Name: MARU Japanese: Beginner Kana
Rating: 4.92814 (10606 reviews)

User Reviews for MARU Japanese: Beginner Kana

4.93 out of 5

10.6K Ratings

5 years ago, Hdbdhehheheh

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.

2 weeks ago, SayokiiSaiko

Great Resource for Learning ひらがな and かたかな

I’ve been trying to learn the two Japanese alphabets: hiragana, and katana. My goal is to get to N5 proficiency at some point. At first, I was using Duolingo to practice my hiragana. It went well, but by the time I was getting started with my katana, they implemented this stupid feature, or rather, removed a vital one—the ability to practice to earn back hearts. Seeing this, I knew I’d need a different place to learn my katana, and then I came upon this app. And let me tell you, I’m glad I left Duolingo. This app is everything. The layout is very user-friendly. Notifications are fun, and motivating. I like the voice they chose for the characters and the fact that it plays for every kana character. Being an auditory and visual learner, this app is great. The choice to only have ads play after every five mistakes is SUPERIOR to the five strikes and your out feature I’m used to. It encourages you to do well, but the punishment isn’t severe in the slightest. I’ve been improving well with my katana and, for that I’m grateful this app exists. I only wish it was available for kanji as well! Ah well, maybe in the future.

4 years ago, Christopher8541

FANTASTIC

I have been intimidated by the Japanese written language for many years. I have learned the spoken language on and off several times in my life and always lost steam because I figured, well, I will never learn to read or write Japanese anyway so what is the point. At age 43, and with a renewed interest in Karate, I am tackling the language once again. This time I intend to become fluent in the spoken language, and master both Hiragana and Katakana. I will worry about Kanji later, but am positive I can learn a few hundred...I mean, Japanese elementary school kids do right? So why not me? Anyway, this app is FANTASTIC for drilling the kana. I was AMAZED at how quickly I learned them all. I started this app yesterday and have already unlocked every row (you will see what I mean when you start using this app). And YES, it is true that this app is free and you only see ads if you make 5 mistakes. Then the mistake count is reset to zero. I have only seen like 3 ads so far, but now I know all of the Hiragana so probably will not see anymore ads while doing those drills. FINALLY AND PLEASE READ THIS: The drills build in complexity and soon you are recognizing words like Yakitori...I LOVE THIS APP!!!

6 years ago, AdicCioN MusikaL

Highly Recommend 🔥

I’m a total beginner learning the language on my own and trying to memorize both the Hiragana and Katakana charts. This app helped me memorize both. I like that it has a mini dictionary to let you know what words mean (I’m not too concern about definitions at the moment, I’m strictly focusing on learning each character). The helpful part about this app testing you with words is that it allows the app to throw multiple characters at the same time so that you can memorize multiple ones easier. Lastly, what I also love is that it won’t let you pass to other row of characters until you know the current row well enough. DOWNLOAD IT! SUGGESTION TO DEVELOPER: I like that you have the Hiragana and Katakana drills separate, BUUUTTT it would also be nice to have a third drill with a combination of both even if you don’t drill us including actual words. It can just be random characters thrown at us using combination of both Hiragana and Katakana. OR ... if you want, just use the same words but mix the spelling of the words using a combination of both Hiragana and Katakana. Thank you!

5 years ago, MooseLovesTwigs

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!

7 months ago, mme. rex

Great and friendly way to learn kana

I’ve used a lot of srs apps for learning. I find this one to be the most pleasant experience for learning Kana. First of all the happy greeting from Maru makes me feel happy and ready to learn. Then the drill system is very measured (5 new things at a tim) and the application is very smooth. I started using this app back in 2020 and it has grown a lot since then with better pronunciation files, better interface, better options and so on. I liked that the free version only showed ads when you made a certain number of mistakes which is additional motivation to study well. I have been using pro version for a couple years now because I wanted to pay for the extra features and I think it’s absolutely a great value purchase. I know all the kana now, but i still like to this app for practice and Maru’s friendly greeting makes me look forward to another day of study.

