kawaiiNihongo - Learn Japanese 4+

Favorite app for learning Japanese

I don’t typically write reviews but this app deserve one. This app is very good even if you don’t pay for no advertisements and other thing the app offers. My favorite thing about the app is that it lets you say yes or no, that way you don’t lose a heart. With other apps that I use for Japanese don’t give you an option. In the arcade, there are mini games for practicing Kanji. In the school, you can look at any Kanji you need to. Then there’s the lessons. If you’re not confident and going into the next lesson it lets you go back and review the last lesson. It also has a calendar to track the Japanese you’ve learned throughout the year. You’re able to earn badges from your daily streaks .You can set a goal for how much you wants to learn daily. For example, I have mine app 100 a day. Out of all the other apps I’ve use, this one works the best for learning Japanese. ( Sorry if I miss spelled anything)

Developer Response ,

Thank you for your feedback!
When you answer questions wrong, you can tap on the flame in the classroom to either feed Riko some dango or to repeat a lesson. Both gives you energy back so you don't need to wait. Repeating lessons is helping you to be better prepared for future lessons and make less mistakes overall!

One GLARING issue I noticed

To the developer: yes, it’s due to font, BUT to say the style you use is better for writing is wrong. It is for calligraphy, but THAT DOES NOT make it the form for writing. Personally, I find the connected form easier and faster to draw. Again, due to this issue (and others I did not mention) I wouldn’t suggest this app. The other issue (having problems with typing during the test) I would consider MUCH MORE pressing, but your response tells me that this app is DEFINITELY not worth it.

So I did the test out feature at the beginning (that’s not where the issue is) and skipped ahead a bit because I do already know some Japanese, just not a whole lot. The issue is it counted me wrong on き(I drew it as like the font shown here, which isn’t wrong, but in the app IT WAS COUNTED WRONG) In this app they use the disconnected version, which ALSO isn’t wrong, but the thing is since I skipped ahead and BOTH ARE TECHNICALLY CORRECT it threw me off (especially since it didn’t show this on the flash card because I was tying to draw the characters) What was really weird is that was the first card that was counted wrong (due to a stroke order difference, though as I said BOTH ARE CORRECT) The thing is this one issue (along with the problems I had with typing with the keyboard in app on the test) makes me a bit hesitant to use this app, which is disheartening.

Developer Response ,

Answer: I just re-confirmed this with the native Japanese teachers we work with, and the disconnected version is indeed the correct one to use when writing kana by hand. Like I mentioned before, the connected version can also be used, but is considered "bad form".
That said, we know that some people struggle with this, which is why our next big update 4.0 already includes the option to be less strict with this, so you can decide for yourself if you want to mark the connected version correct or wrong.

Did you also see that we have an in-app contact form directly in kawaiiNihongo? You can use it to report issues you have, which is way more suited to quickly help you than the review feature in the App Store. We're always happy to help with any issues you might have!

Hi small hobbit, when drawing kana by hand, the disconnected version of き is correct and while the connected version "can" be used, it is bad form to do so. The connected version of き is typically only used with printed media, like books or on the computer. We decided to teach the disconnected version in kawaiiNihongo, as we also offer hand-drawing lessons.

The best app out there for learning Japanese

I usually don’t write reviews but I had to for this app, this app is the best app for beginners AND to learn Japanese, i love how you keep it entertaining while learning, it keeps you motivated to learn Japanese ! I almost gave up but this app is what made me learn again ! I also love how you can communicate with other learners around the world, I never seen anyone rude in the comments, always friendly and funny. I can’t really say how amazing this app is, but it’s definitely worth downloading, it’ll surprise you ! You’ll even find yourself wanting to learn even more, or open the app more often. You’ll love it specially if you love anime, animated characters, arcade, memory games and stories. it doesn’t make you rush in learning, just learning naturally with no pressure ~
Love this app, 5/5 ✨
- lost the first review and tried to remember what I said so yeah, lol.