Japanese Kanji Study - Learn Kanji characters

Kanji Study is designed to be a user-friendly and effective tool for mastering Japanese kanji. The app offers features such as Spaced Repetition System (SRS), flashcards, multiple-choice quizzes, writing exercises, kanji and word search, customizable sets, and more. It aims to be the go-to app for anyone seeking to excel in kanji proficiency.

While the app is not entirely free, the basic version is ad-free and allows unlimited study of beginner kanji, radicals, hiragana, and katakana. Users can access the dictionary and all information screens without any restrictions. Upgrading to the premium version unlocks advanced kanji levels and the ability to create custom sets, supporting the ongoing development of the app.

Version 6.8.1 updates

- Added navigation buttons to KLC sentence info screen.

- Added SRS progress sort option to kanji list screen.

- Fixed issue with importing set names.

- Fixed issue with hiding examples in info screens.

Key Features

★ Flashcard study

• Memorize kanji in manageable sets with stroke animations, readings, meanings, and examples.

• Customize themes, layouts, actions, and swipe settings.

• Rate your progress to filter kanji as you learn them.

★ Multiple-choice quizzes

• Tailor quizzes to focus on readings, meanings, example words, or sentences.

• Choose example words from JLPT, common vocabulary, and favorites.

• Quiz difficulty adjusts based on performance.

★ Writing challenges

• Enhance recognition by recalling and writing kanji with stroke order guidance.

• Use stroke detection technology for accurate writing.

• Get hints and correction options if needed.

★ Quick kanji and word search

• Search 6k+ kanji and 180k+ words using various criteria in a single text field.

• Offline capability with optimized search.

★ Detailed info screens

• View stroke animations, readings, meanings, study time, and quiz statistics.

• Explore radicals within each kanji and see example words.

• Navigate through related kanji and examples effortlessly.

Additional Features

★ Study kanji by JLPT levels and school grades.

When you learn a level of kanji you can break them down. I.e N5 has 103 kanji, which you can split into 10, 25, 50, and 100. So If you want to learn 10 kanji at a time you will get 9 sets of 10 and 1 of 13 kanji. You can then merge split courses later on.

★ Set study reminders for personalized notifications.

★ Access Japanese text with audio files and text-to-speech support.

★ Create shortcuts for quick access to specific sets.

★ Use rankings to customize study sets based on performance.

★ Save progress on Google Drive or locally.

★ Extensive customization options.

Add-ons

★ Guided Study: SRS module for efficient kanji review.

★ Graded Reading Sets: Mini reading exercises aligned with Kanji Learner's Course sequence.

★ Outlier Kanji Dictionary: Understand kanji system and logic.

Tips and Tricks for the Japanese Kanji Study App

Sort All Kanji to Match Your Goal

The app displays all kanji by JLPT by default, but did you know you can change this?

Menu (三) > Kanji Sequence

This is great if you’re not studying for the JLPT but have a different goal in mind. You can change the order to match the Kanji Learner’s Course, how frequent the kanji is in the media, Remembering the Kanji, the Kanji Kentei exams, and even your own custom order!

Arrange the kanji order to match how you want to learn!

Split Kanji to Make Studying More Manageable

When you select a level you want to study all kanji within that group will display as one group, you can split these into smaller groups.

Hold finger on group > Split set > Select the number of kanji you want in each set

This lets you study kanji in more manageable batches.

If you’re not used to studying kanji then start with a smaller number, but if you’re familiar with a set of kanji you can combine them and re-split them into larger groups. (Splitting and merging batches of kanji will change their order.)

Adjust Your Study Streak to Help Motivate You

Study streaks can be motivating for some people and soul-destroying for others. But did you know the streak display on the home screen is completely customizable? This way you can display the study streak in a way that best motivates you!

You can choose to adjust how many minutes you want to study a day, display how many weeks you’ve studied, and your study streak.

Cog icon on home screen* >

Daily study target: Adjust the amount of time you want to study on a daily basis.

