Learn kana by eye, ear and hand.
Hiragana and katakana, one calm character at a time. See where it came from, hear it, write it, and it comes back just before you forget it.
Join the beta onTestFlightFree. Coming to the App Store; until then the beta is open to anyone with an iPhone.
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See where each kana came from
Every kana began as a kanji written fast. あ is 安 worn smooth by the brush; ア is the left edge of 阿. Kanakana sets each one beside its source, in a mincho face that keeps the brush’s はね and はらい, so you learn the shape the way it was made.
Hear it in one tap
Every kana speaks when you touch it, in one Japanese voice. あ and ア share a clip, because they are the same sound. Sound comes first; romaji is there when you want it and hidden when you don’t.
Write it, then write it from memory
Trace a faint model, then only the numbered starting dots, then a blank sheet. Kanakana checks where each stroke starts, which way it sets off and where it ends. It never judges how neat it is. A wrong stroke simply fades. Write the kana from memory and it gets its 正.
And a free sheet, 自由帳: write any kana and Kanakana reads it back.
It comes back when you are about to forget
Check asks you to read what you have learnt. Each kana returns after 1, 2, 4, 7 and 15 days; miss one and it steps back a box. There is no streak to lose and no red cross, only a gentle correction.
惜しい — き は kiwhat a miss looks like
Start free. Buy once, if you stay.
The あ row of hiragana and of katakana is free, with the whole loop: learn, write, check and review, plus the board and the chart. One purchase, 五十音, opens every other row of both scripts. No subscription, no countdowns.
Your progress stays on your iPhone
No account to make, nothing to sign in to. Kanakana keeps what you have learnt on your device and sends it nowhere.
- No account
- No ads
- No tracking
- No streak-shaming