4 years ago, vDanielBr

Awesome App

Thank u the developers for such an amazing app and for making a fun app with easy ways to learn and memorize what u need and for even though the app has adds they only come as a punishment after u have got five wrong answers, that just makes the app even better cuz it makes u get serious about memorizing everything so u don’t get to see the adds, and even when u get things wrong and have to see the ads u can just close the add after it is done and go back to your studies cuz there’s no time limit and that’s just awesome when you are trying to learn a new language, there’s just no distractions u can keep taking the drills for hours and keep focused on that till u get tired and leave to the next day, not because u run out of the “free time the app gives u” but because u already learned enough and just want to easy your mind for the next day!! That’s one of the first review I’ve done to an app at the AppStore and u deserved, so thank u for an amazing app

4 years ago, GDoge1

Great app for hiragana and katakana learning!

I rarely write reviews, but this app deserves one! As I take more drills and practice in the app, I can feel myself finally starting to get the hiragana and katakana learned into my head. I have such a short attention span when it comes to studying and was having difficulty learning the hiragana on paper, so the short drills in this app are great for people with short attention spans. As I made mistakes in the drills along the way, the drills corrected me and I learned, helping me learn the hiragana and katakana even quicker. It also teaches you vocabulary with the characters you learn as you go, so it’s applies what you learn. If there’s one thing to add, it would be a stroke order feature where you can practice writing the characters with the correct strokes by tracing on the phone, definitely on a separate chart from the drill ones. Otherwise this app is awesome! Best so far to learn hiragana and katakana! Maybe add some kanji to learn and drill too?

3 years ago, gaming with love

Read this if you want the app!

I love this app. I use it every day, but one thing, its free, i get, but it has ads, and its kinda annoying, but i still love this app. but I can’t get past lvl lol, but not impossible! oh well, whoever made this app I want to say… 有難。[arigato.(thank you)] this is so good for people how love Asia, and mostly japan, and I learned that japan is very respectful to others, one of the most safest places in the world, and when Japanese people hear you say something in japanese like はい[hai(yes)] they get surprised and so respected too. And so this is very good for that. I also love that it gives you worlds to learn, like ether way, to speak or write! It’s so cool! But one more thing, for the creator, can you put in kanji with this app too? that is another Japanese language. But 有難う for making this app! Oh one more thing, I love how 可愛い [kawaii(cute)] this game is! (Yes I only know a few Japanese words)I love it 5 stars! 🌟 (๑╹ω╹๑ )

5 years ago, TheMonkeyChik

Extremely helpful, amazing, 10/10

I would give this more stars if I could. This app has single handedly taught me all hiragana and keeps me sharp. Although there are ads, I’ve never had one more than like 5 seconds and they’re only present when you fail 5 times as a punishment of sorts. 11/10 stars, amazing. And the developer is incredibly polite (as seen in the very few in-app notifications). So good. :) If I HAD to nit-pick I’d say I wish there was an option to study datuken too, as it’s also a necessary alphabet to learn in Japanese. The app is amazing for very basic/early learning hiragana learning. If you’re looking for another (free) app to supplement this one, I suggest Hiragana Sensei. It’s very cute and you learn at your own pace, and it does include charts for datuken. I’ve seen that these two apps together are great for drills, and they take like 30 seconds to a minute each to do a drill. Fantastic! <3

4 years ago, Nixscos

I love the developer of the app

I’ve had thousands of apps I even enjoy making my own helpful apps to suit my own needs whatever, out of the thousands of apps I’ve never gave a review but you sir have created something that is wonderful the application is perfect for what it is the developer is so generous she only uses adds to push you to better by making an ad a penalty for getting a certain amount of questions incorrect and there extremely short and he/she is very casual by that I mean the text box’s that pop up in the app every and now again for achievers or to help you he speaks casualty makes you feel like your listening to a human not a robot but a created who is extremely passionate about there work I downloaded this app because I was board never imagining I would master hiragana and katakana anyway. This app is absolutely astounding! I highly recommend it! Just give it a try!

2 years ago, weeb14

すばらしいのよ！

I learned my kana loooong ago, but I’ve been away from them for years, and I just needed a way to refresh and drill them. This helped me do exactly that. I like that it incorporates written prompts in both English and Japanese as well as audio prompts. It also includes some basic vocabulary words to get you reading groups of characters at once, which I think is highly useful. And with the way this app is set up, you can really drill yourself with a focus on recognition speed. Like other reviews have pointed out, you don’t get constantly interrupted by ads. I think this app is great both for people like me who just need a refresher and for people who are just starting out. It’s like having flash cards without actually having to carry around a bunch of index cards - it’s all conveniently on your phone! 10/10, would recommend.

