 567 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 8 months | Every 3 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | — | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 — better | 12.2 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 15 MB | 206 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | NTT Learning Systems Corporation. | Daniel Pflughoeft |
Bugs and requests
VLJ Words Lite
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
Ringotan
Reported bugs
2 issues- Occasional issues with stroke order recognition
- Some kanji pronunciations not accurately represented
Requested features
5 requests- Add dark mode option
- Allow users to create and save custom kanji lists
- Provide more detailed keyword hints before writing
- Implement device sync to continue progress across platforms
- Add notification system to remind users of upcoming reviews
In-app purchases
VLJ Words Lite
No in-app purchases
Ringotan
No in-app purchases








