Learn Japanese
Japanese, with a hook on every word.
Reading line carries kana, transliteration carries romaji. Kanji get a separate component mnemonic, not a sound one.
猫
ねこ
neko
cat
sounds like neck oh
A cat wraps itself round your NECK and says OH when you try to remove it. Neko.
Sample hooks
What the first words look like
猫
ねこ
neko
cat
sounds like neck oh
A cat wraps itself round your NECK and says OH when you try to remove it. Neko.
犬
いぬ
inu
dog
sounds like in you
A dog burrows INU, in you, hiding under your coat. Inu.
水
みず
mizu
water
sounds like me zoo
You are at the ME ZOO where every animal is made of water. Mizu.
本
ほん
hon
book
sounds like bone
A book with a spine made of a real BONE, cracking as you open it. Hon.
山
やま
yama
mountain
sounds like yamma
A mountain so steep climbers yell YAMMA all the way up. Yama.
手
て
te
hand
sounds like tay
A hand serving TEA with the fingers as the spout. Te.
目
め
me
eye
sounds like may
An eye that only opens in MAY, once a year. Me.
友達
ともだち
tomodachi
friend
sounds like tomato dachshund
A tomato and a dachshund walk in as your two best friends. Tomodachi.
食べる
たべる
taberu
to eat
sounds like tab a rue
You keep a TAB at a restaurant that only serves the herb RUE, and you eat it all. Taberu.
A story in Japanese
What you will be reading first.
駅の猫A1
Tap an underlined word. In the app the same tap also tells you whether that word is already in your collection and when it is next due.
Japanese, specifically
How is kanji handled?
Every entry carries kana on a reading line and romaji underneath, so you are never guessing. Sound hooks work off the spoken form, and characters get their own component hook rather than being forced into a sound picture.
How many words are loaded for Japanese?
100 to start, chosen by frequency, each with a gloss, a part of speech, an example sentence and a hook. You can import your own list on top at any point.
Is the audio real Japanese?
The audio uses the voices installed on your own device, picked for Japanese and set per sentence. On a modern phone that is good. On some desktops it is only adequate, and recorded native audio is the next content investment.
Start Japanese tonight
Thirty days free, no card. When the trial ends the account drops to the free limits and nothing is deleted.