4 years ago, mar kitsune

Pretty good, but some improvements to be made!

I found the app pretty useful, and without bugs, but I had some suggestions to improve the effectiveness of the app. The first would be to add the ability to practice ten-ten and maru characters, as well as include words with the small kana that serve the purpose of changing the vowel of the previous kana, as well as small-tsu characters to extend consonants. My other suggestion would be the ability to unlock all rows with the click of a button so that those who are only looking for means to practice the kana they’ve already learned can do so without having to go through all the rows one by one. A good app, nonetheless, but those changes would make it a GREAT app, and a much more effective learning tool! Would be awesome to see. Also, using actual foreign words for the katakana would be cool, as most of them are just sounds or Japanese words that would normally be read in hiragana, but are spelt out with katakana.

2 months ago, Lauren A. Slate

Amazing for starting

I have been using this app to learn hiragana in conjunction with some other practice and this is the best hiragana learning app I’ve used so far. The presence of ads is basically none and they’re really transparent about how frequently they’ll show ads (every 5 incorrect answers) which I really respect and appreciate. They also have an option to get random vocab notifications throughout the day which I personally love, and the progression isn’t mind numbingly boring and slow (plus you can change it to your liking!) I think this is one of the best apps out there right now not only for learning hiragana but just in general. You can tell a lot of love and effort went into this and the developer really goes the extra mile for user experience. Absolutely recommend this app :)

4 years ago, Hikiru_JMD

Absolutely Perfect

This app has been amazing for practicing the Japanese I’ve been learning. It’s been absolutely perfect. It starts off with just the vowels add more in a little at a time. It pushes you to be able to identify by visual and auditory means. And it reviews the older stuff as it adds in newer stuff so that you never forget what came before. And it’s completely free! And unlike other “free” apps it doesn’t ask you to pay to unlock the the next tier of learning, and it doesn’t spam you with adds after each round of practice. It doesn’t even show you an add after each mistake, it only shows you one after you make 5 mistakes. It puts real steaks on messing up without getting annoying. Which is fantastic! I don’t write reviews on almost anything, but I must recommend this app. I wholeheartedly thank the creator of this app. It is wonderful.

4 years ago, Cyd30

Free and easy

My favorite app to learn Hiragana and Katakana!! Can’t actually begin to tell you how good it is but I will try 1. No in app purchases-it’s actually free and you only get adds if you miss a lot of questions. This can be a great motivation if you hate adds. 2. Both alphabets- it’s a 2 in 1 deal! You can learn both at the same time or master one at a time. The alphabets are not mixed like they are on other apps so this is especially helpful to beginners who are not familiar with the different letters. 3. One row at a time- you have to master one row (5 sounds) at a time before it unlocks the next row. This is a good way to study. 4. Vocabulary- it gives you an OPTION to learn vocabulary words along with the alphabet. The best part is you can turn this function off if you want to just focus on the sounds. 5. Review- my favorite part about this app is that once you have learned both alphabets you can come back and use it as a review. Even after I learned the alphabets and started working on more vocabulary words I’d come back to this app to help with my pronunciations. I even do one round (around 10 questions) before studying just as a warm up and help my brain switch to Japanese thinking instead of English. Sorry for the long review but I really love this app!!

6 years ago, skiqiwfnwiqleh

THIS IS THE GREATEST APP EVER!!!

I have written 2 reviews ever because most apps are great but not enough for me to actually give a review (unless it was horrible and I decided to make a review). This app is free!!!!!! You get the full app! I can read and write kana fluently now thanks to this app! One recommendation though, maybe when giving drills do not make it so that it’s obvious what the answer is. For example, if the voice sample says, “ka”, the answer choices would be like, かおえう. Please add answer choices that look similar to the correct kana or add answer choices that start with the same consonant as the correct kana. So it’s more challenging and so you will be able to tell them apart more easily. Anyways AMAZING app! Definitely get this app if you want to learn kana quick and easy. I downloaded this app two days ago and already have finished hiragana and katakana.