Weeks of study history: Choose between 1 to 50 weeks, or “None” to hide streaks altogether

Show study streak: Displays the number of days in a row you’ve studied, and your highest streak.

*The cog icon allows you to adjust pretty much everything so you can have a home screen that works best for you.

(I have my study steak set to hide the streak numbers and display 3 weeks at a time.)

Plan a Study Routine that Works for You

When you study a group of kanji you have the option to study then using flashcards, multiple choice quizzes, writing challenges, and short sentences (which costs extra).

It’s fine to study in a way that works for you but if you’re overcome with choices then design a study routine for learning/reviewing kanji.

For example, a one-week per kanji group might look like this,

Day 1: Study new kanji with flashcards

Day 2: Info → Kanji quizzes

Day 3: Kanji → Meaning quizzes

Day 4: Kanji → Reading quizzes

Day 5: Example → Kanji quizzes

Day 6: Writing challenge with automatic stroke detection

Day 7: Writing challenge with manual stroke detection

Favorite Difficult Kanji

If you keep getting stuck on the same kanji then you can favorite it and focus your study on them later.

Select the kanji > tap the ♡ on the kanji page

Then open the menu (三) > Favorites > select all (□ symbol) > Study

You can easily deselect the ♡ when you’re more confident you know the kanji.

Create Custom Sets to Focus Study

You can create custom sets for any kanji you want to study.

Go to kanji list > hold finger on kanji > Add to set

You can then pick your custom sets from the menu (三) or display them on your home screen. You can even adjust how many custom sets display on your home screen from the settings cog.

Custom sets are great for,

- Focused studying on difficult kanji

- Studying the kanji you’re learning in class (such as custom sets with the kanji from Genki or Japanese for Busy People)

- Studying kanji you see in the wild (such as a novel, on TV, or when you’re out and about in Japan)

You can even use pre-made custom sets that focus on hiragana, katakana, radicals, etc.

Export Vocabulary to Anki

This is such an underrated but invaluable feature. You can add vocabulary from Japanese Kanji Study and add it to any Anki deck. Then when you’re studying the vocabulary in Anki, if you click the word in Anki it takes you back to the vocabulary’s page in the Japanese Kanji Study app!

Select vocabulary (either from kanji list or when studying kanji via example) > tap + button > select anki deck

Great for,

- Studying unknown/unfamiliar vocabulary in example quizzes

- Studying vocabulary found in wild (see next tip!)

Find and Study Vocabulary Found in the Wild

When you find kanji or kanji-based vocabulary you don’t know in the wild (in a novel, on the internet, on TV, etc.), you can look it up using the Japanese Kanji Study app!

Home screen > green magnifying glass > search by word or kanji

You can then easily add what you find to custom sets or Anki!

(I use this the most when I come across new vocabulary in novels. I look up the meaning to words and add them to my novel focuses Anki deck if I think they’ll be good words to know.)

Edit Kanji Meanings and Reading to Work for You

Pretty much every part of a kanji is editable on this app. This allows you to remove uncommon kanji readings, or edit the meaning of the kanji to better suit your understanding of the kanji, or pick a meaning that you will remember easier.

Go to kanji details page > select pencil icon

Remember Kanji Better with Decomposition

The kanji decomposition is such a nifty little feature! You can see how kanji is broken down into different components and radicals.

Go to kanji details page > scroll down to Decomposition

This is particularly useful if you’re struggling to remember how to write a kanji or how it differs from a similar kanji.

If you click on a component, you can then either search by component (see next tip!), kanji, or radical.

Discern Similar Kanji with Components

When you click on the component of a kanji the app will show you every other kanji that uses that same component! So you can look up every kanji with the radical/component for 金 or 手 or 反, etc.

This is particularly great if you keep getting similar kanji mixed up. You can focus on them and work out how they’re different to help you tell them apart later.

Permissions (optional)

- In-app Purchase

- External Drive access

- Install Shortcuts

- Run at startup

- Network access for analytics

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