App Profile: TenguGo Kana Hiragana Katakana

Silvrwood

Rating: 5/5

A few of the things I like about this app are that it teaches all of the hiragana and katakana kanas instead of just a subset like other free apps. It provides a helpful and interesting background on the development of the kanas as well. The quizzes are nicely randomized and all the more helpful because each one includes material from the previous lesson so one can be sure one can identify a character from all characters rather than easily guessing from just the 5 most recent. The app also tests audibly, visually from Japanese to English, and visually from English to Japanese so one learns to fully utilize the kana. I also appreciate the tutorials on the stroke order for each character. Finally, I love that this app is still compatible with old devices like mine. One additional feature I would love would be quizzes for just the characters that are similar, like ho, ma, and mo; ne, re, and wa; and nu and me. I can guess those when my choices include other characters that don't look similar, but I would really be forced to remember them if I had to pick from similar-looking characters.

Bogatyr-san

Rating: 5/5

I tried other free kana learning apps but was always disappointed. This app groups the presentation of the kana by consonant, and the quizzes cover progressively more of the full table as you go, reinforcing both new kana and previously-learned kana at the same time. The quizzes test audio recognition, reading-to-kana, and kana-to-reading, as well as recognizing kana within words. With this app I was able to learn the entire basic hiragana table in a single evening. The flashcard-like quizzes move quickly enough without extraneous sounds or animations to drill yourself quickly. I am very pleased with this app and happily sent a donation. It is easy to quickly move between quizzes to focus on the kana you want to.

SCFDSA

Rating: 5/5

Broken down to the basics. Completed entire course in 2 days because this app allows you to drill the kana in quizzes over and over again (with questions mixed differently every time) until you feel comfortable to move to the next level. Every level's quiz encompasses all previous levels. I have bought the tengugo kanji app and will be keeping both on my device for daily or weekly review until I am using kana in words and sentences more regularly. I wrote down my answer to each question on paper before clicking the button in app and it really helped me to remember kana, build confidence, and get used to writing kana.