2 years ago, Master Prop

Excellent

Perfect for what it is, learning kana. There’s both hiragana and katakana, which is to be expected, but I couldn’t find any explanation of the dakuten/handakuten marks, which would be helpful for new learners. There’s a few vocab terms to learn associated with each sound, and it would be nice to be able to toggle the kanji for them, but I get that it’s not the point of the app so I understand why it was omitted. Ads are pretty genius - you get the whole thing for free, and as long as you don’t mess up on the drills you never see an ad. But if you mess up 5 times you get a - brief/skippable - “punishment” ad. So you only have yourself to blame. This is approach is novel and appreciated, and encourages you to actually pay attention, as there are consequences for mistakes. Simple but perfect for what it’s doing.

4 years ago, rice_is_noices

It was very helpful!

I’ve used this app for about two weeks so far and I have been able to memorize all of the Hiragana alphabet! I used it to both help me memorize everything and write everything, but I’m sure I would’ve learned Hiragana in just a few days if I did not use it to also help me write out the characters. For me, I used the app by writing down everything it displayed as I answered each question which is probably why it took me so long. I also did not use it on a daily basis and practiced a few hours at a time. It does not have any ads and also provides numerous examples of words each character is used in, as well as definitions for those words. It is an amazing app and I would recommend it to anyone who desires to memorize the Hiragana and Katakana alphabet!

3 years ago, AnthonyRB36

A decent learning tool

Pretty good. A few items that could use a bit of improvement: 1. Pronunciation between m’s and n’s, e’s and a’s can be a bit hard to tell at times. For instance if you have a mi and a ni choice, it’s easy to mix up if you get a verbal command. 2. Definitions of the words you are given would be nice, but honestly is only a minor inconvenience and most of the words are beginner level that you will likely learn in your first week of serious study. 3. Modified Hiragana/Katakana would be nice. It would also expand the vocabulary significantly with more beginner words, and add some variety. 4. Some of the words are easy to pick out if you know a single character. Some other apps and tools will have similar words that only have one different character to throw you off. I get around this handicap by reading each word before making my choice, though. 5. I understand it’s a simple “alphabet” learning tool but I have seen sushi and momo about a million times now, more variety in the vocabulary would be awesome. Otherwise this is a helpful app. It’s much slower learning these characters without the ability to write them down though. I wouldn’t expect that from a nice free app like this, just a consideration for anyone learning.

5 years ago, Jameson1307

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.

3 years ago, donald trump stinks

First review I’ve ever written

I don’t ever write reviews because I always feel bad about putting flaws but for kana drill I have none to list. This app is fantastic for what it offers I’ve actually just perfected my hiragana and have just started working on katakana. I love it’s repetitiveness and how I only get ads when I make several mistakes. Now this isn’t a flaw but more of an improvement but I think the app would improve if some mnemonics were integrated because I also used an outside site to learn hiragana which does use mnemonics and I find those very helpful and as for kana drill I just use it before bed to fully drill the letters into my brain lol. Anyways this app is great especially since it’s free and I think you should give it a shot 😌

2 years ago, P.T. Lamas

LOVE this App

I have a learning disability. I was in Special Education for 10 of the 12 years I went to school. Whoever made this app keeps it simple. What’s that, you say? 🤓👂 Yes. This complex language is made simple. I can recognize Japanese Hiragana ☺️🙏 My 9 year old Daughter has taken an interest in Japanese so I thought I should learn something about it so I can help her out. The first 20 minutes, I thought “This won’t be possible for me” but the app has changed my mind. I’m confident that I can do this. The built in repetition. Here is something that is both kind of comical and encouraging. If you get 5 wrong answers, you’re “Punished” by having to watch an ad 😅😂🤣. Whoever made this app is an awesome person and knows how to keep it simple.

4 years ago, xbbeeaarr

Fast way to learn Hiragana and Katakana!

The app, is really simple, but very useful. Bot only does it practice your brain to memorize the characters and be able to identify them and match them with the sound it makes, but it also gives you words in which those sounds and characters are used in, it also gives you the pronunciations of words. The characters are also color coded as you go along with your lessons, which help reveal which ones you have mastered, and which ones you need more work on. I mastered my hiragana in about a day and a half! Very useful app, 10/10 recommend! The only thing i would suggest to make this a five star, is have us practice putting words together using the characters, and adding quizzes where you have us create the words or sentences. Overall amazing app for quick learning hiragana and katakana!

1 month ago, Weisse_Rose

Fun, well-thought-out teaching app

So far, I’ve only used the hiragana learning module, but I appreciate the fact that I can choose which characters show up on quizzes, and that the quizzes are cumulative and repetitive. My favorite thing about the app so far: watching commercials is based on mistakes made (every 5 missed answers brings a new commercial), which gamifies mistake-making and creates a gentle way to pay the price. I haven’t watched a commercial yet. My only trouble so far: some of the English words are too small for me to read, but I am overdue for new glasses. I don’t know if the app will feature a way to practice writing the characters in later modules; if it doesn’t, I can download a second app.

6 years ago, R gunn

Great but one improvement

Love this app. It’s free, first of all, so a great resource. I just completed the entire Hiragana section and found it VERY useful in memorizing these characters. My only complaint is that before you unlock the next row of five kana you have to answer a drill question correct for each of the five previous kana three times. This is easy, except the drills are random, so sometimes I’d have to run drills 20-30 times before I’d get all five kana of the row I was working on to be represented. It’s hard to explain. Basically I’d get stuck doing the same drills over and over waiting for my most recent kana characters to appear so I could advance to the next row. Took forever to complete the whole section even though I made zero mistakes! Still, all that drilling reinforced the kana I already had down. Thanks for this app!

2 years ago, CBME9

Simplicity for the win

This app takes a simple, straightforward and practical approach. It builds on itself as you master each row. It doesn’t constantly chatter on at you with “Good job!” or “You can do it!” after every flash card. It seems to reinforce the letters you struggle with, without hammering you with them. There’s no countdown to stress you out, so you can take your time to get to the answer. After weeks or trying to learn with handmade flash cards, I can’t believe how quickly I’m finally mastering hiragana. The “punishment ads” (love this approach) are short and don’t unduly interrupt the session. This is exactly the kind of direct, concrete, no-distracting-frills approach that keeps focus on the objecting: actually learning.

5 years ago, 8th grade(1 year)

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 :)

2 years ago, imawkwardty

BEST JAPANESE CHARACTER APP!!

I’m currently taking a Japanese class in school and my professor actually recommended this app. This app has definitely helped me in little over a week understand and remember hiragana which is definitely helpful since the only thing you can do is memorize the characters to be able to read. Anyways, I love this app. I use it in between classes, when I’m waiting for my professor, when I’m waiting for food, whatever little time I have for a drill. I’m definitely more prepared for my test coming up than I would’ve been just studying from the book. Download this app if you need help learning hiragana, it’s truly a life saver if you’re taking a Japanese class or for whatever else.

4 years ago, valg•

Useful & Thorough

I’ve recently started learning Japanese, and I wanted an entertaining way to study the alphabets so that I would learn them thoroughly, efficiently, and making that entire process fun. This app definitely reached all those goals, and more! I RARELY encounter an app so focused on the happiness of its customers and not caring as much on advertising that only makes the experience worse. If anything, the way the adds are set up make you want to study MORE, because the better you get at remembering things, the less adds you get. Not to mention the beautiful minimalistic design that makes everything look nice! Summary: definitely recommend this app if you’re looking to study the Japanese alphabet, and it’s everything I could ask for.

5 years ago, fangirl_the_crimewriter

This app is EXCELLENT.

I have never written a review on an app in my life, but in this case, I am forced to make an exception because everyone needs to know how great this app is, and how generous the creator is for making such an incredible resource free. I am a first year Japanese student and was TERRIFIED at the prospect of having to learn two different alphabets in five weeks. I would never have been able to learn all of the 92 characters on my own without this app. I am so so grateful that it’s free, this is a FANTASTIC resource for anyone struggling with, or simply just wanting to learn, Hiragana or Katakana! The app provides great examples of pronunciation, opportunities to read characters in the context of words, and a low risk environment in which to interact with reading and identifying characters. HIGHLY recommended.

3 months ago, mia0123😝

THE BEST APP TO LEARN JAPANESE!

Hi!!!😍my name is mia and i was thinking of learning a new language 👏🏼because why not??Am mexican so people think am werid for taking Japanese lessons than Spanish lessons.I was looking for Japanese games to try out and see if there good or not;DI saw this app and tried it out, it was SO amazing!!Am already half done with hiragana!!😘The only thing i dont like about this game is why not add more difficulty or more content??Why is there only hiragana and Katakana???You guys do know theres kanji too??I get it kanji is really hard to learn. But if you keep trying you will learn it!! Like i did!!!I love this app so much !!💅I never had a single add in this app!!!!if anyone wants to learn Japanese use this app!!!!have a goodnight /good day!!😋😋

5 years ago, ddddddeniseeeee

I love this app

It’s simple and straight forward. I used this app alone to learn katakana in about an hour. I will be using this as a reference whenever I need to brush up on hiragana or katakana. I also like that it teaches you new words when you click on a characters flash card. I also love how personal this app feels. Prompts are written by the developer which feels very human and makes me feel more connected to the app. Very minimal ads. In fact you only get them when you quit a quiz or mess up which is awesome. My only criticism would be A) the voice doesn’t pronounce the sounds very well B) I would love to see a kanji addition Other than that this is my favorite app for learning Japanese alphabets and brushing up on them. Thank you Alexander!

3 years ago, Minty Millie

Great App to work on memorization!

I am currently taking a beginner’s level Japanese class and have been struggling to remember all the hiragana we’ve learned. I went looking for something like “flash cards” to practice memorizing hiragana during my free time and found this App. It has helped me a lot, and I felt much more confident when taking the first Japanese test because I had practiced the hiragana on this App so much. It was also so nice to have an App that wasn’t plastered with Ads everywhere, they only display after you’ve made 5 mistakes. More Apps should work like this, so it serves as a sort of incentive to do well instead of inundating you constantly with irrelevant ads. Awesome App!

4 years ago, VesperS15

Great so far

I just went completely through the Hiragana characters so far and it’s great! But I was hoping it would also go through the Hiragana characters that are modified with the dakuten/ tenten and handakuten marks. I’m guessing if the Hiragana part didn’t go through them then the Katakana won’t either. Other than that, for the basic characters/sounds it’s a great app to learn from. To the developer/s of this app, I LOVE IT this app is great so far but PLEASE consider adding those modified Hiragana and Katakana characters as well so we can also be able to learn all the possible characters and sounds of the Japanese language! Also consider adding a third part with Hiragana AND Katakana mixed/alternating too so once we clear through both the Hiragana and Katakana charts we can also review both in a mixed flash review.

4 years ago, Watch7maker

It’s simple but some missed opportunities

First, it’s a pretty decent app for quick drilling. But it’s hurting in a few big areas. 1. It would be amazing if you could filter out characters that you already know 100%. I’m 2 hours into studying, you don’t need to ask me what “A” means anymore. It would be cool if I could shut off a row from showing up in the flash cards. This means the lower rows are harder to learn because they’re less likely to show up. 2. Sometimes the words show up, so you’ll see a word like “YA SU MI”. And maybe I only know the character for MI so I’m not looking for YA and SU, I’m just looking for MI to get it right, but I haven’t actually learned the rest of the characters. But I’ll get credit for YA and SU. So I’d prefer being able to shut off words from showing up and just let me do individual characters. 3. Back to “YA SU MI”. I have no idea what YASUMI means. How does that help me? Once I click the right answer for YASUMI, the translation should show up afterwards. That would help pick up vocabulary instead of just throwing words at us for no reason. 4. I’d love a combined mode where I can practice both Hiragana and Katakana next to each other to make sure I actually got everything down. Overall decent app, just hope the dev sees this.

4 years ago, Elerbean1803(948:""16

Worth Downloading!

I love this app so much, I had to write a review! I've been trying to learn Japanese for the past 7 months now, and I had been searching different apps to try. I had been using Duolingo to teach me, and while it taught me a lot I saw my practice as a chore that I didn't want to do. I thought if I had an app that was specifically made for this language, it would be more helpful. I found Kana Drill and downloaded it. As soon as I got onto the app, I saw the derpy little face immediately welcome me! This app is not only adorable, but extremely beneficial! I HIGHLY RECOMMEND for anyone who is trying to learn Hiragana, Katakana, or just new words and phrases! I would rate this 6 stars if I could! :D

2 years ago, Lucky2bu

Hiragana

I have been having a difficult time in remembering the Hiragana characters. Certain ones are easy to remember, while, for the life of me, I can’t recall the others. I was getting extremely frustrated trying to remember them all. I’m a senior and my memory isn’t a good as it once was. By using this app, I’m able to remember more and more of the characters. I’ve been using this app for a couple of weeks and I’m able to retain a lot by using their drills. Hopefully, by following their drills, I’ll soon be able to remember all of the Hiragana characters. For me, because of my age, I will need to practice every night, which I have no problem with.

5 years ago, AwePANDA

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! :D

2 years ago, Emilizzle75

Best if used without the sound and if you already know the vocabulary used

So I enjoy this app and use it daily. I appreciate it having both hiragana and katakana in one app and I really like the flash card style of how it drills you and I really love that you only get adds as a discipline for making 5 mistakes, rather than constantly throughout your drill. However, I have to point out the very obvious flaws that the game has since I am doing a review. I wish the game taught you the vocabulary it has FIRST before drilling you and expecting you to know random Japanese words. Just because people are learning to read and write Japanese, doesn’t mean they are well versed in the vocabulary and could very well be discouraged from using this app if they were brand new to studying the language. The only other thing I wish this app would change is its poor audio quality. Sounds that have “ke” sound exactly like “ki” and it’s frustrating to make errors just because the sound doesn’t match the actual vowel. Overall, for free and with hardly any advertisements, this app is pretty great! Thanks for making it.

6 years ago, EmbraceDawn

A Great Studying Tool For Beginners!

What’s great about this app is the simplicity of the UI. I like how clear the color saturations varies to indicate which kana needs more time to study on. The voice is a bit unnatural sounding so sometimes it’s difficult it make out what is being said during drills. A neat feature I’ll suggest is having the ability to slow down or speed up the voice. The drills are great way of memorizing the kana and the only way to unlock the next step. What could be improved on this a feature is to have the ability to draw/trace the kana as your learning the sound. Muscle memory is helpful and being drilled on how to write them would be great. I find myself returning to this app and drilling myself so I don’t get too rusty. I’ll still recommend this app!

6 years ago, Blearymountain0

Great App!! But...

This app is great at getting you to know what the characters are, you can even tap a character and word examples pop up. This app has a lot of potential and is nearly perfect. The slight problem I see is that there’s not a lot of words for certain characters, so the words are frequently repeated and you might only focus on the first character to get a question right instead of looking at the whole word. The last downside is that when it comes to word questions, there’s no challenge that makes you use your brain. There’s always one that’s obviously the answer, and the other 3 aren’t even close to the question. I don’t know maybe it’s just me.

2 years ago, Xeridan57

10/10, would study again

I've been trying to learn with duolingo, but the kana system there kinda stinks. It's unfocused and doesn't help me learn much at all. This app, however, is fantastic, quick, and focused on one consonant row at a time, which helps chunk information and drastically improves the ability to actually learn it. I love it, and the fact that there aren't ads or paywalls and it's just a simple, functional app is fantastic. Thank you developer for making this app! I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to learn Japanese, as reading kana helps learning the rest of the language a ton, at least in my experience. 10/10!

2 years ago, KrakenGrrrl

Wonderful little app

Super simple, straightforward app that lets you practice kana for free. Does exactly what the title says - you drill each row and unlock new ones as you progress. I use mnemonics to help learn the kana but getting practice recalling them and reading is a different story. These quick drills make it much easier for me to recognize the kana and help me drop the mnemonic in my thought process much sooner. You can read much quicker when you don’t have to remember the mnemonic to recall the kana! My one request is to add handakuten and dakuten. I feel like drills would be helpful, even if the rules themselves for how the sound changes are quite simple.

4 years ago, błáàh

This App Was Perfect For My Studies

As i am am learning Japanese, i knew it would be best to review each character i studied, so i could really remember and incorporate them when i started learning kanji. When I found this app, the feature i liked the best was how if you go 5 answers wrong, you would have to watch an ad. This encourages you to study even harder, because no one likes pesky ads. I also like how it allows you to choose what you would like to review instead of everything all at once. Through this app i was able to actually retain the information on kana. Overall great, no purchases app. Would recommend. 😁👍🏼

2 years ago, Royal Coffee Mug

I learned to read hiragana in 2 weeks!

This app is just what I needed. I like how new rows are unlocked after you’ve gotten the previous ones under your belt enough. Building up slowly that way was really effective for me. Seeing the different colors for ones you’ve messed up on or didn’t remember as well is nice too. I like the option to turn off and on the Romaji, and how you can see all the words each character is used in in the drills listed. The drills were fun and simple, and a good length. I stayed motivated to do them every day. The app is really minimalist, in a good way. I laughed out loud when I got my first “punishment ad” after missing five answers. 🤣 The one thing that bothers me is that non-lender word vocabulary is used for the katakana section. But hey, not a huge deal. It would also be helpful to see the hira and kata side-by-side I think, like a page where each sound shows both characters that represent it. But def not necessary. Overall I’m super pleased with my experience using this app ❤️

5 years ago, Quantumpanda

One major flaw, but still good

This is a reasonable tool for keeping your kana recognition skills refreshed if you don’t use kana very often. Having to “unlock” rows gets annoying, especially since the deeper you get, the more drills it takes to get the newest row up to the level of unlocking the next, but that’s a relatively minor thing. It does have one major flaw, however: the multiple-choice answers don’t always have the same number of syllables. Since each kana character is a single syllable, if only one choice matches the prompt’s syllable count, you can select that as the correct answer without actually reading the kana. Which defeats the point of drilling on them. Make the syllable counts match, and it’s top-notch.

4 years ago, Luna owo uwu

Literally amazing!!!

So simple yet so effective. It’s not boring and actually works, which is more than I can say for pretty much every other app like this. Whats more, its super quick in its effectiveness and had me reading both hiragana and katakana in days. You don’t pay for anything, and the ad system works to only show when you’ve gotten too many wrong, and even so its not limited and doesn’t take you out. I am now much better at Japanese than i was when i first started but this is definitely the easiest and fastest way to get results with kana. My only wish is that you could make one with Korean hangul. サンキュー！！！

5 years ago, Becky430

An absolute must for beginners!!

As a beginner to learning the Japanese language, this app has been absolutely wonderful and is a must!! You cannot really start to grasp translations until you have mastered the characters/alphabets first. I am using other language learning apps at the same time but this is the ONLY app that goes slowly enough and simply enough where it doesn’t feel overwhelming, you just truly grasp and memorize more and more. The other apps move way too fast - you have to master the characters first it’s just a must and this is the only app that really let me master everything in a slow and simple way. Thank you sooooooo much for creating this app!!!!

5 years ago, Joey gggdyyhvx

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 overall

Description

Hey there! Want to learn Japanese? MARU Japanese Kana, rated 4.92 stars by over 44,000 happy learners around the world, is just the right tool for you. It's a small but mighty app I created to make Japanese alphabets less scary and more fun! I did such an awesome job that I wish MARU was around when I started learning Japanese. Seems like I'm not the only one, looking at all the fantastic reviews! Jump right in and get the real Japanese vibe from a professional voice actress in a ton of exercises. There are 14 different fun practices that make learning Hiragana and Katakana as easy as pie. Reading, writing, listening, typing, and even boosting your vocab - it's all here. A perfect start to your Japanese adventure! About those ads: only a teeny-tiny bit. You'll see an ad only after five mistakes. Since MARU was born in 2017, it's been downloaded nearly a million times, but I've hardly made a penny. No sweat, though! This is all about spreading the joy of learning Japanese! What's inside: • 105 Hiragana and Katakana characters, even the fancy sounds and combos. • Over 300 everyday words (like ""hello"" and ""thank you"") for practice. • Super clear voice recordings for all words and characters. • MARU-kun, our adorable mascot, welcomes you every time you practice. • A clever feature that spots your struggles and helps manage your progress. • A fun way to practice Katakana with Hiragana words you already know. It's totally free, but if you want to upgrade, here's what you get: • A peaceful, ad-free experience. • Practice offline, anytime, anywhere. • Try your hand at writing and typing. • Test yourself with timed exercises. • Unlock even more words for time, date, and Katakana. Here's one of my favorite reviews: "This is MY #1 app for learning Japanese. I downloaded EVERY Japanese app I could find without paying a single dime. The app does exactly what it promises - nice graphics, great voice acting, and awesome practice methods. I'm in love with this awesome app!" - someone who's also very awesome Wow! I can't believe you finished reading all this. You must be very interested by now. Just download and start learning already!